Forts near Presque Isle in the Kabinettskriege Era (part 2)

Dear Reader,

When we last left Erie, PA, we saw that the French had abandoned their fort in the region in 1759. This abandonment was indicative of the French position in the colonial back-country, which they called the Pays d'en Haut. In 1759 and 1760, the French position in North America was collapsing, as they faced immense challenges, such as the capture of Louisbourg and Quebec City. By 1761, the fighting in North America had died down, with full British control of Canada and North America accepted.

In an effort to exert more control of the newly conquered parts of their domains, the British built and garrisoned forts, often on the site of old French forts. In the case of Presque Isle, the British rebuilt the burned French fort, along a different pattern and in a slightly different location.

As you can see in this photo, the British constructed a new fort slightly to the west of the old French fortification. It is marked "B" on the map above. Built by Major Robert Rogers in 1760, this fort, like Fort de la Presqu'Ile, was designed to guard the area, but was built along the lake-shore, for ease of access and supply. The British constructed a different manner of fort than their French predecessors. With the French threat removed, their was no need to worry about European artillery assault, and therefore, Rogers ignored the Vauban-style of fortifcation in his design. Fort Presque Isle, as this fort was called, was a simply four walls and a blockhouse. While this fort was not designed resist artillery attack, it proved difficult for Native America attackers to overwhelm.  While not a large fort, it connected distant Fort Pitt and Fort Detroit with British command at Fort Niagara.

With the retreat of the French from North America, various Indian tribes began to worry about what British control of North America would mean for them. While some tribes, such as the Mohawks, were traditional British allies, many others such as the Ottawas, were deeply troubled by the absence of the drapeu blanc in back-country.

Around this time, two Indian figures, one Delaware, and one Ottawa, began to change the way in which Indians conceived of themselves in relation to Europeans. Neolin, often called, "the Delaware Prophet," was a spiritual leader, who preached that Indians should abandon European entanglements, and drive Europeans from their lands. He was a pivotal force in establishing the idea of "Pan-Indian" identity. These ideas were supported by an Ottawa war-leader named Pontiac. In 1763, Pontiac began an uprising which still bears his name, although he did not exert personal control over most of the Indians involved in the struggle. One of the targets for the Indian uprising was Fort Presque Isle.

The current location of the British Fort Presque Isle

In the face of this uprising, Ensign John Christie commanded Fort Presque Isle. He had slightly less than thirty soldiers under his command,  and was faced with an Indian force of 250 Chippewas, Ottawas, and Hurons. Christie attempted to avoid the confrontation, but upon coming within musket range of the fort, the Native American warriors opened fire.

Realizing that it would be pointless to attempt to defend the entire fort with only thirty men, Christie withdrew his soldiers into the blockhouse- the two story building in the northwestern corner of the fort. The Indians swiftly broke into the fort, and employed effective siege techniques, such as using a mobile shield constructed from an outbuilding, to cover their advance. The battle for Fort Presque Isle lasted three days, mostly consisting of efforts by Native American warriors to set the blockhouse on fire. Ensign Christie, his soldiers, and one woman- the wife of a soldier, fought a desperate battle to keep the Indians pinned down long enough to extinguish the fires on the blockhouse.

On the evening of the second day, the Indians attempted to convince the garrison to surrender, first by offering them terms in French, and finally, when it was obvious none of the garrison spoke French, getting an English deserter who fought with the Ottawas to communicate with Christie. After much deliberation, the English agreed to surrender, upon being given assurances that they would be free to march away unharmed. The Indians promptly burned the fort to the ground, and after convincing the British to lay down their arms, captured all but two of the British soldiers.

While Ensign Christie was eventually returned to the British at Fort Detroit, the fate of the rest of the captives is unknown.

After the fall of Fort Presque Isle, the British managed to suppress Pontiac's Rebellion. They were in America to stay, and no amount of effort by Native Americans could force them out. Erie would remain abandoned until 1795, when a new power would construct yet another fort in the region.

Thanks for Reading!

Alex Burns

Forts near Presque Isle in the Kabinettskriege Era (part 1)

The modern site of the historic fortifications of Erie, PA

Dear Reader,

Today, we are going to look at the history of a place a little closer to home than normal. While much of the fighting of the Kabinettskriege era went on in places far away from my rustic midwestern living quarters, some of it occurred quite close to home. Erie, Pennsylvania, is a town with a rich historical background. While probably best well known to historical enthusiasts for its rich naval history, focusing on the War of 1812, there is another, equally important part of Erie history which has been overlooked by most of the town's inhabitants.

Before it was the home of the flagship Niagara, or the supply post of Oliver Hazard Perry, Erie was the center of a different conflict. Not between the British and the Americans, but between the French and the British, and various Native American forces. In the Kabinettskriege era, Erie was located in a hotly disputed territory referred to as the Pays d'en Haut, or what we might refer to in English as the "Upper Country," or colonial back-country. Erie was not a town then, or even a population center, it was part of a vast territory under dispute by many peoples: the French, the British, and various Indian peoples. At the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, Erie was the site of a French colonial fort, Fort de la Presqu'Ile.

Historical Marker near the site of Fort de la Presqu'Ile

As you can see, Fort de la Presqu'Ile was the built in the Vauban model of fortifications (often colloquially referred to as "star forts") and consisted of four corner star bastions connected by curtain walls. It contained a small French garrison, (100 or fewer men,) and a few small cannons, and flew the drapeu blanc, the white flag which symbolized French military power in America. However, as Dr. Daniel Ingram has decisively demonstrated in his book, Indians and British Outposts in Eighteenth Century America, Native Americans would not have been overawed by this relatively weak timber construction. It was a place of cultural exchange, not cultural domination.  When the Seven Years' War broke out, the French managed to successfully defend Fort Duquesne, in modern day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a two hour drive to the south of modern day Erie. However, this French success could not last forever, as British naval action had severely hampered the flow of reinforcements to North America.

In an issue of the Erie county historical society magazine from the turn of the century, a local historian found an engineer's description of the fort:

"The body of the work was in the form of a parallelogram, about seventy five by one hundred and five feet, with bastions in the form of polygons at each of the four angles. The gate fronted the river. In the interior were the magazine, fifteen by eighteen feet,  protected by a thickness of three feet of earth, and several buildings for officers' barracks. Two of these were eighteen by fifty feet, with three others that were smaller. The barracks were two stories high, and furnished with stone chimenys.  A door in the northeastern bastion led to a large cellar. The soldiers' barracks consisted of forty-four separate buildings  chiefly on the north and east sides. "

However, in the summer of July, 1759, disaster struck. The larger and more important Fort Niagara, near Youngstown, NY, had been attacked by overwhelming British forces. As a result, the forts in modern northwestern, PA were expected to send forces to Niagara's relief. Fort de la Presqu'Ile, For Le Boeuf, and Fort Machault all sent a significant portion of their garrisons in an effort to break the British siege. These soldiers were defeated in the Battle of La Belle-Famille, leaving the western French forts almost undefended.

Thus, in the high summer of 1759, the French made the decision to abandon their forts in the Pays d'en Haut. They gave whatever they could not carry with them to their Indian allies, and burned their wooden forts to the ground.

Sadly, that is all I have time for today. Tune in soon for the continuation of this story- when the British construct a new fort in the area, and that fort, in its turn, is attacked by Native Americans.

Thanks for Reading!

Alexander Burns

Update

Dear Blog Readers,

Sorry for the long delay in writing! I am alive and well, but between graduating with my MA, moving to a new apartment, starting a new job, and a number of other personal changes, I've not had much time to blog. I will be teaching as an adjunct professor at Indiana Wesleyan University starting on June 30th, so I will have much more time to blog then, as opposed to my current job, where I am away from the writing desk 40+ hours a week.

However, I thought I might give you a preview of what's to come.

I will be doing a piece on Fort de Presque Isle during the Seven Years' War and Pontiac's Rebellion. In addition, I will be reviewing some more books, so if you don't like book reviews, let me know in the comments, and I will do something else.

As always, I am open to your feedback regarding potential topics. If you have something about warfare from 1648-1789, you would like me to right about, let me know!

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns

Book Review: Sweden in the Seventeenth Century

Dear Reader,

Interested in Swedish history, but don't speak Swedish? Want a look into how a relatively backwater country made a comet-like rise to great power status? Then Paul Lockhart's Sweden in the Seventeenth Century is the book for you.  This book examines the Stormaktid, or "great power period" of Swedish history. Lockhart is traditionally a Danish historian, and as his CV will tell you, has written numerous books on the geo-political role of Denmark in the early modern world. In more recent years, he has written a couple of wonderful books on the American War of Independence.

However, in this work, he takes a break from Danish history, (although his Danish viewpoint occasionally reasserts itself), and examines the role of Denmark's neighbor, Sweden. Lockhart eloquently argues that Sweden asserted its position as a great power by use of military force, and that Sweden lagged behind other European powers in terms of, "literary, artistic, scholarly, or commercial sophistication." The book shows that the Swedish state was build around the use of military force, specifically, the use of limited resources to conduct lengthy wars.

The book is more of a survey than a monograph, covering a roughly 120 (Lockhart begins in the 16th century and ends in the 18th) years of history in 177 pages. Lockhart gives time to Swedish military organization and reform, administrative reforms, and the lives of the men and women who made up the Swedish state in this period. In addition, Lockhart shows a great command of the relevant historiography of Sweden in both the English and Swedish languages, and as a result, this book will be very useful for younger scholars, and as a textbook for upper level undergraduate courses on the early modern world.

All in all: 5 Stars. I highly recommend that anyone interested in this period, or Swedish history as a whole, purchase this book.

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns

Book Review: Frederick the Great by Gerhard Ritter

Dr. Gerhard Ritter

This weekend, I traveled to South Bend for the 31st Annual Seven Years' War Convention. While there, I picked up a number of books, including a couple of Dr. Christopher Duffy's excellent works on the Seven Years' War. Duffy was in attendance yet again this year, and on Friday night, I had a chance to stay up late and talk with him and a group of like-minded individuals about the Seven Years' War. At the end of the evening, he said, "Listen up- I am about to ask something profound. Why do you think we like the Seven Years' War?"

Although there were a number of good answers, such as the fashion of the period, the military organization and tactics involved, and many others, the answer that stuck in my head was: the personalities. Frederick II of Prussia, Maria Theresa of Austria, Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz-Rietberg, James Wolfe, and many many others.

As a result, I returned to my favorite biography of Frederick II of Prussia-- Frederick the Great by Dr. Gerhard Ritter. "Heresy!" you shout- surely my favorite biography should be Dr. Duffy's Military Life of Frederick the Great! If we are talking about purely military information, you are, of course right. Duffy's biography is the most useful for military information. However, for a holistic picture of Frederick as a man, Ritter's biography is, at least in my opinion, yet to be surpassed.

Ritter was a product of the German Empire. He loved the strong Germany of his youth, and though he occasionally worked with the Nazi party, did not agree with the principles it stood for. Ritter was arrested for his role in the July 20th plot to assassinate Hitler, and was one of the few conspiracy members not executed for participation.

The reason why Ritter's biography of Frederick remains captivating is Ritter's masterful understanding of the Prussian state under Frederick. After reading Ritter's work, you will have not only an understanding of Frederick the Great, or the Prussian military, but also the eighteenth century Prussian state. For that reason alone, his book is valuable.

Ritter shows a business-like Frederick, concerned for the well-being of his subjects. On the end of the Seven Years' War, Ritter shares this anecdote, to demonstrate Frederick's indomitable will to restore Prussia:

When he returned to Berlin he did not ride in the ceremonial coach which awaited him, but reached the palace through side streets. There, the following day, he received a deputation of county councillors. He roughly broke into their welcoming address: "Be silent and let me speak. Do you have a crayon? Very well, write down: the gentlemen must draw up a list of how much wheat for bread, how much seed, how many horses, oxen and cows are immediately needed in their counties. Think over it carefully, and come back the day after tomorrow." 

 Ritter's views on Prussia and German nationalism are extremely politically incorrect from today's standpoint. However, if properly accounted for, this does not damage the usefulness of the biography. Read critically, this is one of the best biographies of Frederick available.

Thanks for Reading,


Alex Burns

Links to Seven Years' War Convention websites

Dear Readers,

As a result of changes in the Seven Years' War Association, I have taken over management of the web related materials for the Seven Years' War Convention. You can find the new Seven Years' War convention site at http://sywconvention.blogspot.com/, or you can follow us on Facebook. As a result, I will steer away from posting excessive SYW convention related material on this website. Rather, I will focus on the cultural and military history which you have come to expect from Kabinettskriege. 

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns 

Dogs in the Kabinettskriege Period

Charles Lee with one of his numerous dogs 

 Dear Reader,

Whether you are a good, loyal, dog loving person, or an evil, faithless, degenerate cat lover, you still want to hear more about animals in the Kabinettskriege period, right?

The fact of the matter is, dogs were loved in this period of history, much like they are today. At the Battle of Germantown, a fierce battle in the 1777 Philadelphia campaign, the American soldiers actually captured one of General William Howe's dogs, a fox terrier, (name, alas, unknown). The dog had followed Howe into battle, and in the confusion, retreated with the Americans instead of the British. Caroline Tiger has written a fascinating study of this incident. 

A recent study of dogs, gentlemanly conduct, and warfare

 Many Americans soldiers advocated taking the dog as a prize of war, or even charging it with being a spy. General Washington soon became aware of what was happening, and returned the pooch to his owner, with a friendly note, stating:

"General Washington's compliments to General Howe. He does himself the pleasure to return him a dog, which accidentally fell into his hands, and by the inscription on the Collar appears to belong to General Howe." [1]

Thus, Washington proved that he was a gentleman, and this incident left a profound effect on General Howe. Howe was far from the only dog lover in the Kabinettskriege period. General Charles Lee, a British and American soldier, was seldom seen without at least six dogs. General Washington had many dogs, and after the war, named one of them Cornwallis after the British general!

Frederick II of Prussia, working with his dogs

Frederick II "the Great" of Prussia also loved his greyhounds and whippets very much. While often spiky and unkind in human relationships, he always had a soft spot in his heart for animals. This might be a result of his childhood, where often pets were his only consolation when dealing with his menacing father. His favorite dog was Biche, a whippet who was given to him early in life. Much like General Howe's dog, she was captured by the Austrians during a battle. At the end of the war, the Austrians returned Biche to Frederick, and he cried tears of joy.

Later, when Biche passed away, Frederick wrote the following:

“I have had a domestic loss which has completely upset my philosophy. I confide all my frailties in you: I have lost Biche, and her death has reawoken in me the loss of all my friends, particularly of him who gave her to me. I was ashamed that a dog could so deeply affect my soul, but the sedentary life I lead and the faithfulness of this poor creature had so strongly attached me to her, her suffering so moved me, that I confess, I am sad and afflicted. Does one have to be hard? Must one be insensitive? I believe that anyone capable of indifference towards a faithful animal is unable to be grateful towards an equal, and that, if one must choose, it is best to be too sensitive than too hard.” 

One of our modern-day "dog's of war"

However, like James Herriot, Frederick believed that it was important to always have animals in his life, and went on to have many other dogs. He loved dogs until the end of his days, as evidenced by his last words, “cover the dog, he is shivering.” Frederick’s love for dogs, (and other animals) shows us another side of his character, often missed by historians. Much like today, dogs were an essential part of life during the Kabinettskriege period.

If you enjoyed the post, feel free to share it.

Thanks for reading,

Alex Burns 

[1] Washington Papers, Washington to Howe, Oct. 6, 1777.