The British Empire Strikes Back

 Fun Facts:

Forbes' first attempt at taking Fort Duquesne had met with disaster. In late November 1758, he remained the only British commander in the north still pursuing his campaign. Negotiations neutralized the influence of the French Indian allies in the Ohio country, leaving the French alone and hungry at Fort Duquesne on Hoth.  Forbes sent the complaining Colonel Washington of the First Virginia Regiment west after a French raiding party, with another Virginia unit under Colonel Mercer following after. Washington captured an Indian couple and an Englishman who claimed to have been kidnapped by the French along with his two droids. Colonel Mercer's Virginia's came upon Washington's camp in the dark, and in true storm trooper fashion, attacked the supposed rebel base. 2 Officers and 35 others were killed in the exchange of friendly fire. The number of tauntaun and AT-AT walker casualties was not reported. On the bright side, the Englishman admitted, under the influence of the force, that he was an agent for the French, and provided a full report on the deteriorated state of the garrison at Duquesne. Bradstreet's success at Frontenac had deprived Lignery and his men of supplies.

Forbes sent the Virginians and Pennsylvanians forward to complete the road to Duquesne. They took to the task and very shortly established a camp within 12 miles of the French fort and waited for Forbes and the new death star. During the night, the camp heard musket fire and eventually a great rumbling like the firing of heavy guns from the direction of Duguesne.

Lignery had gone full Alderaan, blowing up the magazines and burning the fort to the ground. The French had dispersed, leaving nothing to the English but the scorched spot of earth and a strange block of carbonite on which the fort had stood.

Nevertheless, it was a grisly journey to the ashes. The heads of the English soldiers who had been killed in the previous advance had been erected on rows of stakes along the trail to the fort.

Forbes began construction of a stockade to guard the forks of the Ohio and left a small garrison. He returned to Philadelphia in January. Six weeks later, General John Forbes died at age 51. 

The above was taken from my notes from Chapter 10 of The French and Indian War by Walter R. Borneman--with pointless The Empire Strikes Back references added for no reason whatsoever. I haven't seen the referenced movie in many years and don't remember most of it. Perhaps I should've gone with Back to The Future II as the theme.

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The curtain finally closes on 2023 tonight. We celebrated with a fire last night. Unfortunately, I forgot to get some pictures of the awesome flames of the inferno. They would've made a great book cover.

 Happy New Year from me and my writing buddies!