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  Benjamin West's The Death of Wolfe  The Fun Fact today returns us to the French and Indian War and Wolfe's attempt to take Quebec. In September 1759, Wolfe was moving forces up river, but Montcalm believed that was a diversion and that the British attack on the French stronghold would once again be directed at Beauport. In fact, that was what Wolfe had wanted to do. His brigadiers, however, said, "Don't" to that plan--thus extending the conflict (drama) and creating tension, for those of you interested in story techniques. Therefore, Wolfe, like a true literary hero, pointed out the cliffs at Anse au Foulon west of Quebec to Monckton as the place were that general would lead his troops in an assault. Monckton reacted with "Suspicion" to the idea, not knowing the overall scheme of attack and what Murray and Townsend might be assigned. September 12, the brigadiers told Wolfe, "Don't Be Cruel" and demanded some details on his plan. Wolfe was...

 Fun Fact: General Wolfe is in the middle After the campaigning of 1758, Brigadier James Wolfe believed he had a Ticket to Ride and returned to England of his own volition, much to the surprise of William Pitt who had sent orders for Wolfe to stay in America only like Yesterday . Pitt didn't dwell on Wolfe's improper return because he had decided on an expedition up the St. Lawrence and wanted the redheaded general to lead it. In the meantime, Wolfe became reacquainted with Katherine Lowther, with whom he opened up a can of Love Me Do . When he sailed from Portsmouth February 14, 1759 aboard the Neptune , he carried the new rank of major general, a small portrait of the lady, and, in response to his plea to Please Please Me , her promise of marriage on his return. Wolfe commanded 9,000 men with brigadiers John, Paul, George, and Ringo, Robert Monckton, James Murray, and George Townshend. Wolfe was the youngest by 6 months. Before the expedition to Quebec was over, all three br...

 Fun Fact: Abercromby had his brief and ill-fated Iliad at Carillon in 1758. General Amherst was set to make another attempt at it in 1759. After beginning construction on Fort George--to replace Fort William Henry--Amherst had assembled 10,000 men to embark on Lake George in July. The clash between Amherst's 10,000 and Charles de Bourlamaque's garrison of 3,000 at Fort Carillon is difficult to describe--mostly because there was no clash. The French commander and his troops slipped away as the British approached, leaving only 400 men to decorate and plan the welcome party for Amherst.  (Portrait of Jeffery Amherst by Joshua Reynolds) The British occupied the trenches and hauled up six 24 pounders to RSVP for the reception. Just before midnight on July 26, the party began with a bang--an explosion even. The last of the garrison had departed via Lake Champlain, but being no slouches at party planning, they had left a fuse burning slowly to the fort's ample powder magazine. ...

 Fun Fact: After arriving with several regiments in Boston in September 1758, Major General Amherst marched to Abercromby's camp at Fort Edward to find the force there in no condition to mount a winter strike against Ticonderoga. The Major General heard New York, New York calling his name, and retired to that city for the winter. There's no report on what Broadway shows were playing. In March 1759, Amherst dispatched Robert Rogers with 90 rangers, 200 regulars, and 50 Mohawk allies to reconnoiter the defenses of Ticonderoga. The garrison Forbes left at Fort Pitt had retained the fort, but the supply line was subject to attack from enemy regulars, militia, and their Indian allies. Commandant Lignery had retreated from Duquesne a hundred miles away to Venango to gather forces for a planned lightning attack down the Allegheny to retake Fort Pitt.  To take pressure off Fort Pitt, Amherst dispatched a force to attack Fort Niagara under newly appointed General John Prideaux. He took...

  Fun Fact: Before the outbreak of the French and Indian war, the French had traded sugar, molasses, and rum with the British North American colonies. Many American ship men ignored the trade restrictions after the war started and continued as smugglers. Others armed their vessels and went after French merchantmen. Some French shippers did likewise. Both England and France adopted a convoy system to protect the shipping. Sugar production flourished on the French island of Martinique, and the powerful sugar lobby convinced William Pitt that it should be taken and later used as a bargaining chip to exchange for Minorca in the Mediterranean, which the French had captured. Pitt's friend and sugar magnate assured him that Martinique would be an easy conquest. Lord Anson, first lord of the Admiralty, resisted Pitt's attempt to divert ships from the channel for the planned conquest. However, George II had caught Pitt's vision of global empire and become one Pitt's strongest su...

 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 influe...

  Fun Fact: Although Abercromby had been defeated in his poorly executed attack on Carillon, Louisbourg and Frontenac had fallen to the British. The English next moved on Fort Duquesne--again--hoping to achieve a different result than the disaster of three years earlier. The French and their Indian allies had fanned out from that fort to spread death and destruction. There were even rumors of attacks on the outskirts of Philadelphia.  William Pitt chose John Forbes to lead this prong of his attacks against New France. Forbes was a Scotsman trained as a doctor (with no known experience in time travel) who had received a commission in the Scots Greys. He had experience in the War of Austrian Succession, and would lead Pitt's attack on Duquesne as a brigadier general. Col. Sir John St. Clair, who had accompanied Braddock's ill-fated expedition three years earlier, would serve as Forbes' quartermaster. Lt. Col. Henry Bouquet was Forbes' second in command. Bouquet found hims...

Fun Fact: Following Abercromby's defeat at Carillon/Ticonderoga, he granted permission to Colonel John Bradstreet to undertake a bold mission that would have greater consequences than the taking of Ticonderoga. Bradstreet had mastered the use of flat-bottomed boats. Each boat could haul 25 men and supplies along the waterways. General Shirley had discovered Bradstreet and put him in charge of the bateau supply service on the Mohawk River, which served as the vital link between Albany and the western outposts, including Oswego. Bradstreet's plan was to lead an attack on Fort Frontenac--the hub of the French supply line in the west. In July 1758, Bradstreet was ordered to go up the Mohawk to help General Stanwix complete Fort Stanwix at the carrying place between the Mohawk River and Lake Oneida. From there, Bradstreet would take the fight up to Lake Ontario and to Frontenac at the vital location where the Lake Ontario jointed the St. Lawrence River. All the supplies for France...

   Fun Fact: Amherst took Louisbourg as the first prong of the British assault. The second prong of Pitt's vision for the conquest of Canada was led by Major General James Abercromby. At 52 years of age with many years of military experience, Abercromby was a methodical plodder who had never had an independent command. Montcalm himself went to Carillon as the British massed their forces near Albany for the strike north.  George Augustus, viscount Howe, was appointed as Abercromby's second-in-command. His brother Richard was Admiral Howe, and his brother William Howe would lead the British Army in America 20 years in the future. Lord Howe was the idol of the army, being everything Abercromby was not. Also figuring prominently among the soldiery was Robert Rogers, commissioned as Major of the Rangers in His Majesty's service. Howe impressed the rangers' style upon the other units of Abercromby's command--including cutting the brims from their hats and cutting their co...

   Fun Fact: 1757 had not been a good year for British arms in North America. William Pitt, convinced that Canada could be taken, devised a three-pronged assault for implementing his strategy of attacking Canada from all sides.  First he would take another stab at Louisbourg. Second, a strike north from Fort Edward to Forts Carillon (Ticonderoga) and Frederic would open the way from Lake Champlain through the Richelieu River to Montreal.The third prong would drive to Fort Duquesne and up to Fort Niagra to cut Canada's connection with the Louisiana. France's victories in Canada concealed a fatal secret: Canada was starving. Provisions from France were required to feed the colony, and the Royal Navy had the mouth of the St. Lawrence nearly corked. Pitt dispatched William Amherst as Commander-in-Chief to realize his vision of conquering Canada with the attack on Louisbourg. Louisbourg was a fortified town with stone walls, glacis, earthen ramparts for artillery and soldiers,...

 Fun Fact: With things going poorly for the British, Newcastle resigned his position at the head of the government. When William Pitt took over, he declared that North America should be defended by land and sea as a critical component of the British Empire. He asked for 8,000 men and a fleet to give form to his words, and he began a program of construction to bring the British Navy up to 400 ships. He and George II had never been besties, and after Pitt objected to Admiral Bying's execution, the king informed Pitt that he would accept his resignation. Necessity soon forced a compromise whereby Pitt would run the war, and Newcastle would carry on the the internal affairs of government. Lord Loudoun, who was now in command in America, agreed with the opinion that the way to win the war was to seize Quebec. Advancing by sea, a conservative step toward that goal would be to take Louisbourg, and Pitt ordered him to do just that. When Loudoun pulled troops from New York to mount an attac...

 Fun Fact: Braddock had gone down beneath French and Indian fire. Admiral Byng had fallen before a British firing squad. When the French attacked Fort Ontario, another head would roll.  The Marquis de Montcalm--whose name would later be linked forever with James Wolfe, Quebec, and the Plains of Abraham--sailed from Fort Frontenac across Lake Ontario to Oswego and surrounded the British forts of Ontario, Pepperell, and George. Fort Ontario on the east bank of the Oswego River overlooked Fort Pepperell on the western bank and the small redoubt of Fort George farther to the west. Montcalm placed his guns and rolled for initiative. Winning the roll, he opened up on Fort Ontario on August 12, 1756. Lieutenant Colonel James Mercer did not appreciate Montcalm's arrival and felt he was not properly prepared to welcome visitors. He evacuated Fort Ontario and retreated. Montcalm did the inevitable, and placed his guns on the heights to send his greetings to the other two forts. Mercer f...

 Fun Fact: General Braddock had the good sense to join the 500 corpses he left in the wilderness, so no action could be taken against him. Vice Admiral John Byng wasn't so fortunate. The French looked in the Mediterranean for a soft target and found Minorca. They massed 15,000 men with siege artillery and the duc de Richelieu sailed with them from Toulon. Vice Admiral Byng at 52 years of age was tagged to take a hastily assembled fleet from Portsmouth to intercept the French. The French landed and laid siege to Fort Saint Philip. Byng's orders and those of the governor of Gibraltar, where he was supposed to get additional troops, were conflicting. That governor worried about an attack on Gibraltar. Byng had to choose between trying to save Minorca or risking Gibraltar--at a time when no war had been declared. He chose to risk a naval battle for Minorca with his ten ships of the line and two frigates. Galissoniere waited with twelve ships of the line, including Foudroyant , whic...

 First -- Promise of Carnage and Flame is only 99 cents on Sep 11 and 12. After that, the price jumps back to $4.99  A disturbing vision sends Alex and Lucette into action in the cause of liberty. The Americans are losing the war and a new power has risen to counter the efforts of Alex and Lucette. When Alex is forced to make a deal with the devil, neither Alex nor the cause may recover. Will he succeed in defeating his new nemesis, or will the American forces in the north be utterly destroyed? One of the dragon hunters has a secret that may forever rend the alliances, friendships, and new relationships. None of that matters. The secret has driven this one across the sea to face risks unknown to most of mankind. Even the American cause cannot compare with the importance of this very personal mission. These adventures and more await our friends who must put everything at risk for their ideals and obligations. _________________________ Fun Fact: After the treaty of A...