Musket & Tomahawk: A Military History of the French & Indian War, 1753-1760 (Regiments & Campaigns)

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There are three universal scenarios in the main rulebook that can be used for any time period, all of them are classic, basic games that we’re all used to, Seizing objectives, steal the loot and exit the board. A comprehensive history of the brutal wilderness war that secured America’s independence in 1777—by an author with “a flair for vivid detail” ( Library Journal).

Visit Fort Ligonier for a surprisingly great collection of top notch artifacts and paintings from the period as well as a painstakingly reconstructed period fort. Origins Skirmish in Hampshire County, West Virginia, Spring 1756. In the early part of the war, the French, Canadians, and their allied Indians prevailed on the frontier. However, the Colonial Americans did have the occasional success against these raiders. In the spring of 1756, Virginia Militia Captain Jeremiah Smith of Albemarle County arrived in Hampshire County, Virginia, then on the western edge of settlement and today part of West Virginia. He was just in time: “...a party of about 50 Indians, with a French captain at their head, crossed the Allegheny Mountains... Capt. Smith raised a party of twenty brave men, marched to meet this...foe, and fell in with them at the head of the Capon River, when a fierce and bloody battle was fought. Smith killed the captain with his own hand; five other Indians have fallen...they gave way and fled.” Episodes such as this were repeated scores of times in the frontier counties Fort Ligonier as reconstructed. This view shows the west side of the fort with its elaborate outer defenses. (Author’s photo) Tomahawk and Musket – French and Indian Raids in the Ohio Valley 1758 shouts… The fight was brisk and stubborn…the loss of the English was 400 killed, a large number wounded and at least 100 made prisoners including the commander [Grant] and other officers. We lost 8 Canadians killed and 8 wounded… Mr. Aubry, captain of the troops of New Orleans as well as all officers of the detachment from the Illinois gave proof of great valor in this affair…1 Origins Colonel George Washington, Virginia Regiment. Although this 19th-century painting shows the regiment’s officer’s coat buttons and lace as being of gold, they were actually silver. (Unknown artist. Collection and photo: Fort Ligonier Museum, Ligonier, Pennsylvania)

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George II, King of Great Britain and Ireland 15, 20 Grant, Maj James 4, 49–59, 50–51, 52, 53, 54–55, 59, 70, 73 Great Britain 5, 5, 14–15, 20–21 see also Anglo-American forces; British American colonies Great Peace of Montreal (1701) 8 Britain’s three-pronged thrust was meant to separate New England from the rest of the young nation. Yet, despite its superior resources, Britain’s campaign was a disaster. Gen. John Burgoyne emerged from a woodline with six thousand soldiers to surrender to the Patriots at Saratoga in October 1777. Destruction of Fort de la Presqu’île, 1759. Following their evacuation and destruction of Fort Duquesne, forts Machault (or Venango), Le Boeuf, and de la Presqu’île were also set on fire by the retreating French and Canadians. (Anonymous 1930s painting. Erie County Historical Society, Erie, Pennsylvania. Author’s photo)

Muskets & Tomahawks is a set of rules for recreating skirmishes during the major wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. John Campbell, Earl of Loudoun, c.1753. During his tenure as commanderin-chief in North America during 1756 and 1757, General Loudoun formulated the master strategy that was followed by the British government for the conquest of New France. He is shown in the uniform of the 30th Regiment of Foot. (Collection and photo: Fort Ligonier, Pennsylvania)Tomahawk and Musket – French and Indian Raids in the Ohio Valley 1758 Americans surveying land beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains toward the Ohio Valley in the late 1740s. Indians look on, wondering what is going on and sometimes reporting these activities to the French. Print after JOB in the 1914 Washington: Man of J.C.B. 46, 47, 57, 59 Johnson, Richard 69, 71 Johnson, Sir William 20, 35 Jumonville, Ensign Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de 12 Jumonville Glen, battle of (1754) 8, 11–12, 31 La Salle, Robert Cavelier de 10 Le Moyne d’Iberville, Pierre 10 League of Six Nations 19–20 Lévis, Gen Gaston de 58, 61, 64, 68 Lewis, Maj Andrew 52, 53, 57, 59 Lignery, François-Marie Marchand de 46, 47, 48, 53, 56, 58–59, 60, 71–72, 75–76 Evacuation of Fort Duquesne, November 1758. (Print after W. Snyder. Private collection. Author’s photo) Tomahawk and Musket – French and Indian Raids in the Ohio Valley 1758 usually tended to have blue or green uniforms for their infantry units rather than red, although there were exceptions. Although the Pennsylvania Quaker population was still demographically important and politically powerful, waves of settlers of other beliefs and origin had also put down roots and prospered in the province. These settlers were not as pacifist as the Quakers and clamored to have some military organization. At the behest of Benjamin Franklin and other prominent men, volunteer armed associations had been formed in the 1740s and, with warfare erupting on the western frontier in the 1750s, concerned citizens pressured their legislature to provide some military aid. At length, compromises were found and provincial troops were allowed to be raised and funded. The Pennsylvania contingent for 1758 was quite large by colonial standards and consisted of three numbered battalions forming the Pennsylvania Provincial Regiment. However, the regiment had no central command and actually operated as three separate and distinct units. The 1st Pennsylvania Battalion was commanded by Colonel John Armstrong, a frontiersman who, two years earlier, had led a daring and successful raid on Some examples include; your officer being drunk, not wanting to get a new uniform dirty, having a brilliant Commander who has to die, not being the first to initiate hostilities, not having any units rout, battlefield negotiations, your Commander being an old man, passing a letter to an enemy officer in the middle of a battle, being friends with the enemy leader and not wanting him killed, despising the enemy leader and wanting him killed and one of my favourites ‘A Good Day to Die’ which involves your Commander getting killed in melee combat.

With Musket and Tomahawk is a vivid account of the American and British struggles in the sprawling wilderness region of the American northeast during the Revolutionary War. Combining strategic, tactical, and personal detail, historian Michael Logusz describes how the patriots of the newly organized Northern Army defeated England’s massive onslaught of 1777, all but ensuring America’s independence. Montour, the “Enemy’s strength both as to Indians, French and Canadians and the present situation of their fort be infinitely stronger than any thing I ever could have imagined… [Croghan and Montour] sending me positive accounts that their numbers exceed greatly 4000, in and about the Fort…” By October 8, Croghan was still insisting that there were about 4,000 enemies, but Forbes now informed Abercromby that “This I cannot believe” and now thought that “their whole force are not more than 1200 men which is in their fort…” A week later, on October 15, Forbes wrote to Bouquet informing him that the Ohio Indians had told the participants at the meeting going on in Easton at the time that “the French will have in those parts near four thousand men French, Canadians, & Indians. That they have provisions in plenty as yet; That the Canadians are not at all in the Fort but that they as well as the western Indians were scattered about in the Indian villages where they help the inhabitants to build huts & houses and were ready at a Call” (Forbes: pp. 217, 227, 230). Thus plagued with obviously dubious information, General Forbes was rightly suspicious about American intelligence services. On the French side, everyone knew in Fort Duquesne that major reinforcements amounting to thousands of troops would not be coming to the Ohio Valley to face a large Anglo-American army. The defense resources of New France were already stretched to the limit and its few thousands of regular soldiers could be concentrated on only one front. In the summer of Tomahawk and Musket – French and Indian Raids in the Ohio Valley 1758 edition. In any event, he later wrote to William Pitt that he had applied “the Generall principles upon which I have proceeded” from Turpin “regarding precautions by having posts along my route…” (CO 5/50). From late April, but especially during May, contingents gradually moved westward towards Raystown, 217 miles (349 km) from Philadelphia, where all units would regroup. Also heading there were up to 360 supply wagons as well the artillery. Forbes instructed Bouquet to go ahead to Raystown while he remained at Philadelphia with St. Clair to sort out various supply problems, then headed out in late June. Meanwhile, as he moved west, Bouquet found the existing road increasingly difficult and finally found it easier to built an entirely new one west of Fort Loudoun, and reached Fort Lyttleton (also spelled Littleton), which had been built by Pennsylvania Aubry’s Raid on Fort Ligonier John Ligonier, First Earl Ligonier, 1760. Lord Ligonier was commanderin-chief of the British army from 1757 to 1759, thus at the time of Forbes’ advance in 1758, and Fort Ligonier was named in his honor. He became Master-General of the Ordnance from 1759 to 1762. (Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Collection and photo: Fort Ligonier Museum, Ligonier, Pennsylvania) Ammunition wagon, mid18th century. This type of wagon was drawn by four horses and had a capacity to carry up to 1,200 pounds. “Ammunition” at the time could include various types of military stores, tools and rations. (Reproduction. Fort Ligonier Museum, Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Author’s photo)

Summary

Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Bouquet, c.1755. He was the senior officer after General Forbes in his army during the 1758 campaign. (Print from an unsigned portrait. Author’s photo)