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History
Britain 1750– c.1900
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History
Britain 1750–c.1900
Bob Pace M.A.
Series Editor: Niall Murphy M.A. (Cantab)
Independent Schools
Examinations Board
www.galorepark.co.uk
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Published by ISEB Publications, an imprint of Galore Park Publishing Ltd
19/21 Sayers Lane, Tenterden, Kent TN30 6BW
www.galorepark.co.uk
Text copyright © Bob Pace 2011
The right of Bob Pace to be identified as the author of this Work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Typography by Typetechnique, London W1
Indexing by Indexing Specialists (UK) Ltd, Hove, East Sussex
Printed by Lego SPA, Italy
ISBN: 978 1 905735 36 5
All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior
written permission of the copyright owner or a licence permitting restricted
copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby
Street, London EC1N 8TS.
First published 2012
Details of other Galore Park publications are available at www.galorepark.co.uk
ISEB Revision Guides, publications and examination papers may also be
obtained from Galore Park.
The publishers are grateful for permission to use the photographs as follows: Page 5: State
Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 10: (The Granger
Collection/TopFoto); p 12: Ashmolean Museum; p 17: Peter Newark American Pictures/The Bridgeman
Art Library; p 18: Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library;
p 20: American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library;
p 22: The Granger Collection/TopFoto; p 27: The Granger Collection/TopFoto; p 28: Private Collection/
Peter Newark American Pictures/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 30: Private Collection/The Bridgeman
Art Library; p 36: Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 39: (top): British Library, London, UK/©
British Library Board. All Rights Reserved/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 39: (bottom): By kind
permission of the British Museum; p 42: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London; p 45: © Royal
Naval Museum, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 50: Private Collection/The
Bridgeman Art Library; p 52: Private Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 56: National Army
Museum, London/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 58: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection,
USA/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 64: British Museum, London, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library;
p 70: Private Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 73: World History Archive/TopFoto; p 77: © Mary
Evans Picture Library/Alamy; p 80: Science Photo Library; p 82: Private Collection/The Bridgeman Art
Library; p 84: Private Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 86: Science Photo Library; p 91: Private
Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 92: © World History Archive/Alamy; p 96: Ironbridge Gorge
Museum, Telford, Shropshire, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 98: Science Museum, London, UK/The
Bridgeman Art Library; p 101: © Lordprice Collection/Alamy; p 103: World History Archive/TopFoto;
p 108: Science Museum, London, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 111: Private Collection/The
Stapleton Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 113: © British Library Board. All Rights
Reserved/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 116: © Mary Evans Picture Library/Alamy; p 120: The Stapleton
Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 122: The Granger Collection/TopFoto; p 123: Private
Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 126: ©TopFoto; p 128: © English Heritage. NMR/The
Bridgeman Art Library; p 129: Private Collection/The Stapleton Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library;
p 130: ©Punch Limited/Topham; p 136: © Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans; p 138: © Illustrated
London News Ltd/Mary Evans; p 140: ©2002 Topham Picturepoint; p 142: Mary Evans Picture Library;
p 144: © TopFoto/AMS; p 145: Print Collector/HIP/TopFoto; p148: Peter Newark Historical Pictures/
The Bridgeman Art Library; p 151: The Granger Collection/TopFoto; p 156: Private Collection/Ken
Welsh/The Bridgeman Art Library; p 157: Private Collection/Ken Welsh/ The Bridgeman Art Library;
p 159: © Punch Limited/Topham; p 161: National Army Museum, London/ The Bridgeman Art Library;
p 166: The Granger Collection/TopFoto; p 168: Private Collection/Peter Newark Pictures/The
Bridgeman Art Library; p 169: Print Collector/HIP/TopFoto; p 171: ©TopFoto; p 177: ARPL/HIP/TopFoto
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Foreword
This is the third and final book in our Key Stage 3 History series, and takes pupils on
an incredible journey from the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War and to the wars in
South Africa and the Crimea. In between they will learn about the social and
economic revolution that took place during this exciting period. Once again, we have
presented the material chronologically and have introduced an increasing amount of
primary sources, not just for the sake of it, but because we strongly believe that it is
the historian’s job, first and foremost, to answer the question: how do we know?
Dedication
I would like to dedicate this book to my mother, who was always a fantastic
supporter of all my endeavours, and to my Aunt Mary, whose energy and love of
learning has always inspired me.
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Contents
Introduction: Britain in 1750 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1 The Seven Years’ War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Further troubles for the British Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Build up to victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The year of victories, 1759 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The fall of Quebec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The end of the war – another new colony for the British . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2 The American Rebellion and world war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Stamp Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Tea and massacre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
More trouble with tea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
War breaks out: Lexington, Concord and Boston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Open rebellion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The Battle of Bunker Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Britain prepares for war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The course of the war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The turning point of the rebellion – Saratoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The final phase, 1778–1783 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Defeat at Yorktown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The Peace of Paris, 1783 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Could Britain have won the American War of Independence? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Chapter 3 The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The outbreak of the French Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The long war against France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
The naval war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
A British sailor’s life at sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Horatio Nelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
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The Trafalgar campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
The Battle of Trafalgar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
The Duke of Wellington and the struggle against Napoleon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
The Peninsular War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Wellington and Waterloo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
The Anglo-Dutch army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
The Waterloo campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
The Battle of Waterloo, 18th June 1815 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Britain at the end of the Napoleonic Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Chapter 4 Dissent and calls for political reform, 1815 –1848 . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
The rise of protest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Actions and reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Calls for parliamentary change and the Reform Bill of 1832 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Chartism: the bitter discontent grown fierce and mad (Thomas Carlyle) . . . . . . . . . 69
Chapter 5 The Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
The Agricultural Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
The Industrial Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
The iron industry and Coalbrookdale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Richard Arkwright and the cotton industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Harnessing the power of steam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 6 The transportation revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Turnpike trusts and stagecoaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Canals: ‘the most extraordinary thing in the kingdom’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Thomas Telford and the age of the civil engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
The development of the railways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
The impact and importance of the railways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
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Chapter 7 Social and industrial reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
The abolition of slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Slavery in the West Indies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The abolitionists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The campaign against the slave trade: progress and failure, 1787–1793 . . . . . . . . . . 113
The victory of 1807 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Stagnation and a new start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Final victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Elizabeth Fry and reform in the prisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
The New Poor Law, 1834 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
The Factory Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Chapter 8 A decade of success: the Great Exhibition and the
Crimean War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
The legacy of the Great Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
The Crimean War, 1854 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Chapter 9 Queen Victoria, government and politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
The young Queen Victoria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Key political figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Queen Victoria in her later years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Chapter 10 The rise and rise of the British Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
India, the Jewel in the Crown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
The Indian Mutiny, 1857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Empire in the late 19th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
The Anglo-Boer War, 1899–1902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
The first stage: the Boer offensive of late 1899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
The second stage: Lord Roberts and the British offensives of 1900
– Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
The final stage: guerrilla warfare, 1900–1902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
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Introduction | 1
Introduction: Britain in 1750
In the year 1750 London was shaken by not one but two earthquakes in two months.
The historian Horace Walpole wrote at the time:
I thought somebody was getting out from under my bed, but soon found it was a strong
earthquake, that lasted nearly half a minute, with a violent vibration and great roaring.
I got up and found people running into the streets, but saw no mischief done.
Little did Walpole or his contemporaries know how Britain and British life were to
be shaken in the next 150 years.
Great Britain in 1750 was the centre of a vigorous and expanding empire, and held
colonies all over the world. British ships sailed all the oceans of the world; Britain’s
merchants traded in places as far away as India, China, the West African coast, the
West Indies and mainland North America.
The British navy was the key to controlling and spreading this empire. It was also the
‘wooden wall’ protecting the British Isles from its greatest enemy and rival, France.
London was the largest city in the British Isles, thriving as the Empire’s bustling trade
and political centre. Edinburgh, Dublin, Nottingham, York, Bristol and Liverpool were
smaller cities. Like their ancestors, most people living in Great Britain were involved
in farming.
The man who sat at the top of the government that controlled Great Britain was
King George II, whose family also ruled the small German state of Hanover; he
inherited the throne of Britain from his father, George I, who, as the grandson of
James I, was the closest living Protestant relative of Queen Anne, the previous
monarch.
Political power in Britain lay with the king and his ministers, while Parliament sought
to scrutinise their actions. Political groupings – such as the Tories and the Whigs –
existed, but they were more informal and loosely organised than modern political
parties. Only relatively wealthy men had the right to vote, and some Members of
Parliament were elected because of their family connections and social position. The
position of prime minister had recently developed to help the foreign Hanoverian
kings to rule. However, the prime minister and other ministers were dependent upon
the support of the king for their posts.
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2 | History: Britain 1750–c.1900
If a resident of Britain in 1600 could have travelled forward in time to 1750 he or she
would have seen many changes, but would also have found much that was familiar in
how people lived and worked. The same time traveller would be totally out of place if
he or she were to visit Britain in 1900. The story of how and why Britain was to
change so much in 150 years is the subject of this book.
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Chapter 1 | 3
Chapter 1 The Seven Years’ War
By 1750, Britain already had an expanding empire. Other European countries, such as
France and Spain, also had an interest in gaining colonies and saw Britain’s success as a
threat. It was the struggle between the French and British colonies that was to spark
a war that would spread to Europe and the rest of the world.
For more than 100 years, British colonists had been settling along the eastern
coast of North America. Some came looking for farmland, others for religious
freedom and some to escape problems at home. The numbers of settlers had
grown until there were over a hundred thousand living in colonies such as Virginia,
New York and Georgia.
The colony of New France lay to the north of the British colonies in America. The
British and French sometimes fought each other when wars took place in Europe. In
the early 1750s, the French moved south along the western side of the Appalachian
Mountains to create a chain of forts. British colonists became alarmed since they
traded with tribes in the area and had hoped to establish farms to settle.
The British governor and the colonists of Virginia were determined to stop the
French from spreading their settlements ever westward. In 1753 the Governor sent a
letter of protest to the French, carried by a 21-year-old surveyor and militia officer
by the name of George Washington. He was met courteously, but told in no uncertain
terms that the French were in the Ohio Valley to stay.
By 1754 Washington was made
a colonel in the Virginia
militia and sent with 300 men
to seize the French Fort
Duquesne. Its position at the
junction of the Allegheny and
Ohio Rivers made it very
important for transportation in
a place with few roads. As a
possible war approached, both
the British and French sought
allies among the local tribes.
The Iroquois joined the British,
while the Shawnee and
Delaware joined the French.
Area of British control
Area of French control
Louisbourg
Quebec
Montreal
200 miles
Ticonderoga
Fort William-Henry
River Allegheny
n
hia s
lac tain
p
Ap oun
M
Fort Duquesne
River Ohio
Fort Necessity
North America and the Seven Years’ War
Area of
detail
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4 | History: Britain 1750–c.1900
Washington never reached the fort. After ambushing a small French party he and his
men were forced to build a stockade made of wooden posts, Fort Necessity, to try
to defend themselves from a larger French force. On 4th July 1754, Washington
surrendered. When news of these events reached Europe, war between Britain and
France looked inevitable. As Horace Walpole wrote:
It was this volley, fired by a young Virginian in the backwoods of America, which set the
world on fire.
Although fighting spread rapidly, war was not formally declared until May 1756.
Both the French and the British sent reinforcements to America. The British also sent
General Edward Braddock, a soldier with experience in fighting in Europe, but who
had little knowledge of warfare in the forests of America. As the famous American
scientist Benjamin Franklin wrote of him:
He had too mean an opinion of Americans and Indians.
General Braddock led an army of 2,100 men to attack Fort Duquesne a year after
Washington’s failed attempt. Braddock’s column slowly crawled through the endless
forests to be ambushed just 6 miles from the fort in what was called the Battle of
Monongahela River. The French force of 250 European soldiers and 600 Native
Americans spread out and hid in the long grass and among the trees to fire and
reload. The British fought in European style, standing in dense ranks and firing volleys
with their muskets.
A British colonist eyewitness wrote:
The enemy kept behind trees, and cut down our troops, as fast as they could advance.
The soldiers then insisted much to be allowed to take to the trees, which the General
denied and stormed much, calling them cowards.
Brave, but foolishly stubborn, Braddock was killed, and Washington took command.
He organised a retreat back through the forests and extricated the survivors. In all
the British had lost 456 dead and 422 wounded, plus most of their equipment and
supplies. The French lost eight Frenchmen and 15 native allies.
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Chapter 1 | 5
The Shooting of General Braddock at Fort Duquesne, Pittsburgh, at the Battle of Monongahela River
Exercise 1.1
Copy out the following paragraph, filling in the blanks.
Fighting between the French and British American colonies often occurred because of
wars breaking out in ___________. But in 1754 it was the actions of a young colonial
officer named ___________ ___________ that started a war. The French had built
Fort ___________ and this was seen as a threat by the British. A force under the
command of General ___________ was sent to take it. Just 6 miles from the fort they
were ___________ by a small force of ___________ and ___________. ___________
The British were defeated because the attackers ___________ in the trees and tall
grass while the British troops stood in ___________ ___________. What was left of
the British force was led in retreat by ___________.
Exercise 1.2
Write a paragraph explaining why the British were so thoroughly defeated at the
Battle of Monongahela River. Look at both the longer-term reasons, such as leadership
and preparation, and the shorter-term causes, like the terrain of the battlefield and
how both sides tried to fight.
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Further troubles for the British Empire
On the other side of the world from America, the British, through a part-commercial,
part-military organisation called the East India Company, had for a century been
striving to control the lucrative trade with the Indian subcontinent. This led them into
wars against some local rulers and against the French, who were also seeking to
dominate trade in the area.
In 1756 Siraj-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Bengal, demanded that the East India Company
demolish a fort they had built at Calcutta (now Kolkata) without his permission.
When they refused, Siraj-ud-Daula marched his army into Calcutta and seized the
fort. The British prisoners were reportedly put into a room about 7 m2 without food
or water. By the next morning, it is said that more than half the prisoners had died of
heat and thirst.
One survivor, John Holwell, later wrote:
By half an hour past eleven (in the night), the much greater number of those living
were in an outrageous delirium, and the others quite ungovernable; few retaining any
calmness, but the ranks next the window … They whose strength was exhausted, laid
themselves down and expired quietly …
He called the incident the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’. It is now disputed as to how much
truth there was in the account, showing the problems modern historians can have
with information from the past. The only eyewitness account of the tragedy is by John
Holwell, but he is known to have been keen to make a strong propaganda case against
the Nawab. Historians in both Britain and India have questioned Holwell’s account,
some even suggesting it was entirely made up. Most agree, however, that a group of
prisoners was placed in a confined space and many did die, but the exact numbers
and the actual size of the place are both uncertain.
However, at the time, accounts like this inflamed British popular opinion against Sirajud-Daula. Meanwhile, the French had seized the island of Minorca, the main British
naval base in the Mediterranean. The British Government
Find out
then made an alliance with the German state of Prussia
more …
against Austria, which was allied with France. The war was
What is
now a European conflict in which the British king, George
meant by ‘historical bias’?
II, would insist on the safety of his old home, Hanover.
How might bias have
The political uproar caused by the military failures of
1755–1756 gave one man an opportunity to take
centre stage.
affected the way the story
of the Black Hole of
Calcutta was reported?
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Chapter 1 | 7
William Pitt was a Member of Parliament who came from a very wealthy family of
merchants. He believed the key to winning the war for Britain lay in fighting the war
on the seas and in the colonies, instead of in Europe. He strongly opposed the
government led by the Duke of Newcastle and how it was running the war.
In an age with no strong party system many Members of Parliament could be swayed
in their voting by speakers like Pitt, who rapidly gained support among MPs and the
public. But when Newcastle resigned in 1756 George II refused to appoint Pitt as
Prime Minister because he was a commoner.
Instead Pitt was given the position of Secretary of State in a government formed by
the Duke of Devonshire. Pitt said when appointed Secretary of State:
I am sure I can save this country and nobody else can.
George II disagreed and dismissed Devonshire and Pitt after a brief four months. In
June 1757 Pitt was back as Secretary of State, this time in alliance with the Duke of
Newcastle, who had been won over by Pitt’s arguments.
Build up to victory
The Royal Navy was crucial to Pitt’s plans for victory, and he chose the experienced
and popular, but elderly, Admiral George Anson to lead the navy. Anson established
the policy of blockading the French fleets in their harbours in France, thus preventing
them from bringing supplies and troops to France’s colonies overseas. French ships
that did get to sea were defeated in the Battles of Lagos and Quiberon Bay in 1759.
Although Pitt opposed sending British troops to fight in Europe, he did send large
amounts of money to Prussia. King Frederick the Great of Prussia was a brilliant soldier
who was keeping large numbers of French and Austrian troops tied up in Europe.
In North America, the French in Canada, under the command of Louis-Joseph,
Marquis de Montcalm-Gozon, laid seige to Fort William Henry, a British stronghold in
New York colony. The 2,000 British surrendered on 7th August 1759 on condition
that the French would allow them to march safely to British territory. The next day,
the Native Americans allied to the French attacked the disarmed British, killing about
300 of them. The event caused outrage in the British colonies.
Pitt then asked the American colonies to provide forces totalling 25,000 men, while
Britain provided arms and supplies. A brigade of light infantry, equipped and trained to
fight in the American wilderness, was formed. The great French fortress of Louisbourg
surrendered in July 1758. That same month, the British commander-in-chief in America,
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8 | History: Britain 1750–c.1900
General James Abercrombie, was defeated at Ticonderoga by a French force led by
Montcalm and lost nearly 2,000 men. But the French forces in America were
overstretched. They were forced to blow up Fort Duquesne when British forces
reached it in November 1758. The British commander renamed the site Fort Pitt.
The year of victories, 1759
In 1759 William Pitt planned to attack French Canada from several directions. Pitt’s
new commander-in-chief in America, General Amherst, was to take Fort Ticonderoga
and then move on to Montreal. Pitt entrusted the command of the force intended to
take Quebec, the capital of French Canada, to James Wolfe.
Born in 1727, James Wolfe was the son and grandson of soldiers. In the 18th century
British army there were neither military schools nor formal training for officers;
commanders had to learn their skills on campaign. At the age of 14 James Wolfe was
given a commission as an ensign (the lowest rank of officer) in his father’s regiment.
By the end of 1746 the 19-year-old Wolfe had fought in the Battles of Dettingen in
Europe and Culloden in Scotland. At the age of 23 he was Lieutenant Colonel of the
20th Foot. The young officer managed to spend some time in Paris improving his
French, horse-riding, fencing and dancing. He wrote:
The English are not favourites in France, they can’t help looking upon us as enemies.
And I believe they are right.
Wolfe built up a reputation as an excellent commander and proved his worth in his
leadership and bravery at the fall of Louisbourg. When someone criticised Wolfe for
being mad in his military beliefs, King George II replied:
Mad is he? Then I hope he will bite some others of my generals.
Wolfe faced a very difficult task. The city of Quebec was built on cliffs with the
St. Lawrence River to the south and east, and the smaller St. Charles River to the
north. Fortifications manned by regular French army units
Find out
defended the city on the west, while to the south French
more …
Why was
colonial militia patrolled all possible paths up the cliffs.
Britain ruled by a German
General Montcalm had a force of about 16,000 men,
king at this time? Research
although many of them were local militia and Native
and draw a family tree
Americans who were not reliable in a formal battle.
linking George II to the
Wolfe had 8,500 regular soldiers, plus 900 American
last truly British monarch.
militia. However, Wolfe did have the largest fleet of ships
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Chapter 1 | 9
ever seen in North American waters to support his assault, under the command of
Admiral Sir Charles Saunders. Wolfe wrote to his uncle:
I shall do my best and leave the rest to fortune.
The fall of Quebec
The St Lawrence River was full of rocks and shoals, so the French defenders were
confident that the British ships would be wrecked on their way upstream. The French
governor was amazed when the fleet dropped anchor 4 miles from Quebec on the
26th June 1759. He later wrote:
The enemy has passed 60 ships of war, where we hardly dared risk a vessel of 100 tons.
Wolfe’s men quickly set up camp on an
island in the river to the east of
Quebec and then seized the high
ground just across the river from the
city. From here the British cannons
began to pound away at Quebec’s
defences, and Admiral Saunders
managed to sail a number of warships
past the city’s guns on 18th July to
operate to the south of the city.
English
French
Cliffs
Earthworks
Quebec
St. Charles River
CHARLEBOURG
Plains of
Abraham
6
Montmorency
Falls
Wolfe’s
Camp
Shoals
Fire ships
Shoals
QUEBEC
4
St. Lawrence River
5
3
2
Island of
Anse au Foulon
When the British attempted to attack
Orleans
(Landing of Wolfe)
the northern end of the French
1 mile
defences on 31st July at the
1
Montmorency Falls they were thrown
Map of Quebec showing the sequence of events
back, losing 480 men. As the siege
during the siege
dragged into August, more British ships
sailed past Quebec’s cannons, then pushed on up the St. Lawrence River attacking
French outposts, threatening the town of Montreal and destroying supplies. The
French troops in Quebec had their rations halved. Much of the city was in ruins from
constant British artillery fire. Montcalm planned to hold until winter when the
St. Lawrence River would freeze and the British fleet would be forced to sail away.
Meanwhile in the British camp one officer reported:
The swarming flies, short rations, dysentery and scurvy, were as big a plague, as the
painted Red Indians, prowling around the sentry posts with tomahawks and
scalping knives.
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10 | History: Britain 1750–c.1900
Wolfe decided to move his troops to threaten the area to the south of Quebec.
Wolfe kept his men on board ships from 7th –10th September, moving them up and
down the river to keep the French guessing, while continuing to look for a weakness
in their defence. Eventually, Wolfe discovered the spot for his attack, but kept his
plans to himself. This annoyed his officers as they could not lay proper plans for the
assault. Wolfe feared a spy or deserter might give the plans away. At the last minute,
Wolfe announced that they would be landing at a little cove called Anse au Foulon.
A narrow path weaved its way up the cliff face there, coming out to a place where
only a handful of Canadian militia stood guard.
The night of 12th September was still and dark as the boats carrying the first wave of
British soldiers silently moved towards the landing place. Meanwhile, up and down the
St. Lawrence River, British ships were moving to confuse the French defenders, and
the British guns across from the city blazed away. At 4am Wolfe landed with the first
men ashore and sent 24 volunteers scrambling up the 175-foot-high path, quickly
followed by a number of light infantrymen. They rapidly overcame the militia stationed
at the top, who were taken completely by surprise. Then, long lines of British soldiers
followed up the winding path.
By 6am, 4,500 men had reached the top and were marched by Wolfe towards
Quebec until they reached a flat area called the Plains of Abraham. There they waited
for the French defenders to react.
The taking of Quebec by the English forces, colour engraving
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Chapter 1 | 11
General Montcalm received news of Wolfe’s landing at 6am and was reported to
have cried:
There they are, where they have no right to be!
He immediately moved 4,500 of his troops to face Wolfe’s men, while more than
1,000 Indians and Canadian militia were sent to harass the British line from woods on
their flanks until British light infantry drove them away. Then, according to British
captain John Knox:
About ten o’clock the enemy began to advance briskly in three columns, with loud shouts
… firing … at the two extremities of our line, from the distance of one hundred and
thirty, until they came within forty yards; which our troops withstood with the greatest
intrepidity and firmness, still reserving their fire, and paying the strictest obedience to
their Officers: this uncommon steadiness, together with the havoc which the grape-shot
from our field-pieces made among them, threw them into some disorder. …
At 40 yards General Wolfe ordered the disciplined British line to fire. The volley
destroyed the French front rank and stopped their advance. The British reloaded and
advanced 20 paces to fire again, following up with the bayonet. The French troops
gave way and fled towards Quebec. General Montcalm struggled to halt the rout until
he was mortally wounded in front of the gates of Quebec.
On the battlefield another general lay dying. Wolfe had been hit twice in the fighting
but had kept at the head of his troops until he was hit again, right in front of the walls
of Quebec. He was carried away and laid down when, according to Captain Knox, he
heard someone call out:
‘They run, see how they run.’
‘Who runs?’ demanded our hero.
When told it was the French, Wolfe ordered the pursuit and then, turning on his side,
he added:
‘Now, God be praised, I will die in peace.’ And thus expired.
The British lost 58 men but 500 French soldiers were killed and 1,000 wounded or
taken prisoner. The fighting had lasted only 10 minutes, but had cost both sides their
commanding generals. The French army fled to Montreal, and Quebec surrendered on
18th September.