U.X.L - French and Indian War by Northern Lights

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But these rivers had wide variations in water levels and were often choked with fallen trees. People to Know Edward Braddock (1695–1755): British military leader who served as commander-in-chief of British forces in North America in 1755 and was killed in a disastrous early battle on the Monongahela River. Baron Ludwig August (also known as Jean-Armand) Dieskau (1701–1767): French military leader who lost the Battle of Lake George and was wounded and captured by the British. William Johnson (1715–1774): British general who served as chief of Indian affairs and won the Battle of Lake George.

Reproduced by permission of Getty Images. In 1720, the French began building a huge fort in Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island. Ownership of this large island, located just north of Nova Scotia at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, remained in dispute at the time. The French wanted to claim the island in order to prevent the British from controlling the St. Lawrence. The new fort had stone walls that were thirty feet high, ten feet thick, and topped with one hundred heavy guns. Events Leading to the French and Indian War 9 By the time King George’s War (known in Europe as the war of the Austrian Succession) began in 1744, though, only seven hundred French troops were stationed in Louisbourg.

For example, the British leaders who developed the plans did not seem to understand wilderness conditions. Braddock and his two regiments planned to follow the road Washington had cut through the Allegheny Mountains to get to Fort Duquesne from Virginia. But this road was rough and narrow, and would need a great deal of work before it could be used by wagons hauling heavy artillery. The other expeditions planned to use boats to transport men and supplies to their target forts on rivers. But these rivers had wide variations in water levels and were often choked with fallen trees.