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Washington's surrender
In 1754 Washington's surprise attack upon a small French force at Jumonville Glen and his subsequent surrender to French forces at the Battle of Fort Necessity helped to spark the French and Indian War, which was part of the imperial conflict between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years' War. -
John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun
Born in 1705. Entered army in 1727. Commissioned major general in 1755, and appointed the following year as commander-in-chief of British forces in America during the French and Indian War, and named titular governor of Virginia. -
The Battle of the Monongahela
Braddock's forces, nearing their target of Fort Duquesne, are surprised and routed by a much smaller force of French and their allied Native Americans. -
Major General Edward Braddock
To increase his speed, Braddock made the fatal mistake of splitting up his troops. As Braddock and the first of his troops approached Fort Duquesne, the French and allied Indians attacked. Braddock and more than half of the 1,200 British men with him died. -
Britain declares war
Although the fighting in America had been ongoing since 1754, Great Britain formally declared war on France in 1756. This marked the beginning of what would become known in Europe as the Seven Years' War. -
Washington resigns his commission
Late in 1758, while in Williamsburg, Virginia, George Washington resigned his commission in the Virginia Regiment. -
Fort Duquesne captured
As British forces under General John Forbes advance from their base at Fort Ligonier, the French blew up and abandoned Fort Duquesne. -
James Wolfe
British Army officer known for his training reforms and remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec as a major general. -
Treaty of Paris
After years of fighting, the 1763 Treaty of Paris officially ended hostilities between France and Great Britain. The treaty ceded France's lands in Upper Canada and Louisiana east of the Mississippi to Great Britain, and it's holdings west of the Mississippi River to Spain. -
William Pitt
William Pitt is known as one of the greatest wartime leaders in British history. He served as secretary of state in the British government during the French and Indian War.
