Pitt and his System
The
coalition ministry of Pitt and Newcastle came to power in June 1757, and it was
Pitt who made the war plan for 1758.
His strategic system seems to have evolved in his mind rather gradually,
but we may describe it in the complete form, which it had assumed by the spring
of 1758.
For Pitt,
North America was the vital theatre, the area where the issues of the war
centred and where the harvest was to he reaped. But action in Europe was to play a vital part in achieving the
desired result. France was to be
contained and kept busy there while a vigorous campaign deprived her of her
possessions in America. British
subsidies encouraged and supported Prussia and helped to keep her armies in the
field. A small British army (There were only six British infantry
battalions at the battle of Minden in 1759.
In the same year 23 were employed on the continent of America, plus
others in the West
lndies.
In the beginning Pitt
had been unwilling
to send any British troops at
all to fight in Europe) operated on the Continent and made its
contribution. And the main strength of
the Royal Navy was concentrated off the ports of France, blockading them
and
preventing the French fleet either from carrying reinforcements to Canada or
delivering a counterattack against Britain.
This containment was made more effective by seaborne raids delivered
against the French coast. In these same
years British soldiers and sailors were defeating the French in India and
founding a British empire there; but this was achieved with Pitt's concurrence
rather than at his instigation.
Combined
with all this was the main offensive in America. Large British land forces were sent thither and supported by
powerful naval squadrons. The British
colonies were given a strong lead and encouraged to place important forces of
their own in the field, the home government paying most of the cost.
Even so,
Montcalm held his own in 1758. Pitt's
plan for that year involved three attacks.
The main movement, under General James Abercromby, was directed by the
line of Lake Champlain towards Montreal.
Another major blow, under General Jeffrey Amherst, was aimed at Louisbourg. Thirdly, Brigadier John Forbes was
given command in the southern colonies and ordered to undertake such offensive
operations as he thought fit. He chose
to march against Fort Duquesne. Amherst
took Louisbourg, and thereby weakened the French naval position in North
American waters and helped to cut New France off from Old France. Forbes took Duquesne, renamed it Fort Pitt
(the city of Pittsburgh now occupies the site) and ended the French dream of
controlling the Ohio valley. A
subsidiary operation took Fort Frontenac (Kingston) and crippled French naval
power on Lake Ontario, thereby seriously interfering with communications with
the West. But Montcalm defeated
Abercromby heavily at Ticonderoga and held the main French position for that
year.
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