History Browser

Despite having won a battle outside the city in April 1760, the French army was unable to retake Quebec. General Murray, commanding the British defenders, refused to give up. A siege began for control of the city, but a British fleet arrived with more men, ending the contest.

In 1755, with an army built around his two regular regiments, General Braddock began an attack from Virginia into the Ohio Valley. The 200 kilometre advance towards Fort Duquesne was slowed by the need to build a road and bridges to carry the army through the difficult terrain.

The troops board the landing ships that are to transport them across the English Channel to Dieppe. To ensure their safe passage, warships and planes escort them. Provides a timeline of key events.

When the British regained control of Lake Ontario in December 1813, the Americans had to move men to hold their shipyards at Sackets Harbor. Unable to hold Fort George, they burnt both it and the surrounding towns in mid-winter. A unit of Canadian traitors helped them in this cruelty.

American plans called for the recapture of Fort Mackinac in 1814. An attack was defeated by a British ambush in August. The Americans were able to destroy the famous British ship Nancy shortly thereafter, but lost two ships of their own on Lake Huron in September.

In 1806, developments in Europe made access to Canada crucial to Britain's survival. Emperor Napoleon's France blocked access to the Baltic, the traditional source of timber used in building ships for the Royal Navy. Canada was the only alternative source in British control.

In 1758, French attempts to halt General Forbes' British army were not enough to hold the Ohio Valley, and Fort Duquesne had to be blown up. Earlier that summer, Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario had been taken by Americans. Calls for help fell on deaf ears in France, in trouble in Europe.

This view of the interior of Fort Beauséjour shows some of the activities that took place there just before the Seven Years' War. In the foreground, men are moving supplies. In the centre, an officer talks with a missionary who accompanies a pair of Abenakis. A left, a detachment of French soldiers escorts an English deserter. Reconstruction by Lewis Parker. (Parks Canada)

A raid on Dieppe, originally scheduled for July 1942 and code-named Operation Rutter, is rescheduled for August and renamed Operation Jubilee. Briefly describes the tactics of the operation.

In May of 1755, further reinforcements drawn from the French metropolitan army arrived in Canada. They were led by the mercurial Marquis de Montcalm, whose first action in the colony was to lead a successful European-style siege of the British forts defending Oswego.