The Doctor's Secret Journal

The Doctor's Secret Journal

On September 28, 1761, a year after Frances vast North American empire had been surrendered to the British at Montreal, Canada, the flag of Great Britain was raised over Fort Michilimackinac, far to the west at what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan. A force under Major Robert Rogers, leader of the almost legendary Rogers Rangers, had reached Detroit in 1760 and had taken control of that post, but the coming of winter had compelled the British to wait until the following year to take over the other French outposts in the upper Great Lakes. Although Major Rogers later was to serve as commanding officer at Michilimackinac, the red-coated troops who marched into the little stockaded fort on the south shore of the straits connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan were commanded by Captain Henry Balfour. He found that the French garrison had departed for the west months before, leaving the fort in charge of Charles Langlade, a native of the area who had fought brilliantly on the French side during the French and Indian War. Balfour was greeted by several enterprising Englishmen who had gotten a head start in the race to gain 6 control of the lucrative fur trade which for so long had been monopolized by French traders at Michilimackinac. After accepting the forts formal surrender and before leaving for the west, Balfour detailed a small force from the famous Royal American or 60th Regiment to remain as the garrison. Two years later, during the great Indian uprising of 1763, fierce Chippewa warriors massacred over half of the soldiers and temporarily drove the British out. But within a year they returned in greater numbers, and from then until 1781, when it was abandoned for a new, more easily defended post on Mackinac Island, Fort Michilimackinac was one of the key links in the chain of military and trading posts which Great Britain maintained on the western frontier of its American colonies. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 57817
Author: Morison, Daniel
Release Date: Aug 30, 2018
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: May, George S., 1924-