French and Indian War: Braddock and Thereafter

How little credit is given to a Commander, who perhaps after a defeat, in relating the cause justly lays the blame on some individual whose cowardly behav'r betray'd the whole to ruin; how little does the World consider the Circumstances, and how apt are Mankind to level their vindictive Censures against the unfortunate Chief, who perhaps merited least of the blame.

George Washington, 1755

Who would have thought it?

General Edward Braddock's dying words, 1755

The war that raged in North America through the late 1750's and early 1760's was a piece of a large struggle between England and France for dominance in world trade and naval power. The British victory in that struggle, known in Europe as the Seven Years' War, ended the long struggle among the three powers in northeastern North America: The English, the French, and the Iroquois Confederacy, it...
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