“The year 1755 saw the rivalry between Britain and France
in North America escalate into open warfare as both sides sought to overcome
the other's forts and trading posts. Lord Loudoun and the Marquis de Montcalm
were sent out to lead their forces and Montcalm was soon tasked with capturing
the formidable Anglo-American post at Oswego. Montcalm's 3,000-strong force
surrounded the forts at Oswego and soon forced the defenders to surrender - an
outstanding French success.”
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| The cover of Montcalm's Crushing Blow |
Canadian
author Rene Chartrand begins by covering the situation on Lake Ontario when
Fort Oswego was originally built by the English to trade with the Indians. But the French did not intend to let the
British establish themselves there and built other trading posts/forts in the
vicinity, like Fort Toronto.
When
the Seven Years’ War broke out, Mr. Chartrand covers the reinforcements from
Europe that were sent to North America.
He then illustrates the situation in 1756, where Fort Oswego threatened
to be the focal point for an Anglo-American drive deep into Canada.
But
Oswego had a weakness: all its supplies had to come from distant Albany. In March 1756, the French and Indians struck
at one of the posts in Oswego’s supply chain, Fort Bull. The defenders and their gate held off the
French for a while, but the French broke in and began destroying British
supplies. Then flames began to spread
through Fort Bull, igniting the powder magazine in an explosion.
When
General Montcalm arrived in Canada, he and Governor Vaudreuil quickly decided
to strike against Fort Oswego. 3,000
French and Indian soldiers were ferried across Lake Ontario to attack the
British fort. More incredibly, the
voyageurs transported 20 cannons.
The
French built batteries to bombard Fort Oswego, and the artillery duels are
chronicled here as well. The British
artillerymen put up a gallant defense, but were forced to surrender on August
14, 1756. This was Montcalm’s first
victory in the French & Indian War.
In
addition to his engaging text, Mr. Chartrand also includes sidebars with
interesting historical facts. One
provides an order of battle for Montcalm’s Oswego expedition, while another
lists the British prisoners, cannons, and flags captured.
Interestingly, the information
on Oswego’s flags also clears up a small mystery I chronicled on my blog http://www.defendingthelegacy.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-mystery-of-oswegos-three-flags.html. 5 flags were captured by Montcalm: 2 of
Shirley’s 50th, 2 of Pepperell’s 51st and 1 of the New
Jersey “Jersey Blues”. Those from the 50th
and 51st were hung up in Quebec’s Cathedral and were later recovered
by General Amherst in 1760. But the flag
of the Jersey Blues was not. Instead
(according to a letter written by General Montcalm’s wife), it was sent home to
Montcalm’s family as a trophy of victory.
Mr. Chartrand seamlessly weaves
together French and British sources to create his narrative, while paying
tribute to the bravery of the soldiers on all sides. His information and writing is excellently
done. Nor does he stop at the end of
1756, providing additional information on the main characters later on, as well
as the development and current state of the Fort Oswego area. The book is finished with a long list of
sources for further reading.
Maps are an important part of
conveying the story of history, and again this book excels. The maps are plentiful and appear at their
parts in the narrative. One of the most
interesting (to me) was a map tracing the route of the French and Indians as
they went to raid Fort Bull where every night’s campsite is marked. Other maps show the French lines during the
siege and the supply route from Fort Oswego to Albany, NY.
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| My photograph of Montcalm & his men inspecting Fort Oswego. Figures by Frontline Figures and W. Britains |
Osprey’s books are known for
their carefully reconstructed original artwork and Montcalm’s Crushing Blow is
no exception. The cover is an animated
study of General Montcalm and Engineer Desandroins attending a battery
bombarding Fort Oswego.
Inside,
there are 4 paintings by the excellent painter Peter Dennis, divided into two
uniform studies and two battle scenes. Mr.
Dennis’s paintings have an excellent balance between accurate detail and
compelling action. The first painting is
a uniform study of an officer and enlisted man of the New Jersey “Jersey Blues”
Provincial Regiment with almost a whole page of descriptive text. The next one is of an officer and enlisted
man of the French Canadian militia, again with a page of text.
The
first battle scene shows the Canadian militia storming Fort Bull’s main
gate. Some of them are firing through
the loopholes into the fort, while a party of Canadians under an officer use a
log to batter in the gate, a detail expressly noted in the account of a French officer, Chevalier de la Pause.
The
second battle scene depicts the Royal Artillery defending Fort Oswego from the
French cannons. Lieutenant-Colonel
Mercer is inspecting the defenses as a French cannonball flies through the
air. One second later, Mercer would die
when he was hit by the cannonball. This
plate even shows the pork barrel casks that were used to create a new defensive
wall.
While Osprey’s books are known
for their original artwork, they also contain other illustrations as well. In this area again, Montcalm’s Crushing Blow
does not disappoint. This book is filled
with uniforms worn by the soldiers, original French and British maps of the
area, and portraits of the main characters like the Marquis de Montcalm and
Colonel Peter Schuyler. Every
illustration is captioned, giving extra information on the dimensions of
bateaux or Montcalm’s Irish soldiers.
If you have any interest in the
French & Indian War or Early America, this book is highly recommended. Rene Chartrand’s detailed yet easy-to-read text is
well matched with Peter Dennis’s lively and detailed artwork. My overall rating is 5/5 stars.
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