The Crucible of War - A Worthwhile Read

I recently finished The Crucible of War: The Seven Years War by Fred Anderson. This history textbook is not a quick read, but moving through it at a steady pace is well worth the effort. Anderson draws out the social and political dynamics of the age that triggered the first global war as England and France fought it out for world dominance.

The book fleshes out what transpired in the pre-revolutionary war period in the colonies, the stirring of unresolved issues, the self-centered actions of a host of people who were seeking more money for themselves and the stumbling of cultural misunderstandings that sowed the seeds for the American Revolution. The book helps the reader to understand that the colonists did seek to revolt but progressively did so because they could not resolve how they viewed themselves and their social standing within British Empire. Anderson nicely shows that the colonists sought to be left alone but the moment they ran into trouble, quickly sought the help of the Crown but were reluctant to pay that help.

One little tidbit I found of interest is that young George Washington and a force of men he lead against the French and Indians in Ohio triggered the war the consumed the two empires and the ultimate defeat of France.

The book not only is of interest in helping the reader to understand the nature and characters that make up modern America but it also shows how America has not learned from its own national experience. Throughout the book I could not help see similarities between the dynamics at play in Afghanistan and Iraq. All too often one is seeing in contemporary American policy and national attitudes the viewpoints of the Crown and the British nobility of the 18th Century. Further all too often the viewpoints and attitudes Americans are seeing in the Afghani and Iraqi leadership and populous today are similar to the attitudes, language and actions held by the colonists in the ten to fifteen years before the American Revolution. In other words, America today is acting in a very similar fashion that Britain did in the 1750-1776.

Fort William Henry

During our trip to Lake George at the end of June/beginning of July we visited Fort William Henry. This was a British Fort at the south end of Lake George and until Fort Ticonderoga was taken from the French, this was the northern most point in the 13 Colonies. It is also the Fort that was taken by the French as told in the movie The Last of the Mochicans.

As you will note from the pictures of Ticonderoga, the British fort is wood versus the French fort of stone. It was a quickly built fort and not designed to withstand heavy cannon bombardment. That said, the British plan for the area involved four forts, two of which were only a short distance away, Fort Ann (15 miles ESE) and Fort Edward (15 miles SES). The third, Fort Saratoga was about 30 miles south. As the British learned with the fall of Fort William Henry their plans of forts helping to reinforce and strengthen each other was a false assumption as undermanned Forts coupled with each commander looking only after their own interested doomed their plan.

Below is the exterior as taken from the lake side.















Below are pictures of the interior as well as of reinactor.

One of the orginal cannons that was discovered at the bottom of Lake George. The French burned the fort and tossed into the lake the cannons they did not take back to Ticonderoga. Blow the cannon picture is the picture of the jail in the bowels of the fort.

Below, dress of the day for the average soldier as well as the common volunteer soldier from the colonies.