by Gautier Sans Avoire

Created on: October 19, 2007

In many ways, The French and Indian War became a dress rehearsal for the American Revolution as many junior officers and less known personalities went on to become leaders and major figures twenty years later. George Washington served on General Edward Braddock's staff in a minor role until Braddock's death, when Washington and others were forced to take command, narrowly avoiding total disaster. Israel Putnam, later famed for his stand at Bunker Hill, was a militia leader who fought throughout the entire war, ending his fight at Quebec when the French were finally defeated.

A new theory were devised and tried out on the battlefields of America. An American colonist, Robert Rogers, came up with a novel idea and with the patronage of an English general, Lord Amherst, Rogers was allowed to try his notion out. It was widely acknowledged that European trained soldiers were at a disadvantage in the wilds of America, where fighting and armies seldom met on a large scale. The French and Indian War was a series of running ambushes,skirmishes, and raids, very few set piece battles. The load of equipment European soldiers routinely carried was far too much to allow the soldier to move rapidly, a necessity in frontier warfare.
Even the weapons carried by European troops were not suited to forest fighting.
It was Roger s's plan to equip skilled woodsmen, trappers, and hunters with a minimal load of gear, only what one needed to fight. The clumsy sword called a "Hanger" carried by Europeans, was replaced by the Tomahawk, a hand Ax more suited to close-combat, used by the Indians for centuries. The brightly colored uniforms so popular with European troops were given over in favor of sturdy practical clothing of green and brown, a kind of primitive camouflage in order to blend into their environment as the Indian warriors did. This new unit became known as "Roger's Rangers" After achieving several successes, the experiment came to a ignoble end when now-Major Rogers was dismissed from service and his unit disbanded. Roger s's ideas lived on however, and the U.S. Army Rangers to this day think of him as the first Ranger.

An entire generation of Colonists answered England's call to defend the Colonies, and in so doing, learned the independence and strength necessary to fight for their own freedom. Valuable geographic knowledge was gained, revealing vast expanses of territory previously thought to be inaccessible. The trackless forests of Canada were shown to be a maze of trails and water-routes. In this age, the canoe was the finest means of travel upon the rivers, streams, and lakes of North America. Land travel was still entirely too dangerous as American Indians, unscrupulous Europeans, and wild animals deterred all but the most brave.

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