NYNY 1755-1759
Apr 14
General Edward Braddock meets in Alexandria, Virginia, with the
governors of Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia, to plan strategy for attacks on French
defenses.
April
William Johnson is given command of British forces in northern
New York.
August
English troops under the command of General Phineas Lyman build
Fort Lyman (later Fort Edward) on the upper Hudson River.
Sep 8
French commander Baron Dieskau attempts to cut off communication
between Johnson and Fort Lyman. Johnson sends out an advance force
under the provincial commander, Massachusetts colonel Ephraim
Williams and the Mohawk chief Hendrick, but they are ambushed
and both leaders are killed.
Sep 9
Johnson defeats the French at Lake George.
November
Johnson builds Fort William Henry at the head of Lake George.
Dec 31
William Johnson learns he has been made a baron by George II,
becomes Sir William Johnson. He is also named Colonel, Agent and
Sole Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
State
William Johnson establishes a headquarters near Canajoharie, on
the Mohawk. ** The British build the sloops Ontario and
Oswego at Fort Oswego.
Jan 7
During a British cabinet meeting the earl of Halifax, president
of the Board of Trade, proposes a plan to have a new commander
in chief sent to the colonies and making William Johnson Superintendent
of the Six Nations.
Jan 21
The British ministers meet in London at Newcastle House. Cumberland
and Fox put forth their own proposals, adapting Halifax's suggestions
to replace royal governor of Massachusetts and New York William
Shirley and give Johnson a new commission, but calling for the
posting of two regiments of redcoats to America rather than using
provincial troops, and suggesting a southern administrator for
the Indians - South Carolina trader Edmund Atkin.
February
Parliament grants William Johnson £5,000 for his services
to the nation.
Mar 24
Fourteen bateaux of supplies reach Lieutenant Colonel James Mercer
at Oswego, one day before he'd planned to evacuate the fort and
march his forces to Schenectady.
Mar 27
French and Indians raiders destroy Fort Bull, on the Wood Creek
end of the Great Carrying Place portage.
Mar 31
Secretary at War Fox writes to Shirley, relieving him of his command
of British forces in America and recalling him to London.
May
Lieutenant Colonel John Bradstreet's troops move large amounts
of supplies to Oswego. The garrison is down to around half-strength
from last September.
June
Bradstreet's troops begin making improvements on Oswego's defenses.
Jun 25
Major General James Abercromby arrives in Albany and replaces
Shirley, who heads for New York.
Jul 22
The HMS Nightingale arrives off New Jersey's Sandy Hook
carrying Lieutenant General John Campbell, earl of Loudon, for
New York City, to replace governor William Shirley as commander
of Britain's forces in North America.
Aug 2
French and Indians blockade the harbor at Fort Oswego, on Lake
Ontario.
Aug 14
The French and Indians under Montcalm capture Fort Oswego and
destroy it.
State
6,000 Troops assemble in Warren County to fight the French. Nothing
comes of it. ** Samuel Blodget's engraving of the Battle of Lake
George goes on sale in Boston. ** Fort Herkimer is built at German
Flatts.
Military
Sullivan Campaign soldier Lieutenant Thomas Boyd is born.
Jan 21
New York State pioneer Moses Van Campen is born in Hunterdon City,
New Jersey.
Mar 17
French forces attack Fort William Henry and are driven off after
burning a few buildings and several Lake Champlain vessels.
City
Alderman John Cruger, Jr., son of former mayor John Cruger, is
appointed mayor for the next ten one-year terms. ** The first
colonial art exhibit is held.
State
The approximate date that Otetiani, given the same name as a nearby
stream (Always Ready), is born at Canoga, near Waterloo; lives
along the Genesee River as an adult. ** Soldier and Land Agent
Charles Williamson is born in Scotland.
London
William Smith's The History of the Province of New-York from
the First Discovery to the Year M.DCC.XXXII is published.
Jul 8
Troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia, lead by James Abercromby, outnumbering
French defenders under Montcalm at Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga)
5 to 1, are driven off.
Aug 27
Colonel John Bradstreet, having earlier assembled at Three Rivers,
moves on to capture Fort Frontenac (Kingston, Ontario) from the
French.
Dec 16
Justices and supervisors in Westchester County are directed to
select a site for a courthouse in White Plains, replacing the
current meeting site at East Chester.
State
Daniel Joncaire Sieur de Chabert settles on the south bank of
the Buffalo River (Riviere aux Chevaux), site of the future Buffalo.
Pennsylvania
Mary Jemison is taken from her parents' frontier farm near Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania, by an Indian raiding party. Her parents are killed;
her two brothers escape. She's taken on a forced march to the
Pittsburgh area and given to two Seneca women to take the place
of their dead brother. ** The approximate year the family of New
York State pioneer Moses Van Campen moves from Hunterdon County,
New Jersey, to Northampton City.
Apr 21
Sir William Johnson, Baronet, convenes an Indian council at Canajoharie,
New York, rallies the Iroquois to attack the French at Fort Niagara.
The Seneca, some of them from Ganuskago (Dansville), dependent
on the British for ammunition and trade goods, agree to an alliance
with them.
Jun 30
Colonel John Prideaux and Sir William Johnson leave Fort Oswego
by boat to prepare the invasion of Fort Niagara.
Jul 1
American, British and Indian forces embark at Oswego.
Jul 2
16 New Jersey troops are surprised while gathering firewood near
Lake George by a force of close to 240 Indians, who kill and scalp
half a dozen soldiers. They taunt the rest of the Army before
escaping in their canoes.
Jul 6
The British under Prideaux and Johnson land four miles from Fort
Niagara.
Jul 7
The French in Fort Niagara spot the British forces.
Jul 10
Little Fort Niagara, an outpost, is destroyed by its French troops.
Jul 17
The British begin firing on Fort Niagara.
Jul 20
Prideaux is killed by an explosion; Sir William Johnson assumes
command.
Jul 24
The British defeat French relief forces under François
de Ligneris outside Fort Niagara, beat off a second party from
the fort.
Jul 25
The French, under François Pouchot, surrender Fort Niagara
to British and colonial forces.
Jul 26
The French abandon Ticonderoga to the British.
City
A three-story jail is built next to the almshouse in the current
City Hall Park.
State
Daniel Joncaire Sieur de Chabert abandons his settlement at Buffalo
Creek. ** Skenesborough (later Whitehall) is founded. ** The British
build a small fort at Three Rivers to protect three storehouses
there. ** The French take over Chimney Island in the St. Lawrence,
which they call Isle Royale, and fortify it.
Connecticut
New York State pioneer John Beardslee is born in Sharon.
Virginia
New York Indian scout and innkeeper Benjamin Patterson is born
in the Blue Ridge country, his mother a cousin of Daniel Boone.
© 2001 David Minor / Eagles Byte