Generations of British colonists grew up when North America, especially the Northeast, was embroiled in one war or another. In the eighteenth century, fighting was seasonal. Armies mobilized in the spring, fought in the summer, and retired to winter quarters in the fall. The British army imposed harsh discipline on its soldiers, who were typically drawn from the poorer classes, to ensure they did not step out of line during engagements. If they did, they were severely punished, humiliated, or killed (for more serious offenses such as multiple desertions). On the battlefield, armies dressed in bright uniforms to advertise their bravery and lack of fear. They stood in tight formation and exchanged volleys with the enemy.^[1]

King William’s War

Most imperial conflicts had both North American and European fronts, often resulting in two names for each war. For instance, the North American conflict known as King William’s War (1688–1697) was an extension of the European War of the League of Augsburg, or the War of the Grand Alliance, or Nine Year’s War. In America, the bulk of the fighting in this conflict took place between New England and New France (modern-day Quebec, Canada, parts of New England, and the Great Lakes area). That particular war proved inconclusive, with no clear victor.

Figure 2. This map shows the French and British armies’ movements during King William’s War, in which there was no clear victor.

Queen Anne’s War

Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713), known as the War of Spanish Succession in Europe, saw England battling both Spain and France over who would ascend the Spanish throne after the last of the Hapsburg rulers of Spain, Charles II, died without an heir. In North America, the fighting took place in Florida, New England, and New France. The Treaty of Utrecht ended the war in 1713, following a preliminary peace in 1712. France ceded the territories of Hudson Bay, Acadia, and Newfoundland to Britain while retaining Cape Breton Island and other islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The victory for the English was again not decisive because they failed to take Quebec, which would have given them control of New France since it was the capital. Some terms were ambiguous in the treaty, and the concerns of various Native tribes were not included, thereby setting the stage for future conflicts, including Dummer’s War (1722-1725), in which the British in New England fought against the Wabanaki Confederacy, who were allied with the French.

Queen Anne’s War is best remembered in the United States for the raid against Deerfield, Massachusetts in 1704. A small French force, allied with a Native American division made up of Catholic Mohawks and Pocumtucs (modern-day Pocumtuc descendants have been subsumed into the Abenaki tribe), attacked the British outpost of Deerfield, killing scores of English colonists and taking 112 prisoners. Among the captives was the seven-year-old Eunice Williams, the daughter of Deerfield’s minister John Williams. She lived with the Mohawks for years and became assimilated into the tribe while her family tried to find her. To the horror of the Puritan leaders, when she grew up Eunice married a Mohawk man and refused to return to New England.

War of Jenkin’s Ear

The North American War of Jenkins’ Ear (1739–1742) centered on the possession of Georgia and trade with the interior colonies. The conflict arose between over contested claims by both Britain and Spain to the land occupied by the new colony. The war got its name from an incident in 1731 in which a Spanish Coast Guard captain severed the ear of British captain Robert Jenkins as retribution for raiding Spanish ships in Panama. Jenkins fueled the growing animosity between England and Spain by presenting his ear to Parliament and stirring up British public outrage. The War of Jenkins’ Ear disrupted Atlantic trade routes, which hurt both Spain and Britain and was a major reason the war ended in 1742. Georgia, founded six years earlier, remained British and worked as an effective buffer against Spanish-controlled Florida.

King George’s War

King George’s War (1744–1748), known in Europe as the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748), was fought mostly in the northern colonies and in New France.

Figure 3. In this 1747 painting by J. Stevens, View of the landing of the New England forces in ye expedition against Cape Breton, British forces land on the island of Cape Breton to capture Fort Louisbourg.

The War of the Austrian Succession, nominally a struggle over the legitimacy of the accession of Maria Theresa to the Austrian throne, began in 1740, but at first did not involve either Britain or Spain militarily. Britain was drawn diplomatically into that conflict in 1742 as an ally of Austria and an opponent of France and Prussia, but open hostilities between them did not take place until 1743. War was not formally declared between Britain and France until March 1744 and Massachusetts did not declare war against Quebec and France until June 2.

The war took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay (which included Maine as well as Massachusetts at the time), New Hampshire (which included Vermont at the time), and Nova Scotia. Its most significant action was an expedition organized by Massachusetts Governor William Shirley that besieged and ultimately captured the French fortress of Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, in 1745. However, three years later the war ended under the terms of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and Britain relinquished control of the fortress to the French. King George’s War once again, the war resulted in an incomplete victory for both Britain and France. The war took a heavy toll, especially in the northern British colonies. The losses of Massachusetts men alone in 1745–46 have been estimated as 8% of that colony’s adult male population. The peace treaty, which restored all colonial borders to their pre-war status, did little to end the lingering enmity between France, Britain, and their respective colonies, nor did it resolve any territorial disputes.