Rustic Warriors: Warfare and the Provincial Soldier on the New England Frontier, 1689-1748
The early French Wars (1689-1748) in North America saw provincial soldiers, or British white settlers, in Massachusetts and New Hampshire fight against New France and her Native American allies with minimal involvement from England. Most British officers and government officials viewed the colonial soldiers as ill-disciplined, unprofessional, and incompetent: General John Forbes called them “a gathering from the scum of the worst people.”

Taking issue with historians who have criticized provincial soldiers’ battlefield style, strategy, and conduct, Steven Eames demonstrates that what developed in early New England was in fact a unique way of war that selectively blended elements of European military strategy, frontier fighting, and native American warfare. This new form of warfare responded to and influenced the particular challenges, terrain, and demography of early New England. Drawing upon a wealth of primary materials on King William’s War, Queen Anne’s War, Dummer’s War, and King George’s War, Eames offers a bottom-up view of how war was conducted and how war was experienced in this particular period and place. Throughout Rustic Warriors, he uses early New England culture as a staging ground from which to better understand the ways in which New Englanders waged war, as well as to provide a fuller picture of the differences between provincial, French, and Native American approaches to war.

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Rustic Warriors: Warfare and the Provincial Soldier on the New England Frontier, 1689-1748
The early French Wars (1689-1748) in North America saw provincial soldiers, or British white settlers, in Massachusetts and New Hampshire fight against New France and her Native American allies with minimal involvement from England. Most British officers and government officials viewed the colonial soldiers as ill-disciplined, unprofessional, and incompetent: General John Forbes called them “a gathering from the scum of the worst people.”

Taking issue with historians who have criticized provincial soldiers’ battlefield style, strategy, and conduct, Steven Eames demonstrates that what developed in early New England was in fact a unique way of war that selectively blended elements of European military strategy, frontier fighting, and native American warfare. This new form of warfare responded to and influenced the particular challenges, terrain, and demography of early New England. Drawing upon a wealth of primary materials on King William’s War, Queen Anne’s War, Dummer’s War, and King George’s War, Eames offers a bottom-up view of how war was conducted and how war was experienced in this particular period and place. Throughout Rustic Warriors, he uses early New England culture as a staging ground from which to better understand the ways in which New Englanders waged war, as well as to provide a fuller picture of the differences between provincial, French, and Native American approaches to war.

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Rustic Warriors: Warfare and the Provincial Soldier on the New England Frontier, 1689-1748

Rustic Warriors: Warfare and the Provincial Soldier on the New England Frontier, 1689-1748

by Steven Eames
Rustic Warriors: Warfare and the Provincial Soldier on the New England Frontier, 1689-1748

Rustic Warriors: Warfare and the Provincial Soldier on the New England Frontier, 1689-1748

by Steven Eames

Hardcover

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Overview

The early French Wars (1689-1748) in North America saw provincial soldiers, or British white settlers, in Massachusetts and New Hampshire fight against New France and her Native American allies with minimal involvement from England. Most British officers and government officials viewed the colonial soldiers as ill-disciplined, unprofessional, and incompetent: General John Forbes called them “a gathering from the scum of the worst people.”

Taking issue with historians who have criticized provincial soldiers’ battlefield style, strategy, and conduct, Steven Eames demonstrates that what developed in early New England was in fact a unique way of war that selectively blended elements of European military strategy, frontier fighting, and native American warfare. This new form of warfare responded to and influenced the particular challenges, terrain, and demography of early New England. Drawing upon a wealth of primary materials on King William’s War, Queen Anne’s War, Dummer’s War, and King George’s War, Eames offers a bottom-up view of how war was conducted and how war was experienced in this particular period and place. Throughout Rustic Warriors, he uses early New England culture as a staging ground from which to better understand the ways in which New Englanders waged war, as well as to provide a fuller picture of the differences between provincial, French, and Native American approaches to war.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780814722701
Publisher: New York University Press
Publication date: 11/01/2011
Series: Warfare and Culture , #10
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Steven C. Eames is Professor of History at Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

List of Maps
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: The New England Provincial Soldier: A Problem of Perception
Part I: Warfare on the New Engl and Frontier
1 The Initiation of War and the New England Military System
2 Garrisons: The First Line of Defense
3 Provincial Forts: The Magnet
4 Scouts: Patrols, Probes, and Raids
5 Expeditions: The Anglo-American Partnership
6 Stores of War: The Logistical Nightmare
Part II: The Provincial Soldier
7 Recruiting: Gone for a Soldier
8 Officers: Chosen to Lead
9 Battle Drill and Fighting Spirit
10 Battle Experience: Facing the Enemy
11 The Wounds of War
Afterword
Notes Index
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A useful work...recommended."-R.P. Gildrie,CHOICE

"Steven Eames renders a scholarly social history that challenges some views of the provincial soldier...[he] writes clearly, and his narrative is livened with numerous quotes from primary sources. We learn of the provincial soldier from his own words."-Post Library

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