Existing comment:
Disdained Provincials:
The British military had little respect for provincial troops or local militia.
Colonial provincial troops and local militia fought the opening battles of the war against the French and other Indian allies. Colonials continued to fight when regular British soldiers under the command of General Edward Braddock were dispatched from England to conduct the war. After initial setbacks, including a British rout in which Braddock was killed, combined British forces successfully ousted the French from the Ohio River valley in 1758.
Throughout the war, the British disparaged colonial forces: Braddock's aide labeled them "languid, spiritless, and unsoldierlike in appearance." |