The (Royal American) regiment was intended to combine the characteristics of a colonial corps with those of a foreign legion. Swiss and German forest fighting experts, American colonists and British volunteers from other British regiments were recruited. These men were Protestants, an important consideration for fighting against the predominantly Catholic French. The officers were also recruited from Europe — not from the American colonies — and consisted of English, Scotch, Irish, Dutch, Swiss and Germans. It was the first time foreign officers were commissioned at British Army officers.
So here it is, in all of it’s hidden glory. It seems old George Washington cut his teeth working under a mercenary army formed by the British back in the early days of the colonization of America. Guys like the former Swiss Guard Henry Bouquet introduced the strategies and tactics necessary to fight in the forests of America, and guys like George Washington learned from this experience. The battles the Royal American Regiment fought against the French and Indians, are all elements of George Washington’s background and combat experience.
I also wonder how George Washington was inspired by this international fighting force? Here were men from all over the world, with unique experiences in war fighting from their country’s wars, and all contributing their expertise to these battles in early America. I can’t help but to think that George Washington would come out of that experience with some excellent ideas on how to fight. And I am sure this experience really came into play when General George Washington was battling against the British during the Revolutionary War. Interesting stuff and definitely check out all the cool stories below. –Matt
A Swiss mercenary who served Britain in America
Bouquet (wearing a hat) negotiates the treaty of 1764 with Native Americans. (Ohio Historical Society)
A Swiss mercenary who served Britain in America
by Marie-Christine Bonzom
Dec 3, 2010
A Swiss soldier in the service of the British king defeated the French to open up the way to the conquest of the American west.
In 1756 Henry Bouquet, a colonel from western Switzerland, commanded the 60th British regiment, the so-called Royal Americans, which was essentially made up of German, Dutch and Swiss mercenaries, recruited to help in the colonisation of America.
“Bouquet has played an important role in shaping Pennsylvania and the push toward the West,” Conrad Ostertag, standing on the corner of Bouquet Street in Pittsburgh, told swissinfo.ch.“He’s one of the founders of Pittsburgh, he removed the French from what will become Fort Pitt, he routed the Indians away and so, he opened the West to the British,” explained Ostertag, an active member of the local Swiss-American community.“Bouquet is a heroic figure, he was not only a very good military tactician but also a great leader able to surround himself with good officers,” added Andrew Gaerte, Education Department manager at the Fort Pitt Museum, which is to stage an exhibition about Bouquet in 2013-2014.
George Washington
Bouquet’s officers included a certain George Washington. The future founding father of the American nation and first president of the United States was, according to Gaerte, “a young and very arrogant man at this time”.“Bouquet is really annoyed with George Washington but he keeps him because Washington is a good captain.”Bouquet’s first hour of glory came in 1758. British Prime Minister William Pitt wanted to take Fort Duquesne, a French military post located close to the far frontier of what was then European-settled territory. The fort was built on a spit of land at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, which meet to form the Ohio. The site was eminently strategic.“This spot was the gateway to the West, a unique access point because the Ohio flows into the Mississippi, therefore whoever controlled that confluence could control trade with the Indians and ways to settle the vast territory beyond, plus have a tremendous influence on world affairs,” explained Alan Gutchess, the director of the Fort Pitt Museum.
6,000 men
Although only second in command to the British general, John Forbes, it was Bouquet who led the operation to capture Fort Duquesne as Forbes was gravely ill. The Swiss recruited and trained German settlers and Cherokees who, supported by his own troops, advanced westwards, mapping out a route and building forts.Very soon Bouquet was leading 6,000 well-disciplined men who constituted such a formidable strike force that the French decided to raze Fort Duquesne and abandon the area. Bouquet ordered the construction of a new fort over the ashes which Forbes named Fort Pitt in honour of the British premier, and the founding of a village to be named Pittsburgh.
But despite the French defeat Bouquet could not afford to rest on his laurels. The native American tribes were alarmed at the strong advance of the British settlers. Their chief, Pontiac, launched an uprising in 1763, using guerrilla tactics. The commanders of some of the forts that Bouquet had had built five years earlier, were taken by surprise. But Bouquet himself was better prepared: he had realised that European-style warfare was not well suited to America, and had learned native tactics.Having destroyed several forts, Pontiac’s men had come to within 200 kilometres of Philadelphia and were besieging Fort Pitt, which was under the command of another Swiss, Simon Ecuyer. The stone and brick fort, which Bouquet himself had established, was one of the most imposing of the time with hundreds of soldiers and settlers living in it.Bouquet’s task was to relieve the fort and crush the rebellion. Using ambushes and other native American methods, he made rapid progress with a lightly-armed force through the dense forest, guided by a German trader living in the region, and his wife, a Swiss named Béatrice Guldin. Pontiac’s rebels were smashed and the last men besieging the fort fled.
The end of the story
In 1764, Bouquet signed a peace treaty with the native Americans, which opened up the huge territory stretching west of the Appalachians to European settlement.The following year, the Pennsylvania assembly passed a unanimous resolution expressing its gratitude towards Colonel Bouquet. King George III also sent his thanks to the Swiss, named him commander of the British forces in Florida and promoted him brigadier general despite rules governing the careers of mercenaries.“The salary mercenaries got in the British army was far more than what they could get in the Austrian, Prussian or Danish armies,” said Gaerte. “Enticing also was the promise of land after the end of their service which was a real engagement from the part of the British government; regular soldiers were given 50 acres of land in America, someone like Bouquet would have been able to get 5000 acres.”But Bouquet didn’t live long enough to own land in America. No sooner had he arrived in Pensacola in Florida than he succumbed to yellow fever. He was 46 years old. It was more than ten years since he had seen his native country which he loved so much.
Marie-Christine Bonzomtranslated from French by Morven McLean
Henry Bouquet
Born in Rolle, in south western Switzerland, 1719.At 17 takes service with the Dutch army, and later serves the King of Sardinia.Made colonel at 29, he then serves in the Vatican Guard.Enters British service in 1755, and arrives in America in 1756.Captures Fort Duquesne from the French in 1758.Defeats Pontiac’s rebellion in 1764.Promoted to brigadier general in 1765, and given command of British forces in the southern colonies.Dies of yellow fever in Florida in 1765.
Europeans in North America
1492: America discovered by Christopher Columbus.1585: First English settlement at Roanoke, founded by Sir Walter Raleigh.1607: English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.1620: Arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers in Massachussetts.By the 18th century, Britain has 13 colonies stretching along the Atlantic coast.1754-63: French and Indian War, between France and its native American allies, and Britain.1775: Start of War of Indpendence.4.7.1776 Declaration of Independence.1789: Washington becomes first president.
Links
Biography of Bouquet
Account of Bouquet’s expedition against Pontiac
Story here.
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The Battle of Fort Duquesne was a British assault on the eponymous French fort (later the site of Pittsburgh) that was repulsed with heavy losses on 14 September 1758, during the French and Indian War.
The attack on Fort Duquesne was part of a large-scale British expedition with 6,000 troops led by General John Forbes to drive the French out of the contested Ohio Country (the upper Ohio River Valley) and clear the way for an invasion of Canada. Forbes ordered Major James Grant of the 1st Highland Regiment to reconnoiter the area with 850 men. When Grant proceeded to attack the French position, his force was outmanouevred, surrounded, and largely destroyed by the French and their native allies led by François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery. Major Grant was taken prisoner and the British survivors retreated fitfully to Fort Ligonier.
After repulsing this advance party the French, deserted by some of their native allies and vastly outnumbered by the approaching Forbes, blew up their magazines and burnt Fort Duquesne. In November the French withdrew from the Ohio Valley and British colonists erected Fort Pitt on the site.
British forces
Forbes commanded between 6,000 and 8,000 men, including a contingent of Virginians led by George Washington. Forbes, very ill, did not keep up with the advance of his army, but entrusted it to his second in command, Lt. Col. Henry Bouquet, a Swiss officer commanding a battalion of the Royal American Regiment. Bouquet sanctioned a reconnaissance of Fort Duquesne by Major James Grant of Ballindalloch, acting commander of the 77th Regiment of Foot (Montgomerie’s Highlanders).
Battle
On September 11, 1758, Grant led over 800 men to scout the environs of Fort Duquesne ahead of Forbes’ main column. Bouquet believed the fort to be held by 500 French and 300 Indians, a force too strong to be attacked by Grant’s detachment. Grant, who arrived in the vicinity of the fort on September 13, believed there were only 200 enemy within, and sent a small party of 50 men forward to scout. These saw no enemy outside the fort; they burned a storehouse and returned to Grant’s main position, two miles (3 km) from the fort.
The next morning, Grant divided his force into several parts. A company of the 77th, under a Capt. McDonald, approached the fort with drums beating and pipes playing as a decoy. A force of 400 men lay in wait to ambush the enemy when they went out to attack McDonald, and several hundred more under the Virginian Maj. Andrew Lewis were concealed near the force’s baggage train in the hope of surprising an enemy attack there.
The French and Indian force was in fact much larger than anticipated, and moved swiftly. They overwhelmed McDonald’s decoy force and overran the party that had been meant to ambush them. Lewis’s force left its ambush positions and went to the aid of the rest of the force but the French and Indians had by then gained a point of high ground above them and forced them to retire. The Indians used the forest to their advantage; “concealed by a thick foliage, their heavy and destructive fire could not be returned with any effect”. In the one-sided battle in the woods, the British and American force suffered 342 casualties, of whom 232 were from the 77th Regiment, including Grant, who was taken prisoner. Out of the eight officers in Andrew Lewis’s Virginian contingent, 5 were killed, 1 was wounded and Lewis himself was captured. Nevertheless, most of Grant’s force escaped to rejoin the main army under Forbes and Bouquet. The Franco-Indian force suffered only 8 killed and 8 wounded.
French retreat
Though the French had beaten off the initial British attack, Lignery understood that his force of about 600 could not hold Fort Duquesne against the main British force of more than ten times that number. The French continued to occupy Fort Duquesne until November 26, when the garrison set fire to the fort and left under the cover of darkness. As the British marched up to the smoldering remains, they were confronted with an appalling sight. The Indians had decapitated many of the dead Highlanders and impaled their heads on the sharp stakes on top of the fort walls, with their kilts displayed below. The British and Americans rebuilt Fort Duquesne, naming it Fort Pitt after the British prime minister William Pitt, who had ordered the capture of that strategic location.
Link to wiki here.
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The King’s Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire. In 1966 the regiment became part of the Royal Green Jackets.
History
The King’s Royal Rifle Corps was raised in the American colonies in 1756 as the 62nd (Royal American) Regiment to defend the thirteen colonies against attack by the French and their native American allies. After Braddock’s defeat in 1755, royal approval for a new regiment, as well as funds, were granted by Parliament just before Christmas 1755 – hence the regiment’s traditional birthday of Christmas Day. However parliamentary delays meant it was 4 March 1756 before a special act of parliament created four battalions of 1,000 men each to include foreigners for service in the Americas.
According to a regimental history compiled in 1879 by a captain in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, in November 1755 Parliament voted the sum of 81,000 Pounds for the purpose of raising a regiment of four battalions, each one thousand strong for service in British North America. Parliament approved “An Act to enable His Majesty [George II] to grant commissions to a certain number of foreign Protestants, who have served abroad as officers or engineers, to act and rank as officers or engineers in America only, under certain restrictions and regulations.” The Earl of Loudon, who as commander-in-chief of the forces in North America, was appointed colonel-in-chief of the regiment. About fifty officers’ commissions were given to Germans and Swiss, and none were allowed to rise above the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
According to a modern history of the regiment, the idea for creating this unique force was proposed by Jacques Prevost, a Swiss soldier and adventurer who was a friend of the Duke of Cumberland (William Augustus, who was the King’s second son and was Commander-in-chief of the British Army.) Prevost recognised the need for soldiers who understood forest warfare, unlike the regulars who were brought to America in 1755 by General Braddock.
The regiment was intended to combine the characteristics of a colonial corps with those of a foreign legion. Swiss and German forest fighting experts, American colonists and British volunteers from other British regiments were recruited. These men were Protestants, an important consideration for fighting against the predominantly Catholic French. The officers were also recruited from Europe — not from the American colonies — and consisted of English, Scotch, Irish, Dutch, Swiss and Germans. It was the first time foreign officers were commissioned at British Army officers. The total regiment consisted of 4,160 enlisted men, 101 officers and 240 non-commissioned officers. The battalions were raised on Governors Island, New York. The regiment was renumbered the 60th (Royal American) Regiment in February 1757 when the 50th (Shirley’s) and 51st (Pepperel’s) foot regiments were removed from the British Army roll after their surrender at Fort Oswego.
Among the distinguished foreign officers given commissions in the 60th (Royal Americans) was Henri Bouquet, a Swiss citizen, whose ideas on tactics, training and man-management (including the unofficial introduction of the rifle and ‘battle-dress`) would become universal in the British Army some 150 years later. Bouquet was commanding officer of the 1st battalion, and with his fellow battalion commanders, set about creating units that was better suited to warfare in the forests and lakes of northeast America. The Royal Americans represented an attempt to produce a more able soldier who was encouraged to use his initiative while retaining the discipline that was noticeably lacking in the irregular units of colonial Rangers that were being raised at the same time.
The new regiment fought at Louisbourg in 1758 and Quebec in 1759 in the campaign which finally wrested Canada from France; at Quebec it won from General James Wolfe the motto Celer et Audax (Swift and Bold). These were conventional battles on the European model, but fighting during Pontiac’s Rebellion in 1763 was of a very different character. The frontier war threatened the British control of North America. The new regiment at first lost several outlying garrisons but finally proved its mastery of forest warfare under Bouquet’s leadership at the victory of Bushy Run.
The 60th were uniformed and equipped in a similar manner to other British regiments with red coats and cocked hats or grenadier caps, but on campaign, swords were replaced with hatchets, and coats and hats cut down for ease of movement in the woods.
Wiki link here.