DOCUMENTARIES
The French-Indian
Wars
By
Richard Moore
The
struggle for North America between France and Britain got pretty
hot in the middle of the 18th Century as the rival nations vied
for control of the New World.
Both
had colonies near the coast and major waterways of the continent,
but the perceived threat to their expansion plans meant it was never
going to be settled peacefully.
The
French and Indian Wars (1754-1763) began in with clashes between
a few regular troops, militia and either side's Indian allies, but
soon escalated into a costly and bloody little war.
In
the History of Warfare's The French Indian Wars from Cromwell
Productions, experts look at the struggle and how the fate of the
continent was decided.
Surprisingly,
the French did very well for most of the war - mainly through incompetent
leadership on the part of the British - although the loss of the
crucial battle for Quebec pretty much ended their hopes.
The
battle for Quebec is looked at very closely and there are some very
good pieces of footage from re-enactment groups restaging the battle.
In
fact, the footage for The French Indian Wars is excellent
- the most used of any history video I have seen - and really helps
along what is a pretty dry presentation.
However,
there are some very good observations from expert Stuart Reid -
into how the British regular troops were actually much better at
fighting in the forests than they were given credit for - and a
really interesting actor-to-camera piece explaining the rules and
regulations of the famous Rogers' Rangers. A re-enactor portraying
an Indian also gives a good account of why the natives fought the
way they did and their style of equipment and clothing.
But,
there are no graphics to assist non-North American viewers in placing
the key areas of the war and this makes it hard for the program
to grab the imagination of general military-history fans.
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