John Forbes Scotland, Flanders and the Seven Years' War, 1707-1759 [Paperback]

In November 1758 Brigadier General John Forbes's army expelled the French army from Fort Duquesne at the forks of the Ohio River. Over seven months Forbes had co-ordinated three obstructive and competitive colonies, managed Indian diplomacy, and cut a road through over a hundred miles of mountain and forest.

This is the first full biography of Forbes, which traces his rise from surgeon in the Scots Greys to distinguished service in War of the Austrian Succession before his 1757 posting to North America. John Oliphant puts Forbes' life and career in the wider context of the social and military world of the 18th century and offers important insights into the Seven Years' War in North America.

Introduction: A death in Philadelphia
1. 'Merry pintle Cout' 1707-1729
2. Grey Dragoon 1729-1739
3. Rumours of wars 1739-1742
4. Dettingen 1742-1744
5. 'in which wee fail'd: Flanders and the battle of Fontenoy 1744-1745
6. The dancers of Breda 1746-1748
7. 'I know the other to be a mad sort of Fool' 1748-1757
8. The madness of Lord Charles Hay 1757
9. 'am now a downright Leopard' 1757-1758
10. Rogues and True Friends 1758
11. Crossing Laurel Hill 1758
12. The fall of Fort Duquesne 1758
13. 'brave, without Ostentation'
Bibliography
Index