In 2006, PBS released a terrific two-part documentary titled The War that Made America devoted to the 1756-1763 French and Indian War (or, “Great War for Empire”) which established Britain’s (temporary) mastery over the Eastern half of North America. The documentary does a particularly good job of dramatizing  General Edward Braddock’s calamitous defeat at the “Battle of the Monongahela” (9 July 1755) which preceded the formal declaration of war between Britain and France. As we noted in class, Braddock’s stubborn refusal to abandon European linear formations in favor open, “irregular” tactics more suited to the environment and terrain proved his undoing.

Here’s what the disaster might have looked like: