The 1758 campaign did not result in a huge number of historical studies. Even primary source accounts are not abundant and the published documents mainly concern General Forbes’, Colonel Bouquet’s, and Colonel Washington’s correspondence and orders. This is largely because of more spectacular campaigns going on elsewhere, which have attracted more inspiration by historians. Still, Americans have contributed fine studies on various aspects ranging from military accounts to the research and reconstructions of forts and other features built along Forbes Road. The British in the United Kingdom have had some slight interest, but were and remain more concerned by other campaigns throughout their empire. As for the French in France, they understandably have not been inspired by a minor campaign in a lost war that, to this day, does not raise much interest in metropolitan France. Canadian studies have somewhat followed the same trends, those in anglophone Canada feeling victoriously smug and centering on General Wolfe and 1759, while those in francophone Canada see the War of the Conquest (la guerre de la conquête – French Canada’s name for the Seven Years’ War in North America) as a sort of historic nightmare that brought defeat in spite of a stubborn defense, abandonment by the mother country, and permanent cession to an enemy power. Another reason for the paucity of participants’ accounts and studies is that Forbes, Grant, Lignery, and Aubry all died during or shortly after the war, leaving no detailed memoirs. Thus only a small number of participants’ papers remain.
Primary source official documents can be found in The National Archives (formerly the Public Records Office) at Kew, United Kingdom, especially in the War Office (referred to as WO) 34 series, and the Colonial Office (CO) 5 series. France’s Archives Nationales center for overseas documents is at Aix-en-Provence in the Colonies section, mostly in the B, C11A, and C11B series, although some pertinent documents can also be found in other centers, sections, and series.
Albert, George Dallas, The Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, State Printer, Harrisburg (1916), 2 vols
Anderson, Fred, The Crucible of War, Vintage Books, New York (2000). Remarkable for its account of Indian diplomacy.
Bouquet, Henry, The Papers of Henry Bouquet, edited by S.K. Stevens, Donald H. Kent, and Autumn L. Leonard. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Volume I (1972) and Volume II (1951)
Cubbison, Douglas R, The British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania 1758, McFarland, Jefferson, NC (2010). An excellent account of the campaign against Fort Duquesne as seen from the British and colonial American sources, points of view, and analysis. It quotes many essential documents including those from the unpublished papers of Forbes’ headquarters at the University of Virginia. However, this study does not offer much in the way of the French and Canadian sides’ points of view and analysis because very few French and Canadian sources seem to have been consulted, even when they were translated into English. It is nevertheless an extremely useful, essential, and much recommended study.
Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, edited by E.B. O’Callaghan, Albany (1858), Volume X. In spite of its title, it contains many documents by New France officers that mention Fort Duquesne and Pennsylvania translated into English.
Forbes, John, Letters of General John Forbes relating to the expedition against Fort Duquesne in 1758, compiled by Irene Stewart, Pittsburgh (1927)
Forbes, John, Writings of General John Forbes, edited by Alfred Proctor James, Collegiate Press, Menasha, Wisconsin (1938)
Fournier, Marcel, ed. Combattre pour la France en Amérique: Les soldats de la guerre de Sept Ans en Nouvelle-France 1755–1760, Société généalogique canadienne-française, Montréal (2009). Exhaustive statistics and nominal lists of French troops in Canada.
J.C.B., Voyage au Canada fait depuis l’an 1751 jusqu’en l’an 1761, Aubier Montaigne, Paris (1978). In this account the author describes himself as a gunner nicknamed “Jolicoeur” in the regular colonial artillery company (the “Canonniers-Bombardiers”) in Canada. His initials and nickname are the only ones that correspond to one of the gunners sent to the Ohio in 1754. He was thus Joseph Charles Bonin. He was literate so he was a Fort Duquesne storekeeper by 1758. His account was first published in Quebec City by Father Casgrain in 1887, who cut some of the original text and erroneously identified him as Lieutenant J.-C. de Bonnefois of the metropolitan Royal-Artillerie. The 1978 edition was made from the original manuscript in the Paris Bibliothèque Nationale. Although J.C.B. did not take part in fighting Grant’s raid, he was in Fort Duquesne when the raid occurred and later transcribed what he recalled hearing of it. His account appears to have been consigned mainly in the 1790s. He does mix up dates and some events, but his account is validated and outstanding on daily life, with certain details that could only have been known by being a witness.
Lévis, Gaston de, Journal des campagnes du chevalier de Lévis en Canada de 1756 à 1760, edited by H.-R. Casgrain, Quebec (1889)
Malartic, Anne-Joseph Maures de Malartic, Journal de campagne au Canada, Dijon (1890)
McConnell, David, British Smoothbore Artillery: a Technological Survey, Canadian Parks Service, Ottawa (1988). Exhaustive and outstanding study.
Montcalm, Louis-Joseph, Journal du Marquis de Montcalm durant ses campagnes au Canada de 1756 à 1759, edited by H.-R. Casgrain, Quebec (1895)
Papiers Contrecoeur, edited by Fernand Grenier, Université Laval, Québec (1952)
Pouchot, Pierre, Memoirs of the Late War in North America Between France and Britain, translated by Michael Cary, annotated and edited by Brian L. Dunnigan, Old Fort Niagara Association, Youngstown, NY (1994)
Stotz, Charles Morse, Outposts of the War for Empire, Historical Society of Pennsylvania and University of Pittsburgh Press (1985). Outstanding and classic study.