One thing the reports agree on, though, was that a majority of the French, 21 of the troops, were captured and taken prisoner.īut this was more than just another battle-there had been plenty of those skirmishes between the British and the French.Īfter their capture, the stories seemed to differ depending on who you ask. Reports vary about the exact number of French killed, but some say there were 10 killed while others say 12 or 13. Then, first thing in the morning, Washington’s men surprised the French. He had about 40 troops under his command and, along with help from a member of the Seneca tribe, a chief named Tanacharison, Washington tracked down a French detachment of about 32 troops the night before May 28th. That would be none other than George Washington, who was 21 at the time. One of the events that kicked it off was on May 28th, 1754 when a young Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army got his first taste of combat. So it was in 1754, like the movie says, that the war between the French and British began. They built forts there, much to the protest of the British-who claimed the Ohio Valley as their own. While it was called by many names at the time, today we know of the battles on North America as the French and Indian War.Īlthough it’s worth pointing out that most historians consider the French and Indian War to be the North American theater of a bigger conflict that exploded in Europe called the Seven Years’ War.Ī few years before that, though, in 1753, French troops marched south from Canada to claim territory in Ohio. Of course, three years before 1757 would mean if the movie was correct, the war between England and France would’ve begun in 1754. Both are battling for possession of the continent. According to that text, it’s 1757 and we’re in the American colonies where a war has been raging for three years now.

Today’s movie begins by setting up some context for us through some text.

Last of the mohicans original book