page_title: John Bradstreet
section_title: French and Indian War
hierarchical_section_title: John Bradstreet / Military service / French and Indian War
caption_attribution_description: English: The capture of French Fort Frontenac by the British in 1758 (Battle of Fort Frontenac)
context_page_description: Major General John Bradstreet, born Jean-Baptiste Bradstreet was a British Army officer during King George's War, the French and Indian War, and Pontiac's Rebellion. He was born in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia to a British Army lieutenant and an Acadian mother. He also served as the Commodore-Governor for Newfoundland.
context_section_description: In 1755, Bradstreet, then a captain, was appointed as Governor William Shirley's adjutant general. In 1756 he led a relief column to Fort Oswego with supplies. Upon his return he was attacked by the French and Indians. He survived but his warnings to Governor Shirley and Lord Loudon of the weak condition of Fort Oswego were largely ignored in midst of their ongoing power struggle. The French captured and burned Oswego later the same year. In the spring of 1757 he assembled supplies and transports at Boston for Loudoun’s abortive expedition against Louisbourg, and at Halifax in August he was among those who felt that the attack should not be postponed. On 27 December 1757 he was appointed Lt. Colonel and in 1758 he participated in the attack on Fort Carillon, where he led the advance guard following the death of General George Howe. The Battle ended in disaster and Bradstreet attempted to organize some sort of retreat, which had turned into a chaotic rout. After the failed attempt to capture Ticonderoga, Bradstreet immediately proposed his idea to attack Fort Frontenac, the key French supply base on Lake Ontario. Bradstreet's proposal met with approval from British planners and he was given a force of approximately 3,000 men to carry out the operation. Bradstreet reached Lake Ontario on 21 August and four days later was within sight of the fort, which surrendered on the 27th. After plundering, burning, and demolishing the base, Bradstreet’s force retreated to British territory. With this attack the French had lost (at least temporarily) their supply line in the Great Lakes. Under the new British commander in North America, Jeffery Amherst, Bradstreet served as deputy quartermaster general in Albany, a lucrative position which he held until the end of the war. After the war he was appointed Colonel and in 1764 he was ordered to lead a force of 1,400 men to reinforce Fort Detroit in response to the outbreak of Pontiac's Rebellion. Bradstreet was considered by his superiors to have mismanaged his final campaign; exceeding his orders by attempting to negotiate independent peace treaties and failing to act aggressively enough against the natives. This left his military reputation badly tarnished in later years, however he was still promoted to the rank of Major General in the British Army on 25 May 1772.
caption: Bradstreet's raid on Frontenac.
exif: {}