John Bradstreet Major General John Bradstreet ( 21 December 1714 – 25 September 1774 ) was a British Army officer during the French and Indian War , King George ' s War , and Pontiac ' s Rebellion . He was born in Annapolis Royal , Nova Scotia to a British Army Lieutenant and an Acadian mother . Military service . Through his mother ' s influence he was accepted into the regular British army in 1735 . Bradstreet ' s early military service consisted of garrison duty in Nova Scotia , during which time he took advantage of his Acadian heritage and engaged in trade with the French at Louisbourg . As a young officer he was stationed at Canso , during King George ' s War he was captured in the French raid on Canso , however he was released within a year . During his internment Bradstreet developed plans for the capture of Louisbourg , although it is not clear whether these plans were ever implemented and to his dismay he was not given command of the expedition . However Bradstreet accepted a commission as lieutenant - colonel of the 1st Massachusetts Regiment and contributed to the final victory at Louisbourg , which fell after a siege in 1745 . French and Indian War . 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 . The Bateaux and Transport Service . Bradstreet is often remembered today for his work organizing and leading a corps of armed boatmen and teamster s in the British service , tasked with moving supplies and troops along the inland waterways of upstate New York and the Great Lakes . A substantial logistical feat , the force was developed from 1756 and grew to the strength of several thousand men , organized into dozens of companies , and utilizing hundreds of bateau and whaleboats to transport the thousands of tons of supplies and equipment necessary for Britain to wage war in the colonial Northeast — by suppling the army ' s far - flung outposts . Also a combat force , the ' Battoe Men ' , as they were sometimes called , took part in combat operations , most famously Bradstreet ' s assault on Fort Frontenac / Carillon in 1758 . Bradstreet died in New York City on 25 September 1774 . He had married ( to the widow of a cousin who shared his name ) , and had two children .