Editing French and Indian War (section)

===British conquest, 1758–1760===
{{see also|Great Britain in the Seven Years' War#Conquest of Canada (1758–60)}}
Vaudreuil and Montcalm were minimally resupplied in 1758, as the British blockade of the French coastline limited French shipping. The situation in New France was further exacerbated by a poor harvest in 1757, a difficult winter, and the allegedly corrupt machinations of [[François Bigot]], the [[Intendant of New France|intendant of the territory]]. His schemes to supply the colony inflated prices and were believed by Montcalm to line his pockets and those of his associates. A massive outbreak of [[smallpox]] among western Indian tribes led many of them to stay away from trading in 1758. The disease probably spread through the crowded conditions at William Henry after the battle;<ref name="Fowler138">Fowler, p. 138.</ref> yet the Indians blamed the French for bringing "bad medicine" as well as denying them prizes at Fort William Henry.

Montcalm focused his meager resources on the defense of the St. Lawrence, with primary defenses at Carillon, Quebec, and Louisbourg, while Vaudreuil argued unsuccessfully for a continuation of the raiding tactics that had worked quite effectively in previous years.<ref name="Fowler139">Fowler, p. 139.</ref> The British failures in North America combined with other failures in the European theater and led to Newcastle's fall from power along with the Duke of Cumberland, his principal military advisor.
[[File:General Wolfe at the siege of Louisbourg, 1758.svg|thumb|British forces [[Siege of Louisbourg (1758)|besieging]] the Fortress of Louisbourg. The French fortress fell in July 1758 after a 48-day siege.]]
Newcastle and Pitt [[Pitt–Newcastle ministry|joined in an uneasy coalition]] in which Pitt dominated the military planning. He embarked on a plan for the 1758 campaign that was largely developed by Loudoun. He had been replaced by Abercrombie as commander in chief after the failures of 1757. Pitt's plan called for three major offensive actions involving large numbers of regular troops supported by the provincial militias, aimed at capturing the heartlands of New France. Two of the expeditions were successful, with [[Battle of Fort Duquesne|Fort Duquesne]] and [[Siege of Louisbourg (1758)|Louisbourg]] falling to sizable British forces.

====1758====
The [[Forbes Expedition]] was a British campaign in September–October 1758, with 6,000 troops led by General [[John Forbes (British Army officer)|John Forbes]] sent to drive out the French from the contested Ohio Country. The French withdrew from Fort Duquesne and left the British in control of the Ohio River Valley.<ref>{{cite book |first=Fred |last=Anderson |title=Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766 |year=2000 |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |pages=[https://archive.org/details/crucibleofwarsev00ande_0/page/267 267–285] |isbn=0375406425 |url=https://archive.org/details/crucibleofwarsev00ande_0/page/267 }}</ref> The great French fortress at [[Fortress of Louisbourg|Louisbourg]] in Nova Scotia was captured after a siege.<ref>William, Wood, ''The Great Fortress: A Chronicle of Louisbourg 1720–1760'' ([https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6026] Online from [[Project Gutenberg]])</ref>
[[File:La victoire des troupes de Montcalm à Carillon.JPG|right|thumb|A British expedition sent to invade [[Canada (New France)|Canada]] was repulsed by the French at the [[Battle of Carillon]] in July 1758.]]
The third invasion was stopped with the improbable French victory in the [[Battle of Carillon]], in which 3,600 Frenchmen defeated Abercrombie's force of 18,000 regulars, militia, and Indian allies outside the fort which the French called Carillon and the British called Ticonderoga. Abercrombie saved something from the disaster when he sent [[John Bradstreet]] on an expedition that successfully [[Battle of Fort Frontenac|destroyed Fort Frontenac]], including caches of supplies destined for New France's western forts and furs destined for Europe. Abercrombie was recalled and replaced by [[Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst|Jeffery Amherst]], victor at Louisbourg.

The French had generally poor results in 1758 in most theaters of the war. The new foreign minister was the [[Étienne François, duc de Choiseul|duc de Choiseul]], and he decided to focus on an [[Planned French Invasion of Britain (1759)|invasion of Britain]] to draw British resources away from North America and the European mainland. The invasion failed both militarily and politically, as Pitt again planned significant campaigns against New France and sent funds to Britain's mainland ally of Prussia, while the French Navy failed in the 1759 naval battles at [[Battle of Lagos|Lagos]] and [[Battle of Quiberon Bay|Quiberon Bay]]. In one piece of good fortune, some French supply ships did manage to depart France and elude the British blockade of the French coast.

====1759–1760====
{{see also|Conquest of 1760}}
[[File:PlainsOfAbraham2007.jpg|thumb|After a three-month siege of Quebec City, British forces captured the city at the [[Battle of the Plains of Abraham|Plains of Abraham]].]]
The British proceeded to wage a campaign in the northwest frontier of Canada in an effort to cut off the French frontier forts to the west and south. They [[Battle of Ticonderoga (1759)|captured Ticonderoga]] and [[Battle of Fort Niagara|Fort Niagara]], and they defeated the French at the [[Battle of the Thousand Islands|Thousand Islands]] in the summer of 1759. In September 1759, [[James Wolfe]] defeated Montcalm in the [[Battle of the Plains of Abraham]] which claimed the lives of both commanders. After the battle, the French [[Articles of Capitulation of Quebec|capitulated the city]] to the British.

In April 1760, [[François Gaston de Lévis]] led French forces to launch an attack to retake Quebec. Although he won the [[Battle of Sainte-Foy]], Lévis' subsequent [[Siege of Quebec (1760)|siege of Quebec]] ended in defeat when British ships arrived to relieve the garrison. After Lévis had retreated he was given another blow when a British [[Battle of the Restigouche|naval victory at Restigouche]] brought the loss of French ships meant to resupply his army. In July [[Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst|Jeffrey Amherst]] then led British forces numbering around 18,000 men in a [[Montreal Campaign|three pronged attack on Montreal]]. After eliminating French positions along the way all three forces met up and surrounded Montreal in September. Many Canadians deserted or surrendered their arms to British forces while the Native allies of the French sought peace and neutrality. De Lévis and the [[Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal|Marquis de Vaudreuil]] reluctantly signed the [[Articles of Capitulation of Montreal]] on September 8 which effectively completed the British conquest of New France.