Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Montreal KB (sometimes spelled
Geoffrey, or
Jeffrey, he himself spelled his name as
Jeffery) (January 29, 1717 – August 3, 1797) served as an officer in the
British Army and as
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.
Amherst is best known as one of the victors of the
French and Indian War, when he conquered Louisbourg, Quebec City and Montreal. He was also the
first British Governor General in the territories that eventually became
Canada. Numerous places and streets are named for him, both in Canada and the United States.
Biography
Military career
Born in
Sevenoaks, England, Amherst became a soldier at approximately the age of 14, first serving in the
War of the Austrian Succession as an aide to General
John Ligonier.
Seven Years' War
Amherst gained fame during the
Seven Years' War, particularly in the North American campaign known in the United States as the
French and Indian War. After he served in Europe in 1757, Amherst led the British
attack on Louisbourg in 1758, and as
commander-in-chief of the British army in North America, led the successful British conquest of
New France. In 1759, while
James Wolfe besieged and eventually
captured Quebec with one army, Amherst led another army against French troops on
Lake Champlain, where he
captured Fort Ticonderoga against little resistance. On September 8, 1760, he led an army down the
Saint Lawrence River from
Lake Ontario, and captured
Montreal, ending French rule in North America. He infuriated the French commanders by refusing them the "honours of war" (the ceremonial right of a defeated garrison to retain their flags); the
Knight of Lévis burned the colors rather than surrendering them. Amherst held the position of
military governor of Canada from 1760 to 1763.
Use of smallpox-infected blankets
The hostility between the British and
Native Americans after the French and Indian War led to one of the first documented attempts at
biological warfare in North American history. In response to the 1763 uprising known as
Pontiac's Rebellion, Colonel
Henry Bouquet wrote to Amherst, his commanding officer, with the suggestion that the British distribute
smallpox-infected blankets to Indians. Amherst approved the plan and expressed his willingness to adopt any "other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execrable Race." In fact, the commander at
Fort Pitt had already attempted this very tactic in June 1763. It is the only recorded case of British soldiers giving smallpox-contaminated blankets to Native Americans.
Political career
thumb|Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, by Thomas Gainsborough, circa 1785
Amherst served as the nominal
Crown Governor of Virginia from 1759-1768, though
Francis Fauquier continued his role as acting governor from the previous term. During this period he also served as the first Governor General of British North America from 1760 to 1763. This office still exists as the
Canadian monarch's representative in Canada.
Amherst was raised to the
peerage in 1776, as Baron Amherst of Holmesdale. During the
American War of Independence he rejected a field command, since he had close relations with numerous personalities of the opposite side. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1778, and became
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. He was replaced as Commander-in-Chief in February, 1782 by
Henry Seymour Conway. In 1788 he was created Baron Amherst of Montreal with a special provision that would allow this title to pass to his nephew (as Amherst was childless, the Holmesdale title became extinct upon his death). Sir Jeffrey again became Commander-in-Chief in 1793. He retired from that post in 1795, and was promoted to the rank of
Field Marshal the following year.
Legacy
Several places are named for him:
Amherstburg, Ontario, location of General Amherst High School;
Amherst, Massachusetts, location of the
University of Massachusetts Amherst and
Amherst College (though the college is named for the town, not the man, the school's
athletic nickname is "the Lord Jeffs" and the team mascot is a gentleman dressed in something approaching an 18th century British officer's uniform, but in purple, one of the school's colors, not red);
Amherst, New Hampshire;
Amherst, Nova Scotia;
Amherst, New York;
Amherst County, Virginia;
Amherst Island, Ontario, and Amherst Island, the English name of Île d'Havre-Aubert of the
Magdalen Islands,
Quebec.
Montreal House
After the taking of Montreal in 1760, Amherst built Montreal House in his native Sevenoaks, Kent, for his seat. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the house and family hosted an annual summer picnic for the children educated at the junior school they established in the village of Riverhead; the school still bears Amherst's coat of arms. With the decline of the family's fortunes the house was demolished in the summer of 1936 to make way for a housing development. Today only a single obelisk, the octagonal gatehouse and the derelict stone summerhouse remain as a memorial. The inscription on the obelisk, which is in danger of disappearing, does not actually mention any of the protagonists of the Canadian campaigns by name, either because they were too modest, or because they arrogantly assumed everybody would know exactly to whom it referred.
The inscription says:
''To commemorate the providential and happy meeting of three brothers on this their Paternal ground on 25 January 1761 after a six years glorious war in which the three were successfully engaged in various climes, seasons and services.Dedicated to that most able Statesman during whose Administration Cape Breton and Canada were conquered and from whose influence the British Arms derived a Degree of Lustre unparalleled in past ages.Louisbour surrendered and Six French Battalions Prisoners of War 26 July 1758
Du Quesne taken possession of 24 November 1758
Niagara surrendered 25 July 1759
Ticonderoga taken possession of 26 July 1759
Crown Point taken possession of 4 August 1759
Quebec capitulated 18 September 1759
Fort Levi surrendered 25 August 1760
Ile au Noix abandoned 28 August 1760
Montreal surrendered and with it all Canada and 10 French Battalions laid down their Arms 8 September 1760
St Johns Newfoundland retaken 18 September 1762
See also
