Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. He is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign to conquer the territory of New France during the Seven Years' War. He was also the first British governor general in the territories that eventually became Canada.

Son of a lawyer from Kent, Amherst enlisted in the Grenadier Guards in 1735 and first saw active service during the War of the Austrian Succession. Early in the Seven Years' War, he conducted the successful siege at Louisbourg, and was appointed commander-in-chief in North America in its wake. Under his command, British forces went on to capture Quebec, Montreal and several major fortresses, bringing an end to French rule in North America. He was named Governor-General of British North America in 1760 and received a knighthood a year later.

In early 1763, in response to Amherst's policies, a confederation of Native Americans launched what came to be known as Pontiac's War. His handling of the uprising provoked criticism and led to his recall to Britain, and he was subsequently replaced as commander-in-chief in North America by Thomas Gage. Amherst was created a peer in 1776, and served as commander-in-chief of the British Army on two occasions, under which capacity he oversaw the suppression of the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in London. He retired a field marshal in 1796 and died a year later at the age of 80.

Numerous places in Canada and the United States are named after Amherst. His modern legacy is controversial due to his expressed desire to spread smallpox among the indigenous people during Pontiac's War, which has led to a push to remove his name from various locales and institutions.

Early life

The son of Jeffrey Amherst (d. 1750), a Kentish lawyer, and Elizabeth Amherst (née Kerrill), Jeffery Amherst was born in Sevenoaks, England, on 29 January 1717. At an early age, he became a page to the Duke of Dorset.

Amherst served in the War of the Austrian Succession becoming an aide to General John Ligonier and participating in the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743 and the Battle of Fontenoy in May 1745. Promoted to lieutenant colonel on 25 December 1745, he also saw action at the Battle of Rocoux in October 1746. He then became an aide to the Duke of Cumberland, the commander of the British forces, and saw further action at the Battle of Lauffeld in July 1747. He was made colonel of the 15th Regiment of Foot on 12 June 1756. By 1757 as the immediate danger to Britain had passed the troops were moved back to Hanover to join a growing army under the Duke of Cumberland and Amherst fought with the Hessians under Cumberland's command at the Battle of Hastenbeck in July 1757:

Amherst was left dispirited by the retreat and by the Convention of Klosterzeven by which Hanover agreed to withdraw from the war: he began to prepare to disband the Hessian troops under his command, only to receive word that the Convention had been repudiated and the Allied force was being reformed.

French and Indian 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 when he led the British attack on Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in June 1758.

thumb|Grateful Reflexions on the Signal Appearances of Divine Providence for Great Britain and its Colonies in America. 1760

From July 1760, Amherst led an army down the Saint Lawrence River from Fort Oswego, joined with Brigadier Murray from Quebec and Brigadier Haviland from Ile-aux-Noix in a three-way pincer, to highlight his differences with Vaudreuil for later political advantage back in France.

In recognition of this victory, Amherst was appointed Governor-General of British North America in September 1760 He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath on 11 April 1761.

From his base at New York, Amherst oversaw the dispatch of troops under Monckton and Haviland to take part in British expeditions in the West Indies that led to the British capture of Dominica in 1761 and Martinique and Cuba in 1762.

One of the most infamous and well-documented issues during Pontiac's War was the use of biological warfare against Native Americans and Amherst's role in supporting it. Colonel Henry Bouquet, the commander of Fort Pitt, ordered smallpox-infested blankets to be given Native Americans when a group of them laid siege to the fortification in June 1763. During a parley in midst of the siege on 24 June 1763, Captain Simeon Ecuyer gave representatives of the besieging Lenape two blankets and a handkerchief enclosed in small metal boxes that had been exposed to smallpox, in an attempt to spread the disease to the Natives in order to end the siege. William Trent, the trader turned militia commander who had come up with the plan, sent an invoice to the British colonial authorities in North America indicating that the purpose of giving the blankets was "to Convey the Smallpox to the Indians." The invoice was approved by Thomas Gage, then serving as Commander-in-Chief, North America. A reported outbreak that began the spring before left as many as one hundred Native Americans dead in Ohio Country from 1763 to 1764. It is not clear, however, whether the smallpox was a result of the Fort Pitt incident or the virus was already present among the Lenape as outbreaks recurred every dozen or so years and the delegates were met again later and they seemingly had not contracted smallpox.

A month later the use of smallpox blankets was discussed by Amherst himself in letters to Bouquet. Amherst, having learned that smallpox had broken out among the garrison at Fort Pitt, and after learning of the loss of his forts at Venango, Le Boeuf and Presqu'Isle, wrote to Colonel Bouquet: He was forced to defend his conduct, and faced complaints made by William Johnson and George Croghan, who lobbied the Board of Trade for his removal and permanent replacement by Gage. He was also severely criticised by military subordinates on both sides of the Atlantic. Nevertheless, Amherst was promoted to lieutenant-general on 26 March 1765.

In 1768, King George III decreed that British colonial governors would be required to primarily reside in the area which they governed. Amherst, the Governor of Virginia despite having never set foot in the colony, refused to leave England and was thus dismissed from the post in July. In anger, he resigned his commission in the army, but was quickly convinced to rescind this decision, and then became colonel of the 3rd Regiment of Foot in November 1768.

On 22 October 1772, Amherst was appointed Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance, and he soon gained the confidence of King George, who had initially hoped the position would go to a member of the Royal Family. On 6 November 1772, he became a member of the Privy Council.

Commander-in-Chief

American War of Independence

thumb|[[Portrait of Jeffery Amherst (Gainsborough)|Portrait of Jeffery Amherst by Thomas Gainsborough, 1780. Amherst was Commander-in Chief during the response to threatened invasion by the Armada of 1779 during the American War of Independence.]]

Amherst was raised to the peerage on 14 May 1776, as Baron Amherst, of Holmesdale in the County of Kent. On 24 March 1778 he was promoted to full general and, in April 1778, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, which gave him a seat in the Cabinet. Following the British setback at Saratoga, Amherst successfully argued for a limited war in North America, keeping footholds along the coast, defending Canada, East and West Florida, and the West Indies while putting more effort into the war at sea. On 7 November 1778 the King and Queen visited Amherst at his home, Montreal Park, in Kent and on 24 April 1779 he became colonel of the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards.

A long-standing plan of the French had been the concept of an invasion of Great Britain which they hoped would lead to a swift end to the war if it was successful: in 1779 Spain entered the war on the side of France, and the increasingly depleted state of British home forces made an invasion more appealing and Amherst organised Britain's land defences in anticipation of the invasion which never materialised.

Line troops and militia were brought in from surrounding counties, swelling the forces at Amherst's disposal to over 15,000, many of whom were quartered in tents in Hyde Park, and a form of martial law was declared, giving the troops the authority to fire on crowds if the Riot Act had first been read. Although order was eventually restored, Amherst was personally alarmed by the failure of the authorities to suppress the riots.

In the wake of the Gordon Riots, Amherst was forced to resign as Commander-in-Chief in February 1782 and was replaced by Henry Conway.

Later life

French Revolutionary Wars

On 8 July 1788, he became colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards and on 30 August 1788 he was created Baron Amherst (this time with the territorial designation of Montreal in the County of Kent) 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).

With the advent of the French Revolutionary Wars, Amherst was recalled as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in January 1793: however is generally criticised for allowing the armed forces to slide into acute decline, a direct cause of the failure of the early campaigns in the Low Countries: Pitt the Younger said of him "his age, and perhaps his natural temper, are little suited to the activity and the energy which the present moment calls for". Horace Walpole called him "that log of wood whose stupidity and incapacity are past belief". "He allowed innumerable abuses to grow up in the army… He kept his command, though almost in his dotage, with a tenacity that cannot be too much censured".

Family and death

In 1753 he married Jane Dalison (1723–1765). Following her death he married Elizabeth Cary (1740–1830), daughter of Lieutenant General George Cary (1712–1792), who later became Lady Amherst of Holmesdale, on 26 March 1767. He retired to his home at Montreal Park and died on 3 August 1797. Amherstburg, Ontario (location of General Amherst High School), Amherst, Massachusetts (location of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Hampshire College and Amherst College), Amherst, New Hampshire, Amherst, Nova Scotia, Amherst, New York, Amherst, Maine, and Amherst County, Virginia.

Amherst's desire to exterminate the indigenous people is now viewed as a dark stain on his legacy and various agencies, municipalities and institutions have reconsidered the use of the name "Amherst". "The Un-Canadians", a 2007 article in The Beaver, includes Amherst in a list of people in the history of Canada who are considered contemptible by the authors, because he "supported plans of distributing smallpox-infested blankets to First Nations people".

In 2008, Mi'kmaq spiritual leader John Joe Sark called the name of Fort Amherst Park of Prince Edward Island a "terrible blotch on Canada", and said: "To have a place named after General Amherst would be like having a city in Jerusalem named after Adolf Hitler...it's disgusting." Sark raised his concerns again in a 29 January 2016 letter to the Canadian government. Mi'kmaq historian Daniel N. Paul, who referred to Amherst as motivated by white supremacist beliefs, also supports a name change, saying: "in the future I don't think there should ever be anything named after people who committed what can be described as crimes against humanity." In February 2016, a spokesperson for Parks Canada said it would review the matter after a proper complaint is filed; "Should there be a formal request from the public to change the name of the National Historic Site, Parks Canada would engage with the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada for its recommendation." An online petition was launched by Sark to satisfy this formal request requirement on 20 February 2016. On 16 February 2018, the site was renamed Skmaqn–Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst, adding a Mi'kmaq word alongside the French and English titles.

In 2009, Montreal City Councillor Nicolas Montmorency officially asked that Rue Amherst be renamed: "it is totally unacceptable that a man who made comments supporting the extermination of Native Americans to be honoured in this way". On 13 September 2017, the city of Montreal decided that the street bearing his name would be renamed. On 21 June 2019, the street was officially renamed Rue Atateken, atateken being a Kanien'kehá word describing "those with whom one shares values," according to Kanehsatake historian Hilda Nicholas. Similarly, Rue Amherst in Gatineau was renamed Rue Wìgwàs (Anishinaabemowin for white birch) in 2023.

In 2016, Amherst College dropped its "Lord Jeffery" mascot at the instigation of the students. It also renamed the Lord Jeffery Inn, a campus hotel owned by the college, to the Inn on Boltwood in early 2019.

See also

  • List of governors general of Canada
  • Turtleheart

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

General bibliography

  • Amherst, Jeffery (1931). The journal of Jeffery Amherst, recording the military career of General Amherst in America from 1758 to 1763 (Webster, John Clarence, ed) Toronto: The Ryerson Press; Chicago: University of Chicago Press
  • Middleton, Richard, Pontiac's War: Its Causes, Course and Consequences New York and London, Routledge, 2007
  • Whitworth, Rex (February 1959). "Field-Marshal Lord Amherst: A Military Enigma" . History Today 9#2 pp. 132–137.
  • Jeffery Amherst Collection at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
  • Jeffery Amherst papers, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan.
  • Prof. Kevin Sweeney on Jeffery Amherst in America
  • Historical Biographies: Jeffrey Amherst
  • Amherst and Smallpox
  • The British, the Indians and Smallpox
  • Amherst in the Haldimand Papers
  • Amherst and Smallpox Blankets – Excerpts from actual letters in which Lord Jeffery Amherst approves smallpox plan (dated 16 July 1763) and discusses other methods of killing Native Americans with Colonel Henry Bouquet.
  • Jeffrey Amherst and Smallpox Blankets – Extensive discussion and documentation of Amherst's involvement in warfare against Native Americans and the smallpox blanket tactics (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
  • 1759 From the Warpath to the Plains of Abraham ( Virtual Exhibition)
  • National Battlefields Commission (Plains of Abraham)