Beschreibung:

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR]. PITT, William, The Elder (1708-1778), British Politician . Letter signed ("W Pitt") to Governor Thomas Fitch ("Governor and Company of Connecticut"), Whitehall [London], 17 December 1760. 4½ pages, folio, marked "Triplicate," one fold reinforced from verso , otherwise in very fine condition. PITT REQUISITIONS CONNECTICUT MILITIA FOR SERVICE AGAINST THE FRENCH . Four years after the start of what became known in America as the French and Indian War, William Pitt directs an escalation of Britain's military effort, calling on the colonies to furnish troops for service in the conflict. The war had been conducted poorly by British commanders, resulting in multiple defeats at the hands of a French enemy and its Indian allies. Pitt, whose direction of foreign and military affairs had been backed by the King, understood that the loss of North America would cause irreparable damage to the British Empire, and his efforts to expand the war included increased use of colonial militia. Here, writing to the Governor of Connecticut, Pitt states that in order to achieve victory "by the most vigorous Prosecution of the War" and "to provide for the full and entire Security of His Majesty's Dominions in North America, and particularly of the Possession of His Majesty's Conquests there, during the Absence of such Part of the Regular Forces," the governor is to induce his colony "to raise ... two thirds of the Number of Men they raised for the last Campaign ... to march to such Place or Places in North America, as His Majesty's Commander in Chief there shall appoint." The governor is authorized to commission as many officers as are necessary and is assured that the King will "furnish all the Men so raised as above, with Arms, Ammunition and Tents, as well as to order Provisions to be issued to the Same, by His Majesty's Commissaries in the same Proportion & Manner as is done to the rest of the King's Forces." In payment for their military services, Pitt claims that "strong Recommendations will be made to Parliament ... to grant a proper Compensation for such Expences as above, according as the active Vigor, and strenuous Efforts of the respective Provinces shall justly appear to merit." Pitt's endeavors eventually brought military successes, but the expenditures that assured victory created a debt that the British chose to pay with colonial taxation, a decision that laid foundations for the American Revolution.