Jeffery Amherst was a British soldier. He was instrumental in capturing Canada for Great Britain during the French and Indian War.
Background
Jeffery Amherst was born on January 29, 1717 at Riverhead in the parish of Sevenoaks, Kent County, England. He was the second son of Jeffery and Elizabeth (Kerril) Amherst, both of whom were of Kentish antecedents. His father and grandfather were barristers; his great-great-grandfather was an Anglican clergyman.
Career
Jeffery Amherst was early employment as a page in the Lionel Cranfield Sackville, the first Duke of Dorset, household, and thence entered the army in 1731. In the War of the Austrian Succession he served as aide-de-camp to General John Ligonier and took part in the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy. On December 25, 1745 he was made lieutenant-colonel and placed in command of a company in the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards. In 1747 he was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland and was present at the battle of Laffeldt. After the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he continued his association with the Duke of Cumberland, being appointed Groom of the Bedchamber.
When the outbreak of the Seven Years' War was impending, the British government employed 8, 000 Hessians to protect the Electorate of Hanover, and in February 1756 Amherst was sent to Germany to take charge of their commissariat. After a few weeks on the Continent he was ordered to return to England, bringing with him a portion of the Hessian subsidiaries. Soon after his arrival he was promoted to the colonelcy of the 15th Regiment of Foot, but this was virtually a sinecure and Amherst continued in charge of the Hessians.
In the spring of 1757 Cumberland was dispatched to the Continent to defend Hanover, and Amherst accompanied him as commissary. He was present at the battle of Hastenbeck, July 26, in which Cumberland's army was defeated by the French.
In January 1758, while still in Germany, Amherst received orders to return to England, whence, with the rank of major-general, he was to proceed to America in command of an army of over 14, 000 men to capture the French stronghold of Louisburg on Cape Breton Island. This promotion is attributable to Sir John Ligonier, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of all the forces in Great Britain. Amherst sailed for Halifax in March, but did not reach the coast of Nova Scotia until May 28. The army sent to capture Louisburg was supplemented by a fleet under Boscawen. The combined forces began their siege of the town about June 1 and the French surrendered it on July 27. This was the first British victory in the Seven Years' War, and great rejoicing spread throughout the empire.
Pitt, who had taken charge of the war in June 1757, had hoped that Amherst might capture both Louisburg and Quebec in the campaigns of 1758, but this prospect was frustrated by Abercromby's failure to take Ticonderoga. In consequence of Abercromby's disastrous defeat, Amherst deferred the attack on Quebec until another season and devoted the remainder of the summer to securing his hold upon the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including Prince Edward Island.
Toward the end of August he and five regiments sailed for Boston, and thence made their way overland to Albany. He agreed with Abercromby that another movement against Ticonderoga in that year would be unwise, and retired to New York for the winter.
The British success at Louisburg was due in part to the brilliant work of Brigadier-General Wolfe; consequently Pitt gave him a semi-independent command for the campaign of 1759 and ordered him to take Quebec. Amherst, now commander-in-chief in North America, was to push northward from Albany, drive the French from their posts on Lakes George and Champlain, and, if possible, join forces with Wolfe before Quebec. Owing to unfavorable weather and the late arrival of the provincial troops, Amherst's progress was slow, but he captured Ticonderoga on July 27 and Crown Point on August 4.
Instead of advancing at once toward Quebec he spent much time in constructing a strong fort at Crown Point, and the burden and glory of taking Quebec settled upon Wolfe alone. Amherst reached the northern end of Lake Champlain about the middle of October, and, learning that Quebec had fallen, closed his campaign. In recognition of his services at Louisburg, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point, George II appointed him to the sinecure governorship of Virginia.
Montreal remained to be captured, and upon it Amherst converged a triple campaign in 1760. Murray ascended the St. Lawrence from Quebec, Haviland pushed northward from Lake Champlain, and Amherst came down the river from Oswego. The combination was well-timed and entirely successful. On September 8, 1760, Montreal surrendered, and Canada was added to the British Empire.
In 1762 an expedition commanded by Amherst's younger brother, William Amherst, captured Newfoundland. Amherst returned to England in the winter of 1763-1764. In 1768 George III decided to have the governor of Virginia reside in that colony, and gave Amherst his choice of going to America or resigning the office. The general resigned, but took offense and threw up his military appointments as well. After three or four months he was placated by an additional military commission and a grant of 20, 000 acres in the province of New York. In 1770 he was appointed to the sinecure governorship of Guernsey.
When the American situation became acute in the winter of 1774-1775, George III urged Amherst to take command of the British forces in New England, but the general declined. As a military adviser to the cabinet, however, he served his country during the war. When France entered the war in 1778, he was made commander-in-chief of all British forces in England. In this capacity he showed efficiency in his suppression of the Gordon Riots in 1780.
After the American war he retired to his seat, "Montreal, " at Sevenoaks, Kent; but when war with France was approaching in 1793 he once more took command of the army in Great Britain and held it until relieved in February 1795. In the following year he was given the rank of field-marshal.
Achievements
Personality
In appearance, Amherst was tall and spare; his complexion was florid, and his nose large and aquiline. Although in Blackburn's portrait Amherst has a genial expression, at least one contemporary found him "grave, formal, and cold. "
Connections
In 1753 Amhers married Jane Dalison. After her death he married Elizabeth Cary, the daughter of Lieutenant General George Cary, on 26 March 1767. Both marriages produced no children.