May 28, 1754 · Ohio Valley Theater

A 22-year-old Virginia militia officer named George Washington led a surprise dawn attack on a French scouting party in the Pennsylvania wilderness. The French commander Jumonville was killed — possibly after surrendering — along with 9 of his men. Washington called it 'a most signal victory' in a letter to his brother. France called it an assassination.

July 3, 1754 · Ohio Valley Theater

The French response to Jumonville Glen came swiftly. A larger French and Indian force surrounded Washington's hastily constructed stockade — Fort Necessity — in a meadow. Rain turned the trenches to mud; Washington's men took heavy casualties. He was forced to surrender and sign a document (written in French, which he could not read) admitting he had 'assassinated' Jumonville. Washington returned to Virginia in humiliation.

July 9, 1755 · Ohio Valley Theater

Britain sent General Braddock with 1,400 British regulars and 450 colonials — including Washington — to capture Fort Duquesne (modern Pittsburgh). A French and Indian force of 900 ambushed the column on a forest road. The disciplined British formations were devastated by fire from men they couldn't see. Braddock was mortally wounded; two-thirds of his force was killed or wounded. Washington had two horses shot from under him and four bullet holes in his coat.

August 3–9, 1757 · Northern Colonies Theater

French General Montcalm besieged the British fort at the southern end of Lake George with 8,000 troops. After five days of bombardment, the British surrendered on honorable terms. As the garrison marched out, Montcalm's Native American allies — whom he could not fully control — attacked the prisoners, killing between 180 and 1,500 men, women, and children. Montcalm was horrified and risked his life trying to stop the massacre.

July 8, 1758 · Northern Colonies Theater

Abercrombie led 15,000 British and colonial troops — the largest army ever assembled in North America — against Montcalm's 3,600 at Fort Carillon. In a colossal blunder, he ordered frontal assaults against log breastworks without waiting for his artillery. The attacks were repulsed with devastating losses — 1,944 British casualties in a single afternoon. Montcalm, who had expected to lose, could scarcely believe his own victory.

June 8 – July 26, 1758 · Maritime Canada Theater

Britain's new Prime Minister William Pitt launched a three-pronged offensive strategy in 1758. The first target was Louisbourg — France's massive fortress on Cape Breton Island that controlled the St. Lawrence River approach to Canada. 27,000 British troops under Amherst, with James Wolfe commanding a key amphibious landing, besieged and captured the fortress after 49 days.

September 13, 1759 · Northern Colonies Theater

Wolfe's army had besieged Quebec for three months without success. Then a small cove was discovered — the Anse au Foulon — where the cliffs were climbable. In the darkness before dawn, 4,500 British troops scaled the cliff and formed up on the Plains of Abraham above the city. Montcalm came out to fight rather than wait behind Quebec's walls. In a 15-minute exchange of volleys, both commanders were mortally wounded. Quebec fell five days later.

February 10, 1763 · Diplomatic Theater

The Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War globally. France ceded all of Canada and all territory east of the Mississippi River to Britain. France gave Louisiana (the vast territory west of the Mississippi) to Spain. Britain returned Cuba and the Philippines to Spain, and Martinique and Guadeloupe to France. In one treaty, the entire balance of power in North America was redrawn.