Robert Monckton
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Robert Monckton, 1726-1782
Overview of Chapter M : One of the few chapters in the book dedicated to a military figure, this one focuses upon the career of an English general who led critical campaigns for Great Britain against the French in Acadia (Nova Scotia), Québec, and Martinique. It appraises the ways in which Monckton’s command decisions helped transform the course of North American history and discusses both the military strategy and social history of these campaigns.
additional resources and scholarship
Discussion Questions and Writing Prompts:
1. Why did the capture of Québec not end the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War)?
2. If Chapter M was written from perspective of a French general instead of a British one, how would it differ?
3. Trans-Atlantic slavery is discussed in Chapter O, but just based on Chapter M, what culpability does Monckton have in the barbarous enterprise?
Classroom Activities:
1. Have students create a map, draw an image or make a diorama of one of the battles discussed in Chapter M.
2. Have students compare one of the battles described in Chapter M with another 18th century battle. What accounts for the differences?
3. Take three paintings of war that celebrate victory. What commonalities do they share?
Links to New Scholarship
• Jonathan Taylor, “‘Who Bravely Fights, and Like Achilles Bleeds': The Ideal of the Front‐Line Soldier during the Long Eighteenth Century,” Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Volume 43, Issue1 (March 2020), 79-100, Open Access, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1754-0208.12652
Photo Gallery for Chapter M
Map for Chapter M: This map by the author is in the print edition of the book and shows Acadia or Nova Scotia.
Map for Chapter M: This more detailed map by the author is in the print edition of the book and shows critical area on the Chignecto Isthmus
Map for Chapter M: This map by the author is in the print edition of the book and shows the area around Québec City along the St. Lawrence River that were important in the British capture of the city.
Map for Chapter M: This map by the author is in the print edition of the book and shows the Caribbean island of Martinique.
Map for Chapter M: This map by the author is in the print edition of the book and shows the area around Fort-Royal, Martinique.
“Major-General Robert Monckton at the Taking of Martinique, 1762,” oil painting by Benjamin West, c. 1763, courtesy of the National Army Museum, London, NAM. 2003-05-161-1