robert rogers

[law]

ok not really bushcraft but i thought i would mention i have almost finished reading northwest passage by kenneth roberts its mostly all about robert rogers of the rangers and the french and indian war the chapters covering the st francis raid are totally gripping!
am also reading white devil by stephen brumwell this book blends fiction with loads of facts
of the time period.am utterly hooked on the part of history if anyone can suggest anymore more books regarding the french and indian i would like to hear of them
cheers

 

[Humpback]

Major Rogers looked just like Spencer Tracy.






(I'll get my flintlock)

 

[Eric_Methven]

Major Rogers looked just like Spencer Tracy.

Maybe he did in the movie, but Jim Bridger really did look like Spencer Tracy

Eric

 

[Chainsaw]

I get most of my military history books from Caliver books, great range and the guys and gals there are pretty knowledgable and worth talking to. I did a quick search on the site and came up with 4 hits just on RR alone but there are lots more titles regarding the F&I wars which will be well worth a browse, some of the info on the indian side is pretty good. You'll probably get some good reading in the colonial wars and AWI sections too, be warned that this can seriously damage your wallet!

Anorak off

Cheers,

Alan

 

[Mike Ameling]

Look for the Leatherstocking Saga by James Fenimore Cooper

subtitled: Being those parts of THE DEERSLAYER, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, THE PATHFINDER, THE PIONEERS, and THE PRAIRIE which specially pertain to NATTY BUMPPO, otherwise known as PATHFINDER, DEERSLAYER, or HAWKEYE.

The individual books have a lot more written in them, but this compiles just the main parts that concern the character Natty Bumppo or Hawkeye from the 5 books.

Cooper wrote these books in the very early 1800's, but based lots on his conversations with people who had actually been involved in some of the things he was writing about in the mid/late 1700's. He died in 1851.

His book and writings are what the various movie versions of The Last of the Mohicans were based on - including the recent one with Danield Day Lewis.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[wicca]

Ha! I've just bought an old paperback copy of ' The Deerslayer,' Mike. Published by Airmont & Co. New York, 1964.I found it in an animal charity shop. Part of the introduction reads..."The plot of The Deerslayer is characterized by exciting and suspensful incidents that stir the readers anticipation,apprehension and sympathy"..Elegant language from 1841.

 

[Mungo]

Standing Orders, Rogers' Rangers - 1759

1. Don't forget nothing.
2. Have your musket clean as a whistle, hatchet scoured, sixty rounds powder and ball and be ready to march at a minutes warning.
3. When you're on the march act the way you would if you was sneaking up on a deer; see the enemy first.
4. Tell the truth about what you see and what you do. There is an army depending on us for correct information. You can lie all you please when you tell other folks about the rangers, but don't never tell a lie to a Ranger or officer
5. Don't never take a chance you don't have to.
6. When you're on the march, we march single file, far enough apart so one shot can't go through two men.
7. If we strike swamp or soft ground we spread out abreast so it is hard to track us.
8. When we march, we keep moving till dark, so as to give the enemy the least possible chance at us.
9. When we camp, half the party stays awake while the other half sleeps.
10. If we take prisoners we keep them separate till we have we have enough time to examine them so they can't cook up a story between 'em,
11. Don't ever march home the same way, take a different route so you won't be ambushed.
12. No matter whether we travel in big parties or little ones, each party has to keep a scout twenty yards ahead on each flank and twenty yards in the rear, so that the main party can't be surprised and wiped out.
13. Every night you'll be told where to meet if surrounded by a superior force.
14. Don't sit down to eat without posting sentries.
15. Don't sleep beyond dawn. Dawn's when the French and Indians attack.
16. Don't cross a river by a regular ford.
17. If somebody's trailing you, make a circle, come back onto your tracks, and ambush the folks that aim to ambush you.
18. Don't stand up when the enemy's coming against you. Kneel down, lie down, hide behind a tree.
19. Let the enemy come till he's almost close enough to touch. Then let him have it and jump out and finish him up with your hatchet.

Cheers,

Mungo