frontier thesis press

Timeline of Events

The following timeline is constructed as accurately as possible using the information provided by Brown in his narrative. Due to the nature of his captivity, his injuries, and his youth, it is possible that there may be some inaccuracies.

  1. 1740Thomas Brown is born in Charlestown, Province of Massachusetts Bay
  2. 9 Jul. 1755Braddock’s Defeat on the Monongahela
  3. 8 Sep. 1755The Battle of Lake George
  4. May 1756Brown enlists in Captain Thomas Speakman’s company of Rogers’ RangersRead the passage →
  5. 18 May 1756Great Britain declares war on France
  6. 1 Aug. 1756Brown arrives in Albany with his unitRead the passage →
  7. 21 Jan. 1757The First Battle on SnowshoesRead the passage →
  8. 22 Jan. 1757Brown is taken prisonerRead the passage →
  9. 22 Jan. 1757 – 19 Feb. 1757Brown recovers from his wounds at Fort Ticonderoga hospitalRead the passage →
  10. 19 Feb. 1757 – 27 Mar. 1757Brown lives with the interpreter at Fort TiconderogaRead the passage →
  11. Apr. 1757Brown is brought to MontrealRead the passage →
  12. 1 May 1757Brown departs with his Indian captors for the Pays d’en Haut (Upper Country)Read the passage →
  13. 3–9 Aug. 1757The Siege of Fort William Henry
  14. 23 Aug. 1757Brown arrives at the Indian villageRead the passage →
  15. Early Spring 1758A French merchant arrives at the Indian villageRead the passage →
  16. Spring 1758*Brown lives and works with the merchant’s wife’s family outside MontrealRead the passage →
  17. Summer 1758Brown is imprisoned after refusing to return with the merchant to the Indian village
  18. 8 Jul. 1758The Battle of Fort Ticonderoga
  19. Late Summer 1758 – 8 Sep. 1758Brown returns to the host family outside Montreal
  20. 9 Sep. 1758 – about 2 Oct. 1758Brown attempts escape with another English prisonerRead the passage →
  21. Mid-Oct. 1758 – 19 Nov. 1758Brown is recaptured and returned to his host familyRead the passage →
  22. 19 Nov. 1758Brown departs Montreal with Colonel Peter SchuylerRead the passage →
  23. 24 Nov. 1758The French abandon Fort Duquesne
  24. Dec. 1758Brown enlists in Colonel Thomas Gage’s 80th Light Infantry Regiment
  25. Jan. 1759 – Mar. 1759Brown is hospitalized in Kingston, New YorkRead the passage →
  26. Summer 1759Brown’s regiment departs for Albany, thence to Forts William Henry, Ticonderoga, and Crown PointRead the passage →
  27. 26 Jun. 1759Major-General James Wolfe’s army arrives outside Quebec
  28. 26 Jul. 1759The French abandon Fort Ticonderoga
  29. 31 Jul. 1759The French abandon Crown Point
  30. Sep. 1759Brown is taken prisoner again and transported to MontrealRead the passage →
  31. 13 Sep. 1759The Battle of the Plains of Abraham
  32. 4 Oct. 1759Rogers’ Rangers raid the Indian village of St. Francis
  33. Oct. 1759 – Nov. 1759Brown lives with the host family outside Montreal for the final time
  34. 25 Nov. 1759Brown is released and rejoins his regiment at Crown PointRead the passage →
  35. Jan. 1760Thomas Brown returns to CharlestownRead the passage →
  36. May 1760The first edition of Thomas Brown’s narrative is published in Boston
  37. 8 Sep. 1760The French surrender Montreal
  38. 10 Feb. 1763The Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian War
  39. 1763–1765Ottawa chief Pontiac rises in rebellion against the British Empire
  40. 17 Jun. 1775Brown’s hometown of Charlestown is burned by the British at the Battle of Bunker Hill

* In the text, Brown very clearly states that he stayed with the family “until the next Spring.” If taken literally, this ruins the timeline of his narrative and everything occurs one year late. It is likely that he meant “for the rest of the Spring,” instead. Accounting for that error fixes all timeline discrepancies.