AMHERST PAPERS 1756-1763: The Southern Sector

1-202680

Dispatches from South Carolina, Virginia and His Majesty's Superintendent of Indian Affairs - Edith Mays. Jeffrey Amherst was Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Forces in North America during the French and Indian War. Documents from his records relating to the war are located in the British Public Records Office as 'W.O. 34: General Sir Jeffrey Amherst 1712-1784 (47-48).'

Microfilms of these records have been transcribed, arranged in chronological order and indexed in this book. Page numbers of the original documents are given so that researchers can easily find them on the microfilm. The earliest records of this collection are from Edmund Atkin, Southern Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

These documents include recruitment of Indians for war against the French, orders to Deputy Indian Agent Christopher Gist, and many of Atkin's account records that give names of people who were paid and who received goods. The bulk of the documents range from 1760 and 1761, when Amherst sent forces against the Cherokees. Correspondence describes conditions in South Carolina, the march inland, the attack on the Cherokees, and some courts martial for desertion.

The years 1762-1763 brought finalization of a peace agreement with the Cherokees. Weekly and monthly returns of the state of the troops and applications for commissions are scattered throughout these records. This is a fine resource for genealogists and students of the French and Indian War