Because of overtrapping, both French Canadian and British Canadian fur traders began to exhuast the supply of fur-bearing animals near settled areas. Consequently both French & English explorers sought to push the boundries of the fur trade. French and English exploreres began to compete over the Canadian territory by making more land claims for each nation.The Seven Years War began unofficially in 1754 in the Ohio Valley and was later transferred to Europe. This reversed the usual situation; most wars started in Europe and were transferred to North America. The problem was both French and British settlements were expanding. It was a matter of time before the two sides would clash over the same territory. In 1749 a group of British buisness people secured a grant of 200,000 hecters of the Ohio Valley for settlement even though the land was claimed by the French. The French built a chain of forts to secure their land claim and attacked British settlers.
French General Montclam acted hasitly, rather than waiting for reinforcements, he decided to engage the British. The French had a force of close to 4,000 men made up of farmers, volunteers and natives vs. the British professional soldiers. The disciplined British soldiers fired volley after volley on the raggedly French soldiers. The Battle was over in half an hour as the British handly defeated the French. During the Battle both General Montcalm and General Wolfe were killed.
