In 1758 no one could tell whether North America was going to be French or British. But one thing was sure. The colonists weren't going to put up much longer with the Indian raids, the burning of villages, and the cruel murder of women and children. The Indians were allies of the French, of course, who had fought steadily and successfully against the British.

The marching lines of British redcoats made a perfect target for the enemy lurking behind trees and rocky ledges. So when Robert Rogers of New Hampshire offered to raise a company of Rangers, the British told him to go ahead. By 1758 there were five companies of Rogers' Rangers—one of the toughest and most heroic of fighting units in American history.

Boldly they pushed into enemy territory on one scouting expedition after another, wading through icy streams and slugging their way through the tangled woods of unknown territory.

And all the while the British under General Wolfe were creeping up on the French at Quebec in preparation for the great battle on the Plains of Abraham—the battle which brought defeat to the French forces under Montcalm.

In Roger's Rangers and the French and Indian War Bradford Smith recounts one of the most exciting and breath-taking chapters in American history.

From the book