View source for Biography:Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst

{{Short description|British Army general}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = Field Marshal The Right Honourable
| name                = The Lord Amherst
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|KB}}
| image               = Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst.jpg
| caption             = Amherst by Thomas Gainsborough c.1785
| nickname            = 
| order               = Commander-in-Chief, North America
| term_start          = 1758
| term_end            = 1763
| monarch             = 
| predecessor         = 
| successor           = 
| order2              = Crown Governor of Virginia
| term_start2         = 1759
| term_end2           = 1768
| monarch2            = {{Plainlist|
* George II
* George III}}
| predecessor2        = John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun
| successor2          = Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt
| order3              = Governor of the Province of Quebec
| term_start3         = 1760
| term_end3           = 1763
| monarch3            = George III
| predecessor3        = Post created—replacing the French post of Governor General of New France
| successor3          = James Murray
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1717|1|29|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = Sevenoaks, Kent, [[Place:Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1797|8|3|1717|1|29|df=yes}}
| death_place         = Sevenoaks, Kent, Great Britain
| restingplace        = Parish Church at Sevenoaks
| relations           = 
| allegiance          = [[Place:Kingdom of Great Britain|Kingdom of Great Britain]]
| branch              = British Army
| serviceyears        = 1735–1795
| rank                = Field marshal
| unit                = 
| commands            = {{Plainlist|
* 15th Regiment of Foot
* North America
* 62nd (Royal American) Regiment
* 3rd Regiment of Foot
* Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance
* Commander-in-Chief of the Forces
* 2nd Troop Horse Grenadier Guards
* The Queen's Troop of Horse Guards
* 2nd Regiment of Life Guards}}
| battles             = {{Plainlist|
* War of the Austrian Succession
* Seven Years' War
* Pontiac's Rebellion
* American Revolutionary War
* French Revolutionary Wars}}
| awards              = Knight of the Order of the Bath
| signature           = JeffreyAmherst.svg
}}
Field Marshal '''Jeffery{{refn|group=n|Lord Amherst spelled his name Jeffery, but '''Jeffrey''' and '''Geoffrey''' sometimes appear in sources discussing him.}} Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KB}} (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army.  Amherst is  credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign to conquer the territory of New France during the Seven Years' War. Under his command, British forces captured the cities of Louisbourg, Quebec City and Montreal, as well as several major fortresses. He was also the first British Governor General in the territories that eventually became Canada. Numerous places and streets are named for him, in both Canada and the United States.

Amherst's legacy is controversial due to his expressed desire to exterminate the race of indigenous people during Pontiac's War, and his advocacy of [[Biology:Biological warfare|biological warfare]] in the form of gifting blankets infected with [[Medicine:Smallpox|smallpox]] as a weapon,<ref name=umass /> notably at the [[Social:Siege of Fort Pitt|Siege of Fort Pitt]]. This has led to a reconsideration of his legacy. In 2019, the city of Montreal removed his name from a street, renaming it Rue Atateken, from the Kanien'kéha Mohawk language.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/amherst-street-renamed-atateken-symbolizing-fraternity-and-peace-1.5184562?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar "Amherst Street becomes 'Atateken,' symbolizing fraternity and peace"]</ref>

{{anchor|Biography|History}}

==Early life==
Born the son of Jeffrey Amherst (d. 1750), a Kentish lawyer,<ref>Chartrand p. 24</ref> and Elizabeth Amherst (née Kerrill),<ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/443|title=Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/443|access-date=28 April 2012}}</ref> Jeffery Amherst was born in Sevenoaks, England, on 29 January 1717.<ref name=heath23>Heathcote p. 23</ref> At an early age, he became a page to the Duke of Dorset.<ref name=heath23/> Amherst became an ensign in the Grenadier Guards in 1735.<ref>Mayo p. 8</ref>

Amherst served in the War of the Austrian Succession becoming an aide to General John Ligonier and participating in the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743 and the Battle of Fontenoy in May 1745.<ref>Mayo pp. 11–15</ref> Promoted to lieutenant colonel on 25 December 1745, he also saw action at the Battle of Rocoux in October 1746.<ref name=heath24>Heathcote p. 24</ref> He then became an aide to the Duke of Cumberland, the commander of the British forces, and saw further action at the Battle of Lauffeld in July 1747.<ref name=heath24/>

==Seven Years' War==
=== Germany ===

In February 1756, Amherst was appointed commissar to the Hessian forces that had been assembled to defend [[Place:Hanover|Hanover]] as part of the Army of Observation: as it appeared likely a French invasion attempt against Britain itself was imminent, Amherst was ordered in April to arrange the transportation of thousands of the Germans to southern England to bolster Britain's defences.<ref>Mayo pp. 34–37</ref> He was made colonel of the 15th Regiment of Foot on 12 June 1756.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=9590|page=2|date=8 June 1756}}</ref> By 1757 as the immediate danger to Britain had passed the troops were moved back to Hanover to join a growing army under the Duke of Cumberland and Amherst fought with the Hessians under Cumberland's command at the Battle of Hastenbeck in July 1757:<ref name=heath24/> the Allied defeat there forced the army into a steady retreat northwards to Stade on the North Sea coast.<ref>Mayo pp. 37–38</ref>

Amherst was left dispirited by the retreat and by the Convention of Klosterzeven by which [[Place:Hanover|Hanover]] agreed to withdraw from the war: he began to prepare to disband the Hessian troops under his command, only to receive word that the Convention had been repudiated and the Allied force was being reformed.<ref>Mayo pp. 40–42</ref>

===North America===
==== French and Indian War ====

Amherst gained fame during the Seven Years' War, particularly in the North American campaign known in the United States as the French and Indian War when he led the British attack on Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in June 1758.<ref name=heath24/>

In the wake of this action, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the British army in North America and colonel-in-chief of the 60th (Royal American) Regiment in September 1758.<ref name=heath24/> Amherst then led an army against French troops on Lake Champlain, where he captured Fort Ticonderoga in July 1759, while another army under William Johnson took Niagara also in July 1759 and James Wolfe besieged and eventually captured Quebec with a third army in September 1759.<ref name=heath24/> Amherst served as the nominal Crown Governor of Virginia from 12 September 1759.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=9930|page=1|date=11 September 1759}}</ref>

[[Image:1760 Canada Surrender byThomasFoxcroft Boston.jpg|thumb|''Grateful Reflexions on the Signal Appearances of Divine Providence for Great Britain and its Colonies in America.'' 1760]]

From July 1760, Amherst led an army down the Saint Lawrence River from Fort Oswego, joined with Brigadier Murray from Quebec and Brigadier Haviland from Ile-aux-Noix in a three-way pincer,<ref name=park/> and captured {{wipe|Montreal}}, ending French rule in North America on 8 September.<ref name=heath24/> He infuriated the French commanders by refusing them the [[Social:Honours of war|honours of war]]; the Chevalier de Lévis burned the colours rather than surrendering them,<ref>Hayes, p. 77</ref> to highlight his differences with Vaudreuil for later political advantage back in France.<ref name=park/>

Half the continent changed hands "at the scratch of a pen." The British settlers were relieved and proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. Boston newspapers recount how the occasion was celebrated with a parade, a grand dinner in Faneuil Hall, music, bonfires, and firing of cannon. Rev. Thomas Foxcroft of the First Church in Boston offered thus:<ref name=park>Parkman, Francis: "Montcalm and Wolfe"</ref>

{{quote|The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad... Long had it been the common opinion, ''Delenda est Carthago'', Canada must be conquered, or we could hope for no lasting quiet in these parts; and now, through the good hand of our God upon us, we see the happy day of its accomplishment. We behold His Majesty's victorious troops treading upon the high places of the enemy, their last fortress delivered up, and the whole country surrendered to the King of Britain in the person of his general, the intrepid, the serene, the successful Amherst.}}

In recognition of this victory, Amherst was appointed Governor-General of British North America in September 1760<ref name=heath24/> and promoted to major-general on 29 November 1760.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=10056|page=11|date=25 November 1760}}</ref> He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath on 11 April 1761.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=10094|page=2|date=7 April 1761}}</ref>

From his base at New York, Amherst oversaw the dispatch of troops under Monckton and Haviland<ref name=havi>{{cite DCB |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/haviland_william_4E.html |title=Haviland, William |first=John D. |last=Krugler |access-date=24 January 2010 |ref=Krugler|volume=4}}</ref> to take part in British expeditions in the [[Place:West Indies|West Indies]] that led to the British capture of [[Earth:Dominica|Dominica]] in 1761 and Martinique and Cuba in 1762.<ref name=odnb/>

====Pontiac's War====

The uprising of many Native American tribes in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes region, commonly referred to as Pontiac's War after one of its most notable leaders, began in early 1763.  From 1753, when the French first invaded the territory, to February 1763, when peace was formally declared between the English and French, the Six Nations and tenant tribes always maintained that both the French and the British must remain east of the Allegheny Mountains. After the British failed to keep their word to withdraw from the Ohio and Allegheny valleys, a loose confederation of Native American tribes including the Delawares, the Shawnees, the Senecas, the Mingoes, the Mohicans, the Miamis, the Ottawas and the Wyandots, who were enraged with British post-war occupation of the region, banded together in an effort to drive the British out of their territory.<ref>''The Indian wars of Pennsylvania''; C. Hale Sipe; The Telegraph Press; 1921; pp. 407–438</ref><ref>Richard Middleton, ''Pontiac's War'', pp. 1–128.</ref>

One of the most infamous and well-documented issues during Pontiac's War was the use of [[Biology:Biological warfare|biological warfare]] against the Native Americans. The British Army attempted the use of smallpox against Native Americans during the [[Social:Siege of Fort Pitt|Siege of Fort Pitt]] in June 1763.<ref name="scratch">{{Cite book|title=The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America (Pivotal Moments in American History)|last=Calloway|first=Collin G. |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0195331271|page=73}}</ref><ref name="ration">{{Cite book|title=Rationalizing Epidemics|last=Jones|first=David S. |publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0674013056|page=97}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=A Country Between: The Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples, 1724–1774|last=McConnel|first=Michael N. |publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1997|page=195}}</ref> During a parley in midst of the siege on 24 June 1763, Captain Simeon Ecuyer gave representatives of the besieging Delawares two blankets and a handkerchief enclosed in small metal boxes that had been exposed to smallpox, in an attempt to spread the disease to the Natives in order to end the siege.<ref>Anderson, ''Crucible of War'', 541–42; Jennings, ''Empire of Fortune'', 447n26.</ref> William Trent, the trader turned militia commander who had come up with the plan, sent a bill to the British Army indicating that the purpose of giving the blankets was "to Convey the Smallpox to the Indians." The [[Finance:Invoice|invoice]]'s approval confirms that the British command endorsed Trent's actions.<ref name="scratch" /><ref name="ration"/> Reporting on parleys with Delaware chiefs on 24 June, Trent wrote: '[We] gave them two Blankets and an Handkerchief out of the Small Pox Hospital. I hope it will have the desired effect.' The military hospital records confirm that two blankets and handkerchiefs were 'taken from people in the Hospital to Convey the Smallpox to the Indians.' The fort commander paid for these items, which he certified 'were had for the uses above mentioned.'<ref name="Fenn"/><ref>Kiernan, p. 245</ref> A reported outbreak that began the spring before left as many as one hundred Native Americans dead in Ohio Country from 1763 to 1764. It is not clear, however, whether the smallpox was a result of the Fort Pitt incident or the virus was already present among the Delaware people as outbreaks happened on their own every dozen or so years<ref>{{cite book|last1=King |first1=J. C. H. |title=Blood and Land: The Story of Native North America |date=2016 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=9781846148088 |page=73}}</ref> and the delegates were met again later and they seemingly had not contracted smallpox.<ref name=ranlet>{{cite journal|last1=Ranlet |first1=P |title=The British, the Indians, and smallpox: what actually happened at Fort Pitt in 1763? |journal=Pennsylvania History |date=2000 |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=427–441 |pmid=17216901}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Barras V, Greub G | title = History of biological warfare and bioterrorism | journal = Clinical Microbiology and Infection | volume = 20 | issue = 6 | pages = 497–502 | date = June 2014 | pmid = 24894605 | doi = 10.1111/1469-0691.12706 | quote = However, in the light of contemporary knowledge, it remains doubtful whether his hopes were fulfilled, given the fact that the transmission of smallpox through this kind of vector is much less efficient than respiratory transmission, and that Native Americans had been in contact with smallpox >200 years before Ecuyer’s trickery, notably during Pizarro’s conquest of South America in the 16th century. As a whole, the analysis of the various ‘pre-micro- biological” attempts at BW illustrate the difficulty of differentiating attempted biological attack from naturally occurring epidemics. | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Medical Aspects of Biological Warfare|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-087238-9|page=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nm_AVg4hmJQC&pg=PA3|date=2007|quote=In retrospect, it is difficult to evaluate the tactical success of Captain Ecuyer's biological attack because smallpox may have been transmitted after other contacts with colonists, as had previously happened in New England and the South. Although scabs from smallpox patients are thought to be of low infectivity as a result of binding of the virus in fibrin metric, and transmission by fomites has been considered inefficient compared with respiratory droplet transmission.}}</ref>

A month later the use of smallpox blankets was discussed by Amherst himself in letters to Colonel Henry Bouquet.<ref>{{Citation |last=Appel |first=J. M. |title=Is all fair in biological warfare? The controversy over genetically engineered biological weapons |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |volume=35 |issue=7 |pages=429–432 |year=2009 |doi=10.1136/jme.2008.028944 |pmid=19567692|s2cid=1643086 }}</ref>  Amherst, having learned that smallpox had broken out among the garrison at Fort Pitt, and after learning of the loss of his forts at Venango, Le Boeuf and Presqu'Isle, wrote to Colonel Bouquet:<ref name="Fenn">Fenn, Elizabeth A. [http://www.politicsandthelifesciences.org/Biosecurity_course_folder/readings/fenn.html Biological Warfare in Eighteenth-Century North America: Beyond Jeffery Amherst] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403033815/http://www.politicsandthelifesciences.org/Biosecurity_course_folder/readings/fenn.html |date= 3 April 2015 }};  The Journal of American History, Vol. 86, No. 4, March 2000</ref>
:"Could it not be contrived to send the small pox among the disaffected tribes of Indians? We must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them."

Bouquet, who was already marching to relieve Fort Pitt, agreed with this suggestion in a postscript when he responded to Amherst just days later on 13 July 1763:<ref name=umass/>
:"P.S. I will try to inocculate {{sic}} the Indians by means of Blankets that may fall in their hands, taking care however not to get the disease myself. As it is pity to oppose good men against them, I wish we could make use of the Spaniard's Method, and hunt them with English Dogs. Supported by Rangers, and some Light Horse, who would I think effectively extirpate or remove that Vermine."

In response, also in a postscript, Amherst replied:<ref name=umass/>
:"P.S. You will Do well to try to Innoculate {{sic}} the Indians by means of Blankets, as well as to try Every other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execrable Race. I should be very glad your Scheme for Hunting them Down by Dogs could take Effect, but England is at too great a Distance to think of that at present."


Amherst was summoned home, ostensibly so that he could be consulted on future military plans in North America, and was replaced ''pro tem'' as Commander-in-Chief, North America by Thomas Gage. Amherst expected to be praised for his conquest of Canada, however, once in London, he was instead asked to account for the recent Native American rebellion.<ref>Anderson pp. 552–553</ref> He was forced to defend his conduct, and faced complaints made by William Johnson and George Croghan, who lobbied the Board of Trade for his removal and permanent replacement by Gage.  He was also severely criticised by military subordinates on both sides of the Atlantic.<ref>Middleton, ''Pontiac's War,'' 127–28.  O'Toole p. 249</ref>  Nevertheless, Amherst was promoted to lieutenant-general on 26 March 1765,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=10507|page=1|date=23 March 1765}}</ref> and became colonel of the 3rd Regiment of Foot in November 1768.<ref name=heath25>Heathcote p. 25</ref>

[[File:Elizabeth, Lady Amherst (1740-1830) by Joshua Reynolds.jpg|thumb|On 26 March 1767 Jeffrey Amherst married Elizabeth, daughter of General George Cary (portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1767).]]
[[File:Jeffrey Amherst.jpg|thumb|Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, by Sir Joshua Reynolds.]]

On 22 October 1772, Amherst was appointed Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11294|page=1|date=20 October 1772}}</ref> and he soon gained the confidence of George III, who had initially hoped the position would go to a member of the Royal Family.<ref>Patterson p. 93</ref> On 6 November 1772, he became a member of the Privy Council.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11298|page=1|date=3 November 1772}}</ref>

==American Revolutionary War==
Amherst was raised to the peerage on 14 May 1776, as Baron Amherst, ''of Holmesdale in the County of Kent''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11665|page=2|date=11 May 1776}}</ref> On 24 March 1778 he was promoted to full general<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11859|page=1|date=21 March 1788}}</ref> and, in April 1778, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, which gave him a seat in the Cabinet.<ref name=heath25/>

In 1778, when the British commander in North America, William Howe, requested to be relieved, Amherst was considered as a replacement by the government: however, his insistence that it would require 75,000 troops to fully defeat the rebellion was not acceptable to the government, and Henry Clinton was instead chosen to take over from Howe in America.<ref>Hibbert. ''Redcoats and Rebels'' p. 211</ref> Following the British setback at Saratoga, Amherst successfully argued for a limited war in North America, keeping footholds along the coast, defending Canada, East and West Florida, and the [[Place:West Indies|West Indies]] while putting more effort into the war at sea.<ref>Hibbert. ''Redcoats and Rebels''. p209</ref> On 7 November 1778 the King and Queen visited Amherst at his home, Montreal Park, in Kent<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11924|page=1|date=3 November 1778}}</ref> and on 24 April 1779 he became colonel of the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11972|page=2|date=20 April 1779}}</ref>

A long-standing plan of the French had been the concept of an invasion of Great Britain which they hoped would lead to a swift end to the war if it was successful: in 1779 Spain entered the war on the side of France, and the increasingly depleted state of British home forces made an invasion more appealing and Amherst organised Britain's land defences in anticipation of the invasion which never materialised.<ref name=odnb/>

==Gordon Riots==
In June 1780, Amherst oversaw the British army as they suppressed the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in London.  After the outbreak of rioting Amherst deployed the small London garrison of Horse and Foot Guards as best as he could but was hindered by the reluctance of the civil magistrates to authorise decisive action against the rioters.<ref>Mansel, page 126</ref>  Line troops and militia were brought in from surrounding counties, swelling the forces at Amherst's disposal to over 15,000, many of whom were quartered in tents in Hyde Park, and a form of martial law was declared, giving the troops the authority to fire on crowds if the Riot Act had first been read. Although order was eventually restored, Amherst was personally alarmed by the failure of the authorities to suppress the riots.<ref>Hibbert ''King Mob''. p. 102</ref> In the wake of the Gordon Riots, Amherst was forced to resign as Commander-in-Chief in February 1782 and was replaced by Henry Conway.<ref name=heath25/> On 23 March 1782 he became captain and colonel of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=12280|page=1|date=19 March 1782}}</ref>

== Later life ==
===French Revolutionary Wars===
On 8 July 1788, he became colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13005|page=325|date=5 July 1788}}</ref> and on 30 August 1788 he was created Baron Amherst (this time with the territorial designation ''of Montreal in the County of Kent'') with a special provision that would allow this title to pass to his nephew (as Amherst was childless, the Holmesdale title became extinct upon his death).<ref name=gazmtl>{{London Gazette|issue=13020|page=413|date=26 August 1788}}</ref> With the advent of the French Revolutionary Wars, Amherst was recalled as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in January 1793: however is generally criticised for allowing the armed forces to slide into acute decline, a direct cause of the failure of the early campaigns in the Low Countries: Pitt the Younger said of him "his age, and perhaps his natural temper, are little suited to the activity and the energy which the present moment calls for".<ref>Burne p. 209</ref> Horace Walpole called him "that log of wood whose stupidity and incapacity are past belief".<ref>Burne p. 227</ref> "He allowed innumerable abuses to grow up in the army… He kept his command, though almost in his dotage, with a tenacity that cannot be too much censured".<ref>Burne p. 228</ref> 

===Family and death===
In 1753 he married Jane Dalison (1723–1765).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://acdc.amherst.edu/view/asc:74280 |title=William Amherst letter to Jane Dalison Amherst, 1758|access-date=14 September 2017}}</ref> Following her death he married Elizabeth Cary (1740–1830), daughter of Lieutenant General George Cary (1712–1792),<ref>G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume I, page 121. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.</ref> who later became Lady Amherst of Holmesdale, on 26 March 1767.<ref name=odnb/> There were no children by either marriage.<ref name=odnb/> He retired from that post in February 1795, to be replaced by the Duke of York, and was promoted to the rank of field marshal on 30 July 1796.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13918|page=743|date=2 August 1796}}</ref> He retired to his home at Montreal Park<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.montrealpark.org.uk/history/history.htm|title=A History of Montreal Park|first=David|last=Nunnerley|access-date=22 April 2012}}</ref> and died on 3 August 1797.<ref name=heath25/> He was buried in the Parish Church at Sevenoaks.<ref name=odnb/>

==Legacy==
Several places are named for him: Amherstburg, Ontario (location of General Amherst High School),<ref>Jacobson p. 17</ref> Amherst, Massachusetts (location of the [[Organization:University of Massachusetts Amherst|University of Massachusetts Amherst]], [[Organization:Hampshire College|Hampshire College]] and [[Organization:Amherst College|Amherst College]]),<ref>Tucker p. 14</ref> Amherst, New Hampshire,<ref>Farmer p. 70</ref> Amherst, Nova Scotia,<ref>Heim p. 343</ref> Amherst, New York<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amherst.ny.us/pdf/it/brief_history.pdf|title=A Brief History of the Town of Amherst|year=1997|publisher=Amherst Museum|access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref> and Amherst County, Virginia.<ref>Smith p. 182</ref>

Amherst's desire to exterminate the indigenous people is now viewed as a dark stain on his legacy and various agencies, municipalities and institutions have reconsidered the use of the name "Amherst". "The Un-Canadians", a 2007 article in ''The Beaver'', includes Amherst in a list of people in the history of Canada who are considered contemptible by the authors, because he "supported plans of distributing smallpox-infested blankets to First Nations people".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/26220434/un-canadians |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624025050/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/26220434/un-canadians |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-06-24 |title=The Un-Canadians |publisher=Beaver, Vol. 87 Issue 4, p. 30|date= August–September 2007|access-date=8 August 2012}}</ref>

In 2008, Mi'kmaq spiritual leader John Joe Sark called the name of Fort Amherst Park of Prince Edward Island a "terrible blotch on Canada", and said: "To have a place named after General Amherst would be like having a city in Jerusalem named after Adolf Hitler...it's disgusting."  Sark raised his concerns again in a 29 January 2016 letter to the Canadian government.<ref>{{cite news|title=P.E.I. park honours general who wanted aboriginals killed, Mi'kmaq leader says|url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/mikmaq-leader-says-pei-park-honours-general-wanted-184514132.html?nhp=1|access-date=9 February 2016|agency=The Canadian Press|date=8 February 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216211459/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/mikmaq-leader-says-pei-park-honours-general-wanted-184514132.html?nhp=1|archive-date=16 February 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>  Mi'kmaq historian Daniel N. Paul, who referred to Amherst as motivated by white supremacist beliefs, also supports a name change, saying: "in the future I don't think there should ever be anything named after people who committed what can be described as crimes against humanity."<ref>{{cite web|first=Deborah|last=Mensah-Bonsu|publisher=CTV.ca|title=Native leader says P.E.I. park needs name changed|date=16 August 2008|url=http://www.caledoniawakeupcall.com/updates/080816ctv.html|access-date=23 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903061913/http://www.caledoniawakeupcall.com/updates/080816ctv.html|archive-date=3 September 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>  In February 2016, a spokesperson for Parks Canada said it would review the matter after a proper complaint is filed; "Should there be a formal request from the public to change the name of the National Historic Site, Parks Canada would engage with the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada for its recommendation."<ref>{{cite news|title=Parks Canada may consider renaming historic site Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/mi-kmaq-leader-sark-port-la-joye-name-1.3438186|access-date=9 February 2016|agency=CBC.ca|date=8 February 2016}}</ref> An online petition was launched by Sark to satisfy this formal request requirement on 20 February 2016.<ref>''Removal of General Amherst's name from Parks Canada''; Change.Org; 20 February 2016</ref> The park is known as Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst National Historic Site<ref>[http://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/pe/amherst/ Port-la-Joye–Fort Amherst]</ref> and one of Parks Canada's partners for the site is the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of PEI.<ref>[http://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/pe/amherst/info/partenaires-partners Partners – Partenaires]</ref>

In 2009, Montreal City Councillor Nicolas Montmorency officially asked that Rue Amherst be renamed: "it is totally unacceptable that a man who made comments supporting the extermination of Native Americans to be honoured in this way".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ledevoir.com/2009/08/24/263889.html |title=Le Devoir, Lundi 24 août 2009 |access-date=27 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827133631/http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/08/24/263889.html |archive-date=27 August 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> On 13 September 2017, the city of Montreal decided that the street bearing his name would be renamed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-flag-amherst-indigenous-1.4287015 |title=Montreal adds Iroquois symbol to flag, strips British general of street name – Montreal – CBC News |publisher=Cbc.ca |access-date=14 September 2017}}</ref> On 21 June 2019, the street was officially renamed ''Rue Atateken'', ''atateken'' being a Kanien'kehá word describing "those with whom one shares values," according to Kanehsatake historian Hilda Nicholas.<ref>{{cite news|title=La rue Amherst devient la rue Atateken|url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/espaces-autochtones/1193382/rue-amherst-montreal-nom-changement-autochtones|access-date=21 June 2019|agency=Radio-Canada|date=21 June 2019|first=Laurence|last=Niosi}}</ref>

In 2016, Amherst College dropped its "Lord Jeffery" mascot at the instigation of the students.<ref name="Lord Jeff">{{cite news |work=New York Times |title=Amherst College Drops 'Lord Jeff' as Mascot |first=Jess |last=Bidgood |date=January 26, 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/us/amherst-college-drops-lord-jeff-as-mascot.html}}</ref> It also  renamed the Lord Jeffery Inn, a campus hotel owned by the college, to the Inn on Boltwood in early 2019.<ref>{{cite web |work=Amherst College |title=The Lord Jeffrey Inn Introduces New Name and Logo |date=27 August 2018 |url=https://www.amherst.edu/news/press-releases/node/720121}}</ref>

==See also==
* List of Governors General of Canada
* [[Biography:Turtleheart|Turtleheart]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em |refs=
<ref name=umass>{{cite web|url=http://people.umass.edu/derrico/amherst/lord_jeff.html|title=Jeffrey Amherst and Smallpox Blankets|publisher=University of Massachusetts Amherst|access-date=29 August 2014}}</ref>
}}

===Bibliography===
* Amherst, Jeffery (1931). [https://archive.org/details/journalofjeffery00amhe ''The journal of Jeffery Amherst, recording the military career of General Amherst in America from 1758 to 1763''] (Webster, John Clarence, ed) Toronto: The Ryerson Press; Chicago: University of Chicago Press
* {{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Fred|title=Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766 |location=London |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2001|isbn=978-0-571-20565-3 }}
* {{cite book  |last=Burne|first=Alfred|title=The Noble Duke of York: The Military Life of Frederick Duke of York and Albany|publisher=Staples Press|year=1949}}
* {{cite book  |last=Cappel |first=Constance |title=The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763: The History of a Native American People |location=Lewiston, NY |publisher=The Edwin Mellen Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7734-5220-6 }}
* {{cite book  |last=Chartrand |first=René |title=Louisbourg 1758: Wolfe's first siege |location=Oxford |publisher=Osprey |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-84176-217-3}}
* {{cite book  |last=Farmer|first=John|title=A gazetteer of the state of New Hampshire|publisher=Library of Congress |year=1823}}
* {{cite book  |last=Hayes|first=Derek|title=Canada: An Illustrated History|publisher=Douglas & McIntyre|year=2004|isbn=978-1-55365-046-1}}
* {{cite book  |last=Heathcote|first=Tony|title=The British Field Marshals 1736–1997|publisher=Pen & Sword Books Ltd|year=1999|isbn=0-85052-696-5}}
* {{cite book  |last=Heim|first=Michael|title=Exploring America's Highways: Wisconsin Trip Trivia|publisher=T.O.N.E. Publishing}}
* {{cite book  |last=Hibbert|first=Christopher |title=King Mob: The story of Lord George Gordon and the Riots of 1780|location=London |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co|year=1958|isbn=978-0-88029-399-0}}
* {{cite book  |last=Hibbert|first=Christopher |title=Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution through British eyes |location=New York |publisher=Avon Books|year=1990|isbn=978-0-380-71544-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |date=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |pages=4–5 |chapter=Jeffrey Amherst}}
* {{cite book  |last=Jacobson|first=Judy|title=Detroit River Connections|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Co Inc.|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8063-4510-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Kiernan|first=Ben|title=Blood and Soil. A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur, New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-300-10098-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bloodan_kie_2007_00_0326}}
* {{cite book  |last=Long |first=J. C. |title=Lord Jeffery Amherst: A Soldier of the King |location=New York |publisher=MacMillan |year=1933 }}
* {{cite book  |last=Mansel|first=Philip|title=Pillars of Monarchy|publisher=Quartet|year=1984|isbn=978-0-7043-2424-4}}
* {{cite book  |last=Mayo |first=Lawrence Shaw |title=Jeffrey Amherst: A Biography|year=1916 }}
* {{cite book  |title=Amherst and the conquest of Canada : selected papers from the correspondence of Major-General Jeffrey Amherst while Commander-in-Chief in North America from September&nbsp;1758 to December&nbsp;1760 |editor-first=Richard |editor-last=Middleton |location=Stroud |publisher=Sutton Publishing for the Army Records Society |year=2003 |isbn=0-7509-3142-6 }}
* Middleton, Richard, ''Pontiac's War: Its Causes, Course and Consequences''  New York and London, Routledge, 2007   {{ISBN|0-415-97913-7}}
* {{cite book  |last=O'Toole  |first=Fintan|title=White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America |location=London |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-571-21841-7 }}
* {{cite book  |last=Patterson|first=Alfred Temple |title=The Other Armada: The Franco-Spanish Attempt to Invade Britain in 1779 |location=Manchester|publisher=University of Manchester Press|year=1960 }}
* {{cite book  |last=Smith|first=Margaret|title=Virginia, 1492–1892|publisher=The British Library|year=2010}}
* {{cite book  |last=Tucker|first=Spencer|title=The Encyclopedia of North American Indian Wars, 1607–1890: A Political Social and Military History|publisher=ABC-CLIO Ltd|year=2011|isbn=978-1-85109-697-8}}
* Whitworth, Rex. "Field-Marshal Lord Amherst, A Military Enigma" ''History Today'' (Feb 1959) 9#2 pp132–137.

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/amherst/ma196_main.html Jeffery Amherst Collection, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections]
* [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsmss/umich-wcl-M-341amh Jeffery Amherst papers], William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan.
* {{cite DCB |first=C.P. |last=Stacey |title=Amherst, Jeffrey |volume=4 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/amherst_jeffery_4E.html}}
* [http://www.blupete.com/Hist/BiosNS/1700-63/Amherst.htm Historical Biographies: Jeffrey Amherst]
* [http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amherst/lord_jeff.html Amherst and Smallpox]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120420234615/http://haldimand-collection.ca/?s=amherst Amherst in the Haldimand Papers]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928095106/http://www.college.ucla.edu/webproject/micro12/webpages/indianssmallpox.html Amherst and Smallpox Blankets] – Excerpts from actual letters in which Lord Jeffery Amherst approves smallpox plan (dated 16 July 1763) and discusses other methods of killing Native Americans with Colonel Henry Bouquet. {{Dead link|date=January 2016}}
* [http://www.umass.edu/legal/derrico/amherst/lord_jeff.html Jeffrey Amherst and Smallpox Blankets] – Extensive discussion and documentation of Amherst's involvement in warfare against Native Americans and the smallpox blanket tactics ([[Organization:University of Massachusetts Amherst|University of Massachusetts Amherst]])
* [http://1759.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca 1759 From the Warpath to the Plains of Abraham ( Virtual Exhibition)]
* [http://www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca National Battlefields Commission (Plains of Abraham)]
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |date=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |pages=4–5 |edition=Subscription |chapter=Jeffrey Amherst}}

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[[Category:Biological warfare]]

{{Sourceattribution|Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst|1}}