Soldiers embark on 340-mile canoe trip in the US in wake of their ancestors

A GROUP of British soldiers will embark on a 340-mile canoe trip across Canada and the US to trace the route travelled by their military ancestors who fought and died in two 18th century North American wars.

Sixteen soldiers in the Royal Regiment of Scotland began their journey in Montreal yesterday, paddling south via Quebec’s Richelieu River, Lake Champlain, Lake George and eventually the Hudson River which will take them to New York.

Along the way they will camp at historic sites where Scottish soldiers fought during the American Revolution and the French and Indian War, part of the Seven Years’ War.

Major Scotty Menzies, the officer leading the expedition described the trip as part training exercise, part history lesson.

He said: “It’s a way we can take a soldier from a known environment and expose him to the unknown, take them out of their comfort zone, and educate them on the history of the regiment.”

The group will pay respects to hundreds of British soldiers along the way, including the Black Watch battalion that suffered more than 500 killed and wounded at Ticonderoga in July 1758 during the French and Indian War. They are scheduled to arrive in Manhattan September 10, in time for ceremonies marking the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Seven Years’ War was fought between 1754 and 1763. It involved every European great power of the time except the Ottoman Empire.