There is a great deal of history behind this movie.  Some say that the French and Indian War, which this story was taken from was part of the Seven Year War between Great Britian and France.  This is not entirely correct.  This is how the French and Indian War historically began:

              The English, wanting to expand their land, often moved into the land claimed by the French. This encroachment forced the French to build several forts
           along the frontier. Some of these forts were Fort Duquesne (Near present day Pittsburgh), and Fort Miamis. The French, never lovers of the English due
           to hundreds of years of fighting, sent the Indians who allied themselves with the French in raiding parties in retaliation for raids conducted by the Indians
           on the English side, who claimed that thier raids were in retaliation for those made by the French. It didn't matter which side was correct, the main object
           wasn't to retaliate, but rather for the French to keep the English in their place, and for the English to iritate the French as much as possible until they
           moved out.
               With the tensions already riding high, the French began to build litle Fort Le Boeuf downriver from Fort Duquesne, near Lake Erie. The English at
            this time claimed this land as their own. After some debate, the English decided to send a certain Major George Washington to the region of Fort
            Duquesne and evict the French. Washington, then 22 years old, headed a small party through the woods. While advancing, he came upon a party of
            French who were probably scouts. Washington gave the order to fire, and in the battle that ensued 10 French were killed, and some 22 captured.
            This, of course, was at a time of official peace. Washington was accused by the French of coldly leading an assasination of those men who were killed,
            and in fact even tricked Washington into signing a document that was translated into saying that he had attacked the party. In fact, the document he signed
            stated that he had Assasinated, rather than Attacked the party.
                The world suddenly took note. England, in early 1755 sent two of their regiments to the colonies "to protect the colonies from the Indian
            invasions". The King of France, still hoping that the peace could be retained, nevertheless sent several regiments of his own to New France: "To defend
            their frontiers". With this detachement was the Baron de Dieskau, commander, who was under direct orders to only defend the country, and not to
            instigate an attack.
                However, while this was going on, the English sent General Braddock with a larger force than Washington had to attack Duquesne. The English army
            marched in their columns towards Duquesne in the typical European manner. In long rows of men, three abreast, they marched down the road to
            battle. They didn't see the Canadians and Indians hiding in the surrounding woods until it was too late. For the French side it was as good as target
            practice. For the English it was a massacre. Each time the English soldiers tried to break ranks and join in the same brand of warfare that the French
            side was using, the English officers beat their men back into their columns. THIS is how battles were fought, the feeling was. (Surprisingly, the English,
            and later the United States armies followed this method of fighting through even the Civil War. Remember the pictures of men, all lined up across a
            field even though there were those ominous, and all-too-acurate cannon facing them?). The English were naturally butchered, and were forced to retreat.
                The French troops coming to America had problems of their own. While at the Great Banks, the fleet became entangled in a heavy fog and became
            seperated. While most of the ships made it to Louisbourg safely, three ships were delayed: The Lys, the Alcide, and the Actif. The Alice, coming to
            a clearing in the Fog, found itself face to face with 11 English ships. A worrisome moment, but they were at peace, weren't they? (Of course one was
            never sure. In those days, word was passed by ship, and sometimes one would not know the most current news for months). The flag ship of the English
            fleet came broadside to the French vessel. Commander Hocquart of the Alcide called out to the English Commander Howe, of the Dunkirk, "Are we at
            Peace, or War?" Howe replied "Peace", and a short conversation began when the guns of the Dunkirk spit fire through the side of the Alcide. Almost all
            hands on that ship were lost. The Lys, seeing that the English meant no good, attempted to flee but was eventually captured. Only the Actif was able to
            disappear into the fog and escape. Clearly the peace was little more than a figment of one's imagination.
                By August 1755 The situation had settled to a certain degree into a typical war-like state. Except that there was still no official declaration of war made
            as of yet.
                Dieskau, commanding the French forces in America, had taken the advise of Governour Vaudreuil and decided that the English forts at Oswego were
            a menace and needed to be removed. The Regiments of Guyenne and Bearn had already been sent to Fort Niagara, and now Dieskau had te Regiments
            of La Reine and Languedoc marching west towards Oswego. But before these regiments reached La Presentation (present Ogdensburg, NY) the
            French had finall translated the documents that were captured on the field of battle during Braddock's defeat at Duquesne. These papers gave the entire
            English military plans for the rest of the year, and part of that plan was a concerted march of forces up the Lake George/Lake Champlain corridor.
                Dieskau recalled the regiments of La Reine and Languedoc and re-routed them south to Fort St. Frederic which stood at Crown Point on Lake
            Champlain.
                After receiving information that the English had assembled a force at Fort Lydius (later Fort Edward, NY), Dieskau decided to make a defense of an
            offense. He gathered 200 men from the two regiments he had at his disposal. (most books claim that he took only the Grenadier regiment of each
            company, but this is not entirely true, as:
                         1) The actual Grenadier companies from each of the regiments were captured aboard the Lys, and so Dieskau had only temporarily created a
                             Grenadier company in each regiment from the remaining men for this most recent purpose, and,
                         2) The number of men in a company at that time ranged close to a total of 35 soldiers (in a full complement), and since Dieskau curiously left
                             most of the officers behind, there must have been nearly 130 men taken from companies other than his new Grenadiers)
            He also brought with him approximately 600 Indians and 600 Canadians. This force travelled south via Batteaux, and then marched to the steps of Fort
            Lydius. However, after reaching Fort Lydius, Dieskau was forced to change his plans of attack because the Iroquois he had with him refused to attack the
            fort. Instead, he agreed to march on to the south shore of Lake Saint Sacrament (Lake George) and attack the force of men under the Sir William Johnson.
                 The French force marched some leagues when it became apparent that an English detachment was marching towards them on the road. Dieskau
            immediately set forth a plan. He sent the Canadians and Indians to hide in the woods on each side of the road while he and the French regiments
            would stand in their ranks on the road. When the English marched before them and began the engagement, the Indians and Canadians would begin
            firing, and the entrapped English would be defeated. Whether Dieskau had learned this tactic from the reports of the Duquesne affair, or he had some
            council from an Indian or Canadian we do not know. It was, however a remarkable plan based on the rigid adherence of most French and English
            commanders to military habit even in the unfamiliar, and obviously different American frontiers. The plan almost worked.
                Before the English were totally encircled, however, the story goes, an Indian recognized other Iroquois with the English party and let out a warning.
            It was considered sacriledge for Iroquois to kill Iroquois, so this story is believable. But the warning did not entirely save the English. As soon as the
            warning went out, and the French realized what was happening, the firing commenced. According to Dieskau, the English line "went down like a stack
            of cards". For some time it seemed to be Braddock all over again. The English, realizing that they were being decimated began a fairly disorderly retreat.
                The French made chase all the way to the English camp at the base of the lake. Here the English put up their defenses. Behind a hastily constructed wall
            of wood, carts, and other rudiments the English began to return fire with their guns, and cannon. Seeing that the English were well entrenched, the Indians
            and Canadians faded into the woods and almost out of the fighting. But Dieskau did not retreat. The French forces continued fighting with the sporadic
            help of the Canadians (who, more used to the Indian style of fighting, must have considered attacking an enemy in the open pure suicide). But now it    
            was the English turn for victory. Dieskau was shot, and his troops began to fall into disarray.
                The Baron de Dieskau, hours after his first victory in Canada was captured by the English, and now leaderless, and failing miserably, the French were
            forced to retreat. They returned to Fort Frontenac tired, haggard, and not having eaten for several days. This was the last battle for either side in that
            theatre for 1755. However, the English still had one huge victory that year, and that was in Acadia.
                As 1756 dawned, preparations were being made for battles throughout the American frontier. The English were planning an enourmous move up
            the Lake George/Lake Champlain corridor. The French, with the loss of the Baron de Dieskau, was without a commander of forces in New France -
            but that was soon to change.
                And still the official declaration of war had yet to be announced.
                The first major move of the year was conducted by the French. Although it had yet to play an important part in the war, the three forts at Oswego
            continued to be a thorn in the side of the french. If manned properly, these forts would be a serious threat to the traffic of men and boats heading west,
            and the threat to forts Duquesne and Niagara were more than a passing fancy. The Governour of Canada, Vaudreuil had long recognized this threat. When
            Dieskau was forced to abandon his attack on Oswego and recalled his troops for the defense of Fort St. Frederic, and the Lake Champlain area, the
            Governour did not lay aside these plans, but only waited for the proper moment to set them in motion. This time came in March of 1756.
                The first portion of the attack was not, in fact, directed at the forts at Oswego at all. Rather, Vaudreuil focused on the two small forts in Central New
            York called Fort Bull and Fort Williams. These forts stood along Wood creek in what is known as the Oneida Carry. A Carry was a place where portage
            was made between disconnected rivers. Often a small "fort" would be built in these places to 1) Protect the carry, and 2) to store goods for future
            travellers to carry onward.
                The Oneida Carry stood between the Mohawk river (from which travellers would come from Albany and other points east) and Wood Creek
            (Which lead into Oneida Lake, and thence onto the Oswego River and to Oswego). To attack these places, Vaudreuil intended to delay the addition of
            men and supplies to Oswego, and thus make the attack on Oswego easier. To lead this force Vaudreuil chose one of his Canadian Lieutenants: the
            Chaussegros de Lery. de Lery gathered about him a total of 362 men, including 103 Indians, 8 officers from Louisbourg, and 251 soldiers taken from
            the Canadian ranks as well as the French regiments of La Reine, Guyenne, and Bearn. The Reigment of Languedoc was not included as they had been
            at winter quarters at Chambly, and the river was still unpassable.
                After a long march with many delays, de Lery's force reached Fort Bull on 27 March 1756. After a short battle, de Lery was able to defeat the English.
            Entering the fort, his men gathered together all the armaments and tossed them into the swampy river where they were sure never to be found, or
            used against the French again. The fort was then burned to the ground. de Lery then began to march towards Fort Williams, but with the amount
            of prisoners he had, and when the Indians abandoned him, he was forced to return to Canada.

(History Taken From)

See how Last of the Mohicans plays into the French and Indian War.
Find out how Last of the Mohicans addresses the issue of gender, race, and patriotism.

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