The Conquest of Canada (Vol. 2 of 2)

he tide of war upon her own territory. A powerful fleet, under the brave and vigilant Boscawen, swept the Atlantic coast, insulted her eastern harbors, and captured her r

anadian shore. From dangerous foes, or almost as dangerous friends, the forest tribes had generally become zealous allies, and thrown themselves with ready policy into the apparently preponderating scale; the ruined settlements and diminished numbers of the British frontier colonists marked the cruel efficiency of their co-operation. Notwithstanding the check of the Baron Dieskau's detachment, there still remained to the French more than 3000 regular troops, with a large force of the

neighbors were forced to neglect the cultivation of the soil, till absence from their own homesteads was almost as ruinous to themselves as their destructive presence to the enemy. Although the scanty supply of corn was too well known, the intendant Bigot

er increased its severity. Great stores of wheat had been purchased from the settlers by the company in anticipation of a scarcity; when they had obtained a sufficient quantity to command the market, they arranged with the intendant to fix the price at an immense advance, which was maintained in spite of the misery and clamors of the people. Aga

ies who had the supply of the distant posts enriched themselves at the cost of the mother country; and, to the detriment of the hardy and adventurous men occupying those remote and drea

eached Quebec they met with a cruel reception. The intendant gave to a creature named Cadet the office of ministering to their wants. This heartless man shamefully abused the trust, and only considered it as a means of selfish profit, provi

f government, and the intrusive exercise of imperial power in even the most trivial matters of colonial interest, cramped individual energy by the constraining force of centralization. The military[63] system of feudal organization turned the plow-shares and reaping-hooks of the most active among the population into weapons of war, and the settlements, that were little else than scattered barracks for troops, made but small progress in the truly glorious war against the desolation of the wilderness. While the

lvania, Virginia, and other states were also in themselves powerful, but in military matters New England ever took the lead. The sturdy Nonconformists who first peopled that country had been long accustomed to encounter and overcome difficulties: they had continually waged a war of mutual extermination with the Indians. The unbending spirit of their ancestors lost nothing under su

fort, and hopeless to induce them to act in concert. The borderers of Maine or Massachusetts heard with almost indifference of Indian massacres upon the banks of the Susquehanna, and the men of Virginia felt but little sympathy with the victors of the north. English colonization had already progressed to unheard of prosperity in its component parts, in spite of its ut

merchant from his store-house, and the hunter from the chase, a militia formidable in numbers and composition was at the service of the state, w

heir route to Oswego, and that they purposed building ships at that port to command the navigation of Lake Ontario, and thus break up the chain of his communications. He th

e men. The British officer at once rejected the proposal of a capitulation, and prepared to offer a vigorous resistance; he was, however, speedily overpowered, and he and his li

nemy: from this hiding-place they frequently intercepted parties with provisions destined for Oswego. When the Iroquois became aware of the designs of the French, they summoned Sir William Johnson, whom they greatly respected, to meet them in council, for the purpose of considering the means of diverting hostilities from their country. He strongly advised them, if possible, to prevent the attack upon the fort, and thus avoid a war that would deluge the fr

ointed general-in-chief of the forces on that continent, was unavoidably detained in England for some time, Major-general Abercromby was ordered to precede him and hold command until his arrival. Lord Loudon was intrusted with extraordinary pow

ited the arrival of the English general. Abercromby did not reach the army till the latter end of June, 1756, and at that time only brought with him two regiments, the 35th and the 42d, or Murray's Highlanders. The British troop

with them upon the advantages to be gained by their execution. Desirous to avoid responsibility, he determined to await the arrival of the commander-in-chief, but in the mean tim

omed to the sight of an enemy; but their native courage overcame all disadvantages, and they bravely did their duty, as their countrymen have ever done when striving for a good cause, and led by a worthy chief. Bradstreet passed in safety up the Onondaga River, reached Oswego, and accomplished his object. The French, being apprized of this expedition, collected in force some miles to the eastward of Oswego, and detached 700 men to intercept

of cedars, or from behind each projecting crag on the rugged banks, he might at any moment expect to see the deadly flash of the Canadian musket, and to hear the war-whoop of the savage. Bradstreet therefore determined on the precaution of proceeding in three divisions of canoes, within easy distances of each other; that thus, if any one were attacked, his stout boatmen might land from the o

the enemy had at the same time plunged into the river, and, taking advantage of the ford, arrived before him; nevertheless, Bradstreet threw himself on shore, and with desperate courage faced the foe. After a sharp struggle, he even dislodged them from the island, and drove them back upon the main land. When the remaining canoes of the advanced division joined, his little force amounted to no more than twenty men. The French, enraged at their first repulse, vigorously renewed the attack with doubled numbers, but they were again beaten, and, leaving many of thei

another ford about a mile higher up the river, and many succeeded in crossing before Bradstreet's stout boatmen could intercept them. By this time, however, the British leader had arrived from the little island, and put himself at the head of his two last divisions. With prompt determination he

g pace, flushed with recent success. One short struggle on the woody bank, and the assailants were forced back in utter rout. The remainder of the enemy dispersed in the forest and attacked no more, but above 100 of their number had perished in the stream or had fallen by the sword, while seventy prisoners and a great

to an angry flood; to cross and follow up their success was therefore impossible, and the remnant of the French found refuge in their vessels on the waters of Lake Ontario. After a time, when the subsiding flood permitted, the detachment and the grenadiers descended the river to Oswego, and the victorious boatmen, with their leader, pushed on for Schenectady, where they arrived in safety on the 14th of July. The following day Bradstreet set out for Albany to warn General Abercromby o

under his orders at Albany[70] and Schenectady, including the survivors of the two unfortunate regiments which had been crippled and broken in Braddock's disaster.[71] In the fort of Oswego[72] were mustered 1400

th 3000 veterans, and found means to assemble a still more formid

the force destined to act against Oswego. Rigaud de Vaudreuil, with a large body of Canadian militia raised at Montreal, was detached as the vanguard of the army, and arrived undiscovered on the 9th of August within a mile and a half of the British position; on the night of the 10th

le; the survivors of the little garrison spiked their cannon, and retreated without interruption to the neighboring position of Fort Oswego, on the opposite side of the river. When the French perceived that the defenders had yielded the post, they quickly took possession, and turned such of the guns as in the hurry of retreat had been still left uninjured upon the walls of

churches. This brilliant and important success was, however, stained by cruelty and doubtful faith.[76] Notwithstanding the terms of the capitulation, the savages were permitted to plunder all, and massacre many of the captives;[77] and, to the shame of Montcalm, the sick and wounded who had been intrusted t

disaster. Indian rumor was also busy with the melancholy tale. It was for a time believed that the whole garrison of Oswego had been put to the sword,[79] and that the bodies of the slain were left unburied upon the desolate shores of Lake Ontario. A panic spread. Colonel Webb, with the 44th regiment, nearly 9

utiful settlements called the German Flats were speedily desolated by the Indians and the scarcely less vindictive Canadians; the crops

rts upon its shores,[81] but these preparations produced no results beyond that of strengthening Forts Edward and William Henry. No blow was struck,[82] notwithstanding the opportunity afforded by the withdrawal of nearly all the Fre

hard-earned stipend, traders were ground down under infamous extortions, and the unhappy Acadian refugees robbed of the generous bounties of the state. Eminent among the perpetrators of these shameless wrongs stood Bigot, the intendant; Cadet and others of his creatures were worthy of their principal. A scarcity almost amounting to famine, which inflicted the severest privations upon the colony, was again seized as an opportuni

and sword, their villages and farms destroyed, and at last many thousands were suddenly shipped off, and dispersed among the Atlantic colonies, where friends and kinsfolk might never meet again; thus, to use the language of the time, "establishing peace and tranquillity throughout the whole province." In the ensuing February, some

suddenly burst upon the English western frontier, and massacred no less than 1000 of the scattered settlers. Then the thirst of vengeance burned among the hardy colonists. Infuriated rather than appalled by this horrid butchery, 280 men hastily assembled, and with untiring energy pushed on toward the rugged Alleganies to an Indian town ca

ten down in furious rage, or shot in attempting to fly, or shut up in their wooden huts and burned to death; some were seized and scalped, in horrible imitation of their own ferocity, and not a few were blown up and destroyed by the stores of ammunition they had collected during their late

ined practicable but to strengthen some frontier forts, and push forward parties of observation into the French territories. Thus closed the campaign of 1756. England had a sorry account of her wasted blood and treasure in these Western wars; opportunities had been neglected, resources wasted, laurels lost.[83] The Indian trade and the commerc

TNO

Appendix,

the feudal system, so long the ruin o

by their own law; a law which, though it appears at first to breathe more the spirit of democracy than of monarchy, yet in fact is

to published by the latter, much pains were taken to contrast the moderation and equity of the court of Versailles with the intemperate violence of the court of Lond

intermix them with the English inhabitants of the place, so that very few of them, even of those who have been born there, have yet learned to speak or understand the English tongue. However, as they were all zealous Protestants, and, in general, strong, hardy men, accustomed to the climate, it was judged that a regiment of good and faithful soldiers might be raised out of them, particularly proper to oppose the French; but to this end it was necessary to appoint some officers, especially subalterns, who understood military discipline and could speak the German language; and as a suffi

n the course of the summer, a considerable sum of money as a reimbursement for the extraordinary expenses of the preceding year. One hundred and fifteen

neral Winslow, whose conduct in Nova Scotia had very much increased both his

by name Winslow, who has acted as general in North America, and done signal service. This man is in England, and is only a captain on

e, one took to his heels; a second fought bravely; but the third went over to the enemy, and assisted

(the 48th) should march to Forts Edward and William Henry, taking it for granted that Os

lar troops, and that an army should likewise remain at Albany to defend it, in case the troops sent against Crown Point should happen to be defeated. Nay, they strongly opposed the departure of the regiment which General Abercromby had already ordered for Oswego. Some of the New England colonies joined those of New York in this opposition, so that it was not without the greatest difficulty Lord Loudon, who did not think

Englanders at random, by the high premium given them in order to save themselv

the 48th (then Dunbar's, now Abercromby's). Th

to 1400 men; only 700 had been left there by Mr. Shirl

ount, Shirley's and Pepperel's are by much the worst corps on this continent. With su

called Fort Ontario. They were erected on the south side of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Onondaga, and constituted a port of great importance. The garrison, as we have already observed, consisted of 1400 men, chiefly militia and new-raised recruits, under the command of Colonel Mercer, an office

and without the reach of immediate succor, was a flagrant proof of egregious f

bid.,

t of common humanity, delivered up above twenty men of the garrison to the

orces,[86] have reduced our affairs in that part of the world (America) to a most deplorable state. Oswego, of ten times more impo

were made prisoners there are actually arrived at Plymouth, the provisions at Quebec being

interrupted water communication between Albany, in New York, a

ederic, and Ticonderoga, whi

Henry, I arrived here the 26th with the Highlanders: to-morrow I shall have three regiments.... Our works here are far from being finished. However, though the fort is not finished we are throwing up lines,

o his friend Fox); "but this was the year of the worst administration that I have seen in England,

ta, received a blow which would have shaken an establishment of less strength to its foundation), we apprehended an invasion of Grea

istory of Europe" in the early

ork, ￡15,000; to New Hampshire, ￡8000; to Rhode Island, ￡7000; to

out of office by the public indignation at the loss of Minorca, and

ject, General Winslow assured General Abercromby of his apprehensions that, if the result of the junction should be placing the Provincials under British officers, it would produce very general discontent, and perhaps desertion. His officers concurred wi

ey's and P

st presumptuous"-Mr. Potter's Speech in the House of Commons. "It would, however, be injustice not to allow the Duke of Newcastle the mer