CHAPTER I

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THE

CONQUEST OF CANADA.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "HOCHELAGA."

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

82 CLIFF STREET.

1850.

THE

CONQUEST OF CANADA.

CHAPTER I

In the year 1750, commissioners met at Paris to adjust the various

boundaries of the North American territories, M. de Galissoniere and M.

de Silhouette on the part of France, and Messrs. Shirley and Mildmay on

the part of Great Britain. The English commissioners, however, soon

perceived that there was little chance of arriving at a friendly

arrangement. The more they advanced in their offers, the more the French

demanded; futile objections were started, and unnecessary delays

continued; at length Mr. Shirley[1] and his colleague broke up the

conference, and returned to England. [1752.] It now became evident that

a decisive struggle was at hand.

Under the rule of M. de la Jonquiere, a great and growing evil cankered

the spirit of Canada. The scanty salaries[2] allowed to the government

officers afforded a great inducement to peculation, especially as the

remoteness of the colony rendered retribution distant and uncertain. The

Indian trade opened a field for enormous dishonesty: M. Bigot, the

intendant, discontented with his inadequate stipend, ventured to farm

out trade licenses for his own profit and that of his creatures, and

speedily accumulated considerable wealth; he, the governor, and a few

others, formed themselves into a company, and monopolized nearly all the

commerce of the country, to the great indignation of the colonists. M.

de la Jonquiere and his secretary, St. Sauveur, also kept exclusively to

themselves the nefarious privilege of supplying brandy to the Indians:

by this they realized immense profits.

At length a storm of complaints arose against the unworthy governor, and

even reached the dull ears of his patrons at the court of France. Aware

that his case would not bear investigation, he demanded his recall; but,

before a successor could be appointed, he died at Quebec on the 17th of

May, 1752,[3] aged sixty-seven years. Though not possessed of brilliant

gifts, M. de la Jonquiere was a man of considerable ability, and had

displayed notable courage and conduct in many engagements; but a

miserable avarice stained his character, and he died enormously wealthy,

while denying himself the ordinary necessaries of his rank and

situation.[4] Charles Le Moine, Baron de Longueuil, then governor of

Montreal, being next in seniority, assumed the reins of power until the

arrival of a successor.

The Marquis du Quesne de Menneville was appointed governor of Canada,

Louisiana, Cape Breton, &c., on the recall of M. de la Jonquiere in

1752. He was reputed a man of ability, but was of haughty and austere

disposition. Galissoniere, who had recommended the appointment,

furnished him with every information respecting the colony and the

territorial claims of France: thus instructed, he landed at Quebec in

August, where he was received with the usual ceremonies.

The orders given to the new governor with regard to the disputed

boundaries were such as to leave little doubt on his mind that the sword

alone could enable him to secure their execution, and the character of

his stubborn though unwarlike rivals promised a determined resistance to

his views.[5] His first attention was therefore directed to the

military resources of his command. He forthwith organized the militia[6]

of Quebec and Montreal under efficient officers, and attached bodies of

artillery to the garrison of each city; the militia of the country

parishes next underwent a careful inspection, and nothing was neglected

to strengthen the efficiency of his army.

In 1753, several French detachments were sent to the banks of the

Ohio,[7] with orders to establish forts, and to secure the alliance of

the Indians by liberal presents and splendid promises. The wily savages,

however, quickly perceived that the rival efforts of the two great

European powers would soon lead to a war of which their country must be

the scene, and they endeavored, to the utmost of their ability, to rid

themselves of both their dangerous visitors. Disregarding these efforts

and entreaties, both the English and French advanced nearer to each

other, and the latter fortified several posts upon the Allegany and the

Ohio. When the hostile designs of France became thus apparent, Mr.

Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia,[8] which was the most exposed of the

British provinces, undertook to check these aggressions, upon his own

responsibility, and formed a regiment of militia for the purpose. A

small detachment, raised by the Ohio Company, was immediately sent to

protect the traders, and take possession of the Forks of the Ohio and

Monongahela, the precise spot where the first efforts of the French

would probably be made. They had scarcely begun the erection of a fort,

when M. de Contrecoeur, with 1200 men, arrived from Venango in 300

canoes, drove them from the ground,[9] and completed and occupied their

fortification: to this since well-known spot he gave the name of Fort du

Quesne.[10] In the mean time the Virginia militia marched to the aid of

the English, and met them on their retreat at Will's Creek; the colonel

of this body had died soon after it took the field, and the command

devolved upon the officer next in seniority--GEORGE WASHINGTON, the

father of the Great Republic.

To gain intelligence of the movements of the Virginians, frequent

expeditions were dispatched from Fort du Quesne. [1754.] One of these,

forty-five in number, commanded by M. Jumonville,[11] was surprised by

Colonel Washington, and destroyed or captured with the exception of one

man.[12] The victors immediately proceeded to intrench themselves on the

scene of action, a place called Little Meadows, with the view of holding

their ground till re-enforcements should arrive: they gave to their

little stronghold the name of Fort Necessity. They were soon after

joined by the remainder of the Virginia militia and a company from South

Carolina, which raised their strength to about 400 men. When M. de

Contrecoeur received intelligence of Jumonville's disaster, he sent M.

de Villiers, with 1000 regular troops and 100 Indians, to obtain

satisfaction. Colonel Washington resolved to await the attack in the

fort, and trust to the arrival of some troops promised by the state of

New York for his relief. He was, however, so warmly assailed by the

French on the 3d of July, that he found it necessary to surrender the

same evening, stipulating to march out with all the honors of war, and

every thing in his possession except the artillery. The capitulation[13]

was scarcely signed when it was most shamefully broken, the baggage was

plundered, the horses and cattle destroyed, and the officers detained

for some time as prisoners. At length Colonel Washington retired as he

best might, and met at Winchester the re-enforcements that but a day

before would have enabled him to stem the tide of French usurpation: he

was then, however, fain to content himself with erecting Fort

Cumberland[14] at Will's Creek, where he held his ground.

Meanwhile the governor of the British colonies transmitted reports of

these events to London, and the embassador[15] at Paris was instructed

to remonstrate firmly against the French aggressions in America; but

that court disregarded these communications, and took no further pains

to conceal their hostile intentions. They publicly gave orders for the

speedy re-enforcement of their colonies, especially Quebec, with men and

military stores, and prepared to follow up with vigor the success at

Fort Necessity.

The English government only noticed these formidable preparations by

letters of instruction to their colonial authorities, ordering them to

unite for their common defense, and encouraging them to resist every

aggression, without, however, furnishing any assistance. Commissioners

were also appointed to meet the Indian chiefs in congress at Albany, and

to endeavor to secure those important allies to the British power. The

red warriors did not display much enthusiasm in the cause, but finally

they accepted the presents offered them, and expressed a desire to

receive vigorous assistance from the English to drive the French from

their invaded hunting grounds. At this congress a general union of the

funds and forces of the colonies was proposed, but clashing interests in

comparatively unimportant matters defeated these salutary designs.

While this congress continued its almost useless deliberations, Governor

Shirley, of Massachusetts, marched upon the Kennebec River with about

1000 men, and erected forts at the most exposed points to secure the

northeastern frontier; he also accomplished the important object of

gaining the confidence of the Indians, and their consent to his military

occupation of the country. During the remainder of the year he

repeatedly represented to the English ministry[16] the dangerous

condition of the colonies, and the urgent need of powerful assistance to

defeat the hostility of France. Shirley's appeal was successful; two

regiments--Halket's, the 44th, and Dunbar's, the 48th, were ordered from

Ireland to America,[17] and Major-general Braddock was appointed to the

command of all the British forces on the Western continent; the governor

of Massachusetts was at the same time thanked by the king, and empowered

to concert measures for attacking the French settlements in the Bay of

Fundy. The disbanded colonial regiments, Shirley's and Pepperel's, were

also re-established, and recruits were rapidly raised through the

several provinces to form an army for the approaching war.

General Braddock arrived by the end of February, 1755, and immediately

convened the governors of the different British colonies to meet him in

council at Alexandria, in Virginia, on the 14th of April. It appeared

his orders from home[18] were positive that he should at once move upon

Fort du Quesne, notwithstanding the danger, difficulty, and expense of

carrying the war across the rugged barrier of the Allegany Mountains,

instead of assailing the Canadian settlements, where the facility of

transport by water, and their proximity to his resources, offered him

every advantage. However, no alternative remained, and he obeyed. At the

same time, Shirley's and Pepperel's newly-raised regiments[19] were

directed upon Niagara, and a strong body of provincial troops,

commanded by General Johnson, was commissioned to attack the French

position of Fort Frederic, called by the English Crown Point.

While these plans were being carried out, Colonel Monckton,[20] with

Colonel Winslow, marched against the French settlements in the Bay of

Fundy; their force of nearly 3000 men was aided by the presence on the

coast of Captain Rous, with three frigates and a sloop. The Acadian

peasants,[21] and some regular troops with a few cannon, endeavored to

oppose his passage at the River Massaquash, but were speedily

overpowered. Thence he moved upon Fort Beau-sejour, and forced the

garrison to capitulate after a bombardment[22] of four days. He left

some troops to defend this position, which he now called Fort

Cumberland, and proceeded the next day to a small intrenchment on the

River Gaspereau, where the French had established their principal depot

for the Indian trade, and the stores of arms, ammunition, and

provisions; he then disarmed the peasantry to the number of 15,000 men.

At the same time Captain Rous destroyed all the works erected by the

French on the River St. John. By this expedition the possession of the

extensive province of Nova Scotia was secured to the British crown

almost without the loss of a man.

The court of France in the mean time hastened the equipment of a

considerable fleet at Brest, under the orders of Admiral Bois de la

Mothe. On board were several veteran regiments, commanded by the Baron

Dieskau, who had distinguished himself under the celebrated Marshal

Saxe.

The Marquis du Quesne had demanded his recall from the government of

Canada, with the view of re-entering the naval service of France. His

departure caused little regret, for though his management of public

affairs was skillful and judicious, a haughty and domineering temper had

made him generally unpopular in the colony. The Marquis de Vaudreuil de

Cavagnac was appointed his successor, at the request of the Canadian

people, who fondly hoped to enjoy, under the rule of the son of their

favorite, the same prosperity and peace which had characterized his

father's administration. The new governor, who arrived in M. de la

Mothe's fleet, was received with great demonstrations of joy by the

inhabitants of Quebec.

Hearing of these hostile preparations, the English ministry, in the

month of April, 1755, dispatched Admiral Boscawen, with eleven sail of

the line, to watch the French squadron, although at the time no formal

declaration of war had been made. The rival armaments reached the Banks

of Newfoundland almost at the same time: the friendly fogs of those

dreary latitudes saved De la Mothe's fleet; two of his vessels, indeed,

fell into the hands of his enemies,[23] but the remainder entered the

Canadian ports in safety. On the news of this attack reaching Paris, M.

de Mirepoix, the embassador, was recalled from London, and loud

complaints were made by the French against Boscawen's conduct. On the

part of Great Britain it was answered, that the aggressions of the

Canadians in Virginia justified the act of hostility.[24]

On the 8th of May General Braddock joined the head-quarters of the army

at a village on the Potomac; on the 10th he marched to Will's Creek, and

encamped on a hill near Fort Cumberland. Here he remained till the 28th,

passing the time in horse-races, reviews, and conferences with the

Indians. These red warriors were astonished at the number of the

British, their uniform dress, and their arms, the regularity of their

march, the tremendous effect of their artillery, and the strange noises

of their drums and fifes; but, unfortunately, the haughty general was

not wise enough to conciliate his important allies, or to avail himself

of their experience in forest warfare; he, however, with disdainful

generosity, gave them numerous presents, and provided the warriors with

arms and clothing.

The force now assembled in camp at Fort Cumberland consisted of the 44th

(Sir Peter Halket's) and the 48th (Colonel Dunbar's) regiments, each of

700 men, with three New York and Carolina companies of 100, and ten of

Virginia and Maryland (fifty strong), a troop of Provincial light horse,

thirty seamen, and twelve pieces of field artillery: in all, 2300

men.[25] The Delawares and other friendly Indians, whose services were

unfortunately so lightly valued, added considerably to the numbers of

this formidable body.

Braddock was aware that the French garrison of Fort du Quesne only

numbered 200 men, and earnestly desired to advance in early spring with

his overwhelming force, but by an unfortunate exercise of corrupt

influence at home his troops had been ordered to land in Virginia, where

the inhabitants, altogether engrossed with the culture of tobacco, were

unable to supply the necessary provisions and means of transport. Had

they been landed in the agricultural state of Pennsylvania, all demands

could have been readily supplied, their march shortened, and a large

outlay saved to the British government. When the general found that the

Virginians could not meet his views, he made a requisition on the

neighboring state for 150 wagons, 300 horses, and a large quantity of

forage and provisions: these were readily promised, but not a tenth part

arrived at the appointed time. His disappointment was, however, somewhat

mitigated by a small supply which Mr. Franklin sent shortly after from

Philadelphia. By the exertions of this energetic man, Braddock was at

length furnished with all his requisitions,[26] and then prepared to

advance.

The unfortunate selection of the chief of this expedition was, however,

more fatal than difficulty[27] or delay; his character was unsuited for

such a command in every point except that of personal courage: haughty,

self-sufficient, and overbearing, he estranged the good-will, and

rejected the counsel of his Indian and Provincial allies.[28] His troops

were harassed by the endeavor to enforce a formal and rigid discipline,

which the nature of the service rendered impracticable. Through the

tangled and trackless passes of the Alleganies, he adhered with stubborn

bigotry to a system of operations only suited to the open plains of

civilized Europe. But his greatest and worst error was to despise his

foe: in spite of the warnings of the Duke of Cumberland, his patron and

friend, he scorned to take precautions against the dangerous ambush of

the American savage.

On the 29th, Major Chapman, with 600 men and two guns, marched from the

camp: Sir John St. Clair, quarter-master general, some engineers, and

seamen, accompanied this detachment to clear the roads and reconnoiter

the country. From that time till the 10th of June an incredible amount

of useless and harassing toil was wasted in widening and leveling the

forest paths, and erecting unnecessarily elaborate bridges. At length,

on the 10th, Braddock followed with the rest of his army, and reached

the Little Meadows that night, a distance of twenty-two miles. In spite

of the facilities afforded by the labors of the pioneers, great

difficulty was experienced in the conveyance of the heavy stores. During

the route still to be pursued, where no preparations had been made,

greater delays were to be expected. At the same time the general was

stimulated to activity by information that the French soon expected a

re-enforcement at Fort du Quesne of 500 regular troops; with more of

energy than he had yet displayed,[29] he selected 1200 men, and taking

also ten guns, the seamen, and some indispensable supplies of provisions

and ammunition, he pushed boldly on into the pathless and almost unknown

solitudes of the Alleganies. Colonel Dunbar, with the rest of the army

and the heavy luggage, followed as they best might.

To trace the unfortunate Braddock through his tedious march of 130 miles

would be wearisome and unnecessary. His progress was retarded by useless

labors in making roads, or rather tracks, and yet no prudent caution was

observed; he persisted in refusing or neglecting the offers of the

Provincials and Indians to scour the woods and explore the passes in his

front.[30] Sir Peter Halket and other British officers ventured to

remonstrate in strong terms against the dangerous carelessness of the

march, but their instances seemed only to confirm the obstinate

determination of the general. Washington, who acted as his aid-de-camp,

also urged an alteration of arrangement, and with such vehement

pertinacity that the irritated chief ordered his Virginian companies to

undertake the inglorious duties of the rear-guard.

M. de Contrecoeur, commandant of Fort du Quesne, had received

information of all Braddock's movements from the Indians. With the view

of embarrassing the English advance rather than of offering any serious

resistance, he dispatched M. de Beaujeu, with 250 of the marine, or

colony troops, toward the line of march which Braddock was expected to

take; this detachment was afterward strengthened by about 600 Indians,

principally Outamacs, and the united force took up a favorable position,

where the underwood and long grass concealed them from the approaching

enemy.

Intelligence of a contradictory nature as to the strength and movements

of the French had been every day carried to the unfortunate Braddock by

Indians professing to be his friends, and by doubly traitorous

deserters. Still, under a fatal conviction of security, he had pursued

his march, meeting with no interruption, except in taking "eight or nine

scalps, a number much inferior to expectation." On the 8th of July,

following the winding course which the difficulty of the country

rendered necessary, he crossed the Monongahela River, encamped upon the

bank at the opposite side from Fort du Quesne, and sent Sir John St.

Clair forward to reconnoiter the enemy's fort. The quarter-master

general was successful in attaining the desired information: he reported

that the defenses were of timber, and that a small eminence lay close

by, from whence red-hot shot could easily be thrown upon the wooden

parapets.

At seven in the morning of the 9th of July, an advance guard of 400 men,

under Colonel Gage, pushed on and took possession of the fords of the

river, where it was necessary to recross, unopposed, but somewhat

alarmed by the ominous appearance of a few Indians among the neighboring

thickets. A little before mid-day the main body began to cross the broad

stream with "colors flying, drums beating, and fifes playing the

Grenadiers' March:" they formed rapidly on the opposite side, and, not

having been interrupted in the difficult passage, recommenced their

march in presumptuous security.

Three guides and six light horsemen led the way toward Fort du Quesne,

through an open space in the forest, followed by the grenadiers of the

44th and 48th: flanking parties skirted the edge of the woods on both

sides. The 44th regiment succeeded with two guns; behind them were the

48th, with the rest of the artillery and the general: the Virginian

companies, in unwilling obedience, sullenly brought up the rear. In this

order they advanced with as much regularity as the rough road permitted.

When within seven miles of the fort, they left a steep conical hill to

the right, and directed their march upon the extremity of the open

space, where the path disappeared between the thickly-wooded banks of a

small brook: so far all went well.

At length the guides and the light horse entered the "bush" in front and

descended the slope toward the stream, while a number of axmen set

vigorously to work felling the trees and clearing the underwood for the

advance of the army, the grenadiers acting as a covering party. Suddenly

from the dark ravine in front flashed out a deadly volley, and before

the rattle of the musketry had ceased to echo, three fourths of the

British advance lay dead and dying on the ground. The French had coolly

taken aim from their unseen position, and singled out the officers with

fatal effect, for every one was killed or wounded in that first

discharge; only two-and-twenty of the grenadiers remained untouched;

they hastily fired upon the copse containing their still invisible foes,

then turned and fled. One of these random shots struck down the French

chief, De Beaujeu, and for a short time checked the enemy's triumph. He

was dressed like an Indian, but wore a large gorgiton to denote his

rank. At the moment of his death he was waving his hat and cheering his

men on at a running pace.

Braddock instantly advanced the 44th regiment to succor the front, and

endeavored to deploy upon the open space, but simultaneously on all

sides from the thick covert burst the war-whoop of the Indians, and a

deadly fire swept away the head of every formation. The 44th staggered

and hesitated. Sir Peter Halket and his son,[31] a lieutenant in the

regiment, while cheering; them on, were shot dead side by side;

Braddock's horse was killed, and two of his aids-de-camp wounded; the

artillery, although without orders,[32] pressed to the front, and their

leading guns plied the thickets with grape and canister, but in a few

minutes all the officers and most of the gunners were stretched bleeding

on the field. The broken remnant of the grenadiers who had formed the

advance now fell back upon the disordered line, and threw it into utter

confusion.

With stubborn purpose and useless courage the general strove to re-form

his ruined ranks; most of the officers nobly stood by him, but the

soldiers were seized with uncontrollable terror. Assailed on every side

by foes, unseen save when a savage rushed out from his woody stronghold

to tear the scalp from some fallen Englishman, they lost all order, and

fell back upon the 48th, which was now rapidly advancing to their aid

under Colonel Burton. Braddock, with these fresh troops, made several

desperate efforts to gain possession of the conical hill, from whence a

strong body of the French galled him intolerably, but his well-drilled

ranks were broken by the close trees and rocks, and shattered by the

flanking fire of the Indians. Again and again he endeavored to rally the

now panic-stricken soldiers, without, however, any effectual movement of

advance or retreat. His ill-judged valor was vain; the carnage

increased, and with it his confusion. At length, after having had four

horses shot under him, while still encouraging his men, a bullet

shattered his arm and passed through his lungs. The luckless but gallant

chief was placed in a wagon by Colonel Gage and hurried to the rear,

although he was "very solicitous to be left on the field."[33]

The remains of the two British regiments now broke into utter disorder

and fled, leaving all the artillery and baggage[34] in the hands of the

enemy, and, worst of all, many of their wounded comrades, who were

scalped by the Indians without mercy. This horrible occupation, and the

plunder of the wagons, for a time interrupted the pursuers, and enabled

Colonel Washington, the only mounted officer still unwounded, to rally

the Virginian companies, who had as yet borne little share in the

action. He succeeded in holding the banks of the Monongahela River[35]

till the fugitives had passed, and then himself retired in tolerable

order. One of his captains was Horatio Gates, afterward Burgoyne's

conqueror in the Revolutionary war. This young officer distinguished

himself by courage and conduct in the retreat, and was carried from the

field severely wounded.

The routed army fled all through the night, and joined Colonel Dunbar

the following evening at a distance of nearly fifty miles from the scene

of their defeat.[36] Braddock ordered that the retreat should be

immediately continued, which his lieutenant readily obeyed, as his

troops were infected with the terror of the fugitives. A great quantity

of stores were hurriedly destroyed, that the wounded officers and

soldiers might have transport, and the remaining artillery was spiked

and abandoned. The unfortunate general's sufferings increased hourly,

aggravated by the most intense mental anguish. On the 12th of July,

conscious of the approach of death, he dictated a dispatch acquitting

his officers of all blame, and recommending them to the favor of his

country: that night his proud and gallant heart ceased to beat. His

dying words expressed that astonishment at his defeat which had

continued to the last: "Who would have thought it! we shall know better

how to deal with them another time."[37]

May he sleep in peace! With sorrow and censure, but not with shame, let

his name be registered in the crowded roll of those who have fought and

fallen for the rights and honor of England.

The number of killed, wounded, and missing, out of this small army,

amounted to 896 men, and sixty-four officers, as appeared by the returns

of the different companies after the battle. Some few, indeed, of these

ultimately reappeared, but most of the wounded and missing met with a

fate far more terrible from their savage enemies than a soldier's death

upon the field. Of fifty-four women who had accompanied the troops, only

four escaped alive from the dangers and hardships of the campaign. The

French, on the other hand, only report the loss of their commander, De

Beaujeu, and sixty men in this astonishing victory.

On Braddock's death, Colonel Dunbar fell back with disgraceful haste

upon Fort Cumberland; nor did he even there consider himself safe.

Despite the entreaties of the governors of Virginia, Maryland, and

Pennsylvania, that he would remain to protect the frontier, he continued

his march to Philadelphia, leaving only a small garrison of two

Provincial companies at the fort. From Philadelphia the remains of the

army, 1600 strong, was shipped for Albany by the order of General

Shirley, who had succeeded to the command of the British American

forces.

In consequence of this lamentable defeat and the injudicious withdrawal

of the remaining British troops, the western borders of Pennsylvania and

Virginia were exposed during the ensuing winter to the ruthless

cruelties of the victorious savages, and the scarcely less ferocious

hostilities of their European allies. The French not only incited the

Indians to these aggressions, but rewarded them by purchasing their

hapless captives at a high price, and in turn exacted large ransoms for

the prisoners' release. Their pretense was to rescue the English from

the torture, their real motive gain, and the rendering it more

profitable for the savages to hunt their enemies than the wild animals

of the forest.

From the presumptuous rashness of Braddock and the misconduct of the

44th and 48th regiments,[38] followed results of a far deeper importance

than the loss of a battle and the injury of a remote province. The

conviction formerly held by the colonists of the superior prowess of

English regulars was seriously shaken, if not destroyed, and the

licentious and violent conduct of Dunbar's army to the inhabitants

during the retreat excited a wide-spread feeling of hostility. "They are

more terrible, to us than to the enemy," said the discontented: "they

slighted our officers and scorned our counsel, and yet to our Virginians

they owe their escape from utter destruction." Some far-sighted and

ambitious men there were, who, through this cloud upon the British

arms, with hope espied the first faint rays of young America's ascending

star.

The second expedition, set on foot by the council at Alexandria, was

that under General Shirley: two Provincial regiments[39] and a

detachment of the royal artillery were assembled by his order at Albany,

to march against Niagara.[40] All the young men who had been, during

more peaceful times, occupied by the fur trade in the neighboring

country, were engaged to man the numerous bateaux for the transport of

the troops and stores to Oswego. Part of the force commenced their

westward journey in the beginning of July, and the remainder were

preparing to follow, when the disastrous news of Braddock's ruin reached

the camp. This struck a damp upon the undisciplined Provincial troops,

and numbers deserted their colors, while the indispensable

bateaux-men[41] nearly all fled to their homes, and resisted alike

threats and entreaties for their return. The general, however, still

vigorously pushed on, with all the force he could keep together. Great

hopes had been formed of the assistance likely to be rendered to the

expedition by the powerful confederacy of the Five Nations, but these

politic savages showed no inclination to trust to the then doubtful

fortunes of the British colonies, and even remonstrated against the

transit of their territories by the army, alleging that the Oswego fort

was established and tolerated by them as a trading-post,[42] but not as

a place of arms for hostile purposes. After having undergone

considerable hardships and overcome great difficulties, Shirley reached

Oswego by the 18th of August:[43] his whole force, however, had not

arrived till the end of the month. Want of supplies and the lateness of

the season defeated his intention of attacking Niagara that year. On the

24th of October he withdrew from the shores of Lake Ontario, without

having accomplished any thing of the slightest importance. Leaving 700

men under Colonel Mercer to complete and occupy the defenses of Oswego,

and those of a new fort to be called Fort Ontario, he retraced the

difficult route to his old quarters at Albany.[44]

The expedition against Crown Point was the last in commencement of those

planned by the council at Albany, but the first in success. By the

advice of Shirley, the command was intrusted to William Johnson,[45] an

Irishman by birth. This remarkable man had emigrated to New York at an

early age, and by uncommon gifts of mind and body, united to ardent

ambition, had risen from the condition of a private soldier, to wealth,

consideration, and a seat at the council-board of his adopted country.

For some years he had been settled on the fertile banks of the Mohawk

River, where he had built two handsome residences and acquired a large

estate. He associated himself intimately with the Indians of the Five

Nations, learned their language, habits, and feelings, and gained their

affection and respect. In war, he was their chief and leader; in peace,

the persevering advocate of their rights and interests. Accordingly,

when called to the command of the army, Hendrick, a Mohawk sachem, and

300 warriors of that tribe, followed him to the camp.

General Johnson had never seen a campaign, his troops had never seen an

enemy, with the exception of a few companies that had shared the glories

of Louisburg, but his ability and courage, and their zeal and spirit,

served instead of experience. To this force was intrusted the most

difficult undertaking in the checkered campaign, and it alone gained a

share of honor and success.

By the end of June, 6000 men, the hardy militia of the Northern

States,[46] had mustered at Albany under Johnson's command. He soon

after sent them forward, with Major-general Lyman, to the carrying-place

between Lake George and the Hudson River, sixty miles in advance. Here

they established a post called Fort Edward, in a strong position, while

the artillery, provisions, and boats for the campaign were being

prepared under the general's eye. Toward the end of August, Johnson

joined his army at the carrying-place, and proceeded to the southern

extremity of Lake George, leaving Colonel Blanchard with 300 men to

garrison the newly-erected fort.

Here all the Indian scouts brought the news that the French had

intrenched themselves at Ticonderoga, on the promontory between the

Lakes George and Champlain, but that the works were still incomplete.

Johnson promptly prepared for the offensive; soon, however, his plans

were changed by the news of Baron Dieskau's arrival on the lake with a

considerable force of regular troops from Old France. The well-known

ability and courage of the enemy, together with his formidable force,

alarmed Johnson for the safety of the British settlements; he therefore

immediately dispatched an earnest entreaty for re-enforcements to the

provincial governments, who loyally responded to the appeal, but the

danger had passed before their aid reached the scene of action.

Baron Dieskau had been ordered to reduce the Fort of Oswego, on Lake

Ontario, as the primary object of his campaign; but, on hearing that a

British force was in motion upon Lake George, he determined first to

check or destroy them, and pressed on rapidly against Johnson with 2000

men, chiefly Canadians and Indians. The English chief was apprized of

this movement, but could form no estimate of the enemy's strength, his

savage informants being altogether ignorant of the science of numbers:

he nevertheless made every possible preparation for defense, and warned

Colonel Blanchard to concentrate all his little force within the fort:

that officer was, however, slain in the mean time by an advance party of

the French.

Johnson now summoned a council of war, which recommended the rash step

of dispatching a force of 1000 men and the Mohawk Indians to check the

enemy: Colonel Ephraim Williams was placed in command of the detachment.

Hardly had they advanced three miles from the camp, when suddenly they

were almost surrounded by the French, and, after a gallant but hopeless

combat, utterly routed, with the loss of their leader, Hendrick, the

Indian chief, and many of the men. The victors, although they had also

suffered in the sharp encounter, pursued with spirit, till checked near

the camp by Colonel Cole and 300 men, sent by Johnson in the direction

of the firing. By this delay the British were enabled to strengthen

their defenses, and to recover, in some measure, from the confusion of

their disaster. The most vigorous efforts of the officers were needed to

overcome the panic caused by Williams's defeat and death, and by their

ignorance of the advancing enemy's force.

After a brief pause, Dieskau made a spirited attack upon the British

intrenchments, but his Canadians and Indians were suddenly checked by

Johnson's guns;[47] they at once gave way, and, inclining to the right

and left, contented themselves with keeping up a harmless fire on the

flanks of the works. The French regulars, however, bravely maintained

their ground, although surprised by the strength of Johnson's position,

and damped by finding it armed with artillery. But they could not long

bear the brunt alone; after several gallant attacks, the few remaining

still unhurt also dispersed in the forest, leaving their leader mortally

wounded on the field.[48] Early in the action General Johnson had

received a painful wound, and was obliged unwillingly to retire to his

tent; the command then devolved upon Lyman, who pursued the routed enemy

for a short distance with great slaughter. The French loss in this

disastrous action was little short of 800 men, and their regular troops

were nearly destroyed.

The Canadians and Indians, who had fled almost unharmed, halted that

evening at the scene of Williams's defeat to scalp the dead and dying.

Finding they were not molested, they prepared for rest and refreshment,

and even debated upon the renewal of the attack. The heavy loss already

sustained by the English (upward of 200 men), and the consequent

disorganization, prevented them from following up their victory: this

forced inaction had well-nigh proved the destruction of 120 men sent

from Fort Edward to their aid under Captain Macginnis. This gallant

officer, however, had secured his march by every proper precaution, and

was warned by his scouts that he was close upon the spot where the still

formidable enemy was bivouacked. He promptly formed his little band, and

sustained a sharp engagement for nearly two hours, extricating his

detachment at length with little loss, and much honor to himself. The

brave young man was, however, mortally wounded, and died three days

afterward in Johnson's camp. The remnant of the French army then

dispersed, and sought shelter at Ticonderoga.[49]

Though the brilliance of this success was obscured by the somewhat timid

inaction that followed,[50] the consequences were of great importance.

The English troops, it must be owned, were become so accustomed to

defeat and disaster, that they went into action spiritless and

distrustful. Now that a formidable force of the enemy had yielded to

their prowess, confidence began to revive, and gradually strengthened

into boldness. Had the French been successful in their attack, the

results would have been most disastrous for the British colonies:

nothing would have remained to arrest their progress into the heart of

the country, or stem the tide of ruin that had followed on their track.

The value of this unusual triumph on the Western continent was duly felt

in England: a baronetcy by royal favor, and a grant of L5000 by a

grateful Parliament, rewarded the successful general.

General Johnson turned his attention immediately after the battle to

strengthen the position he had successfully held, with the view of

securing the frontiers from hostile incursion when he should retire into

winter quarters. The fort called William Henry[51] was forthwith

constructed by his orders; guns were mounted, and a regiment of

Provincial troops, with a company of rangers, left to garrison it and

Fort Edward. On the 24th of December Johnson fell back to Albany, and

from thence dispersed the remainder of his army to their respective

provinces. In the mean time, Captain Rogers, a daring and active

officer, made repeated demonstrations against the French in the

neighborhood of Crown Point,[52] cut off many of their detached parties,

and obtained constant intelligence of their proceedings. By these means

it was known that the French had assembled a force of no less than 2000

men, with a proportion of artillery, and a considerable body of Indians,

at Ticonderoga; the British were therefore obliged to use every

vigilance to secure themselves against sudden attack from their

formidable enemies, and to hasten, by all means in their power, the

preparations for defense.

The fatal consequences of the unfortunate Braddock's defeat were rapidly

developed in the southwestern frontiers. The French were aroused by

success to an unusual spirit of enterprise, and, together with the

Indians, they carried destruction into the remote and scattered hamlets

of the British settlements. To put an end to these depredations, the

government of Virginia marched 500 men to garrison Fort Cumberland, and

160 more to the southern branch of the Potomac, lately the scene of a

cruel massacre. But these isolated efforts were of little more than

local and temporary advantage; as the marauders were checked or baffled

in one district, they poured with increased ferocity upon another. The

province of Pennsylvania now became their foray-ground; and the

inhabitants, the faithful but fanatic men of peace, actually denied all

assistance to their governor for defense, and zealously preached against

any warlike preparations, recommending patience and forbearance as the

best means of securing their properties and lives.

This fatal delusion was not even dispelled by the intelligence that 1400

Indians and 100 French were already mustered on the banks of the

Susquehanna, only eighty miles from Philadelphia, with the object of

again dividing and sweeping the whole country in separate parties. Soon

after, news arrived that the peaceful and prosperous settlement of Great

Cove was utterly destroyed, and all the inhabitants massacred or carried

into captivity. Still the men of peace refused to use the arm of flesh.

The spirited governor in vain urged the necessity of action upon his

unmanageable Assembly, till the sudden arrival of some hundreds of

ruined fugitives strengthened his argument. These unfortunates crowded

to the State House, dragging a wagon loaded with the dead and mutilated

bodies of their friends, who had been scalped by the Indians at a place

only sixty miles distant; they threw the bleeding corpses at the door,

and threatened violence if their demands for protection and revenge were

not instantly complied with. The Assembly, either moved by their

distress, or overawed by their menaces, at length gave up its scruples,

and passed a bill to call out the militia and appropriate L62,000 to the

expenses of the war.

It must be said, at the same time, that the other English colonies,

where no such scruples as those of the Quakers existed, were far from

being active or united in raising supplies of men and money for their

common safety. Those, however, where danger was most imminent,

addressed strong and spirited appeals to their rulers for protection and

support, and denounced in vigorous language the aggressions and

usurpations of the French. These remonstrances had at length the desired

effect of disposing the minds of the local authorities to second the

views of the court of London for curbing the advances of Canadian power.

On the 12th of December, 1755, a grand council of war was assembled at

New York, consisting of as many provincial governors and superior

officers as could be collected for the purpose. General Shirley

presided, and laid before them the instructions which had been given to

Braddock, his unfortunate predecessor. He exerted himself with energy

and success to create a good understanding among the several

governments, and was particularly happy in effecting a union for mutual

protection and support between the important states of New England and

New York. He also succeeded in regaining to his cause many of the

Indians, who had either already gone over to the French or withdrawn to

a cold neutrality.

The measures Shirley now proposed to the council were in accordance with

the tenor of General Braddock's instructions; they were cheerfully

assented to by that body, through his successful negotiations. It was

agreed to strengthen the naval force on Lake Ontario, and to form an

army of 6000 men upon its shores, while 10,000 more were to be directed

against the French intrenchments at Ticonderoga. Another attempt was

also proposed upon Fort du Quesne, and a movement against the Canadian

settlements on the Chaudiere, provided that these schemes should not

interfere with the main objects of the war. The council then unanimously

gave their opinion that a re-enforcement of regular soldiers was

indispensable for the assertion and security of the British sovereign's

rights on the American continent.

The English government,[53] though sensible of General Shirley's

abilities as a negotiator, had not sufficient confidence in his military

capacity to intrust him with the execution of extensive warlike

operations. The command in chief of all the forces in America was

therefore conferred upon the Earl of Loudon, a nobleman of amiable

character, who had already distinguished himself in the service of his

country.[54]

[Footnote 1: Mr. Shirley was born in England, and brought up to the law.

In that profession he afterward practiced for many years in the

Massachusetts Bay, and in 1741 was advanced to the supreme command of

that colony. Upon the conclusion of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he was

chosen as one of the British commissioners at Paris, and when the

conference there broke up, he resumed his government in New England (in

1753).]

[Footnote 2: "The salaries allotted to the officers of the civil

departments in the French colonial governments were extremely moderate,

and inadequate to support their respective situations. In 1758, that of

the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor and lieutenant general of Canada,

amounted to no more than L272 1_s._ 8_d._ sterling, out of which he was

to clothe, maintain, and pay a guard for himself, consisting of two

sergeants and twenty-five soldiers, furnishing them with firing in

winter, and with other necessary articles. The pay of the whole officers

of justice and police was L514 11_s._ sterling, and the total sum

appropriated for the pay of the established officers, composing the

various branches of the civil power, did not exceed L3809 8_s._

sterling."--Heriot's _Travels in Canada_, p. 98.]

[Footnote 3: "On the 1st January of this year England adopted the New

Style, which had been long before in use among all civilized nations

except Russia and Sweden. They, with England, still clung to the

exploded system, for no better reason, apparently, than because it was a

Pope who established the new. 'It was not, in my opinion,' writes

Chesterfield, 'very honorable for England to remain in gross and avowed

error, especially in such company.' The bill for the reformation of the

calendar was moved by Lord Chesterfield in a very able, and seconded by

Lord Macclesfield in a very learned speech, and it was successfully

carried through both Houses. The bill had been framed by these two

noblemen in concert with Dr. Bradley and other eminent men of science.

To correct the old calendar, eleven nominal days were to be suppressed

in September, 1752, so that the day following the 2d of that month

should be styled the 14th. The difficulties that might result from the

change, as affecting rents, leases, and bills of exchange, were likewise

carefully considered and effectually prevented."--Lord Mahon's _History

of England_, vol. iv., p. 23.]

[Footnote 4: "He amassed, while governor of Canada, by commerce alone,

more than a million livres, besides which, he had for many years sixty

thousand livres from his appointments and pensions. Yet, notwithstanding

his riches, his avarice was in many instances so extreme, that he denied

himself the common necessaries of life. During his last illness, he

ordered the wax tapers that were burning in his room to be changed for

tallow candles, observing that 'the latter would answer every purpose,

and were less expensive.'"--Smith's _Hist. of Canada_, vol. i., p. 223.]

[Footnote 5: "While Britain claimed an indefinite extent to the west,

France insisted on confining her to the eastern side of the Allegany

Mountains, and claimed the whole country whose waters run into the

Mississippi, in virtue of her right as the first discoverer of that

river. The delightful region between the summit of those mountains and

the Mississippi was the object for which these two powerful nations

contended, and it soon became apparent that the sword alone could decide

the contest."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 294;

Belsham, vol. ii., p. 363, 364.

"Thus France would have enjoyed, in time of peace, the whole Indian

trade, and the English colonies, in time of war, must have had a

frontier of 1200 miles to defend against blood-thirsty savages,

conducted by French officers, and supported by regular troops. It was,

in fact, to attempt the extinction of the British settlements, and yet,

without such interior communication as was projected between Canada and

Louisiana, the French settlements on the St. Lawrence and Mississippi

could never, it was said, attain any high degree of consequence or

security; the navigation of one of those rivers being at all seasons

difficult, and that of the other blocked up with ice during the winter

months, so as to preclude exterior support or relief. This scheme of

usurpation, which is supposed to have long occupied the deliberations of

the court of Versailles, was ardently embraced by M. de la Jonquiere,

now commander-in-chief of the French forces in North America, and by La

Galissoniere, a man of a bold and enterprising spirit, who had been

appointed governor of New France in 1747. By their joint efforts, in

addition to those of their predecessors, forts were erected along the

Great Lakes, which communicate with the River St. Lawrence, and also on

the Ohio and Mississippi. The vast chain was almost completed from

Quebec to New Orleans, when the court of England, roused by repeated

injuries, broke off the conferences relative to the limits of Nova

Scotia."--Russell's _Modern Europe_, vol. iii., p. 273.]

[Footnote 6: See Appendix, No. LXV.]

[Footnote 7: "The governors of Canada, who were generally military men,

had, for several preceding years, judiciously selected and fortified

such situations as would give their nation most influence with the

Indians, and most facilitate incursions into the northern English

provinces. The command of Lake Champlain had been acquired by erecting a

strong fort at Crown Point, and a connected chain of posts was

maintained from Quebec up the St. Lawrence and along the Great Lakes. It

was now intended to unite these posts with the Mississippi, by taking

positions which should enable them to circumscribe, and at the same time

annoy, the frontier settlements of the English. The execution of this

plan was probably in some degree accelerated by an act of the British

government. The year after the conclusion of the war with France,

several very influential persons, both in England and Virginia, who

associated under the name of the Ohio Company, obtained from the crown a

grant for 600,000 acres of land, lying in the country which was claimed

by both nations. Several opulent merchants, as well as noblemen and

gentlemen, being members of this company, its objects were commercial as

well as territorial; and measures were immediately taken to derive all

the advantages expected from their grants in both these respects, by

establishing houses for carrying on their trade with the Indians. The

governor of Canada, who obtained early intelligence of this intrusion,

as he deemed it, into the dominions of his Christian majesty, wrote

immediately to the governors of New York and Pennsylvania, informing

them that the English traders had encroached on the French territory by

trading with the Indians, and warning them that, if they did not desist,

he should be under the necessity of seizing them wherever they should be

found. This threat having been disregarded, it was put in execution by

seizing the British traders among the Twightwees,[55] and carrying them

as prisoners to a fort on Lake Erie."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_,

vol. i., p. 297.]

[Footnote 8: "The country taken possession of by the French troops had

actually been granted as a part of the territory of Virginia to the Ohio

Company, who were, in consequence, commencing its settlement."--Marshall's

_Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 298.]

[Footnote 9: "Which was the less to be wondered at," remarks Major

Washington, in his journal, "as the garrison of the fort consisted but

of thirty-three effective men." They were commanded by Captain Trent.]

[Footnote 10: This name was given in honor of the then governor of

Canada, the Marquis du Quesne de Menneville. Fort Du Quesne is now

called Pittsburg.]

[Footnote 11: Smollett says that "Jumonville bore a summons to Colonel

Washington, requiring him to quit the fort, which he pretended was built

on ground belonging to the French or their allies. So little regard was

paid to this intimation, that the English fell upon this party, and, as

the French affirm, without the least provocation, either slew or took

the whole detachment. De Villiers, incensed at these unprovoked

hostilities...."--Smollett, vol. iii., p. 421.]

[Footnote 12: "This skirmish, of small importance, perhaps, in itself,

was yet among the principal causes of the war. It is no less memorable

as the first appearance in the pages of history of one of their

brightest ornaments--of that great and good man, GENERAL

WASHINGTON."--Lord Mahon's _History of England_, vol. iv., p. 65.

"This event was no sooner known in England than the British embassador

at Paris received directions to complain of it to the French ministry,

as an open violation of the peace."--Smollett, vol. iii., p. 421.]

[Footnote 13: "The capitulation was written in French, and as neither

Mr. Washington nor any of his party understood that language, a

foreigner was employed to read it to them in English. But, instead of

acting the part of a faithful interpreter, when he came to the word

'assassination,'[56] employed in the capitulation to designate M. de

Jumonville's defeat and death, he translated it 'the defeat of M. de

Jumonville.' This I have the best authority to assert; the authority of

the English officers who were present. Indeed, the thing speaks for

itself. It can not be supposed that these gentlemen should know so

little of what they owed to themselves, both as men and as soldiers, as

not to prefer any extremity rather than submit to the disgrace of being

branded with the imputation of so horrid a crime. After all, had they

been guilty of this charge, they could scarce have been worse used than

they were."--_History of the late War in America_ by Major Thomas Mante,

p. 14 (London, 1772).]

[Footnote 14: "The coal measures of this part of Maryland are usually

called the Cumberland coal-field, from Fort Cumberland, famous for the

wars of the English with the French and Indians, in which General

Washington took part before the American Revolution. The carboniferous

strata are arranged geologically in a trough about twenty-five miles

long from north to south, and from three to four miles broad. Professor

Silliman and his son, who surveyed them, have aptly compared the shape

of the successive beds to a great number of canoes placed one within

another."--Lyell's _Geology_, vol. ii., p. 17.]

[Footnote 15: "An able diplomacy in Europe exerted betimes would

probably have allayed the rancor of these feuds in America. But, for our

misfortune, we had then at Paris as embassador the Earl of Albemarle, an

indolent man of pleasure."--Lord Mahon's _History of England_, vol. iv.,

p. 66. London, 1844.

"Between you and me, for this must go no further, what do you think made

Lord Albemarle, colonel of a regiment of Guards, governor of Virginia,

groom of the stole, and embassador to Paris, amounting in all to L16,000

or L17,000 a year? Was it his birth? No; a Dutch gentleman only. Was it

his estate? No; he had none. Was it his learning, his parts, his

political abilities and application? You can answer these questions as

easily and as soon as I can ask them. What was it, then? Many people

wondered, but I do not, for I know, and will tell you: it was his air,

his address, his manners, and his graces."--_Lord Chesterfield to his

Son_, May 27, 1752.

Lord Albemarle died suddenly at his post in December, 1754. "You will

have heard, before you receive this, of Lord Albemarle's sudden death at

Paris. Every body is so sorry for him--without being so; yet as sorry as

he would have been for any body, or as he deserved. Can any one really

regret a man who, with the most meritorious wife and sons in the world,

and with near L15,000 a year from the government, leaves not a shilling

to his family, but dies immensely in debt, though when he married he had

near L90,000 in the funds, and my Lady Albemarle brought him L25,000

more."--Walpole's _Letters to Sir H. Mann_, Jan. 9, 1755.

Lord Hertford was named to succeed Lord Albemarle as embassador to

Paris, but war being soon declared between the two nations, he never

went there.]

[Footnote 16: "On the 6th of March, 1754, the calm and languid course of

public business had been suddenly broken through by the death of the

prime minister,[57] Mr. Pelham. 'Now I shall have no more peace!'

exclaimed the old king, when he heard the news; and the events of the

next few years fully confirmed his majesty's prediction. At the tidings

of his brother's death--a death so sudden and unlocked for--the the mind

of Newcastle was stirred with the contending emotions of grief, fear,

and ambition. The grief soon passed away, but the fear and the ambition

long struggled for the mastery. After a dishonest negotiation with Henry

Fox (younger son of Sir Stephen Fox, a brother of the first Earl of

Ilchester), the duke, finding him not sufficiently subservient, bestowed

the seals of secretary upon Sir Thomas Robinson. It was certainly no

light or easy task which Newcastle had thus accomplished: he had

succeeded in finding a secretary of state with abilities inferior to his

own.... The new Parliament met in November, 1754. Before that time a

common resentment had united the two statesmen whom rivalry had hitherto

kept asunder, Pitt and Fox. 'Sir Thomas Robinson lead us!' exclaimed

Pitt to Fox: 'The duke might as well send his jackboot to lead us!' ...

At length, in January, 1755, the Duke of Newcastle renewed his

negotiations with Fox. The terms he offered were far less than those Fox

had formerly refused, neither the head of the House of Commons nor the

office of Secretary of State, but admission to the cabinet, provided Fox

would actively support the king's measures in the House, and would in

some sort lead without being leader.... The conduct of Fox to Pitt (in

accepting these terms) seems not easy to reconcile with perfect good

faith, while the sudden lowering of his pretensions to Newcastle was,

beyond all doubt, an unworthy subservience. On one or both of these

grounds he fell in public esteem. By the aid of Fox and the silence of

Pitt the remainder of the session passed quietly. But great events were

now at hand. The horizon had long been dark with war, and this summer

burst the storm."--Lord Mahon's _History of England_, vol. iv., p. 65;

Belsham, vol. ii., p. 354, 355.]

[Footnote 17: "The French have taken such liberties with some of our

forts that are of great consequence to cover Virginia, Carolina, and

Georgia, that we are actually dispatching two regiments thither. As the

climate and other American circumstances are against these poor men, I

pity them, and think them too many if the French mean nothing farther,

too few if they do. Indeed, I am one of those that feel less resentment

when we are attacked so far off: I think it an obligation to be eaten

the last."--Walpole's _Letters to Sir H. Mann_, Oct. 6, 1754.

"A detachment of fifty men of the regiment of artillery embarked with

the 2d battalion, No. 44 and No. 48, under the command of Major-general

Braddock, for America.... This detachment was mostly cut to pieces near

Fort du Quesne, on the Monongahela, on the 9th of July, 1755."--_Memoirs

of the Royal Regt. of Artillery_, 1743. MSS., Col. Macbean, R.A.

Library, Woolwich.]

[Footnote 18: The Duke of Cumberland was then at the head of the

regency, during the absence of his father, George II., on the

continent.]

[Footnote 19: Officers were appointed for two regiments, consisting of

two battalions each, to be raised in America, and commanded by Sir

William Pepperel and Governor Shirley, who had enjoyed the same command

in the last war.[58]]

[Footnote 20: "Although the force to be employed was to be drawn almost

entirely from Massachusetts, the command of the expedition was conferred

on Lieutenant-colonel Monckton, a British officer, in whose military

talents more confidence was placed than in those of any provincial. The

troops of Massachusetts embarked at Boston on the 20th of May, 1755,

together with Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, commanded by

Lieutenant-colonel Winslow, who was a major general of the militia, and

an officer of great influence in the province. About four miles from

Fort Lawrence they were joined by 300 British troops and a small train

of artillery."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 310.]

[Footnote 21: "In the obstinate conflict which was commencing between

the French and English crowns, the continuance of the Acadians in Nova

Scotia was thought dangerous on account of their invincible attachment

to France; and to expel them from the country, leaving them at liberty

to choose their place of residence, would be to re-enforce the French in

Canada. A council was held, aided by the Admirals Boscawen and Morty,

for the purposes of deciding on the destinies of these unfortunate

people, and the severe policy was adopted of removing them from their

homes and dispersing them among the other British colonies. This harsh

measure was immediately put into execution, and the miserable

inhabitants of Nova Scotia, banished from their homes, were in one

instant reduced from ease and contentment to a state of beggary. Their

lands and movables, with the exception of their money and household

furniture, were declared to be forfeit to the crown; and to prevent

their being able to subsist themselves, should they escape, the country

was laid waste, and their habitations reduced to ashes."--Minot, quoted

by Marshall, vol. i., p. 312.]

[Footnote 22: "When the French were in possession of this garrison, they

had no artillery; however, they were not at a loss to deceive their

enemies at Fort Lawrence, for they provided a parcel of birch, and other

hard, well-grown trees, which they shaped and bored after the fashion of

cannon, securing them from end to end with cordage, and from one of

these they constantly fired a morning and evening gun, as is customary

in garrisons; but upon the reduction of the place, and a spirited

inquiry after the cannon, they found themselves obliged to discover this

ingenious device."--Knox's _Hist. Journal_, vol. i., p. 58.]

[Footnote 23: "Captain, afterward Lord Howe, after an engagement in

which he displayed equal skill and intrepidity, succeeded in taking the

two French ships, the _Alcide_ and the _Lys_."--Lord Mahon's _History of

England_, vol. iv., p. 68.]

[Footnote 24: "At home, in the king's absence, our councils were most

feeble and wavering.... A great difference appeared among the members of

the regency. The Duke of Cumberland, always inclined to vigorous

measures, wished to declare war at once, and to strike the first

blow.... The Duke of Newcastle, trimming and trembling as was ever his

wont, thought only of keeping off the storm as long as possible, and of

shifting its responsibility from himself.... At length, as a kind of

compromise, it was agreed that there should be no declaration of war;

that our fleet should attack the French ships of the line, if it fell in

with any, but by no means disturb any smaller men-of-war or any vessels

engaged in trade. When, at the Board of Regency, these instructions came

round to the bottom of the table to be signed by Fox, he turned to Lord

Anson, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and asked if there were no

objections to them. 'Yes,' answered Anson, 'a hundred; but it pleases

those at the upper end of the table, and will signify nothing, for the

French will declare war _next week, if they have not done it

already_.'[59] While the prospects of peace grew darker and darker,

there was also gathering a cloud of popular resentment and distrust

against the minister. It was often asked whether these were times when

all power could be safely monopolized by the Duke of Newcastle? Was

every thing to be risked--perhaps every thing lost--for the sake of one

hoary jobber at the Treasury?"--Lord Mahon's _History of England_, vol.

iv., p. 72.]

[Footnote 25: _MS. Journal of Major-general Braddock's Expedition

against Fort du Quesne_, 1755. Royal Artillery Library, Woolwich.]

[Footnote 26: "Mr. Franklin had observed that Sir John St. Clair's

uniform (the quarter-master general) was of the hussar kind, and this

gave him a hint which he immediately improved: he caused a report to be

propagated among the Germans that, except 150 wagons could be got ready

and sent to the general within a certain time, St. Clair, who was a

hussar, would come among them, and take away what he found by force. The

Germans, having formerly lived under despotic power, knew the hussars

too well to doubt their serving themselves, and believing that General

St. Clair was indeed a hussar, they provided, instead of 150, 200

wagons, and sent them within the time that Franklin had limited. The

Pennsylvanians also advanced a further sum above the king's bounty, and

sent him 190 wagons more, laden with a ton of corn and oats, four wagons

with provisions and wine for the officers, and 60 head of fine cattle

for the army."--_Gentleman's Magazine_, August, 1755.]

[Footnote 27: "Those who have experienced only the severities and

dangers of a campaign in Europe can scarcely form an idea of what is to

be done and endured in an American war. In an American campaign every

thing is terrible--the face of the country, the climate, the enemy.

There is no refreshment for the healthy nor relief for the sick. A vast

inhospitable desert surrounds the troops where victories are not

decisive, but defeats are ruinous, and simple death is the least

misfortune that can happen to a soldier. This forms a service truly

critical, in which all the firmness of the body and the mind is put to

the severest trial, and all the exertions of courage and address are

called out. If the actions of these rude campaigns are of less dignity,

the adventures in them are more interesting to the heart, and more

amusing to the imagination than the details of a regular war."--(Burke,

_Annual Register_, 1763.) "Yet Adam Smith ventures to assert, in the

plenitude of learned ignorance and ingenious error, that 'nothing can be

more contemptible than an Indian war in North America.' ... Colonel

Barre, who had served in America, declared, in his celebrated speech

upon American taxation, in 1765, that the Indians were as enemies 'the

most subtile and the most formidable of any people upon the face of

God's earth.'"--Graham's _History of the United States_, vol. iv., p.

448.]

[Footnote 28: "You will see ... the condition of the troops in this

country, particularly that of the infamous Free Companies of New

York."--_Letter from General Braddock to Colonel Napier, Adjutant

General._ Williamsburg, Feb. 24, 1754.]

[Footnote 29: "The (Duke of Cumberland), who is now the soul of the

regency, is much dissatisfied at the slowness of General Braddock, who

does not march as if he was at all impatient to be scalped. It is said

for him that he has had bad guides, that the roads are exceedingly

difficult, and that it was necessary to drag as much artillery as he

does. This is not the first time, as witness in Hawley, that the duke

has found that brutality did not necessarily constitute a general.

Braddock is a very Iroquois in disposition."--Walpole's _Letters to Sir

H. Mann_, Aug. 21, 1755.]

[Footnote 30: "Want of intelligence and reconnoitering parties was the

sole cause of defeat."--General Kane's _Mil. Hist. of Great Britain to

1757_.]

[Footnote 31: "After the successful expedition against Fort du Quesne in

1758, General Forbes resolved to search for the relics of Braddock's

army. As the European soldiers were not so well qualified to explore the

forests, Captain West, the elder brother of Benjamin West, the painter,

was appointed, with his company of American Sharp-shooters, to assist in

the execution of this duty; and a party of Indians were requested to

conduct him to the places where the bones of the slain were likely to be

found. In this solemn and affecting duty, several officers belonging to

the 42d regiment accompanied the detachment, and with them Major Sir

Peter Halket, who had lost his father and brother in the fatal

destruction of the army. It might have been thought a hopeless task that

he should be able to discriminate their remains from the common relics

of the other soldiers; but he was induced to think otherwise, as one of

the Indian warriors assured him that he had seen an officer fall near a

remarkable tree, which he thought he could still discover; informing

him, at the same time, that the incident was impressed on his memory by

observing a young subaltern, who, in running to the officer's

assistance, was also shot dead on his reaching the spot, and fell across

the other's body. The major had a mournful conviction in his own mind

that those two officers were his father and brother; and, indeed, it was

chiefly owing to his anxiety on the subject that this pious expedition,

the second of the kind that is on record, was undertaken. Captain West

and his companions proceeded through the woods and along the banks of

the river toward the scene of the battle. The Indians regarded the

expedition as a religious service, and guided the troops with awe and in

profound silence. The soldiers were affected with sentiments not less

serious; and as they explored the bewildering labyrinths of those vast

forests, their hearts were often melted with inexpressible sorrow, for

they frequently found skeletons lying across the trunks of fallen trees:

a mournful proof to their imaginations that the men who sat there had

perished of hunger in vainly attempting to find their way to the

plantations. Sometimes their feelings were raised to the utmost pitch of

horror by the sight of skulls and bones scattered on the ground, a

certain indication that the bodies had been devoured by wild beasts; and

in other places they saw the blackness of ashes amid the relics, the

tremendous evidence of atrocious rites. At length they reached a turn of

the river, not far from the principal scene of destruction, and the

Indian who remembered the death of the two officers stopped: the

detachment immediately halted. He then looked round in quest of some

object which might recall distinctly his recollection of the ground, and

suddenly darted into the wood. The soldiers rested their arms without

speaking; a shrill cry was soon after heard; and the other guides made

signs for the troops to follow them toward the spot from which it came.

In a short time they reached the Indian warrior, who, by his cry,

announced to his companions that he had found the place where he was

posted on the day of battle. As the troops approached, he pointed to the

tree under which the officers had fallen. Captain West halted his men

round the spot, and, with Sir Peter Halket and the other officers,

formed a circle, while the Indians removed the leaves which thickly

covered the ground (the leaves of three seasons). The skeletons were

found, as the Indian expected, lying across each other. The officers

having looked at them for some time, the major said that as his father

had an artificial tooth, he thought he might be able to ascertain if

they were indeed his bones and those of his brother. The Indians were

therefore ordered to remove the skeleton of the youth, and to bring to

view that of the old officer. This was done, and after a short

examination, Major Halket exclaimed, "It is my father!" and fell back

into the arms of his companions. The pioneers then dug a grave, and the

bones being laid in it together, a Highland plaid was spread over them,

and they were interred with the customary honors."--Galt's _Life of

West_.]

[Footnote 32: "The whole was in disorder, and, it is said, the general

himself, though exceedingly brave, did not retain all the _sang froid_

that was necessary."--Walpole's _Letters to Sir Horace Mann_, August 28,

1755.]

[Footnote 33: _MS. Journal of Major-general Braddock's Expedition

against Forte du Quesne_, 1755. Royal Artillery Library, Woolwich.

"He was borne off the field by some soldiers whom his aid-de-camp had

bribed to that service by a guinea and a bottle of rum to each."--Lord

Mahon's _Hist. of England_, vol. iv., p. 70.]

[Footnote 34: "Among the rest, the general's cabinet, with all his

letters and instructions, which the French court afterward made great

use of in their printed manifestoes."--Smollett's _Hist. of England_,

vol. iii., p. 448; Belsham, vol. ii., p. 369.]

[Footnote 35: "Major Washington acquired on this occasion, in the midst

of defeat, the honors and laurels of victory."--Belsham, vol. ii., p.

369.

"They had seen a chosen army from that country, which, reverencing as a

mother, they had fondly believed invincible; an army led by a chief who

had been selected from a crowd of trained warriors for his rare military

endowments, disgracefully routed by a handful of French and Indians, and

only saved from annihilation by the spirit and coolness of a Virginian

boy, whose riper fame has since diffused itself with the steady influence

of moral truth to the uttermost confines of Christendom."--_Last of the

Mohicans._]

[Footnote 36: "Though the enemy did not so much as attempt to pursue,

nor even appeared in sight, either in the battle or after defeat. On the

whole, this was, perhaps, the most extraordinary victory that ever was

obtained, and the farthest flight that ever was made."--Smollett's

_Hist. of England_, vol. iii., p. 440.]

[Footnote 37: "I have already given you some account of Braddock; I may

complete the poor man's history in a few more words. He once had a duel

with Colonel Gumly, Lady Bath's brother, who had been his great friend.

As they were going to engage, Gumly, who had good-humor and wit

(Braddock had the latter), said, 'Braddock, you are a poor dog! here,

take my purse; if you kill me, you will be forced to run away, and then

you will not have a shilling to support you.' Braddock refused the

purse, insisted on the duel, was disarmed, and would not even ask his

life. However, with all his brutality, he has lately been governor of

Gibraltar, where he made himself adored, and where never any governor

was endured before. Adieu! Pray don't let any detachment from

Pannoni's[60] be sent against us: we should run away."--Walpole's

_Letters to Sir H. Mann_, August 28, 1755.]

[Footnote 38: "The European troops, whose cowardice has thus injured

their country, are the same that ran away at Preston Pans. To prevent,

however, any unjust national reflections, it must be remarked, that,

though they are called Irish regiments, they are not regiments of

Irishmen, but regiments on the Irish establishment, consisting of

English, Irish, and Scotch, as other regiments do. It is, however, said,

that the slaughter among our officers was not made by the enemy; but as

they ran several fugitives through the body to intimidate the rest, when

they were attempting in vain to rally them, some others, who expected

the same fate, discharged their pistols at them, which, though loaded,

they could not be brought to level at the French. On the other hand, it

is alleged that the defeat is owing more to presumption and want of

conduct in the officers than to cowardice in the private men; that a

retreat ought to have been resolved upon the moment they found

themselves surprised by an ambuscade; and that they were told by the

men, when they refused to return to the charge, that if they could see

their enemy they would fight him, but that they would not waste their

ammunition against trees and bushes, nor stand exposed to invisible

assailants, the French and Indian rangers, who are excellent marksmen,

and in such a situation would inevitably destroy any number of the best

troops in the world."--_Gentleman's Magazine_, August, 1755.]

[Footnote 39: "The American regulars, consisting of Shirley's and

Pepperel's regiments, constituted the principal force relied on for the

reduction of Niagara."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p.

308.]

[Footnote 40: "The fort of Niagara had been repaired by the French in

1741, in consequence of the apprehension they felt that the

trading-house at Oswego, just established by the English at the mouth of

the Onondaga River, would deprive them of a profitable trade, and of the

command of the Lake Ontario."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol. i.,

p. 286.

"This fort was in other respects a very important post, for the lakes

are so disposed that, without a somewhat hazardous voyage, one can not,

any otherwise than by Niagara Fort, pass from the northeast to the

southwest of North America for many hundred miles."--_New Military

Dictionary_, London, 1760.]

[Footnote 41: "Bateaux are a kind of light, flat-bottomed boats, widest

in the middle and pointed at each end, of about fifteen hundred weight

burden, and managed by two men, called bateaux-men, with paddles and

setting poles, the rivers being in many places too narrow to admit of

oars."--Smollett's _Hist. of England_, vol. iii., p. 457.]

[Footnote 42: "Mr. Burnet,[61] governor of New York and New Jersey,

deemed it an object of great magnitude to obtain the command of Lake

Ontario, and, in pursuance of this plan, he had, in 1722, erected a

trading-house at Oswego, in the country of the Senecas, which soon

became of considerable importance. After ineffectual remonstrances, both

in America and in Europe, against the re-establishment of Niagara Fort,

Governor Burnet, to countervail as much as possible its effects, erected

at his own expense a fort at Oswego."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_,

vol. iv., p. 287.]

[Footnote 43: "The preparations for General Shirley's expedition against

Niagara were not only deficient, but shamefully slow, though it was well

known that even the possibility of his success must in a great measure

depend upon his setting out early in the year, as will appear to any

person who considers the situation of our fort at Oswego, this being the

only way by which he could proceed to Niagara. Oswego lies on the

southeast side of Lake Ontario, near 300 miles almost due west from

Albany, in New York. The way to it from thence, though long and tedious,

is the more convenient, as the far greater part of it admits of

water-carriage by the Mohawk River, Wood's Creek, Lake Oneida, and the

River Onondaga, which, after a course of twenty or thirty miles, unites

with the River Seneca, and their united streams run into the Lake

Ontario at the place where Oswego Fort is situated."--Smollett, vol.

iii., p. 458.]

[Footnote 44: "Though repeated advice had been received that the French

had there at least 1000 men at their Fort of Frontenac, on the same

lake; and, what was still worse, the new forts (that of Ontario, and a

new fort bearing the same name as the old, Oswego) were not yet

completed, but left to be finished by the hard labor of Colonel Mercer

and his little garrison, with the addition of this melancholy

circumstance, that if besieged during the winter, it would not be

possible for his friends to come to his assistance."--Smollett's

_England_, iii. p. 461.]

[Footnote 45: Russell's _Modern Europe_, vol. iii., p. 279.

"The justly celebrated Sir William Johnson held an office difficult both

to define and execute. He might, indeed, be called the Tribune of the

Five Nations; their claims he asserted, their rights he protected, and

over their minds he possessed a greater sway than any individual had

ever attained. He was an uncommonly tall, well-made man, with a fine

countenance, which, moreover, had rather an expression of dignified

sedateness, approaching to melancholy. He appeared to be taciturn, never

wasting words on matters of no importance, but highly eloquent where the

occasion called forth his powers. He possessed intuitive sagacity, and

the most entire command of temper and of countenance. He did by no means

lose sight of his own interest, but, on the contrary, raised himself to

power and wealth in an open and active manner, not disdaining any

honorable means of benefiting himself. He built two spacious and

convenient places of residence on the Mohawk River, known afterward by

the name of Johnson Castle and Johnson Hall. The Hall was his summer

residence. Here this singular man lived like a little sovereign; kept an

excellent table for strangers and officers, whom the course of their

duty now frequently led into these wilds; and by confiding entirely in

the Indians, and treating them with unwearied truth and justice, without

ever yielding to solicitation that he had once refused, he taught them

to repose entire confidence in him. So perfect was his dependence on

those people, whom his fortitude and other manly virtues had attached to

him, that when they returned from their summer excursions, and exchanged

the last years furs for fire-arms, &c., they used to pass a few days at

the Castle, when his family and most of his domestics were down at the

Hall. There they were all liberally entertained by Sir William; and 500

of them have been known for nights together, after drinking pretty

freely, to lie around him on the ground, while he was the only white

person in a house containing great quantities of every thing that was to

them valuable or desirable. Sir William thus united in his mode of life

the calm urbanity of a liberal and extensive trader, with the splendid

hospitality, the numerous attendance, and the plain though dignified

manners of an ancient baron."--_Memoirs of an American Lady_, vol. ii.,

p. 61.

Sir William Johnson was regularly appointed and paid by government as

Superintendent of Indian Affairs.]

[Footnote 46: "Few countries could produce such dexterous marksmen, or

persons so well qualified for conquering those natural obstacles of

thick woods and swamps, which would at once baffle the most determined

European. Not only were they strong of limb, swift of foot, and

excellent marksmen, the hatchet was as familiar to them as the musket;

in short, when means or arguments could be used powerful enough to

collect a people so uncontrolled and so uncontrollable, and when headed

by a leader whom they loved and trusted, a well-armed body of New York

Provincials had nothing to dread but an ague or an ambuscade, to both of

which they were much exposed on the banks of the lakes, and amid the

swampy forests they had to penetrate in pursuit of an enemy."--_Memoirs

of an American Lady_, vol. i., p. 203.]

[Footnote 47: "Our artillery then began to play on them, and was served,

under the direction of Captain Eyre ... in a manner very advantageous to

his character."--_Letter from General Johnson to the Governor of New

York._ Camp at Lake George, Sept. 9th, 1755.]

[Footnote 48: "Just arrived from America, and to be seen at the New York

and Cape Breton Coffee-house, in Sweeting's Alley, from 12 to 3, and

from 4 till 6, to the latter end of next week, and then will embark for

America in the _General Webb_, Captain Boardman, a famous Mohawk Indian

warrior! the same person who took M. Dieskau, the French general,

prisoner, at the battle of Lake George, where General Johnson beat the

French, and was one of the said general's guards. He is dressed in the

same manner with his native Indians when they go to war; his face and

body painted, with his scalping knife, tom-ax, and all other implements

of war that are used by the Indians in battle: a sight worthy the

curiosity of every true Briton.

"Price one shilling each person.

"*** The only Indian that has been in England since the reign of Queen

Anne."--_Public Advertiser_, 1755.]

[Footnote 49: "There are flying reports that General Johnson, our only

hero at present, has taken Crown Point."--Walpole's _Letters to Sir H.

Mann_, Dec. 4, 1755.]

[Footnote 50: "General Johnson complained that his troops seemed

impressed with apprehensions of the enemy, from the boldness with which

they had been attacked, and were unwilling, from the insufficiency of

their clothing, want of provisions, and other causes, to proceed further

on the enterprise; and, although urged by General Shirley, now

commander-in-chief (since Braddock's death), to attempt Ticonderoga,

even that object was abandoned."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol.

i., p. 318.]

[Footnote 51: "They erected a little stockaded fort at the nether end of

Lake George, in which they left a small garrison as a future prey for the

enemy, a misfortune which might have been easily foreseen."--Smollett,

vol. iii., p. 456.

This was Fort William Henry. Between Lake George and the River Hudson,

twelve miles of high table-land intervened; at its extremity was the

portage or carrying-place for the River Hudson. Here Fort Edward had

been erected a few weeks before.]

[Footnote 52: Crown Point was called Fort Frederic by the French. It was

situated at the south end of Lake Champlain or Lake Corlaer. At fifteen

miles' distance, at the north end of Lake George, the French were now

beginning to fortify the post of Ticonderoga.]

[Footnote 53: "Three days before the meeting of Parliament, November

1755, Sir Thomas Robinson, secretary of state, from an honest and

sincere consciousness of his incapacity to conduct the business of

Parliament in the House of Commons, had resigned the seals, which were

directly transferred to Mr. Fox, secretary at war, who unquestionably,

in respect of political ability, had at this time no rival in the House

of Commons, Mr. Pitt only excepted.... There had been vain attempts at a

negotiation with Pitt during the summer, but his positive refusal to

consent to 'a system of subsidies' threw the Duke of Newcastle into

Fox's power, and the seals were now given to him upon his own

terms."--Belsham, vol. ii., p. 379; Lord Mahon's _History of England_,

vol. iv., p. 76, 77.

"This session of Parliament was distinguished by an act of generosity

and humanity, which conferred the highest honor upon the Parliament and

nation. The city of Lisbon was almost totally destroyed by a tremendous

earthquake on the 1st of November, 1755. A message from the throne

informed both houses of this dreadful calamity, and the sum of L100,000

was instantly and unanimously voted for the use of the distressed

inhabitants.... Amid the millions and millions expended for the purposes

of devastation and destruction, a vote of this description seems as a

paradise blooming in the wild!"--Belsham, vol. ii., p. 381. See Lord

Mahon's _History of England_, vol. iv., p. 87; Southey's _Peninsular

War_, vol. iii., p. 388, 8vo edition.]

[Footnote 54: Smollett, vol. iii., p. 520.

"The Earl of Loudon, an officer of reputation and merit."--Belsham, vol.

ii., p. 370.

"If it had been the wish or intention of the British ministers to render

the guardian care of the parent state ridiculous, and its supremacy

odious to the colonists, they could hardly have selected a fitter

instrument for the achievement of this sinister purpose than Lord

Loudon. Devoid of genius, either civil or military; always hurried and

hurrying others, yet making little progress in the dispatch of business;

hasty to project and threaten, but mutable, indecisive, and languid in

pursuit and action; negligent of even the semblance of public virtue;

impotent against the enemy whom he was sent to destroy, formidable only

to the spirit and liberty of the people whom he was commissioned to

defend, he excited alternately the disgust, the apprehension, and the

contemptuous amazement of the colonists of America."--Graham's _History

of the United States_, vol. iv., p. 4.]

[Footnote 55: The Twightwees were Indians who lived on the banks of the

Ohio.]

[Footnote 56: Washington makes a labored defense of his conduct in the

affair of M. de Jumonville, in the "Journal of his Expedition to the

Ohio." In M. de Villiers's "Journal of his Campaign," he always uses the

term "assassination" with reference to his brother's death. The only

notice he takes of the broken terms of the capitulation is, "The

consternation of the English was so great, when they heard the French

savages laid claim to the pillage, that they ran away and left behind

them even their flag and a pair of their colors."--_Translation of M. de

Villiers's Journal_, July 4th, 1754.

The following is the testimony of the Canadian historian, Garneau: "Le

17 Mai (1754), au soir M. de Jumonville s'etait retire dans une vallon

profond et obscur, lorsque des sauvages qui rodaient le decouvrirent et

en informerent le Colonel Washington, qui arrivait dans le voisinage

avec ses troupes. Celui-ci marcha toute la nuit pour le cerner, et le

lendemain au point du jour il l'attaqua avec precipitation, marchant

comme a une surprise a la tete de son detachment. Jumonville fut tue

avec neuf hommes de sa suite. Les Francais pretendent que ce depute fit

signe qu'il etait porteur d'une lettre de son commandant, que le feu

cessa, et que ce ne fut qu'apres que l'on eut commence la lecture de la

sommation que les assaillans se remirent a tirer. Washington affirme

qu'il etoit a la tete de la marche, et qu'aussitot que les Francais le

virent, ils coururent a leurs armes sans appeller, ce qu'il aurait du

entendre s'ils l'avaient fait. Il est probable qu'il y a du vrai dans

les deux versions: l'attaque fut si precipitee qu'il dut s'ensuivre une

confusion qui ne permit pas de rien demeler; mais s'il n'y a pas eu

d'assassinat, on se demandera toujours pourquoi Washington avec des

forces si superieures a celles de Jumonville, montra une si grande

ardeur pour le surprendre au point du jour comme s'il eut ete un ennemi

fort a craindre? Ce n'etait point certainement avec 30 hommes que

Jumonville etait en etat d'accepter le combat.... Tels sont les humbles

exploits par lesquels le futur conquerant des libertes Americaines

commenca sa carriere.... La victoire que M. de Villiers venoit

d'obtenir, fut le premier acte de ce grand drame de 29 ans, dans lequel

la puissance Francaise et Anglaise devait subir de si terribles echecs

en Amerique."--_Histoire du Canada_, vol. ii., p. 541 (Quebec, 1846).]

[Footnote 57: "Another revolution about this period (November, 1744)

took place in the British cabinet. Lord Carteret, now become Earl of

Granville, had insinuated himself so far into the good graces of his

sovereign as to excite apprehension and dislike of the Duke of Newcastle

and his brother Mr. Pelham. They therefore effected the downfall of this

ambitious and haughty minister, whose power they envied, and whose

talents they feared. Mr. Pelham, who, on the death of Lord Wilmington,

had succeeded to the direction of the Board of Treasury, was now

nominated Chancellor of the Exchequer, and may be considered from this

period as first minister."--Belsham, vol. ii., p. 313.]

[Footnote 58: "To reward Colonel Pepperel and Governor Shirley for the

conquest of Louisburg in 1745, a regiment, to be raised in America, was

bestowed on each."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 280.]

[Footnote 59: War was not declared against France until May in the

following year.]

[Footnote 60: Pannoni's coffee-house of the Florentine nobility, not

famous for their courage of note.--_Ibid._]

[Footnote 61: He was the son of Bishop Burnet.]