The campaign of 1755 had opened with evil promise for the cause of
France in the Western world; four formidable armies were arrayed to
check her progress, and turn back the tide of war upon her own
territory. A powerful fleet, under the brave and vigilant Boscawen,
swept the Atlantic coast, insulted her eastern harbors, and captured her
re-enforcements and supplies. The doubtful allegiance of many of her
Indian neighbors was far overbalanced by the avowed hostility of others
no less numerous and powerful.
But the close of the year presented results very different from those
that might have been anticipated. Braddock was defeated and slain; the
whole of that vast Valley of the Mississippi, whose unequaled fertility
is now the wonder of mankind, had been freed from the presence of a
British soldier by one decisive victory. Niagara was strengthened and
unassailed; Crown Point had not been compromised by Johnson's partial
success. The undisputed superiority upon Lake Ontario was upon the
Canadian shore. From dangerous foes, or almost as dangerous friends, the
forest tribes had generally become zealous allies, and thrown themselves
with ready policy into the apparently preponderating scale; the ruined
settlements and diminished numbers of the British frontier colonists
marked the cruel efficiency of their co-operation. Notwithstanding the
check of the Baron Dieskau's detachment, there still remained to the
French more than 3000 regular troops, with a large force of the Canadian
militia, who were in some respects even better qualified for forest
warfare than their veteran brethren from the mother country. All these,
united under one able chief, formed a much more formidable military
power than the English colonies, with their jarring interests and
independent commanders, could bring forward. Nova Scotia, again severed
from the territories of New France, and the Acadian peasants reduced to
British rule, formed but a slight offset to these hostile gains.
The civil progress of the French colony was, however, far from
satisfactory. For two years past the scarcity of grain and other
provisions had almost amounted to famine. The inhabitants of the
country, constantly employed in warfare against their English neighbors
were forced to neglect the cultivation of the soil, till absence from
their own homesteads was almost as ruinous to themselves as their
destructive presence to the enemy. Although the scanty supply of corn
was too well known, the intendant Bigot, with infamous avarice, shipped
off vast quantities of wheat to the West Indies for his own gain and
that of his creatures. The price of food rose enormously, and the
commerce of the country, hampered by selfish and stupid restrictions,
rapidly declined.
The Marquis de Vaudreuil de Cavagnac, the successor of the Marquis du
Quesne as governor, soon lost the confidence of his people. To him they
had looked hopefully and earnestly for protection against the fatal
monopolies of the Merchant Company, but they found that he readily
sanctioned the oppression under which they suffered, and, indeed, rather
increased its severity. Great stores of wheat had been purchased from
the settlers by the company in anticipation of a scarcity; when they had
obtained a sufficient quantity to command the market, they arranged with
the intendant to fix the price at an immense advance, which was
maintained in spite of the misery and clamors of the people. Again, the
intendant pretended that the dearth was caused by the farmers having
secreted their grain, and, in consequence, he issued an order that the
city and troops should be immediately supplied at a very low rate, and
those who would not submit to these nefarious conditions had their corn
seized and confiscated without any remuneration whatever.
Abuses and peculations disgraced every department of the public service;
the example set in high places was faithfully followed by the petty
officials all over the colony. The commissaries who had the supply of
the distant posts enriched themselves at the cost of the mother country;
and, to the detriment of the hardy and adventurous men occupying those
remote and dreary settlements, boats were not allowed to visit them
without paying such heavy fees that the venture became ruinous, and thus
the trade was soon altogether confined to the commissaries.
Vessels sent to Miramichi with provisions for the unfortunate Acadians,
returned loaded with that people, who, faithful to their king and
nation, had left their happy homes, refusing the proffered protection of
their conquerors. When they reached Quebec they met with a cruel
reception. The intendant gave to a creature named Cadet the office of
ministering to their wants. This heartless man shamefully abused the
trust, and only considered it as a means of selfish profit, providing
them with unwholesome and insufficient food: thus many fell victims to
his cruel avarice. Some, indeed, who settled on lands belonging to the
governor or his favorites, were amply supplied, for the private
advantage of the proprietors.
Loud and constant were the complaints of the colonists against these
shameful abuses of power; but they fell either upon ears determined not
to hear, or were misrepresented and refracted by the medium through
which they passed. The outer aspect of New France was bold and
formidable, but within all was corruption, languor, and decay. The
seignorial tenure[62] and the custom law of Paris fatally embarrassed
agricultural improvement, and the monopoly of the Merchant Company
paralyzed trade. The absolute system of government, and the intrusive
exercise of imperial power in even the most trivial matters of colonial
interest, cramped individual energy by the constraining force of
centralization. The military[63] system of feudal organization turned
the plow-shares and reaping-hooks of the most active among the
population into weapons of war, and the settlements, that were little
else than scattered barracks for troops, made but small progress in the
truly glorious war against the desolation of the wilderness. While the
hardy _voyageurs_ of the Ottawa and the farmers of the rich Valley of
the St. Lawrence reaped the laurels of the bloody fight at Fort du
Quesne, the canoes, once richly laden with the furs of the Western
country, floated idly in the stream, and the exuberant soil by the banks
of the Great River was overrun with a harvest of useless or noxious
weeds. Thus it was that, while the military superstructure of this great
French colony was strong and imposing, the social and political
foundations were false and feeble.
On the other hand, the dangerous British rivals had rapidly advanced to
prosperity and to the possession of formidable resources. The State of
Massachusetts alone mustered 40,000 men capable of bearing arms, by one
third a greater number than all Canada could produce. The militia of
Connecticut was 27,000 strong, and that of New Hampshire and Rhode
Island also considerable. Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other states were
also in themselves powerful, but in military matters New England ever
took the lead. The sturdy Nonconformists who first peopled that country
had been long accustomed to encounter and overcome difficulties: they
had continually waged a war of mutual extermination with the Indians.
The unbending spirit of their ancestors lost nothing under such
training. Each separate settlement possessed an independent vitality;
the habit of self-government engendered a feeling of confidence in their
own power, and they who had marched with steady step over the barriers
of an almost impenetrable forest, and swept away the warlike hordes of
its savage inhabitants, were no mean foes to match even against the
brilliant chivalry of France.
The peculiar and distinct institutions of these British colonies, while
they fostered the development of individual energy and stimulated
general prosperity, forbade, at the same time, that compact and
centralized organization which rendered the external power of New
France so formidable. It was difficult or impossible to unite all the
different states in one great effort, and hopeless to induce them to act
in concert. The borderers of Maine or Massachusetts heard with almost
indifference of Indian massacres upon the banks of the Susquehanna, and
the men of Virginia felt but little sympathy with the victors of the
north. English colonization had already progressed to unheard of
prosperity in its component parts, in spite of its utter want of large
and comprehensive system, while that of France, planned on a scheme of
magnificent ambition, had proved but a sickly exotic under the
over-anxious care of the founders. In the one, powerful elements formed
but a disjointed and unwieldy aggregate; in the other, indifferent
materials were rendered strong by the firm frame-work in which they were
united.
The defensive power of the British colonies was, however, very great. In
cases of real peril, when the farmer tore himself from his fields, the
merchant from his store-house, and the hunter from the chase, a militia
formidable in numbers and composition was at the service of the state,
while the vast extent and the scattered situations of the settlements
would have rendered complete conquest difficult, and occupation
impossible.
The campaign of 1756 opened with a partial success of the French arms.
The Marquis de Vaudreuil had learned that the British had erected a
chain of small forts to protect their route to Oswego, and that they
purposed building ships at that port to command the navigation of Lake
Ontario, and thus break up the chain of his communications. He therefore
ordered a detachment of about 350 Canadians and Indians, under M.
Chaussegros de Lery, to march to Montreal, from whence they proceeded
westward on the 17th of March.
After a harassing journey of great length through the wilderness, they
came upon one of the small English forts on the Oswego route, garrisoned
by Lieutenant Bull and twenty-five men. The British officer at once
rejected the proposal of a capitulation, and prepared to offer a
vigorous resistance; he was, however, speedily overpowered, and he and
his little party, with the exception of two, were massacred and scalped
by the Indians, whose ferocity could not be repressed; the fort was then
blown up, and the ammunition destroyed.
The French, fully alive to the danger of allowing their enemies to hold
possession of the important position of Oswego, were determined to spare
no efforts to drive them away. Another expedition was accordingly
prepared to accomplish this grand object, consisting of 300 men, led by
M. de Villiers. They proceeded to within a short distance of Oswego,
where they constructed a small fort, placed among the dense woods in
such a manner as to be unseen by the enemy: from this hiding-place they
frequently intercepted parties with provisions destined for Oswego. When
the Iroquois became aware of the designs of the French, they summoned
Sir William Johnson, whom they greatly respected, to meet them in
council, for the purpose of considering the means of diverting
hostilities from their country. He strongly advised them, if possible,
to prevent the attack upon the fort, and thus avoid a war that would
deluge the frontier with blood. Pursuing this counsel, they dispatched
thirty deputies to Montreal to assure M. de Vaudreuil that they wished
to preserve the strictest neutrality, and to entreat him not to draw the
sword in their country or interrupt their communications. The governor
answered that he would seek his enemies wherever he could find them, but
that the people of the Five Nations should be protected from every
insult as long as they did not join the English.
From this time the war was to assume a more important form, and new and
more illustrious actors were to appear upon the stage. The British
government[64] determined to increase its efforts in North America; and
as the Earl of Loudon, lately appointed general-in-chief of the forces
on that continent, was unavoidably detained in England for some time,
Major-general Abercromby was ordered to precede him and hold command
until his arrival. Lord Loudon was intrusted with extraordinary powers,
to enable him to promote the essential object of union among the English
colonies; he was also appointed governor of Virginia, and made colonel
of a regiment of four battalions, chiefly officered by foreigners,
called the Royal American.[65]
In the mean time, the preparations were made in British America to
forward the execution of the plans[66] recommended by the great council
of war, and the militia of the several provinces were assembled at
Albany, where they awaited the arrival of the English general.
Abercromby did not reach the army till the latter end of June, 1756, and
at that time only brought with him two regiments, the 35th and the 42d,
or Murray's Highlanders. The British troops in North America at this
time consisted of those two corps, the 44th and 48th of the line,
Shirley's and Pepperel's battalions, eight independent companies from
New York and Carolina, and a large body of the Provincial militia.
General Abercromby considered the force under his command insufficient
to carry out the extensive schemes recommended by the council at Albany;
he was, however, cordially agreed with them upon the advantages to be
gained by their execution. Desirous to avoid responsibility, he
determined to await the arrival of the commander-in-chief, but in the
mean time he marched the Provincial forces upon Fort William Henry,
under the command of General Winslow,[67] who there awaited
re-enforcements previous to his advance against Crown Point.
In the West, however, British energy and courage found employment under
the able and adventurous Lieutenant-colonel Bradstreet. He determined to
execute, as far as in his power lay, the resolves of the council at
Albany, and left Schenectady with about 300 boatmen, bearing supplies
and military stores to strengthen the important post of Oswego. His
detachment consisted of raw Irish recruits, utterly unacquainted with
discipline, and unaccustomed to the sight of an enemy; but their native
courage overcame all disadvantages, and they bravely did their duty, as
their countrymen have ever done when striving for a good cause, and led
by a worthy chief. Bradstreet passed in safety up the Onondaga River,
reached Oswego, and accomplished his object. The French, being apprized
of this expedition, collected in force some miles to the eastward of
Oswego, and detached 700 men to intercept their enemy. Happily, however,
they became embarrassed in the tangled wilderness, and lost their way:
when, at last, after much difficulty, they reached the banks of the
Onondaga, the English had already passed up the stream in safety. They
well knew, however, that Bradstreet must soon return by the same route;
they therefore patiently awaited their opportunity, concealed beneath
the favoring cloak of the dense forests surrounding the river.
The English chief--either informed of this ambuscade, or mistrusting the
facility with which the dangerous navigation had been before
accomplished--took the only precaution his difficult position permitted.
To scour the neighborhood of the rapid stream with light troops would
have been impossible, owing to the thick underwood every where arresting
the human foot; and yet, from each dark clump of cedars, or from behind
each projecting crag on the rugged banks, he might at any moment expect
to see the deadly flash of the Canadian musket, and to hear the
war-whoop of the savage. Bradstreet therefore determined on the
precaution of proceeding in three divisions of canoes, within easy
distances of each other; that thus, if any one were attacked, his stout
boatmen might land from the others, and on equal terms encounter the
assailants on the shore. He entered the first canoe; his gallant men
followed with somewhat tumultuous good will. The day of their departure
was the 3d of July; in that burning season the stream was low and
difficult of navigation, and the stately trees and luxuriant underwood,
rich in leafy honors, afforded complete concealment to the dangerous
enemy.
For nine miles the party forced their way up the Onondaga, laboriously
but without interruption; at length they reached a spot where the waters
flow in shallow rapids past a small island, and the dense woods throw
their shade over the very margin of the stream. Suddenly, from the north
shore, a loud volley, and a louder yell, broke through the silence of
the wilderness. This first fire fell with deadly effect upon the leading
division; but Bradstreet, with six of the survivors, forced their canoes
quickly across the eddying current toward the island. Twenty of the
enemy had at the same time plunged into the river, and, taking advantage
of the ford, arrived before him; nevertheless, Bradstreet threw himself
on shore, and with desperate courage faced the foe. After a sharp
struggle, he even dislodged them from the island, and drove them back
upon the main land. When the remaining canoes of the advanced division
joined, his little force amounted to no more than twenty men. The
French, enraged at their first repulse, vigorously renewed the attack
with doubled numbers, but they were again beaten, and, leaving many of
their foremost dead in the stream, returned to the shelter of the shore.
A third time, however, the assailants, brave even in defeat, pushed
across the ford with seventy men, and threw themselves upon the little
knot of English. For nearly an hour, with fiery courage on the one side
and stubborn resolution on the other, they fought among the rocks and
trees, till the secluded spot, where perhaps human foot had never before
trodden, was red with human blood. At length the French gave way, and,
scattered and depressed, fell back upon the main body of their
countrymen.
While this stout fight was raging on the little island, the boatmen of
the remaining divisions had landed in safety lower down on the southern
shore, and moved in good order to the support of their hard-pressed
comrades. The main body of the French pressed rapidly along the opposite
bank toward another ford about a mile higher up the river, and many
succeeded in crossing before Bradstreet's stout boatmen could intercept
them. By this time, however, the British leader had arrived from the
little island, and put himself at the head of his two last divisions.
With prompt determination he threw himself upon the French advance, and,
bravely supported by his followers, after a stubborn strife, forced it
back into the river. Many of the conquered were struck down by the
English marksmen in the close bush-fight, and even a greater number
perished in their hurried passage of the stream.
In Bradstreet's absence, another large body of the French swarmed across
the ford by the little island where they had been before repeatedly
repulsed, but this last effort was even more disastrous than the
preceding. Before they could form in the tangled swamps, the boatmen and
their gallant chief came down at a running pace, flushed with recent
success. One short struggle on the woody bank, and the assailants were
forced back in utter rout. The remainder of the enemy dispersed in the
forest and attacked no more, but above 100 of their number had perished
in the stream or had fallen by the sword, while seventy prisoners and a
great quantity of arms rewarded the successful valor of the conquerors.
Many of the French regular soldiers, strangers to the American
wilderness, became bewildered in its mazes, and died miserably of
starvation. On the other hand, no less than sixty of Bradstreet's
boatmen were killed and wounded in this gallant action.[68]
The English were too much fatigued and weakened by their hard-won
victory to venture on pursuit, and prepared to rest that night upon the
battle-field; they were, however, soon aroused by the approach of a body
of troops, which, to their great joy, proved to be a detachment of their
own grenadiers, on the march to Oswego, and the next morning 200 men
also joined them from that garrison. But, in the mean time, the rain had
poured down in torrents, and the stream of the Onondaga swelled to an
angry flood; to cross and follow up their success was therefore
impossible, and the remnant of the French found refuge in their vessels
on the waters of Lake Ontario. After a time, when the subsiding flood
permitted, the detachment and the grenadiers descended the river to
Oswego, and the victorious boatmen, with their leader, pushed on for
Schenectady, where they arrived in safety on the 14th of July. The
following day Bradstreet set out for Albany to warn General Abercromby
of the designs of the French against Oswego: the prisoners had informed
him that a force of 1200 men was encamped on the shores of the lake, not
far from the eastern fort of that port, where the thick covert of the
forest concealed them from the British garrison. Abercromby at once
ordered the remains of the 44th regiment, under Colonel Webb, to hasten
to Oswego, but, owing to the interference of the Provincial
governors,[69] a fatal delay intervened before this corps was put in
motion.
On the 26th of July Lord Loudon arrived at New York from Europe; on the
29th he reached Albany, and assumed the command of the army. He found a
body of nearly 3000 regular troops, besides a large Provincial force,
under his orders at Albany[70] and Schenectady, including the survivors
of the two unfortunate regiments which had been crippled and broken in
Braddock's disaster.[71] In the fort of Oswego[72] were mustered 1400
bayonets, principally of Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, besides
sailors and peasants,[73] and nearly 500 men, in scattered detachments,
preserved the difficult communications through the Iroquois territories.
On the other hand, the French held Crown Point and Ticonderoga with 3000
veterans, and found means to assemble a still more formidable force at
Fort Frontenac for the purpose of attacking Oswego.
This year had arrived at Quebec from France a large body of regulars,
under the command of the MARQUIS DE MONTCALM, with the Brigadier de
Levi, and Colonel de Bourlemaque. Montcalm remained but a few days at
Quebec, and then hastened on with his veteran re-enforcements to
strengthen the force destined to act against Oswego. Rigaud de
Vaudreuil, with a large body of Canadian militia raised at Montreal, was
detached as the vanguard of the army, and arrived undiscovered on the
9th of August within a mile and a half of the British position; on the
night of the 10th the first division also arrived; on the 12th, at
midnight, the second division joined. Then the French chief, having made
all necessary preparations, opened his trenches before Fort Ontario,[74]
which was situated at the opposite side of the river from the important
position of Oswego.
From break of day until six in the evening Montcalm kept up a heavy
fire, which was vigorously replied to by the defenders; then, however,
the resistance suddenly ceased. The unpardonable neglect of the British
authorities had left this important post almost unprovided with
ammunition, and in the hour of extremest need the scanty supply failed.
Further defense was impossible; the survivors of the little garrison
spiked their cannon, and retreated without interruption to the
neighboring position of Fort Oswego, on the opposite side of the river.
When the French perceived that the defenders had yielded the post, they
quickly took possession, and turned such of the guns as in the hurry of
retreat had been still left uninjured upon the walls of the remaining
stronghold. The defenses of the feeble fort soon crumbled beneath the
crushing fire from Montcalm's battering train and the now hostile guns
of Fort Ontario. Colonel Mercer, the English chief, and many of his men,
were struck down, and the remainder, hopeless of a successful defense,
surrendered upon not unfavorable terms on the evening of the 14th of
August.
Seven armed vessels, mounting from 8 to 18 guns each, 200 bateaux, a
vast quantity of provisions and warlike stores, with 1200
prisoners,[75] were gained by the victors; and for a brief space,
several British flags, the unwonted trophies of French conquest, decked
with drooping folds the walls of the Canadian churches. This brilliant
and important success was, however, stained by cruelty and doubtful
faith.[76] Notwithstanding the terms of the capitulation, the savages
were permitted to plunder all, and massacre many of the captives;[77]
and, to the shame of Montcalm, the sick and wounded who had been
intrusted to his protection were slain and scalped under the Indian
knife. The remaining prisoners, however, were escorted to Montreal,
where they were treated with kindness and consideration, and soon
afterward exchanged.[78] The French, having demolished the works at
Oswego, returned to the eastern part of the province.
This conquest established Montcalm's already rising reputation. Canada
rejoiced, and the British colonies were proportionately discouraged.
The sad news was first carried to Albany by some French deserters, but
remained unconfirmed for several days, till two sailors arrived who had
escaped subsequently to the disaster. Indian rumor was also busy with
the melancholy tale. It was for a time believed that the whole garrison
of Oswego had been put to the sword,[79] and that the bodies of the
slain were left unburied upon the desolate shores of Lake Ontario. A
panic spread. Colonel Webb, with the 44th regiment, nearly 900 strong,
and 800 boatmen, stopped short in his advance, now useless through
culpable delay, and employed his whole force in felling trees to block
up the navigation of the important passage of Wood Creek,[80] while the
French, equally anxious to avoid collision, performed a similar labor
higher up the river.
The province of New York was the first to suffer by the unhappy loss of
Oswego, and the pusillanimous retreat of Webb. The rich and beautiful
settlements called the German Flats were speedily desolated by the
Indians and the scarcely less vindictive Canadians; the crops were
destroyed, the houses and homesteads burned, and such of the inhabitants
as could not escape were captured, or slain and scalped.
It has been before stated that all the resources of the British colonies
were taxed to enable General Winslow to act against Crown Point, with a
view to master the important navigation of Lake Champlain, and to
demolish the French forts upon its shores,[81] but these preparations
produced no results beyond that of strengthening Forts Edward and
William Henry. No blow was struck,[82] notwithstanding the opportunity
afforded by the withdrawal of nearly all the French regular troops from
that neighborhood to aid the Oswego expedition. The inglorious campaign
concluded by the retirement of the British regiments of the line to
Albany, and the return of the Provincials to their several localities.
But while the genius and good fortune of Montcalm raised the military
reputation of New France and strengthened her external power, tyranny
and corruption withered her budding prosperity, and blighted it with
premature decay. The paltry peculations and narrow despotism of the
petty magnates of colonial government are nauseous and ungrateful
subjects. The "habitans" were oppressed and plundered, the troops were
defrauded of their hard-earned stipend, traders were ground down under
infamous extortions, and the unhappy Acadian refugees robbed of the
generous bounties of the state. Eminent among the perpetrators of these
shameless wrongs stood Bigot, the intendant; Cadet and others of his
creatures were worthy of their principal. A scarcity almost amounting to
famine, which inflicted the severest privations upon the colony, was
again seized as an opportunity of gain by these relentless men, under
the pretense of the general good; great stores of provisions were bought
by them at a low, compulsory price, and resold at an enormous advance
for their private benefit. Even the sacred calling of the missionaries
did not in all instances preserve them from the taint of these unworthy
acts; and where wealth, was thus largely and by such means increased,
morals were naturally deteriorated.
The loss of Oswego was in some degree compensated to the English by the
progress of Colonel Lawrence in Acadia, but sad it is to say that the
stain of cruelty tainted our success, as it had the victory of Montcalm.
When the French settlers refused to acknowledge allegiance to the
British crown and laws, they were pursued with fire and sword, their
villages and farms destroyed, and at last many thousands were suddenly
shipped off, and dispersed among the Atlantic colonies, where friends
and kinsfolk might never meet again; thus, to use the language of the
time, "establishing peace and tranquillity throughout the whole
province." In the ensuing February, some of these ill-fated Acadians
with a few allied Indians, about 300 in all, unexpectedly sallied out
upon the new English settlements, driven by desperation from the snowy
forests; but Lieutenant-colonel Scott promptly called together an equal
force of Provincials, and drove them back, with heavy loss, upon the
inhospitable wilderness.
In the month of August of the year 1756, a small post on the borders of
Pennsylvania, called Fort Granville, was surprised by a party of French
and Indians, and the garrison carried into captivity. At the same time,
the Moravian savages from the banks of the Ohio, rejoicing in the
opportunity afforded by the contentions of the white men, suddenly burst
upon the English western frontier, and massacred no less than 1000 of
the scattered settlers. Then the thirst of vengeance burned among the
hardy colonists. Infuriated rather than appalled by this horrid
butchery, 280 men hastily assembled, and with untiring energy pushed on
toward the rugged Alleganies to an Indian town called Kittaning, the
rendezvous of the fierce marauders. The road was rude and difficult, the
distance 150 miles, but the furious hatred of the pursuers spurred them
forward, and on the morning of the fifth day the foremost scouts brought
word that the Indian murderers were close at hand, celebrating their
bloody triumph in songs and dances.
When morning light first chased away the darkness of the forest, the
English Provincials burst upon the Indian camp. Armstrong, their leader,
offered quarter, but the savages, conscious of their unpardonable
cruelties, dared not submit. Then ensued a terrible slaughter; the
Indians were beaten down in furious rage, or shot in attempting to fly,
or shut up in their wooden huts and burned to death; some were seized
and scalped, in horrible imitation of their own ferocity, and not a few
were blown up and destroyed by the stores of ammunition they had
collected during their late incursion. Terrible as was this vengeance,
it availed but little. On almost every other part of the British
frontiers, parties of the Indians, and their almost equally savage
French allies, swarmed among the woods, concealed in ambush during the
day, and by night busied in their bloody work.
In the mean time, the season had become too far advanced for the
commencement of any important enterprise; the English colonies were
divided in spirit, and all efforts for the general good were perpetually
thwarted by jealousy and parsimony. Lord Loudon, with his armament, had
not reached New York till the end of July; by that time little remained
practicable but to strengthen some frontier forts, and push forward
parties of observation into the French territories. Thus closed the
campaign of 1756. England had a sorry account of her wasted blood and
treasure in these Western wars; opportunities had been neglected,
resources wasted, laurels lost.[83] The Indian trade and the commerce of
the great lakes had been forfeited by the surrender of Oswego. To us
only remained the barren boast of Bradstreet's gallant victory. The
Indians were not slow to perceive the weakness of British councils, and
Sir William Johnson's powerful influence was barely sufficient to
restrain the politic Iroquois from openly declaring for the enemy.
[Footnote 62: See Appendix, No. LXIII.]
[Footnote 63: "Thus was introduced into America the feudal system, so
long the ruin of Europe."--Raynal, vol. viii., p. 143.
"Nothing has reduced the families of the ancient French seigneurs to
misery more than the division and subdivision of their lands by their
own law; a law which, though it appears at first to breathe more the
spirit of democracy than of monarchy, yet in fact is calculated for a
military government only, because nobles so reduced can and will only
live by the sword."--Gray's _Canada_, p. 346.]
[Footnote 64: "War was at length declared in form by Great Britain
against France in May, 1756, and in the following month by France
against Great Britain; and in the manifesto published by the latter,
much pains were taken to contrast the moderation and equity of the court
of Versailles with the intemperate violence of the court of London, and
particularly stigmatizing the seizure of the French ships of war and
commerce, before a declaration of war, as piracy and perfidy."--Belsham,
vol. ii., p. 396.]
[Footnote 65: "The next object of the immediate attention of Parliament
in this session (1755--May, 1756) was the raising of a new regiment of
foot in North America, for which purpose the sum of L81,178 16s. was
voted. This regiment, which was to consist of four battalions of 1000
men each, was intended to be raised chiefly out of the German and Swiss,
who, for many years past, had annually transported themselves in great
numbers to the British plantations in America, where waste lands had
been assigned them upon the frontiers of the provinces; but, very
injudiciously, no care had been taken to intermix them with the English
inhabitants of the place, so that very few of them, even of those who
have been born there, have yet learned to speak or understand the
English tongue. However, as they were all zealous Protestants, and, in
general, strong, hardy men, accustomed to the climate, it was judged
that a regiment of good and faithful soldiers might be raised out of
them, particularly proper to oppose the French; but to this end it was
necessary to appoint some officers, especially subalterns, who
understood military discipline and could speak the German language; and
as a sufficient number of such could not be found among the English
officers, it was necessary to bring over and grant commissions to
several German and Swiss officers and engineers. But as this step, by
the Act of Settlement, could not be taken without the authority of
Parliament, an act was now passed for enabling his majesty to grant
commissions to a certain number of foreign Protestants who had served
abroad as officers or engineers, to act and rank as officers or
engineers in America only. The Royal American Regiment is now the 60th
Rifles."--Smollett's _History of England_, vol. iii., p. 483.]
[Footnote 66: The northern colonies were enabled to comply, in some
degree, with the requisitions made on them, by having received from the
British government, in the course of the summer, a considerable sum of
money as a reimbursement for the extraordinary expenses of the preceding
year. One hundred and fifteen thousand pounds had been apportioned among
them, according to their respective exertions,[84] and this sum gave new
vigor and energy to their councils.]
[Footnote 67: The command of the expedition against Crown Point was
given to Major-general Winslow, whose conduct in Nova Scotia had very
much increased both his reputation and his influence.--Marshall's _Life
of Washington_, vol. i., p. 325.
Mr. Beckford thus speaks of General Winslow in a letter to Mr. Pitt,
dated Fonthill, Dec. 18, 1758: "There is a brave, gallant officer, by
name Winslow, who has acted as general in North America, and done signal
service. This man is in England, and is only a captain on half pay. I
wish you would think of him; he might furnish you with useful
hints."--_Correspondence of the Earl of Chatham_, vol. i., p. 378.]
[Footnote 68: "Bradstreet had but three Indians of the Six Nations
(Iroquois) with him at this attack. Of these, one took to his heels; a
second fought bravely; but the third went over to the enemy, and
assisted in pointing out our officers."--_A Review of the Military
Operations in North America from 1753 to 1756._]
[Footnote 69: "Mr. Shirley and the Provincial chiefs wanted that Webb's
(the 44th) and my regiment (the 48th) should march to Forts Edward and
William Henry, taking it for granted that Oswego was in no
danger."--_Letter from General Abercromby_, dated Albany, 10th of
August, 1756.
"The detaching any troops to Oswego was strongly opposed by a party at
Albany, who thought that while Crown Point remained in the hands of the
French, there could be no security for the province of New York. General
Winslow, who was to command an expedition against Crown Point, was
already more than sufficiently strong for that purpose, yet this party
insisted on his being re-enforced with two or three regiments of regular
troops, and that an army should likewise remain at Albany to defend it,
in case the troops sent against Crown Point should happen to be
defeated. Nay, they strongly opposed the departure of the regiment which
General Abercromby had already ordered for Oswego. Some of the New
England colonies joined those of New York in this opposition, so that it
was not without the greatest difficulty Lord Loudon, who did not think
proper to do any thing material without their approbation, could so much
as prevail on them to let Colonel Webb depart for Oswego; therefore it
was the 12th of August before that officer could leave Albany; too late
to save Oswego. Thus the public safety of the whole British empire in
North America was made to yield to the private views of some leading
people in the provinces of New England and New York."--Mante, p. 64.]
[Footnote 70: "The Provincials do not exceed 4000, mostly vagabonds
picked up by the New Englanders at random, by the high premium given
them in order to save themselves from service."--_Letter from General
Abercromby_, Albany, 30th of August, 1756.]
[Footnote 71: The 44th (then Halket's, now Webb's) and the 48th (then
Dunbar's, now Abercromby's). They were regiments that ran away at
Preston Pans.]
[Footnote 72: "The garrison of Oswego was insensibly increased to 1400
men; only 700 had been left there by Mr. Shirley the autumn
before."--Mante's _Hist. of the War_, p. 63.]
[Footnote 73: "The greatest part of Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments
is there.... By all account, Shirley's and Pepperel's are by much the
worst corps on this continent. With such troops, what can we
do?"--_Letter from General Abercromby_, Albany, 30th of Aug., 1756.]
[Footnote 74: "General Shirley's troops, after the attack on Niagara was
relinquished in the autumn of the preceding year, had been employed in
the erection of two new forts, one of them 450 yards from the old Fort
Oswego, and bearing the same name, the other on the opposite side of the
Onondaga River, to be called Fort Ontario. They were erected on the
south side of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Onondaga, and
constituted a port of great importance. The garrison, as we have already
observed, consisted of 1400 men, chiefly militia and new-raised
recruits, under the command of Colonel Mercer, an officer of experience
and courage; but the situation of the forts was very ill chosen, the
materials mostly timber or logs of wood, the defenses wretchedly
continued and unfinished, and, in a word, the place altogether untenable
against any regular approach."--Smollett's _History of England_, vol.
iii., p. 535.]
[Footnote 75: "Such an important magazine, deposited in a place altogether
indefensible, and without the reach of immediate succor, was a flagrant
proof of egregious folly, temerity, and misconduct."--Smollett's _Hist.
of England_, vol. iii., p. 536.]
[Footnote 76: _Ibid._, p. 535.]
[Footnote 77: "Montcalm, in direct violation of the articles, as well as
in contempt of common humanity, delivered up above twenty men of the
garrison to the Indians, in lieu of the same number they had lost during
the siege."--_Ibid._]
[Footnote 78: "The negligence and dilatoriness of our governors at
home,[85] and the little-minded quarrels of the regulars and irregular
forces,[86] have reduced our affairs in that part of the world (America)
to a most deplorable state. Oswego, of ten times more importance even
than Minorca, is so annihilated that we can not learn the
particulars."--Walpole's _Letters to Sir H. Mann_, Nov. 4, 1756.]
[Footnote 79: "The massacre at Oswego happily proves a romance. Part of
the two regiments[87] that were made prisoners there are actually
arrived at Plymouth, the provisions at Quebec being too scanty to admit
additional numbers."--Walpole's _Letters to Sir H. Mann_, Nov. 13,
1756.]
[Footnote 80: Wood Creek was one of the streams that formed a nearly
uninterrupted water communication between Albany, in New York, and the
mouth of the River Onondaga, where Oswego was situated.]
[Footnote 81: Crown Point, or Fort Frederic, and Ticonderoga, which had
been lately fortified.]
[Footnote 82: Abercromby writes from Fort Edward, 30th of September,
1756; "Upon intelligence of the enemy's whole force being collected at
Crown Point, in order to make an attempt on this fort or that of Fort
William Henry, I arrived here the 26th with the Highlanders: to-morrow I
shall have three regiments.... Our works here are far from being
finished. However, though the fort is not finished we are throwing up
lines, and shall be able to repel the enemy's force.--8th of Oct. Lord
Loudon is now here: he has left Webb to take care of Otway's at Albany.
General Winslow (he was at Fort William Henry) holds daily
correspondence."]
[Footnote 83: Every where. "I see it with concern, considering who was
Newcastle's associate" (he alludes to his friend Fox); "but this was the
year of the worst administration that I have seen in England, for now
Newcastle's incapacity[88] was left to its full play."--Walpole's
_Memoirs_, vol. ii., p. 54.
"In the course of this unfortunate year, 1756, we were stripped of
Minorca and Oswego (the East India Company, by the loss of Calcutta,
received a blow which would have shaken an establishment of less
strength to its foundation), we apprehended an invasion of Great Britain
itself, our councils were torn to pieces by factions, and our military
fame was every where in contempt."--_Annual Register._
Burke was the writer of the "History of Europe" in the early volumes of
the _Annual Register_.]
[Footnote 84: To Massachusetts, L54,000; to Connecticut, L26,000; to New
York, L15,000; to New Hampshire, L8000; to Rhode Island, L7000; to New
Jersey, L5000,--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 328.]
[Footnote 85: The ministry of the Duke of Newcastle and Fox, which was
forced out of office by the public indignation at the loss of Minorca,
and on the 13th of Nov., 1756, Pitt kissed hands as secretary of state.]
[Footnote 86: "The regulations of the crown respecting rank had given
great disgust in America, and rendered it extremely difficult to carry
on any military operations which required a junction of British and
Provincial troops. When consulted on this delicate subject, General
Winslow assured General Abercromby of his apprehensions that, if the
result of the junction should be placing the Provincials under British
officers, it would produce very general discontent, and perhaps
desertion. His officers concurred with him in this opinion. On the
arrival of Lord Loudon, the subject was revived, and the colonial office
gave the same opinion. The request that Lord Loudon would permit them to
act separately was acceded to."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol.
i., p. 327.]
[Footnote 87: Shirley's and Pepperel's.]
[Footnote 88: "A minister the most incapable though the most ambitious,
the weakest though the most insolent, the most pusillanimous though the
most presumptuous"--Mr. Potter's _Speech in the House of Commons_. "It
would, however, be injustice not to allow the Duke of Newcastle the
merit of disinterestedness as to the emoluments of office, and of zeal
for the general interests of his country."--Belsham, vol. ii., p. 381.]