During the disastrous campaign of 1757, a strife of greater importance
than that on the American continent was carried on in the English House
of Commons. In the preceding year, the falsehood and incompetency of the
Duke of Newcastle, prime minister of England, had aroused a storm of
indignation, to which the shameful losses of Minorca and Oswego had
given overwhelming force. Mr. Fox, the only commoner of character and
ability who still adhered to the ministry, determined to lend his name
no longer to the premier's policy, and in the month of October resigned
the seals of office. This blow proved fatal for the tottering cabinet.
To the almost universal joy of the people, the Duke of Newcastle did not
dare the encounter with his gifted rival in the approaching session of
Parliament, and reluctantly yielded up those powers the exercise of
which, in his hands, had led the nation to embarrassment and shame.
By the wish of the king, Mr. Fox endeavored to induce Mr. WILLIAM PITT
to join him in the conduct of the national councils. The "Great
Commoner," however, decisively rejected this overture.[108] The Duke of
Devonshire, lord lieutenant of Ireland, a man more remarkable for
probity and loyalty than for administrative capacity, next received the
royal commands to form a ministry; he sacrificed his personal
predilections toward Mr. Fox to the public good, and at once appointed
Pitt Secretary of State, with Legge as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Most
of the subordinate members of the cabinet retained their places, but
several of Pitt's relatives received appointments to important offices.
Almost the first step of the new cabinet was to apply to Parliament for
the means of aiding the King of Prussia against "the vindictive designs
of France." Notwithstanding the great popularity of the ministry, and
the general confidence in its capacity and integrity, the apparent
contrast between this proposition and former protestations against
continental interference excited the hostility of many, and the
observation of all. The supplies, however, were voted to the full extent
demanded by the minister.
Despite these concessions to the king's Hanoverian interests, nothing
could overcome the personal dislike of his majesty to Pitt, and to his
brother-in-law Lord Temple. The appointment of the Duke of Cumberland to
command the British force on the Continent gave opportunity for the
manifestation of this royal hostility. The duke refused to undertake his
duties while such an anti-Hanoverian as Pitt remained as virtual head of
the ministry. The king's love for his son, and hatred of his gifted
servant, combined to prompt him to the decided step of dismissing the
great minister from his councils. An interval of nearly three months
elapsed in vain attempts to form a cabinet from which Pitt should be
excluded. There was, however, another party interested in these
arrangements, which neither prerogative nor parliamentary influence
might long venture to oppose--the British nation. As with one voice, all
ranks and classes spoke out their will that Pitt should hold the helm.
His rivals saw that it was impossible to stem the stream, and wisely
counseled the king to yield to the wishes of his people. In June the
patriot minister was once again the ruler of England's destiny.[109]
This illustrious man knew no party but the British nation, acknowledged
no other interest. To exalt the power and prosperity of his country, and
to humble France, was his sole aim and object. Personally disagreeable
to the highest power in the state, and from many causes regarded with
hostility by the several aristocratic confederacies, it needed the
almost unanimous voice of his countrymen, and the unacknowledged
confidence of those powerful men whose favor he neither possessed nor
desired, to sweep away these formidable difficulties, and give to
England in the hour of need the services of her greatest son.
For the remainder of the campaign of 1757, however, the energy and
wisdom of Pitt were too late brought to the council, and the
ill-conducted schemes of his predecessors bore, as has been shown, the
bitter fruit of disaster and disgrace. But no sooner was he firmly
established in office, and his plans put in execution, than the British
cause began to revive in the Western hemisphere, and, although still
checkered with defeat, glory and success rewarded his gigantic efforts.
He at once determined to renew the expedition against Cape Breton, and,
warned by previous failures, urged upon the king the necessity of
removing both the naval and military officers who had hitherto conducted
the operations. With that admirable perception which is one of the most
useful faculties of superior minds, he readily discerned in others the
qualities requisite for his purpose--his judgment ever unwarped and his
keen vision unclouded by personal or political considerations. In
Colonel Amherst he had discovered sound sense, steady courage, and an
active genius; he therefore recalled him from the army in Germany, and,
casting aside the hampering formalities of military rule, promoted him
to the rank of major-general, and to the command of the troops destined
for the attack of Louisburg.[110] At the same time, from the British
navy's brilliant roll, the minister selected the Hon. Edward Boscawen as
admiral of the fleet, and gave him also, till the arrival of General
Amherst, the unusual commission of command over the land forces. With
vigorous zeal the equipments were hurried on, and on the 19th of
February a magnificent armament sailed from Portsmouth for the harbor of
Halifax on the Acadian peninsula. The general was delayed by contrary
winds, and did not reach Halifax till the 28th of May, where he met
Boscawen's fleet coming out of the harbor; the admiral, impatient of
delay, having put all the force in motion, with the exception of a corps
1600 strong left to guard the post. No less than 22 ships of the line
and 15 frigates, with 120 smaller vessels, sailed under his flag; and 14
battalions of infantry, with artillery and engineers, in all 11,600,
almost exclusively British regulars, were embarked to form the army of
General Amherst. The troops were told off in three brigades of nearly
equal strength, under the brigadier-generals Whitmore, Lawrence, and
JAMES WOLFE.[111]
At dawn on the 2d of June the armament arrived off Cape Breton, where
the greatest part of the fleet came to anchor in the open roadstead of
Gabarus Bay. Amherst entertained a strong hope to surprise the garrison
of Louisburg, and with that view issued an order to forbid the slightest
noise, or the exhibition of any light, on board the transports near the
shore; he especially warned the troops to preserve a profound silence as
they landed. But the elements rendered these judicious orders of no
avail. In the morning a dense fog shrouded the rocky shore, and as the
advancing day cleared away the curtains of the mist, a prodigious swell
rolled in from the Atlantic, and broke in impassable surf upon the
beach. Nevertheless, in the evening the general, with Lawrence and
Wolfe, approached close to the dangerous shore, and reconnoitered the
difficulties which nature and the enemy might oppose to their landing.
They found that the French had formed a chain of posts for some distance
across the country, and that they had also thrown up works and batteries
at the points where a successful debarkation seemed most probable. The
next morning the sea had not abated, and for six successive days the
heavy roll of the ocean broke with undiminished violence upon the rugged
shore. During this interval the enemy toiled day and night to strengthen
their position, and lost no opportunity of opening fire with guns and
mortars upon the ships.
On the 8th the sea subsided into calm, and the fog vanished from the
shore. Before daybreak the troops were assembled in boats, formed in
three divisions; at dawn Commodore Durell examined the coast, and
declared that the landing was now practicable. When his report was
received, seven of the smaller vessels at once opened fire, and in about
a quarter of an hour the boats of the left division began to row in
toward the shore: in them were embarked twelve companies of Grenadiers,
550 Light Infantry men, with the Highlanders and a body of Provincial
Rangers: Brigadier-general Wolfe was their chief. The right and center
brigades, under Whitmore and Lawrence, moved at the same time toward
other parts of the shore, and three sloops were sent past the mouth of
the harbor to distract the attention of the enemy.
The left division was the first to reach the beach, at a point a little
eastward of Fresh-water Cove, and four miles from the town.[112] The
French stood firm, and held their fire till the assailants were close in
shore; then, as the boats rose on the dangerous surf, they poured in a
rattling volley from every gun and musket that could be brought to bear.
Many of the British troops were struck down, but not a shot was
returned. Wolfe's flag-staff was shivered by a bar-shot, and many boats
badly damaged; still, with ardent valor, the sailors forced their way
through the surging waves, and in a very few minutes the whole division
was ashore, and the enemy flying in disorder from all his intrenchments.
The victors pressed on rapidly in pursuit, and, despite the rugged and
difficult country, inflicted a heavy loss on the fugitives, and took
seventy prisoners. At length the cannon of the ramparts of Louisburg
checked their further advance. In the mean time the remaining British
divisions had landed, but not without losing nearly 100 boats and many
men from the increasing violence of the sea.
During the two following days the fury of the waves forbade all attempts
to land the artillery and the necessary stores for the attack of the
hostile stronghold; on the 11th, however, the weather began to clear,
and some progress was made in the preparations. Hitherto the troops had
suffered much from want of provisions and tents; now their situation was
somewhat improved.
Louisburg is a noble harbor: within is ample shelter for the largest
fleets England or France have ever sent from their shores. A rugged
promontory, on which stood the town and somewhat dilapidated
fortifications, protects it from the southwest wind; another far larger
arm of the land is its shelter to the southeast. About midway across the
entrance of this land-locked bay stands Goat Island, which at that time
was defended by some works, with a formidable array of guns; a range of
impassable rocks extends thence to the town. From an elevation to the
northwest of the harbor, the grand battery showed a threatening front to
those who might seek to force the entrance of the Sound. For the defense
of this important position, M. de Drucour, the French chief, had at his
disposal six line-of-battle ships; five frigates, three of which he
sank, to impede the entrance of the harbor; 3000 regular troops and
burgher militia, with 350 Canadians and Indians.
On the 12th the French withdrew all their outposts, and even destroyed
the grand battery that commanded the entrance of the harbor,
concentrating their whole power upon the defense of the town. Wolfe's
active light troops soon gave intelligence of these movements, and the
following day the brigadier pushed on his advance round the northern and
eastern shores of the bay, till they gained the high lands opposite Goat
Island with little opposition; there, as soon as the perversity of the
weather would permit, he mounted some heavy artillery, but it was not
till the 20th that he was enabled to open fire upon the ships and the
land defenses. On the 25th the formidable French guns on Goat Island
were silenced. Wolfe then left a detachment in his battery, and hastened
round with his main force to a position close to the town, where he
erected works, and from them assailed the ramparts and the shipping.
For many days the slow and monotonous operations of the siege continued,
under great difficulties to the assailants, the marshy nature of the
ground rendering the movement of artillery very tedious. The rain poured
down in torrents, swamping the labors of the engineers; the surf still
foamed furiously upon the shore, embarrassing the landing of the
necessary material and impeding the communication with the fleet. On the
night of the 9th of July, the progress of the besiegers was somewhat
interrupted by a fierce and sudden sally; five companies of light
troops, supported by 600 men, burst upon a small English work during the
silence of the night, surprising and overwhelming the defenders. The
young Earl of Dundonald, commanding the grenadiers of the 17th, who held
the post, paid for this want of vigilance with his life; his lieutenant
was wounded and taken, and his men struck down, captured, or dispersed.
Major Murray, however, with the Grenadiers of the 22d and 28th, arrived
ere long, and restored the fight. After a time the French again betook
themselves to the shelter of their walls, having left twenty of their
men dead upon the scene of strife, and eighty more wounded or prisoners
in the hands of the besiegers.
Meanwhile the British generals pushed on the siege with unwearied zeal,
and, at the same time, with prudent caution, secured their own camp by
redoubts. Day and night the batteries[113] poured their ruinous shower
upon the ramparts, the citadel, and shipping. On the 21st, three large
vessels of war took fire in the harbor from a live shell, and the
English gunners dealt death to those who sought to extinguish the
flames. The next day the citadel was in a blaze; the next, the barracks
were burned to the ground, and Wolfe's trenches were pushed up to the
very defenses of the town. The French could no longer stand to their
guns. On the night of the 25th, two young captains, La Forey and
Balfour, with the boats of the fleet, rowed into the harbor under a
furious fire, boarded the two remaining vessels of war, and thus
destroyed the last serious obstacle to British triumph.[114] The
following morning, M. de Drucour surrendered at discretion.
In those days, the taking of Louisburg was a mighty triumph for the
British arms: a place of considerable strength, defended with skill and
courage, fully manned, and aided by a powerful fleet, had been bravely
won; 5600 men, soldiers, sailors, and marines were prisoners; eleven
ships of war taken or destroyed; 240 pieces of ordnance, 15,000 stand of
arms, and a great amount of ammunition, provisions, and military stores,
had fallen into the hands of the victors, and eleven stand of colors
were laid at the feet of the British sovereign: they were afterward
solemnly deposited in St. Paul's Cathedral.
But while the wisdom and zeal of Amherst, and the daring skill of
Wolfe,[115] excite the gratitude and admiration of their countrymen, it
must not be forgotten that causes beyond the power and patriotism of man
mainly influenced this great event. The brave admiral doubted the
practicability of the first landing.[116] Amherst hesitated, and the
chivalrous Wolfe himself, as he neared the awful surf, staggered in his
resolution, and, purposing to defer the enterprise, waved his hat for
the boats to retire. Three young subaltern officers, however, commanding
the leading craft, pushed on ashore, having mistaken the signal for what
their stout hearts desired--the order to advance; some of their men, as
they sprung upon the beach, were dragged back by the receding surge and
drowned, but the remainder climbed up the rugged rocks, and formed upon
the summit. The brigadier then cheered on the rest of the division to
the support of this gallant few, and thus the almost desperate landing
was accomplished.
Nor should due record be omitted of that which enhances the glory of the
conquerors--the merit of the conquered. To defend the whole line of
coast with his garrison was impossible; for nearly eight miles,
however, the energetic Drucour had thrown up a chain of works, and
occupied salient points with troops; and when at length the besiegers
effected a landing, he still left no means untried to uphold the honor
of his flag. Hope of relief or succor there was none; beyond the waters
of the bay the sea was white with the sails of the hostile fleet. Around
him, on every side, the long red line of British infantry closed in from
day to day. His light troops were swept from the neighboring woods; his
sallies were interrupted or overwhelmed. Well-armed batteries were
pushed up to the very ramparts; a murderous fire of musketry struck down
his gunners at their work; three gaping breaches lay open to the
assailants;[117] his best ships burned or taken; his officers and men
worn with fatigue and watching; four fifths of his artillery disabled;
then, and not till then, did the brave Frenchman give up the trust which
he had nobly and faithfully held. To the honor of the garrison, not a
man deserted his colors through all the dangers, privations, and
hardships of the siege, with the exception of a few Germans who served
as unwilling conscripts. This spirited defense was in so far successful
that it occupied the bulk of the British force, while Abercromby was
being crushed by the superior genius and power of Montcalm. By thus
delaying for seven weeks the progress of the campaign, the season became
too far advanced for further operations, and the final catastrophe of
French American dominion was deferred for another year.[118]
On the 7th of August detachments were sent, under Major Dalling and Lord
Rollo, to take possession of the other settlements in Cape Breton, and
of the Isle de St. Jean, now Prince Edward's Island. This latter
territory had long been an object of great importance to Canada; the
fertility of the soil, the comparative mildness of the climate, and the
situation commanding the navigation of the Great River, rendered it
invaluable to the settlers of New France.
On the 15th the French prisoners were dispatched to Europe in
transports. On the 28th, Admiral Sir Charles Hardy, with seven ships of
the line and three frigates, conveying a force of some Artillery, and
three battalions of Infantry, was sent round to the Gulf of St.
Lawrence. The object of this expedition was to destroy the French
settlements at Miramichi, the Baye de Chaleurs, Gaspe, and as far up the
banks of the Great River as the season might permit; then to disperse or
carry away the inhabitants: by this it was hoped that the troublesome
marauders on the English frontier might be chastised and kept in check,
and that a portion of the enemy's strength might be diverted from
Abercromby's front. The execution of this painful duty was committed to
Brigadier-general Wolfe.
These stern orders were punctually obeyed, but as much humanity as was
possible tempered the work of destruction. All the Acadian villages on
the northeastern coast were laid in ruins: some hundreds of the
inhabitants were borne away to captivity, and the rest driven from
their blackened hearths and desolated farms to the grim refuge of the
wilderness. Among the settlements devastated by this expedition was the
flourishing fishing station of Mont Louis.[119] The intendant in charge
of the place offered a ransom of 150,000 livres to save the stores and
provisions his people's industry had created, but the relentless law of
retribution took its course, and the hoarded magazines of corn, fish,
and other supplies for their own use and for the market of Quebec, were
totally destroyed. Colonel Monckton, with three other battalions, was
sent on a similar errand to the Bay of Fundy and to the River St. John,
and in like manner fulfilled his task.
It may, perhaps, be partial or unjust to single out one tale of woe from
among the crowded records of this war's gigantic misery to hold up in
the strong light of contrast with the glory of the recent victory. But
we may not hear, without a blush of shame and sorrow, how the simple
Acadian peasantry were made to pay the penalties of banishment and ruin
for the love of France and for loyalty to their king, at a time when
Pitt was the minister, Amherst the general, and Wolfe the lieutenant.
Having executed his orders, Wolfe repaired to Halifax and assumed the
command of the troops in garrison. Admiral Boscawen and General Amherst
came to a conclusion that for that season nothing more could be effected
by them against the power of France. They therefore agreed, although
their instructions did not extend to any part of the continent beyond
Nova Scotia, that it would be advisable to detach a portion of the army
to strengthen Abercromby, and assist him to repair his disaster, of
which they were informed. Accordingly, Amherst sailed for Boston on the
30th of August with five battalions, arrived on the 13th of September,
and the next day landed his troops. Despite the interested
remonstrances of the local authorities, he soon pushed on through the
difficult district of the Green Woods, by Kinderhook Mills, and through
Albany to Lake George. Having there held counsel with the unfortunate
Abercromby, and delivered over his seasonable re-enforcement, he
returned to Boston, and finally to Halifax, where he had been instructed
to await orders from the English government.
[Footnote 108: "But though Pitt desired high office, he desired it only
for high and generous ends. He did not seek it for patronage like
Newcastle, or for lucre like Fox. Glory was the bright star that ever
shone before his eyes, and ever guided him onward--his country's glory
and his own. 'My lord!' he once exclaimed to the Duke of Devonshire, 'I
am sure that I can save this country, and that no one else can.'"--Lord
Mahon's _Hist. of England_, vol. iv., p. 77.]
[Footnote 109: At this period commenced the brilliant era justly called
MR. PITT'S ADMINISTRATION, in which he became the soul of the British
councils, conciliated the good-will of the king, infused a new spirit
into the British nation, and curbed the united efforts of the house of
Bourbon.
The following picture of affairs at the moment when Pitt became
secretary of state (29th of June, 1757) is contained in a letter from
Lord Chesterfield to Mr. Dayrolles: "Whoever is in or whoever is out, I
am sure we are undone both at home and abroad: at home, by our increasing
debt and expenses; abroad, by our ill luck and incapacity.... The French
are masters to do what they please in America. We are no longer a nation.
I never yet saw so dreadful a prospect."--_Correspondence of the Earl of
Chatham_, edited by William Stanhope Taylor, Esq., vol. i., _note_,
p. 238.]
[Footnote 110: "What alarms me most, is the account Lady Hester brought,
of some men-of-war, a few, very few, being got into Louisburg; because,
upon the issue of that attempt I think the whole salvation of this
country and Europe does essentially depend," (Letter of Earl Temple to
Mr. Pitt, Stowe, July 3, 1758.)--_Chatham Correspondence_, vol. i., p.
325.]
[Footnote 111: See Appendix, No. LXIV.]
[Footnote 112: The place where the British troops landed, near
Fresh-water Cove, before the successful siege of Louisburg, was called
Cormoran Creek.]
[Footnote 113: "It may not be amiss to observe that a cavalier, which
Admiral Knowles had built, at enormous expense to the nation, while
Louisburg remained in the hands of the English during the last war, was
in the course of this siege entirely demolished by two or three shots
from one of the British batteries; so admirably had this piece of
fortification been contrived and executed, under the eye of that
profound engineer."--Smollett, vol. iv., p. 303.]
[Footnote 114: "The renowned Captain Cook, then serving as a petty
officer on board of a British ship of war, co-operated in this exploit,
and wrote an account of it to a friend in England. That he had honorably
distinguished himself may be inferred from his promotion to the rank of
lieutenant in the royal navy, which took place immediately
after."--Graham's _United States_, vol. iv., p. 28.]
[Footnote 115: "Brigadier Wolfe has performed prodigies of valor.... We
could not land before the 8th, which we fortunately effected after
encountering dangers that are almost incredible." (Letter from the camp
before Louisburg.)--Knox's _Historical Journal_, vol. i., p. 144.]
[Footnote 116: "Captain Ferguson, an old, brave, and distinguished navy
officer, earnestly prayed the admiral not to put the fate of the
expedition on the uncertain chances of a council of war,[120] but at
once to attempt the landing, despite all difficulties. His spirited
appeal was successful."--_The Field of Mars_; Article, Louisburg.
London, 1801.]
[Footnote 117: So ruinous were the fortifications, that "General Wolfe
himself was obliged to place sentinels upon the ramparts, for the
private men and the sutlers entered through the breaches and gaps with
as much ease as if there had only been an old ditch."--_Translation of a
Letter from M. de Drucour to M. ----_, dated Andover, October 1, 1758,
when he was a prisoner in England.]
[Footnote 118:
"DEAR WOLFE,
"Camp, August 8, 1758.
"I have your letter this morning, to which I can say no more to you than
what I have already done: that my first intentions and hopes were, after
the surrender of Louisburg, to go with the whole army (except what is
absolutely necessary for Louisburg) to Quebec, as I am convinced it is
the best thing we could do, if practicable. The next was, to pursue my
orders as to future operations; and this affair unluckily happening at
Ticonderoga, I quitted the thoughts of the future operations in part, as
ordered, to assist Major-general Abercromby by sending five or six
regiments to him, which I told Brigadier Lawrence he should command, in
case we could not go to Quebec.... I have proposed this to the admiral
for the day after the surrender of the town, and I am thoroughly
convinced he will not lose one moment's time in pursuing every thing for
forwarding and expediting the service.... Whatever schemes you may have,
or information that you can give to quicken our motions, your
communicating of them would be very acceptable, and will be of much more
service than your thoughts of quitting the army, which seem by no means
agreeable, as all my thoughts and wishes are confined at present to
pursuing our operations for the good of his majesty's service; and I
know nothing that can tend more to it than your assisting in it.
"I am, dear sir, your most obedient humble servant,
"JEFF. AMHERST."
--_Chatham Correspondence_, vol. i., p. 332.]
[Footnote 119: "The Bay of Mont Louis is situated upon the southern side
of the River St. Lawrence, bounded on one side by the inaccessible
mountains of Notre Dame. It is nearly half way between Quebec and the
sea, and all the vessels that ascend to Quebec pass within
view."--Charlevoix, tom. iii., p. 325.]
[Footnote 120: "Lord Clive declared to the Parliamentary Committee of
Inquiry, instituted A.D. 1773, that 'he never called a council of war
but once, which was previous to his passing the Ganges on his famous
expedition to Moorshedabad; and if he had then followed the decision of
the council, the company had been undone.'"--Belsham, vol. ii., p. 401.]