THE IROQUOIS SUBDUED
It was the special task of Tracy and Courcelle to rid
the colony of the Iroquois scourge. The Five Nations
[Footnote: The Iroquois league consisted of five tribes
or nations--the Mohawks, the Cayugas, the Senecas, the
Onondagas, and the Oneidas.] had heard with some disquietude
of the body of trained soldiers sent by the French king
to check their incursions and crush their confederacy.
At the beginning of December 1665, the Marquis de Tracy
received an embassy from the Onondagas. They desired to
enter into a peace negotiation, and one of the most noted
chiefs, Garakonthie, delivered on that occasion a long
and eloquent address to the viceroy. A treaty was signed
by them on behalf of their own and two of the other
tribes, the Senecas and the Oneidas. But meanwhile the
Oneidas did not cease from hostilities, and the Mohawks
also continued their bloody raids against the French
settlements. Courcelle therefore decided to march at once
against their villages beyond Lake Champlain, in what is
now New York state and to teach them a lesson. But he
did not know the nature of a winter expedition in this
northern climate. Leaving Quebec on January 9, he reached
Three Rivers on the 16th, and proceeded to Fort Saint-Louis
on the Richelieu, where he had fixed the rendezvous of
the troops. The cold was very severe, and many soldiers
were frozen at the outset. On January 29 the little band,
five or six hundred French and Canadians, left Fort
Saint-Louis, unfortunately without waiting for a party
of Algonquins who should have acted as scouts. It was a
distressing march. The soldiers had to walk through deep
snow, and the unfamiliar use of snowshoes was a great
trial to the Europeans. At night, no shelter! They had
to sleep in the open air, under the canopy of the sky
and the cold light of the glimmering stars. Having no
guides, Courcelle and his men lost their way in that
unknown country. After seventeen days of extreme toil
they found that, instead of reaching the Mohawk district,
they were near Corlaer in the New Netherlands, sixty
miles distant. The vanguard had a brush with two hundred
Iroquois, who slipped away after killing six French
soldiers and leaving four of their own number dead. The
governor could go no farther with his exhausted troops
and was forced to retrace his steps. The retreat was
worse than the forward march. The supply of provisions
failed, and to the suffering from cold was soon added
hunger. Many soldiers died of exposure and starvation.
In reading the account of the ill-fated expedition, one
is reminded of the disastrous retreat of Napoleon's army
in 1812 through the icy solitudes of Russia. By this sad
experience the military commanders of New France found
that they had something to learn of the art of making
war in North America, and must respect the peculiarities
of the climate and country. Nevertheless Courcelle's
winter expedition had made an impression on the minds of
the Iroquois and had even surprised the Dutch and the
English. The author of a narrative entitled Relation of
the March of the Governor of Canada into New York wrote:
'Surely so bold and hardy an attempt hath not happened
in any age.'
Apparently the Five Nations were somewhat uneasy, for in
March the Senecas sent ambassadors to the Marquis de
Tracy to ratify the treaty signed in December. In July
delegates came from the Oneida tribe; they presented a
letter written by the English authorities at Orange which
assured the viceroy that the Mohawks were well disposed
and wished for peace. A new treaty of ratification was
accordingly signed. But the lieutenant-general wanted
something more complete and decisive. He demanded of the
delegates a general treaty to include the whole of the
Five Nations, and stated that he would allow forty days
for all the Iroquois tribes to send their ambassadors to
Quebec. Moreover, he instructed Father Beschefer to go
to Orange with some of the Oneida delegates for the
purpose of meeting the ambassadors and escorting them to
Quebec. Unfortunately, a few days after the priest's
departure, news came that four Frenchmen on a hunting
expedition had been killed near Fort Sainte-Anne by a
party of Mohawks, and that three others had been taken
prisoners. One of the slain was a cousin of Tracy, and
one of the captives his nephew. Father Beschefer was at
once recalled and Captain de Sorel was ordered to march
with some two hundred Frenchmen and ninety Indians to
strike a blow at the raiders. Sorel lost no time and had
nearly reached the enemy's villages when he met Tracy's
nephew and the other prisoners under escort of an Iroquois
chief and three warriors, who were bound for Quebec to
make amends for the treacherous murder recently perpetrated
and to sue for peace. Under these circumstances Captain
de Sorel did not think it necessary to proceed farther,
and marched his men home again with the Iroquois and the
rescued prisoners. On August 31 a great meeting was held
at Quebec in the Jesuits' garden. The delegates of the
Five Nations were present, and speeches were made enlarging
on the desirability of peace. But it soon became apparent
that no peace could be lasting except after a successful
expedition against the Mohawks. Tracy, Courcelle, and
Talon held a consultation, and the intendant submitted
a well-prepared document in which he reviewed the reasons
for and against a continuance of the war. In Talon's mind
the arguments in favour of it had undoubtedly the greater
weight. Tracy and Courcelle concurred in this opinion.
Thirteen hundred men were drafted for an expedition--six
hundred regular soldiers, six hundred Canadians, and a
hundred Indians. All was soon ready, and on September
14, the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, Tracy and
Courcelle left Quebec, at the head of their troops. It
was a spectacle that did not fail to impress the Iroquois
chiefs detained in Quebec. One of them, deeply moved,
said to the viceroy: 'I see that we are lost, but you
will pay dearly for your victory; my nation will be
exterminated, but I tell you that many of your young men
will not return, for our young warriors will fight
desperately. I beg of you to save my wife and children.'
Many who witnessed that martial exit of Tracy and Courcelle
from the Chateau Saint-Louis, surrounded by a staff of
noble officers, must have realized that this was a
memorable day in the history of New France. At last a
crushing blow was to be struck at the ferocious foe who
for twenty-five years had been the curse and terror of
the wretched colony. What mighty cheers were shouted on
that day by the eager and enthusiastic spectators who
lined the streets of Quebec!
On September 28, the troops taking part in the expedition
were assembled at Fort Sainte-Anne. [Footnote: On isle
La Mothe at the northern end of Lake Champlain.] Charles
Le Moyne commanded the Montreal contingent, one hundred
and ten strong; the Quebec contingent marched under Le
Gardeur de Repentigny. Father Albanel and Father Raffeix,
Jesuit priests, the Abbe Dollier de Casson, a Sulpician,
and the Abbe Dubois, chaplain of the Carignan regiment,
accompanied the army. Three hundred light boats had been
launched for the crossing of Lakes Champlain and
Saint-Sacrement. Courcelle, always impetuous, was the
first to leave the fort; he led a vanguard of four hundred
men which included those from Montreal. The main body of
the army under Tracy set out on October 3. Captains
Chambly and Berthier were to follow four days later with
the rear-guard.
The journey by water was uneventful; but the portage
between the two lakes was hard and trying. Yet it was
nothing compared with the difficulties of the march beyond
Lake Saint-Sacrement. One hundred miles of forest,
mountains, rivers, and swamps lay between the troops and
the Iroquois villages. No roads existed, only narrow
footpaths interrupted by quagmires, bristling with stumps,
obstructed by the entanglement of fallen trees, or abruptly
cut by the foaming waters of swollen streams. Heavily
laden, with arms, provisions, and ammunition strapped on
their backs, French and Canadians slowly proceeded through
the great woods, whose autumnal glories were vanishing
fast under the influence of the chill winds of October.
Slipping over moist logs, sinking into unsuspected swamps,
climbing painfully over steep rocks, they went forward
with undaunted determination. At night they had to sleep
in the open on a bed of damp leaves. The crossing of
rivers was sometimes dangerous. Tracy, who unfortunately
had been seized with an attack of gout, was nearly drowned
in one rapid stream. A Swiss soldier had undertaken to
carry him across on his shoulders, but his strength
failed, and if a rock had not stood near, the viceroy's
career might have ended there. A Huron came to the rescue
and carried the helpless viceroy to the other side. The
sufferings of the army were increased by a scarcity of
food. The troops were famishing. Luckily they came upon
some chestnut-trees and stayed their hunger with the nuts.
At last, on October 15, the scouts reported that the
Mohawk settlements were near at hand. It was late in the
day, darkness was setting in, and a storm of wind and
rain was raging. But Tracy decided to push on. They
marched all night, and in the morning, emerging from the
woods, saw before them the first of the Mohawk towns or
villages. Without allowing a moment's pause, the viceroy
ordered an advance. The roll of the drums seemed to give
the troops new strength and ardour; French, Canadians,
and Indians ran forward to the assault. The Mohawks,
apprised of the coming attack, had determined beforehand
to make a stand and had sent their women and children to
another village. But, at the sight of the advancing army,
whose numbers appeared to them three times as great as
they really were, and at the sound of the drums, like
the voice of demons, they fled panic-stricken. The first
village was taken without striking a blow. The viceroy
immediately ordered a march against the second, which
was also found abandoned. Evidently the Iroquois were
terrified, for a third village was taken in the same way,
without a show of defence. It was thought that the
invaders' task was finished, when an Algonquin squaw,
once a captive of the Iroquois, informed Courcelle that
there were two other villages. The soldiers pushed forward,
and the fourth settlement of the ever-vanishing enemy
fell undefended into the hands of the French. The sun
was setting; the exertions of the day and of the night
before had been arduous, and it seemed impossible to go
farther. But the squaw, seizing a pistol and grasping
Courcelle's hand, said, 'Come on, I will show you the
straight path.' And she led the way to the town and fort
of Andaraque, the most important stronghold of the Mohawks.
It was surrounded with a triple palisade twenty feet high
and flanked by four bastions. Vessels of bark full of
water were distributed on the platforms behind the palisade
ready for use against fire. The Iroquois might have made
a desperate stand there, and such had been their intention.
But their courage failed them at the fearful beating of
the drums and the appearance of that mighty army, and
they sought safety in flight.
The victory was now complete, and the army could go to
rest after nearly twenty-four hours of continuous exertion.
Next morning the French were astonished at the sight of
Andaraque in the light of the rising sun. instead of a
collection of miserable wigwams, they saw a fine Indian
town, with wooden houses, some of them a hundred and
twenty feet long and with lodging for eight or nine
families. These houses were well supplied with provisions,
tools, and utensils. An immense quantity of Indian corn
and other necessaries was stored in Andaraque-'food enough
to feed Canada for ten years'--and in the surrounding
fields a plentiful crop was ready for harvest. All this
was to be destroyed; but first an impressive ceremony
had to be performed. The army was drawn up in battle
array. A French officer, Jean-Baptiste Dubois, commander
of the artillery, advanced, sword in hand, to the front,
and in the presence of Tracy and Courcelle, declared that
he was directed by M. Jean Talon, king's counsellor and
intendant of justice, police, and finance for New France,
to take possession of Andaraque, and of all the country
of the Mohawks, in the name of the king. A cross was
solemnly planted alongside a post bearing the king's coat
of arms. Mass was celebrated and the Te Deum sung. Then
the work of destruction began. The palisades, the dwellings,
the bastions, the stores of grain and provisions, except
what was needed by the invaders, the standing crops-all
were set on fire; and when night fell the glaring
illumination of that tremendous blaze told the savages
that at last New France had asserted her power, and that
the soldiers of the great king had come far enough through
forest and over mountain and stream to chastise in their
own country the bloodthirsty tribes who for a quarter of
a century had been the terror of the growing settlements
on the St Lawrence.
On their return march the troops suffered great hardships.
A storm on Lake Champlain upset two boats and eight men
were drowned. Tracy reached Quebec on November 5. The
expedition had lasted seven weeks, during which time he
had covered nine hundred miles. The news of his success
had been received with joy. Since the first days of
October the whole colony had been praying for victory.
As soon as the destruction of the Iroquois towns was
known, prayers were changed to thanksgiving. The Te Deum
was solemnly chanted, and on November 14 a mass was said
in the church of Notre-Dame-de-Quebec, followed by a
procession in gratiarum actionem. New France might well
rejoice. A great result had been attained. True it was
that the Mohawks, panic-stricken, had not been met and
crushed. in a set encounter. None the less they had had
their lesson. They had learned that distance and natural
impediments were no protection against the French. Their
towns were a heap of ashes, their fields were despoiled,
their country was ruined. The fruit of that expedition
was to be eighteen years of peace for New France. Eighteen
years of peace after twenty-five years of murderous
incursions! Was not that worth a Te Deum?
After his return Tracy ordered one of the Iroquois detained
at Quebec to be hanged as a penalty for his share in the
murder of the French hunters. He then directed three
other prisoners, the Flemish Batard [Footnote: A half-breed
Mohawk leader.] and two Oneida chiefs, to go and inform
their respective tribes that he would give them four
months to send hostages and make peace; otherwise he
would lead against them another expedition more calamitous
for their country than the first one. At length, in the
month of July of the following year, ambassadors of the
Iroquois nations arrived at Quebec with a number of
Iroquois families who were to remain as hostages in the
colony. The chiefs asked that missionaries be sent to
reside among their tribes. This petition was granted.
New France could now breathe freely. The hatchet was
buried.