Struggle for Empire in North America--The Vast Region Called Louisiana
--War Between England and France--New England Militia Besiege Quebec
--Frontenac Strikes the Iroquois--The Capture of Louisburg--The Forks
of the Ohio--George Washington's Mission to the French--Braddock's
Defeat--Washington Prevents Utter Disaster--Barbarous Treatment of
Prisoners.
The closing years of the seventeenth century witnessed the beginning of
the struggle between France and England for empire in North America.
Marquette, Joliet and La Salle won for France by daring exploration a
nominal title to the Mississippi Valley, and La Salle assumed possession
of the great river and its country in the name of Louis XIV., after whom
he called the region Louisiana. It was a vast dominion indeed that was
thus claimed for the House of Bourbon without a settlement and with
hardly an outpost to make any real show of sovereignty. Even had the
expulsion of James II. from the English throne not hastened an outbreak
between England and France, the conflict would have been inevitable. The
war began in 1689, and with intervals of peace and sometimes in spite of
peace the contest continued, until 1763, with varying fortunes, but
ultimately resulting in the complete overthrow of the French. The
Iroquois stood firmly by the English, while the French and their Indian
allies repeated the scenes of King Philip's War on the frontiers, and
often far in the interior of New York and New England. The people of the
British colonies did not look only to Great Britain for defence. They
defended themselves, and even carried war into the enemy's country. In
1690, two thousand Massachusetts militia, led by Sir William Phipps,
sailed up the St. Lawrence and laid siege to Quebec, while another force,
composed of New York and Connecticut troops, advanced from Albany upon
Montreal. These expeditions were unsuccessful. In 1693, Count Frontenac,
Governor of Canada, invaded the country of the Iroquois and inflicted
crushing blows upon that once powerful confederacy, whose prowess had
been felt before the arrival of the white man, as far as Tennessee in the
South and Illinois in the West. Notwithstanding the able generalship of
Frontenac the English made steady progress in the annexation of French
territory. British and colonial troops conquered Nova Scotia, and the
treaty of Utrecht in 1713 recognized England as the owner, not only of
Nova Scotia, but also of Newfoundland and the Hudson Bay region. The
French, however, strengthened their hold upon the interior of the
continent, and established a series of fortified posts connecting the
Mississippi Valley with the Great Lakes. Kaskaskia was founded in 1695,
Cahokia in 1700, Detroit 1701 and Vincennes 1705. Bienville founded the
city of New Orleans in 1718.
The capture of Louisburg, in 1746, was the most important military
achievement of the English colonists in America, previous to the
Revolution. The French built the fortress soon after the treaty of
Utrecht, and spared no expense to make it formidable. The project to
drive the French out of the place was entirely of colonial origin.
Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, proposed the expedition to the
legislature of the colony, and the members of that body hesitated at
first to enter upon an undertaking apparently so hazardous and almost
hopeless. After discussion the necessary authority was granted by a
majority of one. A circular-letter, asking for assistance, was then sent
to all the colonies as far south as Pennsylvania. New York, New Jersey
and Pennsylvania contributed considerable sums of money, and Governor
Clinton, of New York, sent also provisions and cannon. Roger Wolcott led
five hundred men from Connecticut and Rhode Island and New Hampshire each
sent three hundred men. The remainder of the force of 3250 men was
enlisted in Massachusetts, that colony also providing ten armed vessels.
William Peperell, of Maine, distinguished alike on the bench and in arms,
commanded the expedition, and English vessels of war assisted in the
assault. The French surrendered after a siege of forty-eight days,
conducted with great vigor by the colonists. The gratification of the
British government over the important victory is said to have been
mingled with apprehension, due to the signal display of colonial power
and energy. Upon peace being made in 1748, after four years' war,
Louisburg, much to the indignation of the colonists, was given up to
France in exchange for Madras, in India, and had to be reconquered in
1758.
* * *
The point of land where the Allegheny and Monongahela meet in turbulent
eddies and form the Beautiful River, early engaged the attention of the
two nations, rivals for the dominion of the northern continent, while
between two of the leading British colonies grave difference existed as
to ownership of the coveted territory. Pennsylvania, held in
leading-strings by a Quaker policy which endeavored to reconcile the
savage realities of an age of iron with theories of a golden millennium,
failed to sustain her assertion of right with the energies that her
population and resources might well have commanded, and Virginia, more
ambitious and militant, boldly pushed an armed expedition into the very
heart of the border wilderness, and began with the attack on Jumonville
and his party the war that ended on the Plains of Abraham.
In 1750 the Ohio Company, formed for the purpose of colonizing the
country on the river of that name, surveyed its banks as far as the site
of Louisville. The French, resolved to defend their title to the region
west of the mountains, crossed Lake Erie, and established posts at
Presque Isle, at Le Boeuf, and at Venango on the Allegheny River.
Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, sent a messenger to warn the French not
to advance. He selected for this task a young man named George
Washington, a land surveyor, who, notwithstanding his youth, had made a
good impression as a person of capacity and courage, well-fitted for the
arduous and delicate undertaking. Washington well performed his task
although the French, as might have been expected, paid no heed to his
warning. In the spring of 1754, a party of English began to build a fort
where Pittsburg now stands. The French drove them off and erected Fort
Duquesne. A regiment of Virginia troops was already marching toward the
place. Upon the death of its leading officer, George Washington, the
lieutenant-colonel, took command. Washington, overwhelmed by the superior
numbers of the French, was compelled to surrender, and the French, for
the time, were masters of the Ohio.
This reverse did not diminish the esteem in which Washington was held by
the Virginians, and by those of the mother country who came in contact
with him. When General Edward Braddock, in 1755, started on his ill-fated
expedition for the capture of Duquesne with a force of about two thousand
men, including the British regulars and the colonial militia, Washington
accompanied the British general as one of his staff. Braddock was a
gallant soldier, but imperious, and self-willed, and he looked almost
with contempt upon the American troops. He made a forced march with
twelve hundred men in order to surprise the French at Duquesne before
they could receive reinforcements. Colonel Dunbar followed with the
remainder of the army and the wagon-train. It was a delightful July
morning when the British soldiers and colonists crossed a ford of the
Monongahela, and advanced in solid platoons along the southern bank of
the stream in the direction of the fort. Washington advised a disposition
of the troops more in accordance with forest warfare, but Braddock
haughtily rejected the advice of the "provincial colonel," as he called
Washington. The army moved on, recrossed the river to the north side, and
continued the march to Duquesne. The news of the British advance had been
carried to the fort by Indian scouts. The French at first thought of
abandoning the post, but they decided to attack the British with the aid
of Indian allies. De Beaujeu led the French and Indians. The British were
proceeding in fancied security when the forest rang with Indian yells,
and a volley of bullets and flying arrows dealt death in their ranks. The
regular troops were thrown into confusion, and Braddock tried
courageously to rally them. Washington showed the admirable qualities
which afterward made him victor in the Revolution. Cool and fearless amid
the frantic shouts of the foe and the panic of the British soldiery, he
gave Braddock invaluable assistance in endeavoring to retrieve the
fortunes of the day. The provincials fought frontier fashion, nearly all
losing their lives, but not without picking off many of their enemies.
Beaujeu, the French commander, was killed in the opening of the
engagement. Of eighty-six English officers sixty-three were killed or
wounded; and about one-half the private soldiers fell, while a number
were made prisoners. For two hours the battle raged, until Braddock,
having had five horses shot under him, went down himself, mortally
wounded. Then the regulars that remained took to flight, and Washington,
left in command; ordered a retreat, carrying with him his dying general.
Braddock died three days after the battle, expressing regret that he had
not followed the counsel of Washington. The British prisoners were taken
to Duquesne, and that evening the Indians lighted fires on the banks of
the Allegheny River, near the fort, and tortured the captives to death.
An English boy who was a prisoner at Duquesne, having been previously
captured, and who afterward related his experience in a narrative, a copy
of which the writer has examined, says that the cries of the victims
could be heard in the fort. The boy himself was subjected to closer
confinement than usual, apparently for fear that the savages might demand
that he be given up to them.