Before the middle of the eighteenth century the current of events in the
American colonies became rapid and impetuous. Many obstacles were met,
but the swollen stream rushed on, leaping over, or dashing aside the
barriers that seemed to accelerate, rather than hinder the progress.
But a crisis was at hand, and the danger grew apparent.
England and France, rival nations, and often in conflict, both had
extensive possessions in this country, and their rights were in dispute.
The English occupied the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, and their
colonies were well established. As yet all their important settlements
were east of the Allegheny Mountains, though they claimed, as their right
by discovery, all the land westward to the Pacific.
Meanwhile, the French had made important inland settlements, occupying
principally the valley of the St. Lawrence and some of its tributaries.
They had built Quebec and Montreal, more than 500 miles from the gulf,
with other towns of importance; had fortified themselves at different
points along the great chain of lakes, from Ontario to Superior; had
penetrated the wilderness of western New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Michigan and Illinois, fixing their stations and building forts on all
the more important tributaries of the Mississippi, with the evident
and avowed intention of connecting their St. Lawrence and Canadian
possessions with the great western valley; and, through the large rivers
that drain it, find their way to the sea. They would thus confine the
English to the Atlantic States, and found their empire in the West.
Comparatively little intercourse as there was between the East and West,
these designs were well understood, and the resolute purpose to thwart
them was at once avowed. The nations beyond the Atlantic were nominally
at peace, but not friendly, and neither disposed to yield to the claims
of the other. France, dominated by Roman Catholics, and England, the
leading Protestant nation of Europe, had nurtured hatred and jealousies
that might any day precipitate a conflict of arms, and the theater of the
strife would be in their colonial possessions.
But before war was declared the colonists themselves became involved in
actual hostilities. The English had adjusted their difficulties, and,
confederate by articles of agreement and a strong national feeling,
refused to be restrained by the mountain barriers. Two settlements were
begun west of the Alleghenies, one on the Youghiogheny, and one in some
part of western Virginia. Their relations with the Indians were friendly,
and trade with them was profitable. The French, who had taken possession
of the valley of the Ohio, and were doing their utmost to secure the
influence of the Indians in all the region between the river and the
lakes, protested against the encroachment of the English, and warned the
Governor of Pennsylvania to restrain his subjects from entering territory
claimed by the King of France. Of course no attention was paid to the
warning other than appeared in preparations for the conflict that now
seemed inevitable. The “Ohio Company,” composed of Virginians, continued
to explore and survey the country. The natives protested against the
French occupying their country, and the tribes prepared for an armed
resistance. The Virginia charter included the whole country north to Lake
Erie, and Governor Dinwiddy thought best, before hostilities were begun,
to draw up a remonstrance, setting forth in order, the nature and extent
of the English claim to the valley of the Ohio, and warning the French
against any further attempt to occupy it. It was necessary that this
paper, whatever danger and hardship it might require, should be carried
to the French General St. Pierre, who was stationed at Erie, as commander
of their forces in the West. The journey, that could be performed only
on foot, would be through a vast, unbroken wilderness, and would require
more than ordinary endurance, as well as undaunted courage. George
Washington, then a young surveyor, was sent for from his home on the
Potomac, and duly commissioned to carry the document. He set out on
the last day of October, with four attendants and an interpreter. The
route was through the mountains to the head waters of the Youghiogheny,
thence down the stream to the site of Pittsburgh, which was noted as an
important point, and the key to the situation in the valley of the Ohio.
Thence the course was twenty miles down the river, and across to Venango
(Franklin), and thence, by way of Meadville, to Fort Le Bœuf, on the
head waters of French Creek, fourteen miles from Erie, where he met the
General, who had come over in person to superintend the fortifications.
The officer received him with courtesy, but declined to discuss any
questions of national rights. “His superior, the Governor of Canada,
owned the country from the lakes to the Ohio; and being instructed to
drive every Englishman from the territory, he would do it.” A respectful
but decided reply was sent to Dinwiddy, and Washington was dismissed, to
find his way back to Virginia.
It was by this time midwinter, and the perils of the long journey were
increased by swollen rivers that had to be crossed on the treacherous
ice, or on rafts constructed of logs and poles cut for the purpose. Of
the incidents of that first great public service by the “Father of his
Country,” but few authentic records are found, and we only know that it
was performed with fidelity, and that the fuller information gathered
respecting the strength of the French forces, and their preparations for
descending the Allegheny with their large fleet of boats and canoes,
in the spring, thoroughly aroused the Virginians to the importance
of holding the point at the confluence of the great rivers forming
the Ohio. In March, and before it was possible for the French to come
down the Allegheny, a rude stockade was built; but there was not force
enough to hold it. As the fleet came sweeping down the river, and
resistance was found impossible, the little band at the head of the Ohio
surrendered, and was allowed to withdraw from the stockade, which the
enemy at once entered, and where they laid the foundations of Fort Du
Quesne. Remonstrance and negotiations having failed, the alternative
of war was promptly accepted, and Washington having been made Colonel,
was commissioned to take the fort, “to kill or repel all who interfered
with the English settlements in the disputed territory.” His regiment of
Virginia soldiers, in the month of April, encountered difficulties and
hardships in their westward march that made progress slow.
The roads were well nigh impassable, the streams were bridgeless, and
drenching rains fell on the tentless soldiers. Before reaching the
Ohio, Washington learned that the enemy were on the march to attack
him, and immediately built a stockade that he called Fort Necessity. He
advanced cautiously, with some heavy skirmishing, in which a number of
the enemy were killed, and some prisoners were taken. But the promised
reinforcements not arriving, he fell back to his little fort, and was
scarcely within the rude enclosure when he was surrounded. The enemy
in force gained an eminence, from which they could fire into the fort,
while they were partly concealed. For hours, the gallant little band,
encouraged by the calm, resolute bearing of their colonel, vigorously
returned the fire. Thirty of the company were killed, and others wounded,
when they were allowed to withdraw, taking all their stores and equipage.
The retreat was orderly, but the enterprise was abandoned.
The valley of the Ohio and the whole country to the lakes was left in the
power of the French, who were also strengthening their works at Crown
Point and Fort Niagara.
As yet there had been no declaration of war by England or France, and
the ministers of the two countries kept assuring each other of peaceful
intentions, though the hostility of their dependencies in America could
not be ignored. Louis XV., to help keep the peace, sent an army of
three thousand soldiers to Canada, and the British government ordered
General Braddock, with two regiments, to America, to protect their
frontier settlements. Early in the spring of 1755 this force reached the
Chesapeake, and in April Braddock held a council with all the Governors,
at Alexandria. As there had been no formal declaration of war they would
not invade Canada, but repel the French from the northern and western
frontier. Vigorous and concerted measures, however, were to be employed.
Governor Lawrence was to settle and guard the boundaries of Nova Scotia.
Johnson, of New York, with his militia and a force of Mohawks, hired
for the purpose, was to capture the French post at Crown Point, while
Shirley, of Massachusetts, was to drive the enemy from their fortress
at Niagara; and Braddock himself as commander-in-chief, with the main
body of the regulars, was to subdue Fort Du Quesne. It was a magnificent
program, but easier to plan than to execute; and those so full of
confidence were to encounter some sad reverses.
Braddock’s army numbered about 2,000, nearly all veterans who had served
in the wars of Europe. There were few provincial troops; two companies
led by Gates, of New York, and Washington, joining the army at Fort
Cumberland, was placed on Braddock’s staff as aid-de-camp. The movement
was necessarily slow. Over a narrow and exceedingly rough road the
slender column stretched out for some four miles. Braddock was a brave,
resolute general, acquainted with his army, but ignorant of the country
and the forces he would have to meet.
Franklin and others had suggested that it would be wise to move
cautiously. But he scouted the idea that the assault of untutored
savages that might be encountered before reaching the fort he proposed
to capture, could make any impression on his regulars. When Washington,
understanding the modes of Indian warfare, suggested the possibility
of an ambuscade, the General was furious, and indignantly refused to
be advised by an inferior. They had advanced without any noteworthy
casualty till within about seven miles of the fort, and no enemy yet
appeared. Confident of speedy success, Braddock, at the head of twelve
hundred chosen troops, pressed on more rapidly, Colonel Gage, leading a
detachment of three hundred men, in the advance. The road was but twelve
feet wide, the country uneven and thickly wooded; a hill on the one hand
and a dry ravine on the other, the whole region covered with a thick
undergrowth. A few scouts were thrown forward, but the situation gave
no opportunity for the feeble flanking parties to act. Suddenly there
was a sharp, rapid fire of musketry heard in the front. The scouts were
killed or driven in. The advance forces were thrown back in confusion,
leaving their cannon in the hands of the enemy, who were found to be
an unexpectedly strong force of both French and Indians. The peril of
the situation was at once apparent, and, suffering much from their
concealed foe, Gage’s men wavered and became confusedly mixed in thickest
underbrush with a regiment that Braddock pushed forward to support them.
The confusion grew almost to a panic, the men firing constantly, with
but little effect, in the direction of the concealed enemy, while their
well directed volleys, from under the cover of rocks and trees, told with
terrible effect on the English crowded together in the narrow roadway.
The rash, but brave General rushed to the front, and with impetuous
courage rallied his men to charge on the foe. But it was impossible.
They, panic-stricken, were huddled together like sheep, or fled in
disorder to the rear. The army routed, his aids and officers mostly
killed or wounded, and the forest strewn with dead or disabled soldiers,
the General, after having five horses shot under him, fell mortally
wounded. To Washington, who came to his aid, the fallen hero said: “What
shall we do now, Colonel?” “Retreat, sir, retreat!” This was ordered,
and the dying General carried from the scene of carnage. Washington,
with the Virginians that remained alive, covered the hasty retreat of
the ruined army. Nearly everything was lost. The artillery, baggage,
provisions and private papers of the officers were left on the field.
Braddock died the fourth day, and was buried by the roadside, a mile west
of Fort Necessity, where Dunbar had been left, an officer with neither
capacity nor courage. When the fugitives, who had not been pursued far
from the battleground, reached, his camp, the panic was communicated; he
destroyed the remaining artillery, baggage and army stores, to the value
of a hundred thousand pounds sterling, and joined in a most precipitate
retreat to Fort Cumberland, and thence, in a thoroughly demoralized
condition, to Philadelphia. Thus, the main army, of which much was
expected, was in a few days practically destroyed, and nothing more was
attempted that year.
The work of subduing the French in Nova Scotia, assigned by Braddock and
the Governors to Lawrence, assisted by the English fleet under Colonel
Monckton, was done with dispatch and unparalleled cruelty.
The province had been ceded to the English in the treaty of 1713, and,
remaining under the dominion of Great Britain, was ruled by English
officers, though the inhabitants were largely French.
The French forts near the New Brunswick line being taken after but feeble
resistance, the English were masters of the whole country east of the St.
Croix; and, pretending to fear an insurrection on the part of the Nova
Scotians, or Acadians, adopted measures with them that have always and
everywhere met with the most unqualified condemnation. The French in the
province outnumbered the English three to one, and had their pleasant
homes in that oldest settlement of their people on the continent. They
were ruthlessly torn from their homes and the graves of their kindred,
driven at the point of the bayonet, forced on ship-board, and more than
three thousand of them, half-starved and destitute, were scattered here
and there among English colonists, from whom but little kindness and
less of fellowship could be expected. The guilty agents in the infamous
transaction, as cowardly as it was inhuman, made themselves the scorn of
mankind.
In about the only quarter where the British army had that year any
success, what followed the victory was so shocking to the feelings of
humanity, and met with such universal condemnation, that even the guilty
perpetrators of the deed would have blotted the record if they could.
The campaign planned for Shirley, who with his Indian allies was to take
Fort Niagara, was about as utter a failure as that of Braddock. The fort
had no great strength, and was not well garrisoned; but it was a month
before he reached Oswego, where his provincials were to assemble. Four
weeks were spent in getting his boats ready. A storm caused farther
delay, and after the storm the wind was in the contrary direction. Then
another storm caused delay. Sickness prevailed in camp, and by the first
of October Shirley declared the lake too dangerous for navigation. The
Indians deserted his standard. The fact was that while on the march, news
of Braddock’s defeat reached him, and, as they had expected to meet at
Niagara, he feared to go there, thinking the same fate might await him.
So he marched homeward, without striking a blow.
Johnson, who was to attack the enemy at Crown Point, had better success,
though the objective point was not reached, and his was a dear-bought
victory. His movements were all anticipated, and the portion of his army
led by Williams, ambushed and cut to pieces. Several hundred Englishmen
fell. The French still held Crown Point, and had seized and fortified
Ticonderoga.
That was a year of disasters to the English, and so was the next. The
Indians, doubtless influenced by the unsuccessful campaign of the
English, and perhaps instigated by French emissaries, had killed more
than 1,000 people.
In May, 1756, after two years of actual hostilities, war was declared.
The English, chagrined with the reverses of the past year, and in danger
of losing all the territory west of the Alleghenies, after much debate
in Parliament, decided to place all the military forces sent to America
under one command. A large army was equipped, and Lord Loudon placed in
command. He proved unfit for the position, and another year passed with
great losses and little or nothing gained. The French, led by competent,
determined men, were everywhere successful, and wasted the British forces
with repeated assaults, capturing or destroying a large part of the
armament, till the English had not a single fort or hamlet remaining in
the valley of the St. Lawrence. And every cabin where English was spoken
was swept out of the valley of the Ohio. At the end of the year France
seemed to be in secure possession of twenty times as much territory in
America as her British rival.
Her colonial possessions endangered, and the flag of the country in
disgrace, the ministers were forced to resign, and the great commoner,
William Pitt, became Prime Minister. The dilatory, imbecile Loudon, was
deposed, and Abercrombie put in his place, with Lord Howe next in rank.
The gallant Wolfe led a brigade. The campaign for the summer was well
arranged and prosecuted with energy. In May Amhurst, at the head of ten
thousand men, reached Halifax. A few days after the fleet was in Gabarus
Bay, and Wolfe landed his division without serious loss, though under
fire from the enemy’s batteries. The French dismantled their guns and
retreated. The siege of Louisburg was pressed with great vigor. Four
French vessels, one a seventy-four-gun ship, were fired by the English
boats, and burned in the harbor. The town and fortress became a ruin.
Resistance was hopeless, and Louisburg capitulated. The garrison, with
the marines, in all six thousand men, became prisoners of war, and were
sent to England. Cape Breton and Prince Edward’s Island were surrendered
to Great Britain.
In another quarter, however, there was not long after only partial
success, followed by severe disaster. General Abercrombie, with 15,000
men, reached Lake George, and embarked for Ticonderoga. His equipment
was in all respects thorough. Proceeding to the northern extremity of
the lake, they landed safely on the western shore. But the difficulty of
going farther compelled them to leave the heavy artillery behind, Lord
Howe leading the advance in person. Before reaching the fort, in a sharp
skirmish with the pickets, that brave officer was killed. The French
were overwhelmed, but the soldiers of Howe, smitten with grief, began to
retreat. Abercrombie was in the rear with the main army, but the soul
of the expedition was gone. Two days after a determined effort was made
to take the fort by assault. The defences proved much stronger than was
expected, and the assailing parties were again and again repulsed with
great loss. The unavailing efforts were continued for four hours, and
then they withdrew, having lost in killed and wounded nearly two thousand
men. Probably in no other battle on the continent did the English have
so many men engaged, or suffer such terrible loss. Abandoning this
enterprise as hopeless, the army was withdrawn to Fort George, at the
other extremity of the lake. Thence Colonel Bradstreet was sent with
three thousand men, mostly provincials, against Fort Frontenac, at the
present site of Kingston, at the outlet of Ontario. He embarked his
command at Oswego, and landed within a mile of the fort. This fortress,
of great importance, was at the time but feebly garrisoned, and after
two days’ siege capitulated. Forty-six cannon, nine vessels of war,
and a vast quantity of military stores were the fruit of this victory.
It compensated the English for all their losses at Ticonderoga, except
for the men who were there sacrificed. It was a crushing defeat for
the French, who became disheartened. Their crops had failed, and with
almost a famine in the land, it became so difficult to subsist the army
that the people clamored for peace. “Peace, peace; no matter with what
boundaries,” was the message sent by the brave Montcalm to the French
ministry.
The outlook in Canada and along the lakes was not encouraging, and
Forbes, with nine thousand men from Philadelphia, undertook the
reduction of Fort Du Quesne, and the expulsion of the French from the
valley of the Ohio.
Washington was again in command of the Virginians, Armstrong led the
Pennsylvanians. An advance section, under Major Grant, more eager than
wise, was attacked by the enemy in ambush, and lost heavily. The main
column came on slowly, cutting roads and bridging streams, but in such
force that, as they drew near, those in the fort became alarmed, burned
their works, and with what they could carry, floated down the river.
Those eager for the assault, and to avenge injuries received in former
attempts, marched, unopposed, over the ruins, and unfurled their flag
over that gateway of the West, calling it, in honor of the great British
minister, whose energetic measures gave confidence to the army and hope
to the colonists—Pittsburgh.
Marked progress was made during the summer and fall campaign, and
Parliament voted twelve million pounds sterling for carrying on the war.
The colonial magistrates exerted themselves to the utmost, and by the
spring of 1759 the whole effective force of the English was near fifty
thousand, while the entire French army was less than eight thousand.
The conquest of Canada was not at first contemplated, but it had become
evident that the rival nations could not live in peace, with such slight
natural barriers between them, and so Canada must be conquered and made
a British province. With that object in view, the campaigns for the year
were planned.
Prideaux proceeded against Niagara, for the relief of which the French
collected all their available forces from Detroit, Erie, Le Bœuf and
Venango. Prideaux was accidentally killed on the 15th, and Sir William
Johnson, on whom the command devolved, so disposed his forces as to
intercept the approaching French, and a bloody battle was fought in which
they were completely routed; the fort soon after capitulated.
Amhurst was victorious on Lake Champlain, and proceeded through Lake
George, to attack and take Ticonderoga, from which, after feeble
resistance, the enemy withdrew to Crown Point, and the whole region,
mapped out for his operations, was recovered, with but little loss on his
part.
The French were now sadly crippled everywhere, except in the valley of
the St. Lawrence, and it remained for General Wolfe to achieve the final
victory. As soon as the river was navigable in the spring he proceeded
with a force of eight thousand men, and a fleet of forty-four vessels.
He arrived on the 27th of June at the Isle of Orleans, four miles below
Quebec, and began his operations vigorously. His camp was located on the
upper end of the island, and the fleet gave him immediate command of the
river. On the night of the 29th General Monckton was sent to plant a
battery on Point Levi, opposite the city, and was successful.
The lower town was soon reduced to ruins, and the upper much injured,
but the fortress seemed unharmed. The French knowing that the city could
not be stormed from the river side, had constructed three defences,
reaching five miles from the Montmorenci to the St. Charles, and in these
entrenchments the brave Montcalm, with ten or twelve thousand soldiers,
awaited the movement of his assailants. Anxious for battle, though
there were serious difficulties in the way of approaching the foe, it
was decided to risk an engagement by fording the Montmorenci when the
tide ran out. The attempt was made without success, and with the loss
of nearly five hundred men. Disappointments, fatigue and exposure threw
the English general into a fever that held him prisoner in the tent for
some days; and when convalescent he proposed another assault on the
lines of defence, but was in that overruled, and it was determined, if
possible, to gain possession of the Plains of Abraham in the rear of the
city, without passing the fortifications. After thorough examination a
place, afterward called Wolfe’s Cove, was found, where it was thought
possible to make the ascent. On the night appointed, everything being in
readiness, the English entered their transports, quietly dropped down to
the place, and with almost superhuman exertions ascended to the plain,
and the morning revealed them to the greatly astonished defenders of the
city, drawn up in battle array.
When Montcalm learned the fact so unexpected, he said: “They are now on
the weak side of this unfortunate city, and we must crush them before
noon.” With great haste he withdrew his army from the trenches and threw
them between the English and the city. The battle began with an hour’s
cannonade, and then the attempt to turn the English flank, but he was
driven back. The weakened ranks of the French wavered. Wolfe led his
charge in person, and was shot thrice, and survived but a short time.
Learning from an attendant that the enemy fled, he gave directions for
securing the fruits of the battle, and declared he was happy thus to die.
Montcalm also fell early in the battle, mortally wounded, and when told
by his surgeon that the end was near, said: “It is well—then I shall not
live to see Quebec surrendered.” The surrender took place a few days
after, and the last resistance was offered by the French at Montreal, but
it was hopeless and of short continuance. The remnants of their beaten
armies collected there, to the number of ten thousand, were surrendered
to General Amhurst, and all the French possessions in America were ceded
to the English. Liberal terms were granted, the rights of conscience
respected, and the ecclesiastical institutions and property of the
Catholics respected and protected.
[End of Required Reading for May.]