Sir Jeffery Amherst—Mutiny—Indian War.
AT this time (1765) peace had been for some time established in Europe;
but the ferment and agitation which even the lees and sediments of war
kept up in the northern colonies, and the many regulations requisite to
establish quiet and security in the new acquired Canadian territory,
required all the care and prudence of the commander in chief, and no
little time. At this crisis, for such it proved, Sir Jeffery, afterwards
Lord Amherst, came up to Albany. A mutiny had broke out among the troops
on account of withholding the provisions they used to receive in time of
actual war; and this discontent was much aggravated by their finding
themselves treated with a coldness, amounting to aversion, by the people
of the country; who now forgot past services, and showed in all
transactions a spirit of dislike bordering on hostility to their
protectors, on whom they no longer felt themselves dependent.
Sir Jeffery, however, was received like a prince at Albany, respect for
his private character conquering the anti-military prejudices. The
commander in chief was in those days a great man on the continent,
having, on account of the distance from the seat of government, much
discretionary power entrusted to him. Never was it more safely lodged
than in the hands of this judicious veteran, whose comprehension of
mind, impartiality, steadiness, and close application to business,
peculiarly fitted him for his important station. At his table all
strangers were entertained with the utmost liberality; while his own
singular temperance, early hours, and strict morals, were peculiarly
calculated to render him popular among the old inhabitants. Here I
witnessed an impressive spectacle: the guard-house was in the middle of
the street, opposite to madame’s; there was a guard extraordinary
mounted in honour of Sir Jeffery; at the hour of changing it all the
soldiery in the fort assembled there, and laid down their arms, refusing
to take them up again. I shall never forget the pale and agitated
countenances of the officers; they being too well assured that it was a
thing pre-concerted; which was actually the case, for at Crown Point and
Quebec the same thing was done on the same day. Sir Jeffery came down,
and made a calm dispassionate speech to them, promising them a
continuance of their privileges till further orders from home, and
offering pardon to the whole, with the exception of a few ringleaders,
whose lives, however, were spared. This gentle dealing had its due
effect; but at Quebec the mutiny assumed a most alarming aspect, and had
more serious consequences, though it was in the end quelled. All this
time Sir Jeffery’s visits to madame had been frequent, both out of
respect to her character and conversation, and to reap the benefit of
her local knowledge on an approaching emergency. This was a spirit of
disaffection, then only suspected, among the Indians on the Upper Lakes,
which soon after broke suddenly out into open hostility. In consequence
of her opinion he summoned Sir W. Johnson to concert some conciliatory
measures. But the commencement of the war at this very crisis, detained
him longer to arrange with General Bradstreet and Sir William, the
operations of the ensuing campaign.
This war broke out very opportunely in some respects. It afforded a
pretext for granting those indulgences to the troops which it would
otherwise have been impolitic to give and unsafe to withhold. It
furnished occupation for an army too large to lie idle so far from the
source of authority; which could not yet be safely withdrawn till
matters were on a more stable footing; and it made the inhabitants once
more sensible of their protection. Madame had predicted this event,
knowing better than any one how the affections of these tribes might be
lost or won. She well knew the probable consequences of the negligence
with which they were treated, since the subjection of Canada made us
consider them as no longer capable of giving us trouble. Pontiac, chief
of those nations who inhabited the borders of the great lakes, possessed
one of those minds which break through all disadvantages to assert their
innate superiority.
The rise and conduct of this war, were I able to narrate them
distinctly, the reader would perhaps scarce have patience to attend to;
indistinct as they must appear retraced from my broken recollections.
Could I however do justice to the bravery, the conduct, and magnanimity
in some instances, and the singular address and stratagem in others,
which this extraordinary person displayed in the course of it, the power
of untutored intellect would appear incredible to those who never saw
man but in an artificial or degraded state, exalted by science, or
debased by conscious ignorance and inferiority. During the late war,
Pondiac occupied a central situation, bounded on each side by the French
and English territories. His uncommon sagacity taught him to make the
most of his local advantages, and of that knowledge of the European
character which resulted from this neighbourhood. He had that sort of
consequence which in the last century raised the able and politic
princes of the house of Savoy to the throne they have since enjoyed.
Pondiac held a petty balance between two great contending powers. Even
the privilege of passing through his territories was purchased with
presents, promises, and flatteries. While the court which was paid to
this wily warrior, to secure his alliance, or at least his neutrality,
made him too sensible of his own consequence, as it gave him a near view
of our policy and modes of life. He often passed some time, on various
pretexts, by turns at Montreal and in the English camp. The subjection
of Canada proved fatal to his power, and he could no longer play the
skilful game between both nations which had been so long carried on. The
general advantage of his tribe is always the uppermost thought with an
Indian. The liberal presents which he had received from both parties,
afforded him the means of confederating with distant nations, of whose
alliance he thought to profit in his meditated hostilities.
There were at that time many tribes, then unknown to Europeans, on the
banks of lake Superior, to whom fire-arms and other British goods were
captivating novelties. When the French insidiously built the fort at
Detroit, and the still more detached one at Michilimackinac, on bounds
hitherto undefined, they did it on the footing of having secure places
of trade, not to overawe the natives, but to protect themselves from the
English. They amply rewarded them for permission to erect these
fortresses, and purchased at any expense that friendship from them
without which it would have been impossible to have maintained their
ground in these remote regions. All this liberality and flattery, though
merely founded on self-interest, had its effect; and the French, who are
ever versatile and accommodating, who wore the Huron dress, and spoke
the Huron language when they had any purpose to serve, were without
doubt the favoured nation. We, too apt to despise all foreigners, and
not over complaisant even when we have a purpose to serve, came with a
high hand to occupy those forts which we considered as our right after
the conquest of Canada, but which had been always held by the more
crafty French as an indulgence. These troops without ceremony,
appropriated, and, following major Duncan’s example, cultivated all the
fertile lands around Detroit, as far as fancy or convenience led them.
The lands round Ontario were in a different predicament, being regularly
purchased by Sir William Johnson. In consequence of the peace which had
taken place the year before, all the garrisons were considered as in a
state of perfect security.
Pondiac, in the meantime, conducted himself with the utmost address,
concealing the indignation which brooded in his mind under the semblance
of the greatest frankness and good humour. Master of various languages,
and most completely master of his temper and countenance, he was at home
every where, and paid frequent friendly visits to Detroit, near which,
in the finest country imaginable, was his abode. He frequently dined
with the mess, and sent them fish and venison. Unlike other Indians, his
manner appeared frank and communicative, which opened the minds of
others and favoured his deep designs. He was soon master, through their
careless conversation, of all he wished to know relative to the stores,
resources, and intentions of the troops. Madame, who well knew the
Indian character in general, and was no stranger to the genius and
abilities of Pondiac, could not be satisfied with the manner in which he
was neglected on the one hand, nor his easy admission to the garrison on
the other. She always said they should either make him their friend, or
know him to be their foe.
In the meantime no one could be more busy than this politic warrior.
While the Indians were in strict alliance with the French, they had
their wigwams and their Indian corn within sight of the fort, lived in a
considerable kind of village on the border of the lake, and had a daily
intercourse of traffic and civility with the troops. There was a large
esplanade before the garrison, where the Indians and soldiers sometimes
socially played at ball together. Pondiac had a double view in his
intended hostility. The Canadian priests, with the wonted restless
intriguing spirit of their nation, fomented the discontents of the
Indians. They persuaded them, and perhaps flattered themselves, that if
they (the Indians) would seize the chain of forts, the Grand Monarchy
would send a fleet to re-conquer Canada, and guarantee all the forts he
should take to Pondiac. Upon this he did not altogether depend: yet he
thought if he could surprise Detroit, and seize a vessel which was
expected up from Oswego with ammunition and stores, he might easily take
the other small vessels, and so command the lake. This would be shut up
by ice for the winter, and it would take no little time to build on its
banks another fleet, the only means by which an army could again
approach the place. I will not attempt to lead my reader through all the
intricacies of an Indian war (entirely such), and therefore of all wars
the most incomprehensible in its progress, and most difficult in its
terms. The result of two master-strokes of stratagem, with which it
opened, are such as are curious enough, however, to find a place in this
detail.
-------