PROGRESS OF THE WAR—THE CONQUEST OF CANADA.
The plan of the campaign for 1756, arranged by a convention of
provincial governors at New York, was similar to that of the preceding
year: the reduction of Crown Point, Niagara and Fort Du Quesne. The
enrolling of volunteer militia went on; Benjamin Franklin being active
for this purpose in Pennsylvania, and he himself now assuming military
command as a colonel on the frontier from the Delaware to the Maryland
line. The frontiers of Virginia continued to suffer severely, though
Washington, with 1,500 volunteers, did his utmost for their protection.
It was difficult to obtain a larger volunteer force, on account, said
Dinwiddie, writing to the Board of Trade on this subject, “of our not
daring to part with any of our white men to a distance, as we must have
a watch over our negro-slaves.”
The war had now continued two years without any formal declaration of
hostilities between Great Britain and France. In May, however, of this
year it was made.
In June, General Abercrombie, who superseded Shirley, arrived with two
regiments from England, and proceeded to Albany, where the provincial
troops and the remains of Braddock’s army were already assembled—short
of provisions, however, and suffering from small-pox. Abercrombie,
deeming his forces insufficient for the proposed campaign, determined to
wait for the arrival of Lord Loudon, now appointed commander-in-chief.
This occasioned a delay until the end of July. In the meantime, the
French, under the Marquis of Montcalm, successor to the Baron Dieskau,
taking advantage of the tardiness of the English, had made an attack on
Fort Oswego, which it had been intended to reinforce with a regiment of
regulars under General Webb; but it was then too late; the Forts Oswego
and Ontario were taken, and Webb retired precipitately to Albany.
Upwards of 1,000 men, 135 pieces of artillery, a great amount of stores,
and a fleet of boats and small vessels built the year before for the
Niagara expedition, fell into the hands of Montcalm.
To gratify the Six Nations, and induce them to assume a position of
neutrality, Montcalm destroyed the forts, after which he returned to
Canada. These disasters were as discouraging as the defeat of Braddock
had been in the former year. The march to Ticonderoga was abandoned, and
Forts Edward and William Henry were ordered to be strengthened.
Feebleness and incapacity characterised the campaign. The Indians,
incited by the French, renewed their border depredations; and the
Quakers incurred no inconsiderable ignominy by persisting to advocate
the cause of the Indians, holding conferences with them and forming
treaties of peace. But though these measures were against the spirit of
the time, they persevered, and succeeded in thus defending the frontiers
of Pennsylvania as well as some of the other colonies by force of arms.
On July 9, 1757, Loudon sailed with 6,000 regulars against Louisburg,
the important stronghold of the North, as Fort Du Quesne was of the
West, and on the 13th reached Halifax, where he was reinforced by eleven
sail of the line, under Admiral Holbourn, with 6,000 additional troops.
Nothing, however, was done; for on learning that Louisburg was
garrisoned by 6,000 men, and that a large French fleet lay in her
harbour, the expedition was abandoned, and Loudon returned to New York.
In the meantime, Montcalm, combining his forces from Ticonderoga and
Crown Point, amounting to 9,000, with 2,000 Indians, ascended Lake
George, and laid siege to Fort William Henry, which was at that time
commanded by Colonel Munro, with upwards of 2,000 men, while Colonel
Webb was stationed at Fort Edward, only fifteen miles distant, with
5,000. For six days the garrison made a brave resistance, until the
ammunition being exhausted, and no relief coming from Fort Edward, Munro
capitulated; honourable terms being granted, “on account,” said the
capitulation, “of their honourable defence.” But the terms were not
kept. The Indians attached to Montcalm’s army fell upon the retiring
British, plundering their baggage and murdering them in cold blood.
Munro and a part of his men retreated for protection to the French camp;
great numbers fled to the woods, where they suffered extremely; many
were never more heard of.
In the civil history of the colonies there is very little to chronicle
during this period. In Pennsylvania a dispute arose respecting the
rights of the proprietaries to exempt their own lands from taxes raised
for the defence of those lands. Benjamin Franklin visited England in
consequence, and the question was decided by the proprietaries yielding
on certain conditions. In Georgia, also, arose a dispute in which the
Creek Indians took a lively interest, as it grew out of the claims of
that Mary Musgrove, the Indian interpreter, who had materially aided
Oglethorpe on his arrival in that country. Mary had now married, for her
third husband, Thomas Bosomworth, Oglethorpe’s former agent for Indian
affairs, but who, having taken orders in England, had returned as
successor of Wesley and Whitfield, and claimed the islands on the coast
and a tract of land above Savannah, which the Creeks had made over to
her, as well as twelve years’ arrears of salary as Indian interpreter.
The dispute, after having continued twelve years, was settled at this
time to the entire satisfaction of Mary and her nation. The island of
St. Catherine was secured to her and her husband, and £2,000 paid in
liquidation of her other demands. Georgia was also, about the same time,
divided into parishes, and the Church of England established by law.
The unfortunate results of the campaigns of 1756–7 were extremely
humiliating to England, and so strong was the feeling against the
ministry and their measures, that a change was necessary. A new
administration was formed, at the head of which was William Pitt,
afterwards Lord Chatham; Lord Loudon was recalled; additional forces
were raised in America, and a large naval armament and 12,000 additional
troops were promised. After this great expenditure of money and of blood
on the part of the English, the French still held all the disputed
territory. The English were still in possession of the Bay of Fundy, it
is true; but Louisburg, commanding the entrance of the St. Lawrence,
Crown Point and Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, Frontenac and Niagara on
Lake Ontario, Presque Island on Lake Erie, and the chain of posts thence
to the Ohio, were still in the hands of the French. They had driven the
English from Fort Oswego and Lake George, and had compelled the Six
Nations to neutrality. A devastating war was raging along the whole
north-western frontier; scalping parties advanced to the very centre of
Massachusetts; to within a short distance of Philadelphia, and kept
Maryland and Virginia in perpetual alarm.[5]
The campaign of 1758 began in earnest. Pitt addressed a circular to the
colonies, demanding at least 20,000 men; the crown undertook to provide
arms, ammunition, tents and provisions; the colonies were to raise,
clothe and pay the levies, but were to be reimbursed by parliament. This
energetic impulse was cheerfully responded to. Massachusetts voted 7,000
men, besides such as were needed for frontier defence. The advances of
Massachusetts during the year amounted to about £250,000. Individual
Boston merchants paid taxes to the amount of £500. The tax on real
estate amounted to 13s. 4d. in the pound. Connecticut voted 5,000 men;
New Hampshire and Rhode Island a regiment of 500 men each; New Jersey
1,000; Pennsylvania appropriated £100,000 for bringing 2,700 men into
the field; Virginia raised 2,000. To co-operate with these colonial
levies, the Royal Americans were recalled from Canada, and large
reinforcements were sent from England. Abercrombie, the new
commander-in-chief, found 50,000 men at his disposal—a greater number
than the whole male population of New France. The total number of
Canadians able to bear arms was 20,000; the regular troops amounted to
about 5,000; besides which, the constant occupation of war had caused
agriculture to be neglected. Canada was at this time almost in a state
of famine.[6] “I shudder,” wrote Montcalm to the French government, in
February 1758, “when I think of provisions. The famine is very great;
New France needs peace, or sooner or later it must fall; so great is the
number of the English; so great our difficulty in obtaining supplies.”
The French army, and the whole of Canada, were put on restricted
allowance of food.
The campaign, as we have said, began in earnest; there was no trifling,
no delay. Three simultaneous expeditions were decided upon; against
Louisburg, Ticonderoga, and Fort Du Quesne. The possession of Louisburg
was deemed very important, as opening the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and thus
admitting the English at once to the capital of Canada. In June,
Boscawen appeared before Louisburg with thirty-eight ships of war,
convoying an army of 14,000 men, chiefly regulars, under General
Amherst, but including a considerable body of New England troops. The
siege commenced. It was here that General Wolfe first distinguished
himself in America; his amiable disposition and calm, clear judgment
early won the esteem and admiration of the colonists. Here, also, served
Isaac Barre, raised by Wolfe from a subaltern position to the rank of
major of brigade. The siege was conducted with great skill and energy,
and on the 27th of July, this celebrated fortress was in the hands of
the English, and with it the islands of Cape Breton, Prince Edward’s
Island and their dependencies. The garrison became prisoners of war; the
inhabitants were shipped off to France. Such was the end of the French
power on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
While the siege of Louisburg was going forward, General Abercrombie,
with 16,000 men and a great force of artillery, advanced against
Ticonderoga and Crown Point. On the 16th of July, having embarked at
Fort William Henry, he advanced down Lake George, and landing near the
northern extremity of the lake, the march commenced through a thick wood
towards the fort, which Montcalm held with about 4,000 men.
Unfortunately, the vanguard—headed by the young and gallant Lord Howe,
who, like Wolfe, had already gained the enthusiastic affection of the
Americans—ignorant of the ground, lost their way and fell in with a
French scouting party, when a skirmish took place, and though the enemy
was driven back, Lord Howe fell. The grief of the provincial troops,
and, indeed, of the whole northern colonies, was very great for the loss
of this brave young man, to whose memory Massachusetts afterwards
erected a monument in Westminster Abbey.[7]
The death of Lord Howe is said to have considerably abated the ardour of
the troops; nevertheless, Abercrombie, without waiting for the coming up
of his artillery, hastened on the attack of Ticonderoga, having been
assured that the works were unfinished, and that it might easily be
taken. The result, however, proved the contrary. The breast-work was of
great strength, and defended by felled trees, their branches sharpened,
and pointing outwards like spears. The utmost intrepidity, however, was
shown in the attack; but, with the loss of about 2,000 killed and
wounded, Abercrombie was repulsed, and the next day made a disorderly
retreat to Fort William Henry.
Colonel Bradstreet, being about to march at the head of the provincials
of New York and New England against Fort Frontenac, obtained from
Abercrombie, after this defeat, a detachment of 3,000 men, and with
these, having marched to Oswego, he crossed Lake Ontario, and on the
25th of August attacked Fort Frontenac, which in two days’ time
surrendered. Three armed vessels were taken, and the fort, which
contained military stores intended for the Indians, and provisions for
the south-western troops, was destroyed. On their return, the troops
assisted in erecting Fort Stanwix, midway between Oswego and Albany.
Among the officers who served with Bradstreet were Woodhull and Van
Schaick, afterwards distinguished in the revolutionary war.
The expedition against Fort Du Quesne was entrusted to General Forbes,
who early in July commenced his march with 7,000 men, including the
Pennsylvanian and Virginian levies, the royal Americans recalled from
South Carolina, and a body of Cherokee Indians. Washington, who headed
the Virginian troops, and was then at Cumberland ready to join the main
army, advised that the military road cut by Braddock’s army should be
made use of; instead of which, Forbes, induced by some Pennsylvanian
land-speculators, commenced making a new road from Ray’s Town, where the
Pennsylvanian forces were stationed, to the Ohio. Whilst a needless
delay was thus caused, Major Grant, who, with 800 men, had been sent
forward to reconnoitre, was repulsed with the loss of 300 men, and
himself taken prisoner. This misfortune, and the loss of time caused by
making the road, which drove them into the cold season, together with
considerable desertion and sickness, so dispirited the troops, that a
council of officers determined to abandon the enterprise for the
present. Just at that moment, however, a number of French prisoners
accidentally brought in, revealed the feeble state of the garrison, and
the news of the taking of Fort Frontenac reaching them at the same time,
it was resolved to push forward immediately; and though they were then
fifty miles from Du Quesne, and had, at the commencement of winter, to
traverse untracked forests, they succeeded in arriving at the fort on
the 25th of November, when it was found to be a pile of ruins, the
garrison having set fire to it the day before, and retired down the
Ohio.
The possession of this post caused great joy. New works were erected on
the site of Du Quesne, the name of which was now changed to Fort Pitt,
afterwards Pittsburg, now the Birmingham of America.
The consequence of this success was immediately seen, by the disposition
which the Indians showed for peace. The frontiers of Virginia and
Maryland were relieved from their incursions; and at a grand council
held at Easton, in Pennsylvania, not only deputies of the Six Nations,
but from their dependent tribes, the Delawares and others, met Sir
William Johnson and the governors of New York and New Jersey, and solemn
treaties of peace were entered into. In order to check the north-eastern
Indians, who still remained hostile, and to prevent their intercourse
with Canada, Fort Pownall was erected; the first permanent English
settlement in that district.
The great object of the campaign of 1759 was the so-long-desired
conquest of Canada. The intention of the British minister was
communicated to the various colonial assemblies under an oath of
secrecy; and this, together with the faithful reimbursement of their
last year’s expenses, induced such a general activity and zeal, that
early in the spring 20,000 colonial troops were ready to take the field.
In consequence of his disaster at Ticonderoga, Abercrombie was
superseded, and General Amherst became commander-in-chief. The plan for
the campaign was as follows: Wolfe, who after the taking of Louisburg
had gone to England, and was now returning with a powerful fleet, was to
make a direct attack on Quebec; Amherst was directed to take Ticonderoga
and Crown Point, and so proceed northerly; while General Prideaux, who
commanded the provincial troops and Indians, was to descend the St.
Lawrence after taking Fort Niagara, and join Amherst in an attack on
Montreal. Such was the proposed plan. The three divisions were intended
to enter Canada by three different routes of conquest, all to merge
finally in the conquest of Quebec, the great heart of the French power
and dominion in America.
According to arrangement, Amherst arrived before Ticonderoga in July,
with 11,000 men, when the garrison of the fort having been weakened by
the withdrawal of forces for the defence of Quebec, both this and Crown
Point surrendered without difficulty; the want of vessels, however,
prevented him for some time either proceeding to join Wolfe at Quebec or
attacking Montreal.
General Prideaux proceeded in the expedition against Niagara with his
provincials and a body of warriors of the Six Nations, who, in spite of
their treaty of neutrality, had been induced to join in this enterprise.
Prideaux advanced by way of Schenectady and Oswego, and on the 6th of
July effected a landing near Fort Niagara without opposition. The
bursting of a gun, however, killed General Prideaux, when the command
devolved on Sir William Johnson. Twelve hundred French, and an equal
number of Indian auxiliaries, advancing to the relief of the garrison,
gave battle to the English, and were routed with great loss, leaving a
considerable number prisoners; on which the dispirited garrison
capitulated. The surrender of this post cut off all communication
between Canada and the south-west.
Sir William Johnson having so far accomplished his object, should,
according to pre-arrangement, have descended Lake Ontario, to co-operate
with Wolfe on the St. Lawrence; but again the want of shipping,
shortness of provisions and the incumbrance of his French prisoners,
prevented his doing so.
Thus disappointed in receiving these important reinforcements, Wolfe was
compelled to commence the siege of Quebec alone. The presence of Wolfe
had already inspired the most unbounded confidence. His army consisted
of 8,000 men; his fleet, commanded by Admirals Saunders and Holmes,
consisted of twenty-two ships of the line, and the same number of
frigates and armed vessels. On board of one ship was Jervis, afterwards
Earl St. Vincent; another had for master, James Cooke, the afterwards
celebrated navigator. The brigades were commanded by Robert Moncton,
afterwards governor of New York, and the conqueror of Martinique. Wolfe
selected as his adjutant-general Isaac Barre, his old associate at
Louisburg, an Irishman of humble birth, but brave, eloquent, and
ambitious.
On the 27th of June, the whole armament disembarked on the island of
Orleans, just below the city. We will give a rapid account of the events
of this important siege from Mrs. Willard’s excellent history.
“From the island of Orleans, Wolfe reconnoitred the position of his
enemy, and saw the full magnitude of the difficulties which surrounded
him. The city of Quebec rose before him upon the north side of the St.
Lawrence; its upper town and strong fortifications situated on a rock
whose bold and steep front continued far westward, parallel with the
river, its base near to the shore, thus presenting a wall which appeared
inaccessible. From the north-west came down the St. Charles, entering
the St. Lawrence just below the town, its banks steep and uneven and cut
into deep ravines, while armed vessels were borne upon its waters, and
floating batteries obstructed its entrance. A few miles below, the
Montmorenci leapt down its cataract into the St. Lawrence; and strongly
posted along the sloping bank of that river and between these two
tributaries, the French army, commanded by Montcalm, displayed its
formidable lines.
“The first measure of Wolfe was to obtain possession of Point Levi,
opposite Quebec. Here he erected and opened heavy batteries, which swept
from the lower town the buildings along the margin of the river; but the
fortifications, resting on the huge table of rock above, remained
uninjured. Perceiving this, Wolfe next sought to draw the enemy from his
entrenchments, and bring on an engagement. For this purpose he landed
his army below the Montmorenci; but the wary Montcalm eluded every
artifice to draw him out. Wolfe next crossed that stream with a portion
of his army, and attacked him in his camp. The troops which were to
commence the assault fell into disorder, having, with impetuous ardour,
disobeyed the commands of the general. Perceiving their confusion, he
drew them off, with the loss of 400 men, and re-crossed the Montmorenci.
Here he was informed that his expected succours were likely to fail him.
Amherst had possession of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, but was preparing
to attack the forces withdrawn from these places at the Isle aux Noix.
Prideaux had lost his life, and Sir William Johnson had succeeded him in
the command; but the enemy were in force at Montreal, and from neither
division of the British army could the commander at Quebec hope for
assistance.”
The bodily fatigues which Wolfe had undergone, and his anxiety and
disappointment, threw him into a fever, which for a time disabled him
from action; nevertheless he devised desperate means of attack, which,
on proposing to his officers, were decided to be impracticable. Finally,
it was determined to convey by night four or five thousand men to the
level plain above the town, called the Heights of Abraham, and draw
Montcalm “from his impregnable situation into open action.”[8]
“Montcalm,” continues Mrs. Willard, “perceiving that something was about
to be attempted, despatched M. de Bourgainville with 1,500 men higher up
the St. Lawrence, to watch the movements of the English. Wolfe, pursuant
to his plan, broke up his camp at Montmorenci and returned to Orleans.
Then embarking with his army, he directed Admiral Holmes, who commanded
the fleet in which himself and the army had embarked, to sail up the
river several miles higher than the intended point of debarkation. This
movement deceived De Bourgainville, and gave Wolfe the advantage of the
current and the tide to float his boats silently down to the destined
spot.
This was done about one hour before daybreak. Wolfe and the troops with
him leapt on shore; the light infantry whom the force of the current was
hurrying along clambered up the steep shore, staying themselves by the
roots and branches of the trees. French sentinels were on the shore; one
of these hailed in French and was answered by an officer in that
language. Escaping the dangers of the water’s edge, they proceeded,
though with the utmost difficulty, to scale the precipice. The first
party which reached the heights secured a small battery which crowned
them, and thus the remainder of the army ascended in safety. In the
light of morning the British army were discovered by the French, drawn
up on this lofty plain in the most advantageous position.
Montcalm, learning with surprise and consternation the advantage gained
by the enemy, left his strong position, and displaying his lines for
battle, intrepidly led on the attack. Being on the left of the French,
he was opposed to Wolfe, who was on the right of the British. In the
heat of the engagement both commanders were mortally wounded. This was
the third wound which Wolfe had received, and Isaac Barre, who fought
near him, received a ball in the head, which ultimately deprived him of
sight. “Support me,” said Wolfe to an officer near him; “do not let my
brave fellows see me fall!” He was removed to the rear, and water was
brought to quench his thirst. Just then a cry was heard, “They run! they
run!” “Who runs?” exclaimed Wolfe, faintly raising himself. “The enemy!”
was the reply. “Then,” said he, “I die content;” and expired. Not less
heroic was the death of Montcalm. He rejoiced when told that his wound
was mortal, “For then,” said he, “I shall not live to see the surrender
of Quebec!”
After the battle, General Townsend conducted the English affairs with
great discretion. The French on their part appear to have yielded at
once to the suggestion of their fears. The capitulation of Quebec was
signed five days after the battle. Favourable terms were granted to the
garrison.
General Townsend returning to England, General Murray was left in
command, with a garrison of 5,000 men. The French army retired to
Montreal, and M. de Levi, who had succeeded Montcalm, being reinforced
by Canadians and Indians, returned the following spring, 1760, with
6,000 men to Quebec. General Murray left the fortress, and a second
still more bloody battle was fought on the Heights of Abraham. Each army
lost about 1,000 men, but the French maintained their ground, and the
English took refuge within the fortress. Here they were closely
invested, until having received reinforcements, M. de Levi abandoned all
hope of regaining possession of Quebec, and returned to Montreal, where
Vaudreuil, the governor, assembled all the force of Canada.
[Illustration: DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE.]
Desirous of completing this great conquest, the northern colonies
joyfully contributed their aid, and towards the close of the summer,
three armies were on their way to Montreal; Amherst at the head of
10,000 men together with 1,000 Indians of the Six Nations, headed by Sir
William Johnson; Murray with 4,000 men from Quebec; and Haviland at the
head of 3,500 men, by way of Lake Champlain. The force which was thus
brought against Montreal was irresistible; but it was not needed;
Vaudreuil, the governor, surrendered without a struggle. The British
flag floated on the city; and not alone was possession given of
Montreal, but of Presque Isle, Detroit, Mackinaw and all the other posts
of Western Canada. About 4,000 regular troops were to be sent to France,
and to the Canadians were guaranteed their property and liberty of
worship.
Great was the joy of New York and the New England states in the conquest
of Canada, as their frontiers were now finally delivered from the
terrible scourge of Indian warfare. But while they rejoiced from this
cause, the Carolinian frontiers were suffering from incursions of the
Cherokees, who had been instigated to these measures by the French, who,
retiring from Fort Du Quesne, had passed through their country on their
way to Louisiana. General Amherst, therefore, despatched Colonel
Montgomery against them, who aided by the Carolinian troops, marched
into their country, burned their villages, and was on his way to the
interior, when they in their turn besieged Fort Loudon, which, after
great suffering, the garrison were compelled to surrender, under promise
of a safe conduct to the British settlements. This promise, however, was
broken; great numbers were killed on the way and others taken prisoners;
and again the war raged on the frontier. The next year Colonel Grant
marched with increased force into their country; a terrible battle was
fought, in which the Cherokees were defeated, their villages burned, and
their crops destroyed. Finally they were driven to the mountains, and
now subdued and humbled, besought for peace.
The war between England and France, though at an end on the continent of
America, was still continued among the West India Islands, France in
this case also being the loser. Martinique, Grenada, St. Lucia, St.
Vincent’s—every island, in fact, which France possessed among the
Caribbees—passed into the hands of the English. Besides which, being at
the same time at war with Spain, England took possession of Havanna, the
key to the whole trade of the Gulf of Mexico.
In November, 1763, a treaty of peace was signed at Paris, which led to
further changes, all being favourable to Britain; whilst Martinique,
Guadalope and St. Lucia were restored to France, England took possession
of St. Vincent’s, Dominica and Tobago islands, which had hitherto been
considered neutral. By the same treaty all the vast territory east of
the Mississippi, from its source to the Gulf of Mexico, with the
exception of the island of New Orleans, was yielded up to the British;
and Spain, in return for Havanna, ceded her possession of Florida. Thus,
says Hildreth, was vested in the British crown, as far as the consent of
rival European claimants could give it, the sovereignty of the whole
eastern half of North America, from the Gulf of Mexico to Hudson’s Bay
and the Polar Ocean. By the same treaty the navigation of the
Mississippi was free to both nations. France at the same time gave to
Spain, as a compensation for her losses in the war, all Louisiana west
of the Mississippi, which contained at that time about 10,000
inhabitants, to whom this transfer was very unsatisfactory.
Three new British provinces were now erected in America; Quebec and East
and West Florida. East Florida included all the country embraced by the
present Florida, bounded on the north by the St. Mary’s. West Florida
extended from the Apalachicola River to the Mississippi; from the 31st
degree of latitude on the north, to the Gulf of Mexico on the south,
thus including portions of the present states of Alabama and
Mississippi. The boundary of Quebec corresponded with the claims of New
York and Massachusetts, being a line from the southern end of Lake
Nipissing, striking the St. Lawrence at the 45th degree of latitude, and
following that parallel across the foot of Lake Champlain to the sources
of the Connecticut, and thence along the highlands which separate the
waters flowing into the St. Lawrence from those which fall into the
sea.[9]
All, however, was not yet peace in the northern provinces. The English
might possess themselves of French territory, but they could not win the
hearts of the Indian, whom the devoted missionaries and the kind and
politic French traders had attached to their nation. When, therefore,
the English, who treated the Indians with cold contempt, were about to
take possession, Pontiac, the brave and intellectual chief of the
Ottawas, who cherished the hope of restoring his nation to independence,
endeavoured to excite the Red men against their new lords. “If,”
reasoned he, addressing his people, “the English have expelled the
French, what should hinder, but that the Indian should destroy them
before they have established their power, and thus the Red man once more
be lord of the forest?” Pontiac, by his eloquence and energy, gained the
co-operation of the whole north-western tribes, and the plan of a
simultaneous attack on all the British posts on the lakes was formed
without any suspicion being excited. The day fixed was the 7th of July,
and on that day nine forts—all, indeed, excepting those of Niagara,
Detroit and Fort Pitt—were surprised and taken. Nor was the outbreak
confined to the forts; the whole frontier of Pennsylvania and Virginia,
especially the former, was attacked, and the scattered traders and
settlers plundered and cruelly murdered. The back settlers of
Pennsylvania—principally Scotch and Irish Presbyterians, men of a
character very different to that of the mild Quakers, and who, in the
spirit of the older Puritans, regarded the Indians as the Canaanites of
the Old Testament—rose up in vengeance, and the leaders of this movement
coming principally from a place called Paxton, the body assumed the name
of “the Paxton Boys,” and pursued their victims with a bloodthirsty
spirit, which aimed at nothing less than extermination. In vain Benjamin
Franklin interfered to save such friendly Indians as had fled for refuge
to Philadelphia and other towns; the avengers knew no mercy, and for
these unhappy remnants of a once powerful race there appeared no place
of refuge but the grave. Such of the Christianised Indians as escaped
this cold-blooded massacre established themselves on a distant branch of
the Susquehanna; though their peace there was but of short duration,
being again compelled, within a few years, to emigrate to the country
north-west of the Ohio, where they and their missionaries, the
Moravians, settled in three villages on the Muskinghum.
The conquest of Canada and the subjection of the eastern Indians giving
security to the colonists of Maine, that province began to expand and
flourish. The counties of Cumberland and Lincoln were added to the
former single county of York, and settlers began to occupy the lower
Kennebec, and to extend themselves along the coast towards the
Penobscot. Nor was this northern expansion confined alone to Maine;
settlers began to occupy both sides of the upper Connecticut, and to
advance into new regions beyond the Green Mountains, towards Lake
Champlain, a beautiful and fertile country which had first become known
to the colonists in the late war. Homes were growing up in Vermont. In
the same manner population extended westward beyond the Alleganies, as
soon as the Indian disturbances were allayed in that direction. The
go-a-head principle was ever active in British America. The population
of Georgia was beginning to increase greatly, and in 1763 the first
newspaper of that colony was published, called the “Georgia Gazette.” A
vital principle was operating also in the new province of East Florida,
now that she ranked among the British possessions. In ten years, more
was done for the colony than had been done through the whole period of
the Spanish occupation. A colony of Greeks settled about this time on
the inlet still known as New Smyrna; and a body of settlers from the
banks of the Roanoke planted themselves in West Florida, near Baton
Rouge.[10]
Nor was this increase confined to the newer provinces; the older ones
progressed in the same degree. Hildreth calls this the golden age of
Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina, which were increasing in
population and productions at a rate unknown before or since. In the
north, leisure was found for the cultivation of literature, art, and
social refinement. The six colonial colleges were crowded with students;
a medical college was established in Pennsylvania, the first in the
colonies; and West and Copley, both born in the same year—the one in New
York, the other in Boston—proved that genius was native to the New
World, though the Old afforded richer patronage. Besides all this, the
late wars and the growing difficulties with the mother-country had
called forth and trained able commanders for the field, and sagacious
intellects for the control of the great events which were at hand.