Part 29

Frederick had already entered upon the war. The appearance of hostile preparations had aroused his suspicions. He demanded a plain answer as to the intentions of the Empress Queen, and on receiving an evasive reply, he determined upon striking the first blow, although he knew that his nation numbered but 5,000,000, while the number of the allies could not be estimated at less than 90,000,000. He passed rapidly through Saxony, blockaded the Saxon army in Pirna, and, collecting all his forces, defeated the Austrians under Marshal Braun at Lowositz (Oct. 1, 1756). After this victory he rendered the relief of the Saxons impossible, and the whole army surrendered at Pirna. Frederick occupied Dresden, and there found and published copies of the secret treaties, which fully justified his conduct. The French had made a false step in plunging into the continental war. They were already successful in the Mediterranean; already the overbearing conduct of the English, in laying a nominal blockade on all the ports of France, had excited the general indignation of the Continent. The real policy of that country was to direct all their energies to the colonial and maritime war with England. It is probable that they thought to wring from George concessions in the colonies in exchange for the security of Hanover, which lay exactly between the contending parties. But Pitt at once apprehended the error they had made, and saw a great opportunity for raising the power of England. He knew that when France was busied in the endless difficulties of the European war, England, while subsidizing foreign troops, could employ her real power in completing her colonial empire. He therefore braved the charge of inconsistency, and threw himself heart and soul into the defence of Hanover and the support of Frederick. To understand how complete his apparent change of views was, and his courage in openly avowing them, the principles of the party which he had hitherto represented must be remembered. Though a section of the great Whig party, they differed in their views both as to foreign and domestic policy from the main body of the Whigs. To both the power of France was an object of dread. But,--while the official Whigs desired to check it by the preservation of the balance of power in Europe, by close connection with the continental powers, by money subsidies, and by occasional assistance of troops,--Pitt and his friends thought that, as England was an island, its natural policy was to depend upon the navy; that as trade was our proper business, so the navy was our proper strength; that we did but weaken ourselves by entangling ourselves with foreign politics; that our army should be entirely defensive, and that we need have no fear of invasion while we commanded the sea. Thus while one party upheld the necessity of subsidies and a considerable standing army, the other wished for no subsidies, a strong militia, and a powerful navy. The differences were not less in their respective views of home policy. The main body of the Whigs were desirous of retaining quite unchanged the Constitution as settled by the Revolution, and held that power must be secured by parliamentary influence and the distribution of patronage. In Pitt's more liberal view, parliamentary influence should have been unnecessary--a Government pleasing to the people, which a good Government would naturally be, would want no other support. Pitt's alliance with Newcastle and his acceptance of his parliamentary influence was as entirely opposed to this view as his maintenance of subsidies to the European powers was to all appearance opposed to his former views of foreign politics. But circumstances had arisen which to his mind entirely altered the position of England, and he frankly declared that it was for the sake of England that Hanover was threatened, and that he would win America for them in Germany.

[Sidenote: Disasters of the year 1757.]

The object Pitt set before him in his new ministry was to raise the national spirit. For this purpose he threw himself with all his vehemence into the war, and his energy became visible in every department. He at once assumed the whole conduct of foreign affairs, leaving to Newcastle the jobbery he so much liked; it is even said that the Admiralty had orders to sign his despatches and instructions without reading them. But he was met with difficulties arising from the bad Government and the bad appointments which he found on entering office. It was thus, with wholly inefficient generals, that he set to work to do what he could in the year 1757. True to his general view of employing England chiefly on the sea, it was to expeditions to the French coast that he at first looked for success. Before he was well seated in the ministry such an expedition had been despatched against Rochefort under Admiral Hawke and General Mordaunt. The fleet acted well enough, but Mordaunt and his soldiers brought the expedition to ruin, though Wolfe volunteered to capture the town if he might be intrusted with 500 men. In America the same want of success met the English. Lord Loudon was there commanding in chief, a man who was incessantly busy and never did anything; he was graphically described by Franklin as resembling a St. George and the dragon on the sign of an inn, always mounted on a galloping horse, but never advancing a step. Under such leadership the attack on Louisburg failed. Worse than this was the disaster which attended our troops in Germany. The Duke of Cumberland, bold and active, but no general, allowed himself to be outmanœuvred by Marshal D'Estrées, suffered the French to cross the Weser unopposed, was beaten at Hastenbach, and while attempting to cover the fortress of Stade, was surrounded by the French and compelled to sign the Convention of Klosterseven, by which it was agreed that his army should be entirely broken up, the auxiliaries sent to their homes, and the Hanoverian troops go into cantonments. To complete the misery of the situation, Frederick had himself suffered a disastrous defeat at Kolin, in Bohemia, while covering the siege of Prague. The extraordinary campaign which saved Prussia does not belong to our history; it is enough to understand, that with extreme rapidity he threw himself towards the western extremity of his widespread dominions, and filled the gap which Cumberland had left open. The great victory of Rosbach, in the neighbourhood of the Saale, over the French and Imperialists, rendered that flank secure for the present. Suddenly darting back again into Silesia, where his affairs had not been going prosperously in his absence, he completely defeated the Austrians at the battle of Lissa, north of the river Schneidwitz, and thus rendered that flank secure also.

This year, so disastrous in Europe, had been marked by the signal success of our arms in India, whither Clive, who had come home after his brilliant successes in the Carnatic, had again returned as Governor of Fort St. David. He had been summoned to Bengal to revenge the horrors of the Black Hole of Calcutta, and had there laid the foundation of the English power by the brilliant victory of Plassy.[8]

[Sidenote: Change of generals. 1758.]

[Sidenote: Success in America.]

The disasters which had met the English arms in all directions moved the anger of Pitt, and he determined on a thorough change of generals. In the place of Cumberland, who had shown his inefficiency in the last campaign, Ferdinand of Brunswick, a worthy disciple of Frederick's, was appointed to command the army of Hanover; and as the Convention of Klosterseven was repudiated by the English, he found the defeated army at Stade ready to receive him. Loudon gave place to Amherst and Wolfe. It was in America that the English troops were chiefly employed. The mouth of the St. Lawrence was guarded by Cape Breton Island and Louisburg. At New York the Hudson falls into the sea, and from its mouth there runs northward, nearly into the valley of the St. Lawrence, a valley and chain of lakes, of which the first is Lake Champlain. The fortress which holds the road is Ticonderoga. On the Ohio, as already mentioned, was Fort Duquesne, where Fort Pittsburg now is. The French possessions were to be attacked by each of these three points. Amherst and Wolfe, with a fleet under Boscawen, were to capture Louisburg. Abercrombie was to push up the Hudson and take Ticonderoga, while to Forbes was intrusted the capture of Fort Duquesne. Working hand in hand, without jealousy, Amherst and Boscawen succeeded at once in capturing Louisburg, which had last year been supposed unassailable. Fort Duquesne was also taken. Ticonderoga, strong from its situation in the midst of water and marshes, resisted all efforts, but the line of junction between Canada and the Mississippi was effectually cut.

[Sidenote: Victory of Creveld. June 23, 1758.]

[Sidenote: Expeditions to Cherbourg and St. Malo.]

[Sidenote: Campaign of Frederick.]

In Europe the same energy was visible. The army of Ferdinand was reinforced by a considerable number of English troops. Prince Ferdinand was opposed by the Count of Clermont, an unusually incapable general, who had in fact never before seen troops in the field. He succeeded in clearing Hanover and driving the French behind the Rhine at Creveld. He there defeated them with a loss of some 6000 men, but found himself unable to retain his advanced position, and recrossed the river. Pitt had often asserted that, much as he wished to uphold the cause of Frederick, nothing would induce him to send British blood to "the Elbe, to be lost in that ocean of gore." But this successful campaign induced him to change his view, and a considerable body of troops, about 12,000 in number, under the Duke of Marlborough and Lord George Sackville, were sent to join Prince Ferdinand. These same officers had just been employed in executing one of those joint military and naval expeditions which Pitt seems at first to have thought the proper means by which England should assist in a continental war. Like all such isolated expeditions, it was of little value. St. Malo, against which it was directed, was found too strong to be taken, but a large quantity of shipping and naval stores was destroyed. The fleet also approached Cherbourg, but although the troops were actually in their boats ready to land, they were ordered to re-embark, and the fleet came home. Another somewhat similar expedition was sent out later in the year. In July General Bligh and Commodore Howe took and destroyed Cherbourg, but on attempting a similar assault on St. Malo, they found it too strong for them. The army had been landed in the Bay of St. Cast, and, while engaged in re-embarkation, it was attacked by some French troops which had been hastily collected, and severely handled. In spite of this slight check it was plain that the tide of victory had changed. The campaign of King Frederick had been marked by chequered fortune. He had found the siege of Olmutz, in Moravia, beyond his strength, but upon the east of his dominions had won a great victory over the Russians, under General Fermor, at Zörndorf (August 25); and though he suffered a heavy defeat by a night surprise at Hofkirchen, he managed his retreat so ably, that before the end of the year he had rid Saxony of the Austrians and again secured Silesia.

[Sidenote: Victories of the year 1759.]

The success which had marked the course of the British arms in all parts of the world continued to attend them, and this year (1759) is one of the most glorious in our military annals. Horace Walpole remarks, that "it was necessary to ask every morning what new victory there was for fear of missing one." In January came the news of the capture of Goree in Africa, in June the news of the capture of Guadaloupe, in August of the victory of Minden, in September of Lagos, in October of Quebec, and in November of Quiberon. The contrast between the England of 1757, crouching in fear within its own limits and crying for help to Hanover and Hesse, and the England of 1759 is indeed striking. There was again a threatened descent of the French upon England, but there was now no craven fear of such an event. Pitt had raised the temper of the people. The threat was regarded not only with indifference, but as a means of acquiring further triumph. England could well defend itself. The militia was called out and mobilized; the fleet was so large and in such order that it could efficiently watch all the French ports. Boats for the expedition were building at Havre; Rodney anchored in the harbour and bombarded it for fifty hours, destroying most of the boats; Boscawen was watching De la Clue at Toulon; Hawke was watching Conflans at Brest. Thurot, in Dunkirk, was also blockaded. This arrangement of fleets produced in the course of the year two great naval victories.

[Sidenote: Naval victories of Lagos and Quiberon.]

The French desired to connect their scattered squadrons. For this purpose De la Clue attempted to come out of Toulon and to join the fleets in the north of France. As he passed round Spain, Boscawen, whose duty it had been to watch him, fell upon his fleet off Lagos. Three of his ships were taken and two destroyed, while eight vessels, which had been separated from him, were lost as they came through the straits; so that, with the exception of two ships, the whole of his squadron was annihilated. This was in September. In the following month a still greater success met the English navy. Sir Edward Hawke attacked the Brest fleet under Conflans off the point of Quiberon. He had been driven from his watch by stress of weather, and Conflans had taken the opportunity to come out of harbour, hoping to destroy a detached squadron which was off the coast. But Hawke's return was too quick for him. He made a junction with the detached squadron, and thus, superior in force to the French, drove them back towards the coast. The French withdrew among the rocky islets near the mouth of the Vilaine. It was blowing a gale, and the rocky coast was full of danger. But Hawke replied to the representations of his pilot by giving him peremptory orders, that whatever the risk might be, he was to lay his ship alongside of the French admiral's. "You have done your duty in showing me the danger, now you are to obey my orders and lay me alongside the Soleil Royal." The victory was complete: two French ships struck, four were sunk, and the rest, all damaged, ran for shelter to the Vilaine. This blow, together with the complete destruction of Thurot's squadron, which had come out of Dunkirk and made a landing in Ireland, completed the practical annihilation of the French fleet. The total loss up to this time of the French navy was sixty-four ships, without counting Thurot's squadron. During the same time the English had lost but nine.

[Sidenote: Capture of Quebec.]

But the great victory of the year was the capture of Quebec. To secure Canada was one of Pitt's chief objects. Louisburg and Duquesne had already fallen, and the country itself was thus open to his attack. The French army was under the command of an excellent general, the Marquis de Montcalm, who had his headquarters at Quebec. General Amherst was the English commander-in-chief, but subordinates of more than usual vigour were necessary for him, and Pitt, who had kept his eye on Wolfe since the attack on Rochefort, and had seen his energy at the siege of Louisburg, disregarding all claims of seniority, intrusted to him the attack on Quebec. This was originally to be a combined movement. Amherst was to march up by Lakes Champlain and George, take Ticonderoga and Crown Point, where Abercrombie had failed last year, and thus reach the St. Lawrence. Generals Prideaux and Johnson were to take Fort Niagara, and then, passing down Lake Ontario into the St. Lawrence, to join in the attack on Quebec, securing Montreal on the way. Though both these latter expeditions were successful, the difficulties met with rendered them so slow that the combination failed. The plan was Pitt's own, and was probably too extensive; it may be doubted whether he had sufficient knowledge of what it is possible for an army to do. Wolfe, with 8000 men, embarked in the squadron of Admiral Saunders, and reached the Isle of Orleans in the St. Lawrence river on the 13th of June. The expedition experienced no disasters in the way, having fortunately captured a vessel with some excellent charts of the river.

Quebec lies on and below the rocky edge of a plateau on the left or northern bank of the St. Lawrence, just above the junction of the St. Charles river, which thus covers its eastern side. On the other side of the St. Charles the ground again rises and continues in a rugged and difficult mass, till it sinks where the river Montmorency falls into the St. Lawrence in a lofty waterfall. The ridge between the Montmorency and the St. Charles is called Beauport. On this Montcalm's army was in position, precluding the possibility of investing Quebec, to which he had access by a bridge across the St. Charles. On the other or Quebec side of the St. Charles, the heights on the edge of which the town is built extend up the St. Lawrence, and are called the Heights of Abraham. They were believed to be inaccessible to an army. The Isle of Orleans lies in the St. Lawrence from the mouth of the Montmorency till almost opposite Quebec harbour. As long as Montcalm's army occupied the line of Beauport Quebec could not be invested. In that position the army was unassailable. To draw him from it therefore was Wolfe's great object. For this purpose frequent feints were made, but were all unavailing. One assault indeed near the mouth of the Montmorency was attempted, but the English were beaten off. Nor were the defenders of the town idle; again and again were fire-ships sent down, but the skilful vigilance of Saunders rendered all such efforts unavailing. A battery or two were erected and the town was bombarded, but this did little or no good. It seemed plain that from the Isle of Orleans nothing could be done. The army was moved in succession to two points higher up the river and above Quebec. But Montcalm would not move; he was content to send an army of observation up the river, and the besiegers lost all hope of the succours they had expected from Amherst and Johnson. On the 9th of September, Wolfe wrote a despatch in which he seemed quite to despair of success. Within a week Quebec was taken. The bold design occurred to him of surprising the Heights of Abraham, and thus compelling Montcalm to fight. He ordered feints to be made both up and down the river while he quietly collected boats. As it was, they were so few in number that his army had to cross in two divisions. Very early in the morning of the 13th of September he began his attempt. With immense toil, up a passage so narrow that at times only one could pass, his soldiers forced their way, and even dragged up one piece of artillery, and when the morning came Montcalm found between three and four thousand men in position opposite to him upon the heights. To cover Quebec it was necessary for him to withdraw his troops from Beauport and to cross the St. Charles. This he at once proceeded to do, and the battle began. Early in the day Wolfe, who was on the right wing, was wounded and carried to the rear, but before he died he had the gratification of knowing that the victory was secured. Both armies lost their first and second in command. Five days afterwards Quebec was surrendered. Wolfe was but thirty-three when he died; he entered the army at fourteen, and had seen much service; a shy, retiring, domestic man, of unprepossessing exterior and weak frame, he owed his promotion entirely to the feeling of confidence which his sound sense and chivalrous energy inspired. It is much to the credit of Pitt that he should have found out his merits, and having found them out have ventured to place so great a responsibility upon so young and unprepossessing a person.

[Sidenote: Victory of Minden.]

While all the efforts in which the English were engaged singlehanded had thus been successfully carried out, they had also, in conjunction with their German allies, won on the 1st of August the great battle of Minden. The French had early in the year taken possession of Frankfort. Their army, strongly reinforced--for the new ministry of the Duc de Choiseul began by being very energetic,--was divided into two; the northern corps under Marshal Contades, the southern army about Frankfort under De Broglie. An attempt of Ferdinand to regain Frankfort was frustrated by De Broglie, who beat him at the battle of Bergen. The two French armies then joined, and pressed upon the Prince till they drove him behind Minden, a town on the left or French side of the river Weser. It became clear to Ferdinand that a battle must be fought to save Hanover. He therefore advanced southwards up the Weser, carefully keeping his communications with that river open, while the object of the French seems to have been chiefly to separate him from it. By spreading his army so as to give it the appearance of weakness, though it was in reality capable of rapid concentration, he induced the French to leave an extremely strong position they had taken up upon Minden Heath, with their right covered by the town, which was in their possession. A body of troops, apparently detached, upon the extreme left of the allies, and close to the Weser, was the bait by which the French were attracted. They hoped by destroying this ill-supported detachment to cut the Prince off from the river. But as De Broglie approached what he believed to be the weak point, he was surprised to find the whole allied army in array before him. Ferdinand by this clever trap brought his enemy to an engagement upon his own ground. The battle consisted in great part of a series of charges of French cavalry on compact bodies of the English and Hanoverian infantry. Weary with their futile exertions, the cavalry, who formed the centre of the French line, gave way. The line was broken, and a charge of cavalry alone was wanted to complete the destruction of the army. Three aide-de-camps were sent in succession to Lord George Sackville, bidding him charge. He pretended not to understand the order, and said he must consult the Prince in person. The same order was given to the Marquis of Granby, who commanded in the second line, and a vigorous charge made, but time had been wasted, and it was too late. The victory was however rendered tolerably complete by a body of 10,000 men, whom Prince Ferdinand had had the courage and foresight to detach from his army, although he was already numerically weaker than his enemy, for the purpose of cutting the enemy's communications. Lord George Sackville was tried by court martial and dismissed from all his military appointments.

The story of the British victories of the year is completed by the success of their arms in India, where the siege of Madras was raised, much of the Carnatic secured, and Wandewash taken by Colonel Coote.

[Sidenote: Frederick's fourth campaign.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Torgau. 1760.]