Chapter 16

In 1756 England was fully engaged in that famous war with France which was to end in driving her hereditary rival from the eastern and western hemispheres, and in the establishment of the German Empire by the military genius of Frederick the Great. For a while, however, the conflict in America was chiefly remarkable for the incapacity of English commanders on land and sea. Earl Loudoun, the sluggish commander-in-chief, of whom it was said, "he is like St. George on the signs; always on horseback, but never rides on," arranged a campaign against the French on Lake Champlain and against Louisbourg which ended only in disaster and humiliation for England. The forts at Oswego, always regarded as a menace by the French who occupied {238} Fort Frontenac on the opposite side of Lake Ontario, were successfully attacked and destroyed by Montcalm,[1] who was sent to Canada in 1756 to make a supreme effort for France. The energetic French general then proceeded a year later to storm Fort William Henry, and largely owing to the incapacity or timidity of General Webb, who could have marched to the assistance of the besieged from Fort Edward, the brave Scotch officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Monro, then in command of this important defence of the northeastern frontier, was obliged to surrender. After the capitulation of this fort a large number of helpless men, women, and children were barbarously murdered by the body of Indians that accompanied the French--one of the saddest episodes in American history, which must always dim the lustre of Montcalm's victory, though it is now generally admitted that the French general himself was not responsible for the treachery of his Indian allies, but used his most earnest efforts--even at the risk of his own life--to save the English when the savages were mad with lust for the blood of their enemies.

At sea the results were equally discouraging for the English. Fifteen ships-of-the-line and three frigates, under the orders of Admiral Holbourne, and twelve thousand troops under the command of Earl Loudoun himself, assembled in the harbour of Halifax in the July of 1757; but, owing to the absence {240} of energy and celerity of movement from the very day the project was decided upon in England until after the arrival of the fleet in America, the French were able to get reinforcements of ships and men into Louisbourg, and the English admiral and general came to the resolve--so strange for Englishmen in time of war--to run no risk in attacking the fortress. Loudoun returned to New York, but too late to retrieve the injury he had done to the northern colonies by withdrawing so large a force from the frontier at a critical period, when Montcalm was marching on Fort William Henry with such unfortunate results for English interests. Holbourne sailed with his fleet for Louisbourg, and after a half-hearted attempt to draw the French fleet, then safely moored under the guns of the town, into an engagement, even the elements combined against him, and when he had lost a number of his vessels on the rocky Cape Breton coast, he returned to England to tell the story of his failure.

It was at this critical period, when England so sadly needed a bold and wise statesman at the head of her government in the place of weak and incompetent men like Newcastle, that the great Pitt, better known as Chatham at a later day, was called to office by the unanimous opinion of the English people outside, perhaps, of a small selfish clique of the aristocracy. It was his good fortune to be successful far beyond the hopes of the majority of statesmen suddenly called upon to retrieve national disaster. It was mainly through his inspiration--through the confidence with which he inspired all {241} those who served the country at this momentous epoch--that England became the centre of a vast colonial empire such as the world never saw, even in the days when Rome was mistress.

When Pitt was recalled to office in July, 1757, it was too late to prevent the humiliation of England through the incompetency of Holbourne, Loudoun, and Webb, and the year 1757 closed with Montcalm triumphant in America. But while France neglected to give adequate support to her brave sons in Canada, England rallied to the support of Pitt, and the whole nation felt a confidence in the future which it had never had during the administration of his predecessors. On the continent of Europe, Pitt contented himself with giving the largest possible subsidies of money to his great ally Frederick, and by entrusting the command of the English and Hanoverian forces to the best of his generals, Ferdinand, Prince of Brunswick, in place of the incompetent Duke of Cumberland. The victories of Rossbach, Leuthen, and Minden were the answers that Frederick gave to the English minister for the confidence he reposed in his ability to cope with the four great Powers then combined with Saxony to destroy Prussia and bring England to the feet of France, by invading her territory and marching into her very capital. Hanover was saved by the memorable victory on the Weser, and England was spared the humiliation and perils of an invasion by the destruction of a French fleet by Admiral Hawke in Quiberon Bay.

While the military genius of Frederick and the {242} inspiring statesmanship of Pitt were successfully thwarting the ambitious plans of France and her allies in Europe, the English minister had decided on a vigorous campaign in America. With that intuitive sagacity which he possessed above most men for recognising ability in others for the purpose in view, he chose General Amherst, Admiral Boscawen, and Brigadier-General Wolfe, not because of their aristocratic or political influence, but because of their military capacity, the want of which in Loudoun and Holbourne had brought disaster upon the English arms. Unhappily he was forced, for the time being, by strong influences around him to retain General Abercromby at the head of one of the expeditions in America, but he hoped that the co-operation of Lord Howe would keep up the courage of the army, and prevent any blunders on the part of the slow and obtuse soldier in command. The plan of the campaign which opened in 1758 was to send three expeditions simultaneously against the three all-important French positions held by the French in the Ohio valley, on Lake Champlain, and at the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. General Forbes, a resolute Scotch veteran, was to march on Fort Duquesne, General Abercromby was to lay siege to Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and General Amherst, with Admiral Boscawen, was to attack the fortress of Louisbourg, which was acknowledged as the key of the St. Lawrence.

The English fleet anchored in Gabarus Bay, to the southward of Louisbourg, on the 2nd of June, 1758. It was composed of over fifty ships, {243} twenty-two of which were "liners," and carried eighteen hundred guns altogether. The army comprised between eleven and twelve thousand men, including a small force of provincial rangers. The fortress, which had been considerably strengthened since 1745, was defended by over three thousand regular troops, and a small number of Indians and inhabitants. A fleet of fourteen men-of-war, with a crew of nearly three thousand men, and five hundred and sixty-two guns, were in the harbour. Chevalier Drucour was governor of the island, and conducted the defences with skill and resolution, and had Admiral Desgouttes been as brave and capable as the former, Louisbourg would hardly have fallen so easily. On the morning of the 27th July, the English took possession of the West gate, and the cross of St. George was hoisted on the citadel of a fortress which was destined from that time to disappear from the pages of the world's history. In 1763 the fortress was levelled to the ground, and now a few mounds of turf alone represent the ambitions of France a century and a half ago. Nature has resumed dominion over the site of the once famous fortress, and the restless ocean, which stretches away beyond to the eastward without a break to Europe, brings no message of the fleets that came once, richly freighted, to this historic fort. Louisbourg is now only a place of memories--of associations which connect Cape Breton with most glorious episodes of England's history, with times when the genius of Pitt triumphed over France.

After the taking of Louisbourg, the English {244} occupied the island of St. John, now Prince Edward, where there were several prosperous settlements at Port La Joye (Charlottetown), St. Pierre, and other places on the bays of the low-lying coast. The population was composed chiefly of Acadians, who had commenced to cross from Nova Scotia after the Treaty of Utrecht, and probably numbered in 1758 four thousand souls, engaged in fishing and farming. These people were able to supply Louisbourg with provisions, as no agricultural operations of importance were carried on in Cape Breton.

Wolfe destroyed the French settlements around the bays of Gaspé, Miramichi, and Chaleurs, while Colonel Monckton performed the same painful duty in the valley of the St. John River. Acadia, according to its "ancient limits," was at last completely in the possession of England.

The news of the capture of Louisbourg was received in America and Europe with many rejoicings, and the eleven stands of colours won at this gateway of Canada were deposited in St. Paul's Cathedral {245} amid the roar of cannon. This victory came at an opportune moment, since Abercromby had suffered a humiliating repulse on the banks of Lake Champlain. With a splendid force of regular and provincial troops, from fourteen to fifteen thousand altogether, but entirely destitute of artillery,--an evidence of extraordinary incapacity, or of culpable negligence,--he had thrown himself upon most formidable entrenchments of fallen trees, with their sharp ends pointing outwards, that the French had ingeniously constructed in front of Carillon, which was still incomplete, and defended by less than three thousand men under Montcalm and Lévis. The most unhappy incident of this disaster was the death of Lord Howe, described by Wolfe, who knew him well, "as the noblest Englishman that has appeared in my time, and the best soldier in the British army." Abercromby hurriedly retired to the head of Lake George, and was soon afterwards superseded by the cautious Amherst. Montcalm was greatly encouraged by the spirit of his soldiers throughout the attack, and erected a cross on the battle ground with the following inscriptions of his own--the latter his paraphrase of the first:

Quid dux? Quid miles? Quid strata ingentia ligna? En signum! en victor! Deus hîc, Deus ipse triumphat.

"Chrétien! ce ne fut point Montcalm et la prudence, Ces arbres renversés, ces héros, ces exploits, Qui des Anglais confus ont brisé l'espérance, C'est le bras de ton Dieu, vainqueur sur cette croix." [2]

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An important event of the year was the taking of Fort Frontenac by Colonel Bradstreet, who had assisted in the first siege of Louisbourg. The capture of this fort was regarded with every reason by the French as "of greater injury to the colony than the loss of a battle." Fort Duquesne, which was the key to the Ohio country, was abandoned by Ligneris on the approach of Brigadier Forbes, a very capable Scotch officer, but not until the French had beaten with considerable loss an advance of the main forces commanded by Major Grant. Ligneris withdrew his troops to Fort Machault (Venango), where he remained until the following year. Fort Duquesne was renamed in honour of Pitt, and a great manufacturing city has grown up on its site in the beautiful valley which, in 1758, passed away forever from the French who had only held possession of it for six short years.

[1] His full name was Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm-Gozon de Saint-Véran, whose family seat was Candiac, near Nismes, in the south of France.

[2] Parkman gives the following paraphrase of the Latin inscription;

"Soldier and chief and ramparts' strength are nought; Behold the conquering cross! 'T is God the triumph wrought."

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XVIII.

THE STRUGGLE FOR DOMINION IN THE VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE--CANADA IS WON BY WOLFE ON THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM.

(1759-1763.)

When the campaign opened in 1759 the French had probably under arms in Canada not far from twenty thousand men, regulars, militia, and Indians--one-fifth only being French regiments. At Detroit there was a very insignificant garrison, as it was of minor importance compared with Niagara, which was the key to the Lakes and West. Here Pouchot, an able officer, who has given us an interesting memoir of the war, was stationed, with authority to call to his assistance the French forces at Presqu'ile, Le Boeuf, and Venango--some three thousand men altogether, made up mostly of colonial forces and Indian auxiliaries. At Fort Rouillé (Toronto) there was no force worth mentioning, as it was a mere dependency of Niagara. Fort Frontenac had been destroyed by the English, and the French had no posts from that point as far as Montreal except at {248} Point-au-Baril (near Ogdensburgh), and Île Galops, by the side of the well-known rapids of that name. The security of Montreal depended mainly on the French continuing to hold control of Lake Champlain, and Île-aux-Noix which they now set to work to fortify. Bourlamaque, an able officer, was in command at the French forts of the lake with a force of over two thousand men, of whom one-half were Canadian, and had orders to abandon Carillon and Crown Point, if necessary, and advance to Île-aux-Noix. At Quebec, probably fourteen thousand men, of whom four thousand were the pick of the French regiments in Canada, were under command of Montcalm, Lévis, and Vaudreuil, and were entrenched on a height of land stretching for nearly six miles from the St. Charles River, to the southeast of the fortress, as far as Montmorency River, where its current rushes wildly forward for its tremendous leap of over two hundred and fifty feet into a deep and rocky abyss, and forms that glistening sheet of billowy foam which, seen from a distance, resembles a snowdrift suspended in air. The fortifications of Quebec had been strengthened for some years back, and its defences were entrusted to Ramesay, who had led a force to Nova Scotia in the year of the Duke d'Anville's disastrous expedition. The city was ill-provided with provisions for any sustained siege, despite the opportune arrival of some relief from France in the spring. The whole country had been impoverished by the continuous drain on the agricultural and labouring population during the war, and the Canadians themselves began {249} to lose courage, and assembled at the call of the authorities with less spirit than they had hitherto shown. Canada was literally on the brink of ruin, after so many years of war and privation. Corruption had eaten into the very body of Canadian life and government. The Intendant Bigot had been for years amassing riches at the expense of the country, and had, in imitation of his lord and master at Versailles, his fair Canadian Pompadour to bedeck with jewels and favours from the proceeds {250} of his ill-gotten gains. The names of Péan, Varin, Cadet, Estèbe, and Clavery are the most conspicuous amongst those officials who became rich on Canadian misery and misfortune, and are dishonourably associated with the darkest hours of Canadian history. "What a country," said Montcalm, "where all the knaves grow rich, and honest men are ruined." Not the least discouraging feature of matters in Canada at this critical time, when unity and harmony were so necessary, was the jealousy that Governor de Vaudreuil, a weak, vain man, but honest and attached to his native province, entertained of Montcalm, who was himself imbued by the loftiest spirit that could animate a brave soldier and loyal Frenchman.

It was decided that the army under General Wolfe, less than nine thousand men, and the fleet under Admiral Saunders, should attack Quebec; that the Commander-in-Chief, Amherst, should advance against Montreal by way of Lake Champlain, and that Brigadier Prideaux and Sir William Johnson should lead a considerable force against Niagara. The English fleet arrived before Quebec on the 20th June, and no time was lost in commencing operations against the fortress. Wolfe was well supported by such able soldiers as Monckton, Murray, and Carleton, the latter of whom became famous in later Canadian history as Lord Dorchester. Brigadier Townsend, however capable, was irritable and egotistic. The soldiers admired Wolfe for his soldierly qualities, and loved him for his thoughtfulness for everyone above or below him. Admiral Saunders {252} was well aided by Holmes and Durell, and gave a loyal and ready response to the plans of Wolfe. The regiments had seen service at Louisbourg, and were fully animated by the courage and spirit of their general. The siege lasted for eleven weeks, and was then only ended by an act of boldness on the part of Wolfe, which took the French entirely by surprise.

The principal events between the 26th June and the 12th September, when the last act in this great international drama was played, can be described in a few pages. One of the most important incidents was the occupation by the English of the heights of Lévis, whence the fortress was bombarded with an effectiveness that surprised the French, who, under the advice of Vaudreuil, and in opposition to that of Montcalm, had not taken adequate measures for the protection of so valuable a position. So destructive was the bombardment that, when the English took possession of Quebec, they found all the churches and buildings of importance in ruins, and the Ursuline Convent alone was saved from complete destruction.

The English sustained a severe repulse near the Montmorency end of the French lines. They had made an attack on an outwork at that point, and the grenadiers had been carried away by excitement and dashed up the slope of the heights, where from twelve to fourteen thousand French soldiers were strongly intrenched. A furious storm of bullets assailed the reckless and brave grenadiers, who could not even gain a firm footing on the slippery slope, {253} while the rain came down in torrents, and their blood reddened the rivulets of water. This was, however, the only serious disaster that the English suffered throughout the siege. The fire ships of the French had been ill-managed, and failed to do any damage as they were sent down against the fleet. Montcalm, sure of his impregnable position, refused to be drawn from his intrenchments and to offer battle to Wolfe. He knew that delay was everything to him, for the autumn was drawing near. In a few weeks storm and frost would drive the Englishmen from the river. Wherever Montcalm looked, his position seemed unassailable. The high cliffs that stretched for miles above Quebec offered a guaranty of security in that direction, and to prevent any doubt, Bougainville, a capable officer--in later years famous as a navigator--was on the alert with a force of upwards of two thousand soldiers. He had double work to do, to guard these apparently impregnable cliffs, and to assure the arrival of provisions from the country by river and land. It was the expected arrival of a convoy of provisions that proved an important factor in the successful accomplishment of a plan that Wolfe had devised for the capture of the city.

While the siege was in progress, the news from the west and from Lake Champlain was discouraging for the French. Niagara had been surrendered by Pouchot to Sir William Johnson, who had taken command on the death of Prideaux--killed at the beginning of operations--and a large force that was brought up by Ligneris from the Ohio valley to {254} succour the post had been severely defeated. Crown Point and Ticonderoga had been abandoned by Bourlamaque, and there was for a time some expectation of the advance of Amherst to the St. Lawrence; Montcalm was obliged to weaken his army by sending his ablest general, Lévis, with a force of fifteen hundred men, to look after the defences of Montreal, but the sluggish English general wasted his time on the banks of Lake Champlain.

It was quite clear to Wolfe and Saunders that Amherst was not to give them any assistance in the difficult work before them. It was on the night of the 12th of September that Wolfe carried out the project which had been for some time forming in his mind. He had managed to concentrate a force of four thousand men above the fortress without awakening the suspicions of the French, who were confident that Bougainville was fully able to prevent any force from attempting so impossible and foolhardy an exploit as the ascent of the high cliffs. The visitor to the historic places around Quebec will be deeply interested in a cove, just above Sillery, now known as Wolfe's Cove, but in old times as the Anse-au-Foulon. A zig-zag and difficult path led from this cove to the top of the height, and Wolfe conceived the hope that it was possible to gain access in this way to the table-land where he could best give battle to Montcalm. He saw that the cliff at this point was defended by only a small guard, under the command, as it afterwards appeared, of Vergor, who had been tried and acquitted for his questionable surrender of Beauséjour. When the {255} English boats dropped down the river with the tide at midnight, on the 12th of September, there was no moon, and the stars alone gave a faint light. Montcalm had no conception of the importance of the movement of troops which, it had been reported to him, was going on for some days above Quebec, and his attention was diverted by the constant bombardment on the town from Lévis, and a fierce cannonading that was kept up against Beauport by Saunders. Wolfe's thoughts on that memorable night as his boat passed under the shadow of the dark cliff, we can imagine from an incident that is related by one who was present. Hardly a dip of an oar was heard from the flotilla as it was borne down the river, but from Beauport and Lévis came the constant roar of cannon. Every moment was carrying him to fame and death, and perhaps it was some foreboding of his fate that led him to repeat the words of Gray's Elegy, which from that hour has become more famous in English literature:

"The boast of heraldy, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike th' inevitable hour; The paths of glory lead but to the grave."