volume 1, chapter 16.

_F. Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, volume 1, chapter 9._

CANADA: A. D. 1755 (October-November). Removal and dispersion in exile of the French Acadians.

See NOVA SCOTIA: A. D. 1755.

CANADA: A. D. 1756. Formal declarations of war. The "Seven Years War" of Europe, called the "French and Indian War" in British America. Montcalm sent from France.

"On the 18th of May, 1756, England, after a year of open hostility, at length declared war. She had attacked France by land and sea, turned loose her ships to prey on French commerce, and brought some 300 prizes into her ports. It was the act of a weak government, supplying by spasms of violence what it lacked in considerate resolution. France, no match for her amphibious enemy in the game of marine depredation, cried out in horror; and to emphasize her complaints and signalize a pretended good faith which her acts had belied, ostentatiously released a British frigate captured by her cruisers. She in her turn declared war on the 9th of June: and now began the most terrible conflict of the 18th century; one that convulsed Europe and shook America, India, the coasts of Africa, and the islands of the sea."

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1754-1755, and after; also GERMANY: A. D. 1755-1756, and after.

"Henceforth France was to turn her strength against her European foes; and the American war, the occasion of the universal outbreak, was to hold in her eyes a second place. ... Still, something must be done for the American war; at least there must be a new general to replace Dieskau. None of the court favorites wanted a command in the backwoods, and the minister of war was free to choose whom he would. His choice fell on Louis Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm-Gozon de Saint Véran. ... The Chevalier de Lévis, afterwards Marshal of France, was named as his second in command. ... The troops destined for Canada were only two battalions, one belonging to the regiment of La Sarre, and the other to that of Royal Roussillon. Louis XV. and Pompadour sent 100,000 men to fight the battles of Austria, and could spare but 1,200 to reinforce. New France." Montcalm, who reached Quebec in May, was placed in difficult relations with the governor-general, Vaudreuil, by the fact that the latter held command of the colonial troops. The forces in New France, were of three kinds,--"the 'troupes de terre,' troops of the line, or regulars from France; the 'troupes de la marine,' or colony regulars; and lastly the militia. {373} The first consisted of the four battalions that had come over with Dieskau and the two that had come with Montcalm, comprising in all a little less than 3,000 men. Besides these, the battalions of Artois and Bourgogne, to the number of 1,100 men, were in garrison at Louisbourg." This constituted Montcalm's command. The colony regulars and the militia remained subject to the orders of the governor, who manifested an early jealousy of Montcalm. The former troops numbered less than 2,000 men. "All the effective male population of Canada, from 15 years to 60, was enrolled in the militia. ... In 1750 the militia of all ranks counted about 13,000; and eight years later the number had increased to about 15,000. Until the last two years of the war, those employed in actual warfare were but few. ... To the white fighting force of the colony are to be added the red men. ... The military situation was somewhat perplexing. Iroquois spies had brought reports of great preparations on the part of the English. As neither party dared offend these wavering tribes, their warriors could pass with impunity from one to the other, and were paid by each for bringing information, not always trustworthy. They declared that the English were gathering in force to renew the attempt made by Johnson the year before against Crown Point and Ticonderoga, as well as that made by Shirley against Forts Frontenac and Niagara. Vaudreuil had spared no effort to meet the double danger. Lotbinière, a Canadian engineer, had been busied during the winter in fortifying Ticonderoga, while Pouchot, a captain in the battalion of Béarn, had rebuilt Niagara, and two French engineers were at work in strengthening the defenses of Frontenac. ... Indians presently brought word that 10,000 English were coming to attack Ticonderoga." Both Montcalm and Lévis, with troops, "hastened to the supposed scene of danger ... and reached Ticonderoga at the end of June. They found the fort ... advanced towards completion. It stood on the crown of the promontory. ... The rampart consisted of two parallel walls ten feet apart, built of the trunks of trees, and held together by transverse logs dovetailed at both ends, the space between being filled with earth and gravel well packed. Such was the first Fort Ticonderoga, or Carillon,--a structure quite distinct from the later fort of which the ruins still stand on the same spot. ... Ticonderoga was now the most advanced position of the French, and Crown Point, which had before held that perilous honor, was in the second line. ... The danger from the English proved to be still remote. ... Meanwhile, at the head of Lake George, the raw bands of ever-active New England, were mustering for the fray."

_F. Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, volume 1, chapter 11._

ALSO IN: _W. Kingsford, History of Canada,