CHAPTER II.

The campaign of 1755 had opened with evil promise for the cause of France in the Western world; four formidable armies were arrayed to check her progress, and turn back the tide of war upon her own territory. A powerful fleet, under the brave and vigilant Boscawen, swept the Atlantic coast, insulted her eastern harbors, and captured her re-enforcements and supplies. The doubtful allegiance of many of her Indian neighbors was far overbalanced by the avowed hostility of others no less numerous and powerful.

But the close of the year presented results very different from those that might have been anticipated. Braddock was defeated and slain; the whole of that vast Valley of the Mississippi, whose unequaled fertility is now the wonder of mankind, had been freed from the presence of a British soldier by one decisive victory. Niagara was strengthened and unassailed; Crown Point had not been compromised by Johnson's partial success. The undisputed superiority upon Lake Ontario was upon the Canadian shore. From dangerous foes, or almost as dangerous friends, the forest tribes had generally become zealous allies, and thrown themselves with ready policy into the apparently preponderating scale; the ruined settlements and diminished numbers of the British frontier colonists marked the cruel efficiency of their co-operation. Notwithstanding the check of the Baron Dieskau's detachment, there still remained to the French more than 3000 regular troops, with a large force of the Canadian militia, who were in some respects even better qualified for forest warfare than their veteran brethren from the mother country. All these, united under one able chief, formed a much more formidable military power than the English colonies, with their jarring interests and independent commanders, could bring forward. Nova Scotia, again severed from the territories of New France, and the Acadian peasants reduced to British rule, formed but a slight offset to these hostile gains.

The civil progress of the French colony was, however, far from satisfactory. For two years past the scarcity of grain and other provisions had almost amounted to famine. The inhabitants of the country, constantly employed in warfare against their English neighbors were forced to neglect the cultivation of the soil, till absence from their own homesteads was almost as ruinous to themselves as their destructive presence to the enemy. Although the scanty supply of corn was too well known, the intendant Bigot, with infamous avarice, shipped off vast quantities of wheat to the West Indies for his own gain and that of his creatures. The price of food rose enormously, and the commerce of the country, hampered by selfish and stupid restrictions, rapidly declined.

The Marquis de Vaudreuil de Cavagnac, the successor of the Marquis du Quesne as governor, soon lost the confidence of his people. To him they had looked hopefully and earnestly for protection against the fatal monopolies of the Merchant Company, but they found that he readily sanctioned the oppression under which they suffered, and, indeed, rather increased its severity. Great stores of wheat had been purchased from the settlers by the company in anticipation of a scarcity; when they had obtained a sufficient quantity to command the market, they arranged with the intendant to fix the price at an immense advance, which was maintained in spite of the misery and clamors of the people. Again, the intendant pretended that the dearth was caused by the farmers having secreted their grain, and, in consequence, he issued an order that the city and troops should be immediately supplied at a very low rate, and those who would not submit to these nefarious conditions had their corn seized and confiscated without any remuneration whatever.

Abuses and peculations disgraced every department of the public service; the example set in high places was faithfully followed by the petty officials all over the colony. The commissaries who had the supply of the distant posts enriched themselves at the cost of the mother country; and, to the detriment of the hardy and adventurous men occupying those remote and dreary settlements, boats were not allowed to visit them without paying such heavy fees that the venture became ruinous, and thus the trade was soon altogether confined to the commissaries.

Vessels sent to Miramichi with provisions for the unfortunate Acadians, returned loaded with that people, who, faithful to their king and nation, had left their happy homes, refusing the proffered protection of their conquerors. When they reached Quebec they met with a cruel reception. The intendant gave to a creature named Cadet the office of ministering to their wants. This heartless man shamefully abused the trust, and only considered it as a means of selfish profit, providing them with unwholesome and insufficient food: thus many fell victims to his cruel avarice. Some, indeed, who settled on lands belonging to the governor or his favorites, were amply supplied, for the private advantage of the proprietors.

Loud and constant were the complaints of the colonists against these shameful abuses of power; but they fell either upon ears determined not to hear, or were misrepresented and refracted by the medium through which they passed. The outer aspect of New France was bold and formidable, but within all was corruption, languor, and decay. The seignorial tenure[62] and the custom law of Paris fatally embarrassed agricultural improvement, and the monopoly of the Merchant Company paralyzed trade. The absolute system of government, and the intrusive exercise of imperial power in even the most trivial matters of colonial interest, cramped individual energy by the constraining force of centralization. The military[63] system of feudal organization turned the plow-shares and reaping-hooks of the most active among the population into weapons of war, and the settlements, that were little else than scattered barracks for troops, made but small progress in the truly glorious war against the desolation of the wilderness. While the hardy _voyageurs_ of the Ottawa and the farmers of the rich Valley of the St. Lawrence reaped the laurels of the bloody fight at Fort du Quesne, the canoes, once richly laden with the furs of the Western country, floated idly in the stream, and the exuberant soil by the banks of the Great River was overrun with a harvest of useless or noxious weeds. Thus it was that, while the military superstructure of this great French colony was strong and imposing, the social and political foundations were false and feeble.

On the other hand, the dangerous British rivals had rapidly advanced to prosperity and to the possession of formidable resources. The State of Massachusetts alone mustered 40,000 men capable of bearing arms, by one third a greater number than all Canada could produce. The militia of Connecticut was 27,000 strong, and that of New Hampshire and Rhode Island also considerable. Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other states were also in themselves powerful, but in military matters New England ever took the lead. The sturdy Nonconformists who first peopled that country had been long accustomed to encounter and overcome difficulties: they had continually waged a war of mutual extermination with the Indians. The unbending spirit of their ancestors lost nothing under such training. Each separate settlement possessed an independent vitality; the habit of self-government engendered a feeling of confidence in their own power, and they who had marched with steady step over the barriers of an almost impenetrable forest, and swept away the warlike hordes of its savage inhabitants, were no mean foes to match even against the brilliant chivalry of France.

The peculiar and distinct institutions of these British colonies, while they fostered the development of individual energy and stimulated general prosperity, forbade, at the same time, that compact and centralized organization which rendered the external power of New France so formidable. It was difficult or impossible to unite all the different states in one great effort, and hopeless to induce them to act in concert. The borderers of Maine or Massachusetts heard with almost indifference of Indian massacres upon the banks of the Susquehanna, and the men of Virginia felt but little sympathy with the victors of the north. English colonization had already progressed to unheard of prosperity in its component parts, in spite of its utter want of large and comprehensive system, while that of France, planned on a scheme of magnificent ambition, had proved but a sickly exotic under the over-anxious care of the founders. In the one, powerful elements formed but a disjointed and unwieldy aggregate; in the other, indifferent materials were rendered strong by the firm frame-work in which they were united.

The defensive power of the British colonies was, however, very great. In cases of real peril, when the farmer tore himself from his fields, the merchant from his store-house, and the hunter from the chase, a militia formidable in numbers and composition was at the service of the state, while the vast extent and the scattered situations of the settlements would have rendered complete conquest difficult, and occupation impossible.

The campaign of 1756 opened with a partial success of the French arms. The Marquis de Vaudreuil had learned that the British had erected a chain of small forts to protect their route to Oswego, and that they purposed building ships at that port to command the navigation of Lake Ontario, and thus break up the chain of his communications. He therefore ordered a detachment of about 350 Canadians and Indians, under M. Chaussegros de Lery, to march to Montreal, from whence they proceeded westward on the 17th of March.

After a harassing journey of great length through the wilderness, they came upon one of the small English forts on the Oswego route, garrisoned by Lieutenant Bull and twenty-five men. The British officer at once rejected the proposal of a capitulation, and prepared to offer a vigorous resistance; he was, however, speedily overpowered, and he and his little party, with the exception of two, were massacred and scalped by the Indians, whose ferocity could not be repressed; the fort was then blown up, and the ammunition destroyed.

The French, fully alive to the danger of allowing their enemies to hold possession of the important position of Oswego, were determined to spare no efforts to drive them away. Another expedition was accordingly prepared to accomplish this grand object, consisting of 300 men, led by M. de Villiers. They proceeded to within a short distance of Oswego, where they constructed a small fort, placed among the dense woods in such a manner as to be unseen by the enemy: from this hiding-place they frequently intercepted parties with provisions destined for Oswego. When the Iroquois became aware of the designs of the French, they summoned Sir William Johnson, whom they greatly respected, to meet them in council, for the purpose of considering the means of diverting hostilities from their country. He strongly advised them, if possible, to prevent the attack upon the fort, and thus avoid a war that would deluge the frontier with blood. Pursuing this counsel, they dispatched thirty deputies to Montreal to assure M. de Vaudreuil that they wished to preserve the strictest neutrality, and to entreat him not to draw the sword in their country or interrupt their communications. The governor answered that he would seek his enemies wherever he could find them, but that the people of the Five Nations should be protected from every insult as long as they did not join the English.

From this time the war was to assume a more important form, and new and more illustrious actors were to appear upon the stage. The British government[64] determined to increase its efforts in North America; and as the Earl of Loudon, lately appointed general-in-chief of the forces on that continent, was unavoidably detained in England for some time, Major-general Abercromby was ordered to precede him and hold command until his arrival. Lord Loudon was intrusted with extraordinary powers, to enable him to promote the essential object of union among the English colonies; he was also appointed governor of Virginia, and made colonel of a regiment of four battalions, chiefly officered by foreigners, called the Royal American.[65]

In the mean time, the preparations were made in British America to forward the execution of the plans[66] recommended by the great council of war, and the militia of the several provinces were assembled at Albany, where they awaited the arrival of the English general. Abercromby did not reach the army till the latter end of June, 1756, and at that time only brought with him two regiments, the 35th and the 42d, or Murray's Highlanders. The British troops in North America at this time consisted of those two corps, the 44th and 48th of the line, Shirley's and Pepperel's battalions, eight independent companies from New York and Carolina, and a large body of the Provincial militia.

General Abercromby considered the force under his command insufficient to carry out the extensive schemes recommended by the council at Albany; he was, however, cordially agreed with them upon the advantages to be gained by their execution. Desirous to avoid responsibility, he determined to await the arrival of the commander-in-chief, but in the mean time he marched the Provincial forces upon Fort William Henry, under the command of General Winslow,[67] who there awaited re-enforcements previous to his advance against Crown Point.

In the West, however, British energy and courage found employment under the able and adventurous Lieutenant-colonel Bradstreet. He determined to execute, as far as in his power lay, the resolves of the council at Albany, and left Schenectady with about 300 boatmen, bearing supplies and military stores to strengthen the important post of Oswego. His detachment consisted of raw Irish recruits, utterly unacquainted with discipline, and unaccustomed to the sight of an enemy; but their native courage overcame all disadvantages, and they bravely did their duty, as their countrymen have ever done when striving for a good cause, and led by a worthy chief. Bradstreet passed in safety up the Onondaga River, reached Oswego, and accomplished his object. The French, being apprized of this expedition, collected in force some miles to the eastward of Oswego, and detached 700 men to intercept their enemy. Happily, however, they became embarrassed in the tangled wilderness, and lost their way: when, at last, after much difficulty, they reached the banks of the Onondaga, the English had already passed up the stream in safety. They well knew, however, that Bradstreet must soon return by the same route; they therefore patiently awaited their opportunity, concealed beneath the favoring cloak of the dense forests surrounding the river.

The English chief--either informed of this ambuscade, or mistrusting the facility with which the dangerous navigation had been before accomplished--took the only precaution his difficult position permitted. To scour the neighborhood of the rapid stream with light troops would have been impossible, owing to the thick underwood every where arresting the human foot; and yet, from each dark clump of cedars, or from behind each projecting crag on the rugged banks, he might at any moment expect to see the deadly flash of the Canadian musket, and to hear the war-whoop of the savage. Bradstreet therefore determined on the precaution of proceeding in three divisions of canoes, within easy distances of each other; that thus, if any one were attacked, his stout boatmen might land from the others, and on equal terms encounter the assailants on the shore. He entered the first canoe; his gallant men followed with somewhat tumultuous good will. The day of their departure was the 3d of July; in that burning season the stream was low and difficult of navigation, and the stately trees and luxuriant underwood, rich in leafy honors, afforded complete concealment to the dangerous enemy.

For nine miles the party forced their way up the Onondaga, laboriously but without interruption; at length they reached a spot where the waters flow in shallow rapids past a small island, and the dense woods throw their shade over the very margin of the stream. Suddenly, from the north shore, a loud volley, and a louder yell, broke through the silence of the wilderness. This first fire fell with deadly effect upon the leading division; but Bradstreet, with six of the survivors, forced their canoes quickly across the eddying current toward the island. Twenty of the enemy had at the same time plunged into the river, and, taking advantage of the ford, arrived before him; nevertheless, Bradstreet threw himself on shore, and with desperate courage faced the foe. After a sharp struggle, he even dislodged them from the island, and drove them back upon the main land. When the remaining canoes of the advanced division joined, his little force amounted to no more than twenty men. The French, enraged at their first repulse, vigorously renewed the attack with doubled numbers, but they were again beaten, and, leaving many of their foremost dead in the stream, returned to the shelter of the shore. A third time, however, the assailants, brave even in defeat, pushed across the ford with seventy men, and threw themselves upon the little knot of English. For nearly an hour, with fiery courage on the one side and stubborn resolution on the other, they fought among the rocks and trees, till the secluded spot, where perhaps human foot had never before trodden, was red with human blood. At length the French gave way, and, scattered and depressed, fell back upon the main body of their countrymen.

While this stout fight was raging on the little island, the boatmen of the remaining divisions had landed in safety lower down on the southern shore, and moved in good order to the support of their hard-pressed comrades. The main body of the French pressed rapidly along the opposite bank toward another ford about a mile higher up the river, and many succeeded in crossing before Bradstreet's stout boatmen could intercept them. By this time, however, the British leader had arrived from the little island, and put himself at the head of his two last divisions. With prompt determination he threw himself upon the French advance, and, bravely supported by his followers, after a stubborn strife, forced it back into the river. Many of the conquered were struck down by the English marksmen in the close bush-fight, and even a greater number perished in their hurried passage of the stream.

In Bradstreet's absence, another large body of the French swarmed across the ford by the little island where they had been before repeatedly repulsed, but this last effort was even more disastrous than the preceding. Before they could form in the tangled swamps, the boatmen and their gallant chief came down at a running pace, flushed with recent success. One short struggle on the woody bank, and the assailants were forced back in utter rout. The remainder of the enemy dispersed in the forest and attacked no more, but above 100 of their number had perished in the stream or had fallen by the sword, while seventy prisoners and a great quantity of arms rewarded the successful valor of the conquerors. Many of the French regular soldiers, strangers to the American wilderness, became bewildered in its mazes, and died miserably of starvation. On the other hand, no less than sixty of Bradstreet's boatmen were killed and wounded in this gallant action.[68]

The English were too much fatigued and weakened by their hard-won victory to venture on pursuit, and prepared to rest that night upon the battle-field; they were, however, soon aroused by the approach of a body of troops, which, to their great joy, proved to be a detachment of their own grenadiers, on the march to Oswego, and the next morning 200 men also joined them from that garrison. But, in the mean time, the rain had poured down in torrents, and the stream of the Onondaga swelled to an angry flood; to cross and follow up their success was therefore impossible, and the remnant of the French found refuge in their vessels on the waters of Lake Ontario. After a time, when the subsiding flood permitted, the detachment and the grenadiers descended the river to Oswego, and the victorious boatmen, with their leader, pushed on for Schenectady, where they arrived in safety on the 14th of July. The following day Bradstreet set out for Albany to warn General Abercromby of the designs of the French against Oswego: the prisoners had informed him that a force of 1200 men was encamped on the shores of the lake, not far from the eastern fort of that port, where the thick covert of the forest concealed them from the British garrison. Abercromby at once ordered the remains of the 44th regiment, under Colonel Webb, to hasten to Oswego, but, owing to the interference of the Provincial governors,[69] a fatal delay intervened before this corps was put in motion.

On the 26th of July Lord Loudon arrived at New York from Europe; on the 29th he reached Albany, and assumed the command of the army. He found a body of nearly 3000 regular troops, besides a large Provincial force, under his orders at Albany[70] and Schenectady, including the survivors of the two unfortunate regiments which had been crippled and broken in Braddock's disaster.[71] In the fort of Oswego[72] were mustered 1400 bayonets, principally of Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, besides sailors and peasants,[73] and nearly 500 men, in scattered detachments, preserved the difficult communications through the Iroquois territories.

On the other hand, the French held Crown Point and Ticonderoga with 3000 veterans, and found means to assemble a still more formidable force at Fort Frontenac for the purpose of attacking Oswego.

This year had arrived at Quebec from France a large body of regulars, under the command of the MARQUIS DE MONTCALM, with the Brigadier de Levi, and Colonel de Bourlemaque. Montcalm remained but a few days at Quebec, and then hastened on with his veteran re-enforcements to strengthen the force destined to act against Oswego. Rigaud de Vaudreuil, with a large body of Canadian militia raised at Montreal, was detached as the vanguard of the army, and arrived undiscovered on the 9th of August within a mile and a half of the British position; on the night of the 10th the first division also arrived; on the 12th, at midnight, the second division joined. Then the French chief, having made all necessary preparations, opened his trenches before Fort Ontario,[74] which was situated at the opposite side of the river from the important position of Oswego.

From break of day until six in the evening Montcalm kept up a heavy fire, which was vigorously replied to by the defenders; then, however, the resistance suddenly ceased. The unpardonable neglect of the British authorities had left this important post almost unprovided with ammunition, and in the hour of extremest need the scanty supply failed. Further defense was impossible; the survivors of the little garrison spiked their cannon, and retreated without interruption to the neighboring position of Fort Oswego, on the opposite side of the river. When the French perceived that the defenders had yielded the post, they quickly took possession, and turned such of the guns as in the hurry of retreat had been still left uninjured upon the walls of the remaining stronghold. The defenses of the feeble fort soon crumbled beneath the crushing fire from Montcalm's battering train and the now hostile guns of Fort Ontario. Colonel Mercer, the English chief, and many of his men, were struck down, and the remainder, hopeless of a successful defense, surrendered upon not unfavorable terms on the evening of the 14th of August.

Seven armed vessels, mounting from 8 to 18 guns each, 200 bateaux, a vast quantity of provisions and warlike stores, with 1200 prisoners,[75] were gained by the victors; and for a brief space, several British flags, the unwonted trophies of French conquest, decked with drooping folds the walls of the Canadian churches. This brilliant and important success was, however, stained by cruelty and doubtful faith.[76] Notwithstanding the terms of the capitulation, the savages were permitted to plunder all, and massacre many of the captives;[77] and, to the shame of Montcalm, the sick and wounded who had been intrusted to his protection were slain and scalped under the Indian knife. The remaining prisoners, however, were escorted to Montreal, where they were treated with kindness and consideration, and soon afterward exchanged.[78] The French, having demolished the works at Oswego, returned to the eastern part of the province.

This conquest established Montcalm's already rising reputation. Canada rejoiced, and the British colonies were proportionately discouraged. The sad news was first carried to Albany by some French deserters, but remained unconfirmed for several days, till two sailors arrived who had escaped subsequently to the disaster. Indian rumor was also busy with the melancholy tale. It was for a time believed that the whole garrison of Oswego had been put to the sword,[79] and that the bodies of the slain were left unburied upon the desolate shores of Lake Ontario. A panic spread. Colonel Webb, with the 44th regiment, nearly 900 strong, and 800 boatmen, stopped short in his advance, now useless through culpable delay, and employed his whole force in felling trees to block up the navigation of the important passage of Wood Creek,[80] while the French, equally anxious to avoid collision, performed a similar labor higher up the river.

The province of New York was the first to suffer by the unhappy loss of Oswego, and the pusillanimous retreat of Webb. The rich and beautiful settlements called the German Flats were speedily desolated by the Indians and the scarcely less vindictive Canadians; the crops were destroyed, the houses and homesteads burned, and such of the inhabitants as could not escape were captured, or slain and scalped.

It has been before stated that all the resources of the British colonies were taxed to enable General Winslow to act against Crown Point, with a view to master the important navigation of Lake Champlain, and to demolish the French forts upon its shores,[81] but these preparations produced no results beyond that of strengthening Forts Edward and William Henry. No blow was struck,[82] notwithstanding the opportunity afforded by the withdrawal of nearly all the French regular troops from that neighborhood to aid the Oswego expedition. The inglorious campaign concluded by the retirement of the British regiments of the line to Albany, and the return of the Provincials to their several localities.

But while the genius and good fortune of Montcalm raised the military reputation of New France and strengthened her external power, tyranny and corruption withered her budding prosperity, and blighted it with premature decay. The paltry peculations and narrow despotism of the petty magnates of colonial government are nauseous and ungrateful subjects. The "habitans" were oppressed and plundered, the troops were defrauded of their hard-earned stipend, traders were ground down under infamous extortions, and the unhappy Acadian refugees robbed of the generous bounties of the state. Eminent among the perpetrators of these shameless wrongs stood Bigot, the intendant; Cadet and others of his creatures were worthy of their principal. A scarcity almost amounting to famine, which inflicted the severest privations upon the colony, was again seized as an opportunity of gain by these relentless men, under the pretense of the general good; great stores of provisions were bought by them at a low, compulsory price, and resold at an enormous advance for their private benefit. Even the sacred calling of the missionaries did not in all instances preserve them from the taint of these unworthy acts; and where wealth, was thus largely and by such means increased, morals were naturally deteriorated.

The loss of Oswego was in some degree compensated to the English by the progress of Colonel Lawrence in Acadia, but sad it is to say that the stain of cruelty tainted our success, as it had the victory of Montcalm. When the French settlers refused to acknowledge allegiance to the British crown and laws, they were pursued with fire and sword, their villages and farms destroyed, and at last many thousands were suddenly shipped off, and dispersed among the Atlantic colonies, where friends and kinsfolk might never meet again; thus, to use the language of the time, "establishing peace and tranquillity throughout the whole province." In the ensuing February, some of these ill-fated Acadians with a few allied Indians, about 300 in all, unexpectedly sallied out upon the new English settlements, driven by desperation from the snowy forests; but Lieutenant-colonel Scott promptly called together an equal force of Provincials, and drove them back, with heavy loss, upon the inhospitable wilderness.

In the month of August of the year 1756, a small post on the borders of Pennsylvania, called Fort Granville, was surprised by a party of French and Indians, and the garrison carried into captivity. At the same time, the Moravian savages from the banks of the Ohio, rejoicing in the opportunity afforded by the contentions of the white men, suddenly burst upon the English western frontier, and massacred no less than 1000 of the scattered settlers. Then the thirst of vengeance burned among the hardy colonists. Infuriated rather than appalled by this horrid butchery, 280 men hastily assembled, and with untiring energy pushed on toward the rugged Alleganies to an Indian town called Kittaning, the rendezvous of the fierce marauders. The road was rude and difficult, the distance 150 miles, but the furious hatred of the pursuers spurred them forward, and on the morning of the fifth day the foremost scouts brought word that the Indian murderers were close at hand, celebrating their bloody triumph in songs and dances.

When morning light first chased away the darkness of the forest, the English Provincials burst upon the Indian camp. Armstrong, their leader, offered quarter, but the savages, conscious of their unpardonable cruelties, dared not submit. Then ensued a terrible slaughter; the Indians were beaten down in furious rage, or shot in attempting to fly, or shut up in their wooden huts and burned to death; some were seized and scalped, in horrible imitation of their own ferocity, and not a few were blown up and destroyed by the stores of ammunition they had collected during their late incursion. Terrible as was this vengeance, it availed but little. On almost every other part of the British frontiers, parties of the Indians, and their almost equally savage French allies, swarmed among the woods, concealed in ambush during the day, and by night busied in their bloody work.

In the mean time, the season had become too far advanced for the commencement of any important enterprise; the English colonies were divided in spirit, and all efforts for the general good were perpetually thwarted by jealousy and parsimony. Lord Loudon, with his armament, had not reached New York till the end of July; by that time little remained practicable but to strengthen some frontier forts, and push forward parties of observation into the French territories. Thus closed the campaign of 1756. England had a sorry account of her wasted blood and treasure in these Western wars; opportunities had been neglected, resources wasted, laurels lost.[83] The Indian trade and the commerce of the great lakes had been forfeited by the surrender of Oswego. To us only remained the barren boast of Bradstreet's gallant victory. The Indians were not slow to perceive the weakness of British councils, and Sir William Johnson's powerful influence was barely sufficient to restrain the politic Iroquois from openly declaring for the enemy.

[Footnote 62: See Appendix, No. LXIII.]

[Footnote 63: "Thus was introduced into America the feudal system, so long the ruin of Europe."--Raynal, vol. viii., p. 143.

"Nothing has reduced the families of the ancient French seigneurs to misery more than the division and subdivision of their lands by their own law; a law which, though it appears at first to breathe more the spirit of democracy than of monarchy, yet in fact is calculated for a military government only, because nobles so reduced can and will only live by the sword."--Gray's _Canada_, p. 346.]

[Footnote 64: "War was at length declared in form by Great Britain against France in May, 1756, and in the following month by France against Great Britain; and in the manifesto published by the latter, much pains were taken to contrast the moderation and equity of the court of Versailles with the intemperate violence of the court of London, and particularly stigmatizing the seizure of the French ships of war and commerce, before a declaration of war, as piracy and perfidy."--Belsham, vol. ii., p. 396.]

[Footnote 65: "The next object of the immediate attention of Parliament in this session (1755--May, 1756) was the raising of a new regiment of foot in North America, for which purpose the sum of L81,178 16s. was voted. This regiment, which was to consist of four battalions of 1000 men each, was intended to be raised chiefly out of the German and Swiss, who, for many years past, had annually transported themselves in great numbers to the British plantations in America, where waste lands had been assigned them upon the frontiers of the provinces; but, very injudiciously, no care had been taken to intermix them with the English inhabitants of the place, so that very few of them, even of those who have been born there, have yet learned to speak or understand the English tongue. However, as they were all zealous Protestants, and, in general, strong, hardy men, accustomed to the climate, it was judged that a regiment of good and faithful soldiers might be raised out of them, particularly proper to oppose the French; but to this end it was necessary to appoint some officers, especially subalterns, who understood military discipline and could speak the German language; and as a sufficient number of such could not be found among the English officers, it was necessary to bring over and grant commissions to several German and Swiss officers and engineers. But as this step, by the Act of Settlement, could not be taken without the authority of Parliament, an act was now passed for enabling his majesty to grant commissions to a certain number of foreign Protestants who had served abroad as officers or engineers, to act and rank as officers or engineers in America only. The Royal American Regiment is now the 60th Rifles."--Smollett's _History of England_, vol. iii., p. 483.]

[Footnote 66: The northern colonies were enabled to comply, in some degree, with the requisitions made on them, by having received from the British government, in the course of the summer, a considerable sum of money as a reimbursement for the extraordinary expenses of the preceding year. One hundred and fifteen thousand pounds had been apportioned among them, according to their respective exertions,[84] and this sum gave new vigor and energy to their councils.]

[Footnote 67: The command of the expedition against Crown Point was given to Major-general Winslow, whose conduct in Nova Scotia had very much increased both his reputation and his influence.--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 325.

Mr. Beckford thus speaks of General Winslow in a letter to Mr. Pitt, dated Fonthill, Dec. 18, 1758: "There is a brave, gallant officer, by name Winslow, who has acted as general in North America, and done signal service. This man is in England, and is only a captain on half pay. I wish you would think of him; he might furnish you with useful hints."--_Correspondence of the Earl of Chatham_, vol. i., p. 378.]

[Footnote 68: "Bradstreet had but three Indians of the Six Nations (Iroquois) with him at this attack. Of these, one took to his heels; a second fought bravely; but the third went over to the enemy, and assisted in pointing out our officers."--_A Review of the Military Operations in North America from 1753 to 1756._]

[Footnote 69: "Mr. Shirley and the Provincial chiefs wanted that Webb's (the 44th) and my regiment (the 48th) should march to Forts Edward and William Henry, taking it for granted that Oswego was in no danger."--_Letter from General Abercromby_, dated Albany, 10th of August, 1756.

"The detaching any troops to Oswego was strongly opposed by a party at Albany, who thought that while Crown Point remained in the hands of the French, there could be no security for the province of New York. General Winslow, who was to command an expedition against Crown Point, was already more than sufficiently strong for that purpose, yet this party insisted on his being re-enforced with two or three regiments of regular troops, and that an army should likewise remain at Albany to defend it, in case the troops sent against Crown Point should happen to be defeated. Nay, they strongly opposed the departure of the regiment which General Abercromby had already ordered for Oswego. Some of the New England colonies joined those of New York in this opposition, so that it was not without the greatest difficulty Lord Loudon, who did not think proper to do any thing material without their approbation, could so much as prevail on them to let Colonel Webb depart for Oswego; therefore it was the 12th of August before that officer could leave Albany; too late to save Oswego. Thus the public safety of the whole British empire in North America was made to yield to the private views of some leading people in the provinces of New England and New York."--Mante, p. 64.]

[Footnote 70: "The Provincials do not exceed 4000, mostly vagabonds picked up by the New Englanders at random, by the high premium given them in order to save themselves from service."--_Letter from General Abercromby_, Albany, 30th of August, 1756.]

[Footnote 71: The 44th (then Halket's, now Webb's) and the 48th (then Dunbar's, now Abercromby's). They were regiments that ran away at Preston Pans.]

[Footnote 72: "The garrison of Oswego was insensibly increased to 1400 men; only 700 had been left there by Mr. Shirley the autumn before."--Mante's _Hist. of the War_, p. 63.]

[Footnote 73: "The greatest part of Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments is there.... By all account, Shirley's and Pepperel's are by much the worst corps on this continent. With such troops, what can we do?"--_Letter from General Abercromby_, Albany, 30th of Aug., 1756.]

[Footnote 74: "General Shirley's troops, after the attack on Niagara was relinquished in the autumn of the preceding year, had been employed in the erection of two new forts, one of them 450 yards from the old Fort Oswego, and bearing the same name, the other on the opposite side of the Onondaga River, to be called Fort Ontario. They were erected on the south side of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Onondaga, and constituted a port of great importance. The garrison, as we have already observed, consisted of 1400 men, chiefly militia and new-raised recruits, under the command of Colonel Mercer, an officer of experience and courage; but the situation of the forts was very ill chosen, the materials mostly timber or logs of wood, the defenses wretchedly continued and unfinished, and, in a word, the place altogether untenable against any regular approach."--Smollett's _History of England_, vol. iii., p. 535.]

[Footnote 75: "Such an important magazine, deposited in a place altogether indefensible, and without the reach of immediate succor, was a flagrant proof of egregious folly, temerity, and misconduct."--Smollett's _Hist. of England_, vol. iii., p. 536.]

[Footnote 76: _Ibid._, p. 535.]

[Footnote 77: "Montcalm, in direct violation of the articles, as well as in contempt of common humanity, delivered up above twenty men of the garrison to the Indians, in lieu of the same number they had lost during the siege."--_Ibid._]

[Footnote 78: "The negligence and dilatoriness of our governors at home,[85] and the little-minded quarrels of the regulars and irregular forces,[86] have reduced our affairs in that part of the world (America) to a most deplorable state. Oswego, of ten times more importance even than Minorca, is so annihilated that we can not learn the particulars."--Walpole's _Letters to Sir H. Mann_, Nov. 4, 1756.]

[Footnote 79: "The massacre at Oswego happily proves a romance. Part of the two regiments[87] that were made prisoners there are actually arrived at Plymouth, the provisions at Quebec being too scanty to admit additional numbers."--Walpole's _Letters to Sir H. Mann_, Nov. 13, 1756.]

[Footnote 80: Wood Creek was one of the streams that formed a nearly uninterrupted water communication between Albany, in New York, and the mouth of the River Onondaga, where Oswego was situated.]

[Footnote 81: Crown Point, or Fort Frederic, and Ticonderoga, which had been lately fortified.]

[Footnote 82: Abercromby writes from Fort Edward, 30th of September, 1756; "Upon intelligence of the enemy's whole force being collected at Crown Point, in order to make an attempt on this fort or that of Fort William Henry, I arrived here the 26th with the Highlanders: to-morrow I shall have three regiments.... Our works here are far from being finished. However, though the fort is not finished we are throwing up lines, and shall be able to repel the enemy's force.--8th of Oct. Lord Loudon is now here: he has left Webb to take care of Otway's at Albany. General Winslow (he was at Fort William Henry) holds daily correspondence."]

[Footnote 83: Every where. "I see it with concern, considering who was Newcastle's associate" (he alludes to his friend Fox); "but this was the year of the worst administration that I have seen in England, for now Newcastle's incapacity[88] was left to its full play."--Walpole's _Memoirs_, vol. ii., p. 54.

"In the course of this unfortunate year, 1756, we were stripped of Minorca and Oswego (the East India Company, by the loss of Calcutta, received a blow which would have shaken an establishment of less strength to its foundation), we apprehended an invasion of Great Britain itself, our councils were torn to pieces by factions, and our military fame was every where in contempt."--_Annual Register._

Burke was the writer of the "History of Europe" in the early volumes of the _Annual Register_.]

[Footnote 84: To Massachusetts, L54,000; to Connecticut, L26,000; to New York, L15,000; to New Hampshire, L8000; to Rhode Island, L7000; to New Jersey, L5000,--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 328.]

[Footnote 85: The ministry of the Duke of Newcastle and Fox, which was forced out of office by the public indignation at the loss of Minorca, and on the 13th of Nov., 1756, Pitt kissed hands as secretary of state.]

[Footnote 86: "The regulations of the crown respecting rank had given great disgust in America, and rendered it extremely difficult to carry on any military operations which required a junction of British and Provincial troops. When consulted on this delicate subject, General Winslow assured General Abercromby of his apprehensions that, if the result of the junction should be placing the Provincials under British officers, it would produce very general discontent, and perhaps desertion. His officers concurred with him in this opinion. On the arrival of Lord Loudon, the subject was revived, and the colonial office gave the same opinion. The request that Lord Loudon would permit them to act separately was acceded to."--Marshall's _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 327.]

[Footnote 87: Shirley's and Pepperel's.]

[Footnote 88: "A minister the most incapable though the most ambitious, the weakest though the most insolent, the most pusillanimous though the most presumptuous"--Mr. Potter's _Speech in the House of Commons_. "It would, however, be injustice not to allow the Duke of Newcastle the merit of disinterestedness as to the emoluments of office, and of zeal for the general interests of his country."--Belsham, vol. ii., p. 381.]