Public School History of England and Canada/Canada/Chapter 2
CHAPTER II.
CANADA UNDER FRENCH RULE.
1. Indian Missions—To understand the history of Canada during the greater part of the sixteenth century, we must bear in mind that a two-fold object was constantly kept in view by the French kings: first, the establishment and extension of the colony at the expense of the English settlers in America: and secondly, the conversion of the Indians to the Roman Catholic faith. The French kings and their ministers wished to profit not only by the fur-trade of America, but to build up on this continent a colony where the religion of the Roman Catholic Church should be held and practised by the whole population, Indian as well as French.
By far the most interesting portion of the history of French Canada is the story of the Jesuit missions among the Indians. Full of holy zeal for the salvation of the Red men, missionary after missionary of the religious society called Jesuits, made his way to the Hurons in the Georgian Bay district, to the Algonquins to the north and up the Ottawa, and to the fierce Iroquois in the Mohawk Valley.
Among the Algonquins they suffered want and hardship, dwelling in wretched tents full of smoke and filth and often ill-treated and despised by the people they were trying to benefit. At first their efforts were of little avail; even the Hurons, the most intelligent, kindly, and well-to-do of the Indian tribes thought the missionaries brought them trouble in the shape of drought, sickness, and ill-success in hunting and war. But no amount of failure could discourage these patient and unselfish men. After a while the Indians began to respect them, and then came a general willingness to be baptized and to accept the religion taught by the missionaries. It was not long before nearly all the Hurons became converted to Christianity, and left off their heathen practices and habits. Two names will always be remembered in connection with these Huron missions, those of Father de Brébœuf and Father Lalement ; the first strong in frame, brave of heart, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship; the second, delicate, refined, loving, and unselfish. Other missionaries took their lives in their hands and went among the cruel and treacherous Iroquois, hoping to do some good to the fiercest enemies of the colony. But little, however, came of these missions. The Iroquois did not trust the French, and the missionaries after a brief stay were either murdered or compelled to escape for their lives. The name of Father Jogues, who suffered first, mutilation, and later on, death, at the hands of the Iroquois, is one that shines bright on the roll of Martyr missionaries.
2. Indian Wars.—The story of Indian missions is also a part of the story of Indian Wars. The Algonquins and the Hurons were the friends of the French, while the Iroquois were bent on the destruction of the feeble colony and its allies. The Hurons lived in populous villages between the Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, and were said to number thirty thousand people, most of whom accepted Christianity through the labors of Jesuit missionaries. St. Ionace, St. Louis, St. Joseph, and St. Marie, were among the most important of these missions. In 1648, St. Joseph was suprised by the Iroquois, while most of the Huron hunters and warriors were absent. Seven persons were captured and killed, the missionary, Father Daniel, meeting his fate while ministering to the dying. The next place to fall was St. Ignace; then St.Louis was attacked. Here Fathers Jean de Brébœuf and Gabriel Lalement, refusing to leave their helpless flocks, were made prisoners and put to the most cruel tortures. Brébœuf’s nails were torn from his fingers, his body hacked with knives, red hot hatchets hung round his neck, his gums seared, and finally his heart cut out, no word or token of pain escaping from his lips. His tortures lasted four hours. Lalement, so delicate, sensitive, and frail, was tortured for seventeen hours before his sufferings were ended in death. St. Marie was the next object of attack. It was manfully defended by a few Frenchmen and Hurons, and after a fierce conflict the Iroquois retreated.
The Huron missions were destroyed, and the people were scattered. An effort to transfer the missions to Isle St. Joseph or Christian Island, near Collingwood, and gather the terror-stricken Hurons together again, ended the following spring in another dreadful massacre on the mainland, by the Iroquois, where the Hurons had come in search of food for their starving families. Ten thousand Hurons had perished, a few came to Quebec with the missionaries, the rest were scattered far and wide among other tribes in the north, east and west. The once powerful, brave and intelligent Hurons, as a nation, ceased to exist; and with them perished the principal fruits of the Jesuit Missions.
3. Growth of New France.—Let us now return to what was going on in the colony, during this period of Indian strife and bloodshed. The Company of One Hundred Associates did not carry out what it had promised to do; very few settlers were brought out by it, and its attention was almost entirely taken up with the trade in furs. It sent out scarcely one thousand colonists, much less the six thousand it had promised. The population grew very slowly, so slowly that in 1662, it had less then two thousand souls. But a great interest was taken in the spiritual welfare of the colony, and out of this interest came the founding of Montreal as a mission, in 1642, by a number of devoted men and women, who came from France for that purpose. Here, the little band prayed and fought, for the Iroquois lay in wait, night and day, right under the guns of the rude fort to kill and scalp the unwary. Many a sad and heroic tale comes down to us of this troublous time. The story of Dulac des Ormeaux and his sixteen companions recalls the bravest deeds of the best days of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the year 1660, hearing that a large number of Iroquois were coming down the lakes and rivers to attack the feeble garrison on the St. Lawrence, these young men determined to sacrifice their lives and save the colony. They made their wills, confessed their sins, received the sacrament, and took a sad farewell of their friends in Montreal. Then, with a few Christian Hurons and Algonquins they took possession of an old fort near the Long Sault Rapids, on the Ottawa. Here they awaited the descent of the Iroquois, prepared to sell their lives dearly. Soon two hundred came down in their boats, and landing, attacked the little band in their hastily constructed breastwork of logs. For days the unequal struggle lasted. The Hurons deserted to the Iroquois in dismay. Dulac and his companions fought on until worn out with want of sleep and nourishment, the four that were left alive fell into the hands of the enraged savages. Three were mortally wounded and were burnt alive, the fourth was saved for Indian tortures. The Hurons who so basely deserted to the enemy found no mercy at the hands of the Iroquois, and were put todeath. Thus perished Dulac and his companions, but not without saving the colony. The Iroquois were checked and disheartened and for a time the settlement had peace.
The colony, as already stated, made slow progress. Governor after Governor was appointed to no purpose; the Company of One Hundred Associates was doing nothing to further its interests, and Indian raids threatened the very existence of the settlement. In 1659, the Abbé Laval came to Canada. His arrival marks a new era in the life of the colony. Zealous, devoted, able and enthusiastic, for many years he laboured in the interest of the Church, and his influence did much to mould the future of Canada. His first stay was a brief one; he was anxious to prevent the sale of brandy or “fire water” to the Indians, but the traders found it too profitable to be given up, although its effects on the Indians were frightful. Finally, Laval sailed to France to get the French King to stop the wretched traffic, and to have the Governor who refused to put the law in force against the offenders recalled.
4. Royal Government.—Up to this time fur companies aided by the leading clergy, had governed the colony. Now a change was decided upon. The One Hundred Associates lost their charter, and Canada was placed under the government of the French King. This change was due largely to the influence of Laval at the French Court, and took place in 1663. A Governor, Intendant, and Bishop were appointed, and these aided by a Supreme Council, acted under the instructions of the King. The Governor was at the head of military affairs; the Bishop, of Church affairs; and the Intendant, of legal and money affairs. The Governor and the Bishop appointed the members of the Council, at first four, but afterwards increased to twelve, in number. The Intendant made laws for the people, and published them at the church doors or from the pulpit. Even such small matters as pew rents, stray hogs, fast driving, family quarrels, were dealt with by him. The Bishop, too, took an active part in the affairs of the colony, and because the duties of the Governor, Bishop, and Intendant, were not very clearly stated, frequent quarrels took place between these, the chief officers of the King. The law in force was very different from the law of England, and is known as the Custom or Parts, the same law that prevailed at that time in France. It is still in force in Quebec Province and suits the French people better than our English laws. The colonists had nothing to say in making their own laws, they had no Parliaments or Municipal Councils, everything was managed for them by the King, through the Governor, Bishop, Intendant, and Supreme Council. To hear complaints and settle disputes, courts were established at Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal; these courts being under the control of the Supreme Council, and presided over by the “seigneurs” or holders of large tracts of land from the King by Feudal or Military tenure. These seigneurs were gentlemen who came out to Canada from France, enticed by the offer of large grants of land for which they paid by bringing out settlers and giving their services in time of war, in defence of the colony. They generally settled near Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal, along the banks of the St. Lawrence, so as to have the river always near at hand to bring in and take out what they bought and sold. Besides, when attacked by the Iroquois, they could more easily escape to one of the forts by water than by land.
5. Talon.—M. de Mezy, was the first Governor, Laval the first Bishop, and Talon the first Intendant. Talon was a very able man and used his power and talents in the interests of the colony. But, unfortunately Laval and the Governor could not agree, and De Mezy was recalled. A new Governor, De Courcelles, took his place; and about the same time the Marquis de Tracy was sent out with the famous Carignan regiment to help the colony in its struggles against the Iroquois. A number of settlers also came, bringing sheep, cattle, farm implements, and a few horses, so that the population was increased by two thousand persons. This new strength enabled the settlers to attack their enemies, the Iroquois, and two expeditions, the one in the winter, and the other the following summer, invaded the Mohawk territory, fired the villages of the Indians, and destroyed the stores of grain kept by them for a winter supply of food.
These attacks annoyed the Governor of New York, who thought it an invasion of English territory—but they had the effect of giving the colony peace for eighteen years. The Iroquois allowed missionaries to go to them, and some of them accepted their teachings, and became less barbarous. Canada now made better progress. Talon did his utmost to utilize the natural resources of the country and to promote trade with the West Indies. He also sent out exploring expeditions to Hudson’s Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi of which he had heard from the Indians. He induced many of the soldiers to settle in the colony, and gave grants of land to the officers and men. As women were few in number, the French Government sent out a large number of young women to become wives for the soldiers and settlers. As soon as these ship-loads of women arrived, the men who wanted wives came down to the vessels, and chose their partners. These curious marriages generally turned out well—the couples thus brought together living fairly happy and contented lives. Some serious drawbacks to the success of the colony must be noted. One was the sale of “fire-water” to the Indians and settlers, although Laval did his best to have it stopped. Another was the tendency of young men to take to the woods, to live and trade with the Indians. These “Cowrewrs du Bois,” as they were called, often became more savage than the Indians themselves, dressed in Indian fashion, and took Indian wives. Once used to this mode of life, it was found impossible to bring them to settle down and till the soil. The trade in furs was too profitable to be abandoned for civilized life. Then again, the colony suffered by its trade being placed in the hands of a few men, who enriched themselves at the expense of the people. So it happened that Canada did not grow as fast as the English colonies to the south of it, simply because the government did not allow the settlers sufficient freedom in managing their own affairs.
6. Discoveries in the Great West.—The Jesuit missionaries were the first explorers of the far West. They united the work of discovery with their mission labors, just as Livingstone and Moffat in recent years have done in Africa. Talon was anxious to prevent the English from extending their trade westward, and with this in view, he established trading-posts and missions at Sault Ste. Marie and other points. Before, however, his great plans could be carried out, he returned to France, and left to his successors the task of discovering and exploring the Mississippi.
Talon returned to France in 1672, and about the same time Courcelles the Governor also asked to be recalled. The new Governor, Louis de Buade Count de Frontenac, is the most striking figure in the history of New France. No Governor was so successful in his dealings with the Iroquois; they feared and respected him, at the same time giving him their regard and confidence. He treated them as children, threatening them with punishment if unruly, and rewarding and encouraging them if they behaved well. He made a great display of force when treating with them, and managed to impress them with the greatness and power of the French King, the “Great Father,” across the Big Waters. He was not so successful with his Counctt, for his hasty temper and haughty bearing, together with his attempts to control everything and everybody, led to many a scene in the Council Chamber, and caused bitter quarrels in the colony. His rule however, will be always remembered with gratitude for, as long as he was Governor, Canada was safe from Indian attacks. More important still were the discoveries in the west in his time by Joliet, a merchant, Marquette, a missionary, and Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. Father Marquette, who lived and labored among the Indians on the shores of Lake Superior and Michigan, was joined by Joliet, and these two brave men, in 1673, in bark canoes, with five men, went down the mighty Mississippi, until they reached the Arkansas river. Fearing to fall into the hands of the Spaniards, they returned and Joliet brought the news of his discoveries to Quebec. The story of his exploit filled La Salle, who had obtained a grant of land at Lachine (so-called it is said because La Salle thought the St. Lawrence led to China), with the desire to explore the West. Before Joliet made his great discovery, La Salle had found his way to the Ohio, although his doings at this time are not very well known. Courcelles had planned building a fort at the foot of Lake Ontario, where Kingston now stands, and his successor in office carried out his plan and founded Fort Frontenac. This fort served as a trading-post, and also as a check on the Iroquois in time of war. At first the fort was of wood—afterwards La Salle, in 1674, built it of stone and promised to keep it up, if he were granted the privilege of engaging in the furtrade. It was from this point that he set out to find his way to the Mississippi. After years spent in braving the dangers of the wilderness, and overcoming obstacles which would have daunted most men, he succeeded in 1682 in launching his canoes on the Father of Waters—the broad Mississippi. In the month of April he reached the Gulf of Mexico, and took possession of the Great South and West in the name of Louis XIV. under the title of Louisiana.
Five years after, La Salle was basely murdered by some treacherous followers, while engaged in a venture to found a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi.
7. Frontenac.—Let us now turn to what was going on in Canada under Frontenac’s rule. The colony was at peace with the Indians; but Frontenac quarrelled with his Intendant, with the Governor of Montreal, with Laval and the Jesuits, in fact with everybody that would not do as he wished. His conduct was so violent and unjust, that many complaints were made to the King. Laval and the missionaries were anxious to stop the sale of liquor to the Indians, but Frontenac was too greedy of gain to forbid it. At last, after ten years of disputing and wrangling, the King grew wearied and Frontenac was recalled (1682).
But not for long. The Iroquois were soon on the war-path again, incited by the Governor of New York, Colonel Dongan. The English colonists were anxious to take away from the French the trade with the Indians, and they generally succeeded in keeping on good terms with the Iroquois, who saw that the English colonies were growing much more rapidly than the French settlement. It needed but the treachery of Denonyille, one of Frontenac's successors, to bring on the colony a terrible calamity. To gratify a whim of the King, he seized at Fort Frontenac fifty Iroquois chiefs, who had come to a friendly meeting, and sent them in chains to France to work at the galleys. He followed up this outrage by leading two thousand men into the country of the Senecas, one of the five nations of the Iroquois. For several days he pillaged and burned their villages, destroying their food supplies, and putting many to death.
The Five Nations soon united to punish the French. Fort Niagara at the mouth of the Niagara River, and but recently built, was levelled to the ground. Fort Frontenac had to be abandoned and burnt, with all its stores and trading vessels. The Island of Montreal was surprised and more than a thousand of its inhabitants were killed or earried off prisoners for further torture. This is the Massacre of Lachine, 1689. The colony was in despair, and its people had to take shelter in the forts of Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal.
To save the colony from perishing Frontenac was again despatched to Canada as Governor. He brought with him the chiefs seized by Denonyille, and sent them back to their tribes to act as peace-makers. At this time a war arising out of the English Revolution of 1688 was going on in Kurope between England and France. Frontenac determined to punish the English colonists for the part they had taken in stirring up the Iroquois to attack the French settlements. Bands of French and their Indian allies made frequent raids into New York, New Hampshire, and other border colonies, scalping and murdering the defenceless people. Schenectady in New York, and Salmon Falls in New Hampshire were burned to the ground, and their inhabitants butchered. For years this cruel border warfare lasted, leaving a dark stain on the early history of the American settlements.
In 1690 an effort was made by the British colonists to drive the French out of Canada. Sir Wm. Phips was sent by Massachusetts to capture Port Royal in Acadia (Nova Scotia). This he accomplished, and then sailed up the St. Lawrence to take Quebec. Before this, however, an expedition under the command of Colonel Winthrop had been sent to take Montreal. Sickness and a lack of supplies led to its failure and it returned to Albany. But Phips reached Quebec and demanded its surrender. The demand met with a haughty and indignant refusal from Frontenac, who had prepared for a spirited defence. In vain Phips opened a furious fire on the town and landed his raw soldiers on the Beauport shore. He was driven back with heavy loss by the French and their Indian allies, and compelled to beat a retreat to Boston. Thus ended the second attempt by the English to capture Quebec. Meanwhile the savage border warfare went on unchecked. The Abenaquis Indians aided the French in the work of murder—the Iroquois, the English. A single incident will give us a glimpse of the savage nature of this warfare. Hannah Dustin of Haverhill, taken prisoner in one of these border raids, avenged the murder of her week-old child by slaying ten out of twelve of her sleeping Indian captors, and then succeeded in escaping to the British settlements. These were the days when both French and English offered prizes to the Indians for human scalps. Little wonder that the border settlements did not prosper. The Treaty of Ryswick (1697) put an end for a short time to the war between England and France, and each country restored to the other its conquests. The next year saw the death of Frontenac in his 78th year. His memory was cherished as the one man whose energy saved Canada when on the verge of ruin.
8. State of the Colony.—The war of the Spanish Succession in Europe, which broke out in 1702, was the signal for a renewal of the horrors of warfare between Canada and the English colonies in America. Not until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, did the settlers along the frontier again breathe freely. This treaty gave Acadia, Newfoundland, and Hudson’s Bay Territory to England, while France kept Canada, Cape Breton, and Louisiana. For over thirty years the colony had rest, and a chance to grow and prosper. The principal Governor of this time was Vaudreuil, whose term of office began in 1705. He forsesaw that a fierce struggle must take place between the French and the English for control of the North American continent, and he laid his plans accordingly. The fortress of Louisburg in Cape Breton was begun; Quebec, Montreal and Fort Frontenac were strengthened, and a new stone fort was built at Niagara. Trade, ship-building, and manufactures were encouraged, and we find even woollen and linen goods among the home productions. Canada, at this time, exported largely to France and the West Indies such products as staves, tar, tobacco, flour, pease, and pork. She brought in rum, sugar, molasses, and most of the manufactured goods she needed. Roads were opened up between the parishes, and a letter-post established. Law was better administered than in the earlier days of the colony. With all these improvements it made but slow progress. The feudal system of land tenure, while good for military purposes, did not encourage the peasants who held the land from their seigneurs, to make many improvements. The people had no say in making their own laws, and the general want of education kept the colony ina dull and lifeless state. Young men tired of the quiet home-life of the farm took to the woods, and lived and traded with the Indians. In 1702-22, Quebec had a population of seven thousand, and an agreeable society, whose principal element was the military class. Montreal had about two thousand inhabitants, and the whole of Canada about twenty-five thousand. The whole country to the west was a forest with a few trading posts and forts at Kingston, Niagara, and Detroit.
9. Braddock’s Expedition.—Vaudreuil died in 1725, and was succeeded by the Marquis de Beauharnois. In his time Fort Frederic, at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain was built, and soon became an important post in the wars between the rival colonies. No new stirring events took place until the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession, which brought England and France once more into conflict. It was not long before their colonies were engaged in a deadly struggle, a struggle that lasted, with a brief intermission, until the flag of England floated over the walls of Quebec. In 1745, Louisburg was taken after a brave defence, by an army of New England farmers and fishermen under Sir William Pepperell. The French tried to retake this the second strongest fortress of the New World, but without success. Peace was for a short time restored in 1748, and Louisburg, to the great annoyance of the people of New England, was given back to France. In these days, it often happened that while the mother countries, France and England, were at peace, their children in India and America carried on a bitter strife. Not until 1756 was war once more declared in Europe; yet, in 1754, hostilities broke out in the valley of the Ohio. The French claimed the Great West, and sought to shut in the English to the strip of territory between the Atlantic and the Alleghany Mountains. To carry out this plan, a fort was constructed at a point where two branches of the Ohio River meet, the Monongahela and the Alleghany. This fort got the name, Du Quesne, from the French Governor of Canada at that time. The English colonists of Virginia sent George Washington, a young officer and surveyor, to build another fort near at hand. Unfortunately
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Lake Country and Western Forts.
Washington fired upon a party of French and Indians who came to warn him that he was encroaching on French territory. This act was the beginning of the final struggle for the mastery of the New World. General Braddock was sent out from England with two regiments of regular troops and was placed in command of the militia of the colonies. He thought he knew more about bush warfare than such men as Washington, and would take no advice. He was so stubborn and arrogant that many of the best militia officers would not serve under him. The French too, made preparations for the conflict. Baron Dieskau brought to Canada a strong military force, and was accompanied by the last French Governor of Canada, De Vaudreuil, a son of the former Governor of that name.
In the spring of 1755, Braddock began his march from Virginia to Fort Du Quesne, He had a force of two thousand men, regulars and colonial militia, but his movements were hampered by taking a train of baggage-waggons and artillery. One hundred men with axes went before to cut down trees and make a road for these to pass over. The journey was a slow and weary one, and the French garrison at Fort Du Quesne was well aware of Braddock’s movements. As he neared the fort, an ambuscade of French and Indians was formed, with the hope of checking his march. In spite of repeated warnings from Washington and othexs, Braddock neglected to take the most ordinary percautions against surprise. Passing through a thickly wooded defile, a sudden hail of bullets was poured into the astonished and dismayed ranks of the British regulars. On all sides was heard the terrible war-whoop of the Indians, and the work of destruction began. The British soldiers huddled together and tired their muskets into the air or into their own ranks. They were mown down by the bullets of the concealed French and Indians—without being able to offer any defence. Braddock had five horses shot under him, and was mortally wounded. Fotunately for the regulars, the colonial forces, used to Indian modes of fighting, took shelter behind the trees and fought the enemy in their own fashion, and kept them at bay. This enabled the terror-stricken soldiers who survived, to escape from the defile. More than one-half had fallen the remainder, panic-stricken, fled, and paused not till they had put forty miles between them and the dreaded enemy. Braddock was carried in a dying condition on a litter from the field, and that night with his life paid the penalty of his folly.
Fort Niagara, the forts on Lake Champlain, and Beauséjour in Acadia, were also marked out for attack by the English. The expedition against Niagara never reached its destination; Beauséjour was not able to make any defence and was easily taken; and Baron Dieskau was defeated and made prisoner near Lake George by Colonel William Johnson, at the head of a body of colonial militia and Mohawk Indians. This Colonel Johnson was a remarkable man in many respects. He had acquired a wonderful influence over the Mohawks, and was made one of their great chiefs. He built two great strongly fortified houses in the Mohawk valley, and made them headquarters for the surrounding Indians—one of whose daughters the famous Molly Brant, sister of Joseph Brant, he married in Indian fashion. Johnson was made a knight for his victory over Dieskau, and received a large grant of money from the Crown.
10. Capture of Quebec.—The next year (1756) war was formally declared between England and France, and the struggle went on with increasing bitterness in America. This war is known as the Seven Years’ War, and was carried on in Asia, America, and Europe simultaneously. The French sent out as Commander-in-Chief, the famous Marquis de Montcalm, an officer of great skill, courage and energy. The English had by far the greater number of men, and the greater wealth and resources, but for a time they were badly officered and led. Their first Commander-in-Chief was the Earl of Loudon, who proved a wretched failure. Another general, almost equally unfit, was Abercrombie, who allowed Oswego to fall into the hands of Montcalm. A still greater disaster befell the English at Fort William Henry, on Lake George, in August 1757. After a spirited defence the garrison was allowed to go out with the honors of war, engaging not to serve against the French for eighteen months. Montcalm promised them protection against attacks by his Indian allies, who sought victims to scalp and torture. The Indians crazed by liquor, fell upon the retreating garrison with their women and children, and in spite of the efforts of Montcalm and his officers, murdered or carried off prisoners the most of them. Almost equally disastrous was the attempt made by Loudon, aided by a large fleet and force, to take Louisburg.
These repeated failures, added to a general want of success in other parts of the world where the war was carried on, led to a change in the British government, and William Pitt, was placed in charge of Hngland’s foreign affairs. Very soon a change was noted. Pitt had determined he would drive the French out of Canada, and he made his preparations accordingly. He chose good men to command, and gave them an energetic support. Amherst was made the Commander-in-chief, and Boscawen was put at the head of the fleet in America. Under Amherst were placed Wolfe, Lawrence, and Whitmore, officers young in years, but full of energy and courage. One mistake Pitt did make: he left Abercrombie in charge of the army intended to operate along Lake George and Lake Champlain.
The first fruits of Pitt’s policy was the capture of Louisburg. Against this strong fortress was sent a fleet of over one hundred and fifty vessels, and an army of twelve thousand men, under the command of Amherst and Wolfe. After a siege of seven weeks, in which Wolfe greatly distinguished himself, the garrison of five thousand men surrendered, and were sent prisoners to England.
But victories were not all on the side of the English. A large force under General Abercrombie was repulsed with heavy loss in 1758, while trying to take Ticonderoga, or Carillon, on Lake Champlain. The defeat was due to the death in the early part of the fight of young Lord Howe, and to the utter folly and rashness of Abercrombie, in ordering his brave troops to attack the French, protected as they were by felled trees and a breastwork of timber, with sharpened stakes pointing outward. In this battle Montcalm proved his skill as a general, and the Hnglish lost two thousand men, many of them Highlanders, who for the first time in their history, served in the foreign wars of Britain. The campaign of 1758 closed with the easy capture of Fort Du Quesne, by a force sent against it under General Forbes. Forbes, falling sick, was borne on a litter across the Alleghanies with his army. Finding winter approaching, he sent Washington ahead with a smaller force, to take the fort before it could get help. On the 25th of November, without a blow being struck, Du Quesne was taken possession of by Washington, and named Fort Pitt, in honor of Hngland’s greatest War Minister.
The year 1759 opened with great efforts put forth by Montcalm to save Canada to the French. The prospects of the colony were gloomy enough. The mother country gave but little assistance; in fact, she was not able to give much. So many men in Canada were drawn into the army, that the farms were only half-tilled, and the crops were scanty and poor. To add to the miseries of the people, the internal affairs of Canada were under the control of the worst official of French Rule. This was the Intendant Bigot, whose whole career was one of extortion, fraud and lewdness. Monopolists plundered the poverty-stricken people; grain, cattle, and horses were seized and sold abroad, and the money put into the pockets of Bigot and his tools. Every man between the age of sixteen and sixty was drafted into the army to defend the colony. Montcalm labored ceaselessly to put Quebec and the other fortresses in the best possible condition for defence, but he was hampered by the Governor and the Intendant. Meanwhile a plan of campaign had been arranged by the British, which was to bring the war to a close by one great and united effort. Amherst was to proceed along the line of Lakes George and Champlain, and take Ticonderoga and Crown Point. General Prideaux, aided by Sir William Johnson and his Indians, was to attack Niagara, while to Wolfe was given the heavy task of assaulting Quebec.. Amherst and Prideaux having performed their allotted tasks were to join Wolfe at Quebec. Prideaux was killed while besieging Niagara, and the honor of taking the fort fell to Sir Wiliam Johnson. Amherst found little opposition at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, the French falling back on Quebec for the final defence. Amherst, however, lingered at these points, building and strengthening forts to secure the line of Lakes George and Champlain.
Early in 1759, Wolfe sailed from Louisburg to Quebec with his army of less than nine thousand men. Saunders and Holmes commanded the fleet, while Wolfe was assisted by an able staff of officers, Townshend, Monckton and Murray. Landing at the Island of Orleans, Wolfe anxiously viewed for the first time the rock fortress, Quebec, the greatest stronghold of France in the New World. For miles on both the east and west of Quebec, Montcalm had fortified the banks of the St. Lawrence. Between the St. Charles and the Montmorency were more than thirteen thousand men of all ages, and the walls of Quebec itself bristled with guns. Who could hope to capture this Gibraltar of America, with such a small force as Wolfe had at hiscommand? Yet, Wolfe, weakened as he was by a fatal disease, did not shrink from the effort. Soon he seized a strong position opposite Quebec, Point Levi, and their Monckton fixed his batteries. The French made fruitless efforts to dislodge the British fleet, by sending fire-ships down the river, but these were taken in tow by the sailors and did little harm. The batteries from Point Levi began to play upon the doomed fortress, and soon a great part of Quebec was in ruins. Nevertheless, Montcalm strong in his position on the north shore, with entrenchments from Quebec to the river Montmorency, defied every effort of Wolfe to land his troops. On the 31st of July, a desperate attempt was made to gain a footing and storm the heights near the Montmorency; but to no purpose, Wolfe was compelled to retire with heavy loss, and his chagrin and grief brought on a fever.
It looked as if Quebec could not be taken, and winter was approaching which would bring relief to the garrison. Then it was that one of Wolfe’s staff, Townshend, proposed to climb the steep banks of the St. Lawrence, at a point some three miles above Quebec. The plan was adopted, and steps were at once taken to carry it into effect. Early in September, Wolfe managed, under cover of a pretended attack on the opposite (Beauport) shore, to have the main part of his army and fleet moved above Quebec. Taking advantage of a dark night, and knowing that a small body of French soldiers were coming down to Quebec from Montreal
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Siege of Quebec.
with a supply of provisions, Wolfe’s fleet dropped silently down the river, escorting thirty barges laden with sixteen hundred men. With muffled oars they glided down the stream, hugging the north shore. The sentries along the bank were deceived, their challenges being correctly answered (a French deserter having given the English the proper countersign), and they thought it was the convoy expected from Montreal. As the boats glided on, Wolfe, weak with his recent illness, and Slled with hope and anxiety, softly repeated several stanzas of Gray’s “Elegy” written but a year before. Pausing on the words is?
“The paths of glory lead but to the grave,”
he exclaimed! “I would rather be the author of that poem than take Quebec.” In the early morning, of the 13th September, he landed at what is now known as Wolfe’s Cove. His active Highlanders were soon at the top of the path leading up the cliff. The French guard was quickly overpowered, and at daybreak Wolfe and. his little army stood ready for battle on the Plains of Abraham. Montcalm, who had been expécting an attack below the city on his lines at Beauport, as soon as the news was brought him broke up his camp, and without waiting for reinforcements hurried to meet Wolfe. Had he remained in the city it is doubtful if Wolfe could have taken it before the coming winter. But his impetuous temper led him astray, and marching through Quebec he flung himself on Wolfe’s veterans, who stood calmly awaiting their gallant leader’s orders. Not until the French were within forty paces did Wolfe give the command to fire; then, at the given signal, a well-directed volley of musketry, followed by a fierce charge of bayonets, caused the French to give way, and the victory of the Plains of Abraham was won. It was a dear victory to both English and French, for their brave leaders both fell in the conflict. Wolfe, wounded first in the wrist, then in the chest, lived long enough to know that the victory was won, and his heroic task done. “They run, they run,” said an officer holding in his arms the dying general. “Who run?” asked Wolfe; and when he heard, “Now God be praised” said he, “I die happy.” Montcalm was carried fatally wounded into Quebec, and when told his fate murmured sadly, “So much the better, I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec.” He died before midnight, and was buried in a grave made by the bursting’ of a shell, a fitting close to the career of a brave soldier and a true patriot. Five days after, on the 18th September, Quebec surrendered, and Canada practically ceased to be a French possession.