* The commodore offered to land the cannon on the other side of Point-Negro, at a place equally near the road from the English army to Port-Royal, and even cause them to be drawn up by the seamen, without giving the troops the least trouble. But this offer was not accepted. General Hopson afterwards declared, that he did not understand Mr. Moore's message in the sense which it was meant to imply.

Their attempt on the Morne Tortueson had cost them several men, including two officers, killed or wounded in the attack; and, in revenge for this loss, they burned the sugar-canes, and desolated the country, in their retreat. The inhabitants of Martinique could hardly credit the testimony of their own senses, when they saw themselves thus delivered from all their fears, at a time when they were overwhelmed with terror and confusion; when the principal individuals among them had resigned all thought of further resistance, and were actually assembled at the public hall in Port-Royal, to send deputies to the English general, with proposals of capitulation and surrender.



ATTEMPT UPON ST. PIERRE.

The majority of the British officers, who constituted a council of war held for this purpose,* having given their opinion, that it might be for his majesty's service to make an attack upon St. Pierre, the fleet proceeded to that part of the island, and entered the bay on the nineteenth.

* The commodore did not attend at this council: it was convoked to deliberate upon the opinion of the chief engineer, who thought they should make another landing to the southward of the Carenage. In this case, the pilots declared it would be extremely difficult, if not impracticable, for the fleet to keep up a communication with the army.

The commodore told the general, that he made no doubt of being able to reduce the town of St. Pierre; but as the ships might be disabled in the attack so as not to be in a condition to proceed immediately on any material service; as the troops might be reduced in their numbers, so as to be incapable of future attacks; and as the reduction of the island of Guadaloupe would be of great benefit to the sugar colonies; Mr. Mooro proposed that the armament should immediately proceed to that island, and the general agreed to the proposal. The reasons produced on this occasion are, we apprehend, such as may be urged against every operation of war. Certain it is, no conquest can be attempted, either by sea or land, without exposing' the ships and troops to a possibility of being disabled and diminished; and the same possibility militated as strongly against an attempt upon Guadeloupe, as it could possibly discourage the attack of St. Pierre. Besides, Martinique was an object of greater importance than Guadaloupe;* as being the principal place possessed by the French in those seas, and that to which the operations of the armament were expressly limited by the instructions received from the ministry.

* Only as being the seat of government; for Guadaloupe makes a much greater quantity of sugar, and equipped a much greater number of privateers, with the assistance of the Dutch of St. Eustatia, situated in its neighbourhood.

St. Pierre was a place of considerable commerce; and at that very juncture, above forty sail of merchant ships lay at anchor in the bay. The town was defended by a citadel regularly fortified, but at that time poorly garrisoned, and so situated as to be accessible to the fire of the whole squadron; for the shore was bold, and the water sufficient to float any ship of the line. Before the resolution of proceeding to Gua-daloupe was taken, the commodore had ordered the bay to be sounded; and directed the Rippon to advance, and silence a battery situated a mile and a half to the northward of St. Pierre. Accordingly, captain Jekyll, who commanded that ship, stood in, and anchoring close to the shore, attacked it with such impetuosity, that in a few minutes it was abandoned. At the same time the Rippon was exposed to the fire of three other batteries, from which she received considerable damage both in her hull and rigging; and was in great danger of running aground, when orders were given to tow her out of danger.



DESCENT ON GUADALOUPE.

The whole armament having abandoned the design on Martinique, directed their course to Guadeloupe, another of the Caribbee islands, lying at the distance of thirty leagues to the westward, about fifteen leagues in length, and twelve in breadth; divided into two parts by a small channel, which the inhabitants cross in a ferry-boat. The western division is known by the name of Basseterre; and here the metropolis stands, defended by the citadel and other fortifications. The eastern part, called Grandterre, is destitute of fresh water, which abounds in the other division; and is defended by fort Louis, with a redoubt, which commands the road in the district of Gosier. The cut, or canal, that separates the two parts, is distinguished by the appellation of the Salt-river, having a road or bay at each end; namely, the great Cul de Sac, and the small Cul de Sac. Gua-daloupe is encumbered with high mountains and precipices, to which the inhabitants used to convey their valuable effects in time of danger; but here are also beautiful plains watered by brooks and rivers, which fertilize the soil, enabling it to produce a great quantity of sugar, cotton, indigo, tobacco, and cassia; besides plenty of rice, potatoes, all kinds of pulse, and fruit peculiar to the island. The country is populous and flourishing, and the government comprehends two smaller islands called All-Saints and Deseada, which appear at a small distance from the coast, on the eastern side of the island. The British squadron having arrived at Bassaterre, it was resolved to make a general attack by sea upon the citadel, the town, and other batteries by which it was defended. A disposition being made for this purpose, the large ships took their respective stations next morning, which was the twenty-third day of January. At nine, the Lion, commanded by captain Trelawney, began the engagement against a battery of nine guns; and the rest of the fleet continued to place themselves abreast of the other batteries and the citadel, which mounted forty-six cannon, besides two mortars. The action in a little time became general, and was maintained on both sides for several hours with great vivacity; while the commodore, who had shifted his pendant into the Woolwrch frigate, kept aloof without gun-shot, that he might be the more disengaged to view the state of the battle, * and give his orders with the greater deliberation.

* He shifted lus broad pendant on board the Woolwich, as well to direct and keep the transports together in a proper posture for the landing of the troops, as to cover the disembarkation; and also to consult proper measures with the general, who saw the necessity of Mr. Moore's being with him; and requested that he, with the other general officers and engineers, might be admitted on board the Woolwich, in order to consult, and take the earliest opportunity of landing the troops, as the service necessarily required.

This expedient of an admiral's removing his flag, and retiring from the action while his own ship is engaged, however consonant to reason., we do not remember to have seen practised upon any occasion, except in one instance, at Carthagena, where sir Chaloner Ogle quitted his own ship, when she was ordered to stand in and cannonade the fort of Boca-Chica. In this present attack, all the sea-commanders behaved with extraordinary spirit and resolution, particularly the captains Leslie, Burnet, Gayton, Jekyll, Trelawney, and Shuldam, who, in the hottest tumult of the action, distinguished themselves equally by their courage, impetuosity, and deliberation. About five in the afternoon the fire of the citadel slackened. The Burford and Berwick were driven out to sea: so that captain Shuldam, in the Panther, was unsustained; and two batteries played upon the Rippon, captain Jekyll, who, by two in the afternoon, silenced the guns of one, called the Morne-rouge; but at the same time could not prevent his ship from running aground. The enemy perceiving her disaster, assembled in great numbers on the hill, and lined the trenches, from whence they poured in, a severe fire of musketry. The militia afterwards brought up a cannon of eighteen pound ball, and for two hours raked her fore and aft with considerable effect: nevertheless, captain Jekyll returned the fire with equal courage and perseverance, though his people dropped on every side, until all his grape-shot and wadding were expended, and all his rigging cut to pieces; to crown his misfortune, a box, containing nine hundred cartridges, blew up on the poop, and set the ship on fire: which, however, was soon extinguished. In the meantime, the captain threw out a signal of distress, to which no regard was paid,* till captain Leslie of the Bristol, coming from sea, and observing his situation, ran in between the Rippon and the battery, and engaged with such impetuosity, as made an immediate diversion in favour of captain Jekyll, whose ship remained aground, notwithstanding all the assistance that could be given, till midnight, when she floated, and escaped from the very jaws of destruction.

* In all probability it was not perceived by the Commodore.

At seven in the evening, all the other large ships, having silenced the guns to which they had been respectively opposed, joined the rest of the fleet. The four bombs being anchored near the shore, began to ply the town with shells and carcasses; so that in a little time the houses were in flames, the magazines of gunpowder blew up with the most terrible explosion; and about ten o'clock the whole place blazed out in one general conflagration. Next day, at two in the afternoon, the fleet came to an anchor in the road of Bassaterre, where they found the hulls of divers ships which the enemy had set on fire at their approach: several ships turned out and endeavoured to escape, but were intercepted and taken by the English squadron. At five, the troops landed without opposition, and took possession of the town and citadel, which they found entirely abandoned. They learned from a Genoese deserter, that the regular troops of the island consisted of five companies only, the number of the whole not exceeding one hundred men; and that they had lain a train to blow up the powder magazine in the citadel: but had been obliged to retreat with such precipitation as did not permit them to execute this design. The train was immediately cut off, and the magazine secured. The nails with which they had spiked up their cannon were drilled out by the matrosses; and in the meantime the British colours were hoisted on the parapet. Part of the troops took possession of an advantageous post on an eminence, and part entered the town, Which still continued burning with great violence. In the morning at day-break, the enemy appeared, to the number of two thousand, about four miles from the town, as if they intended to throw up intrenchments in the neighbourhood of a house where the governor had fixed his head-quarters, declaring he would maintain his ground to the last extremity. To this resolution, indeed, he was encouraged by the nature of the ground, and the neighbourhood of a pass called the Dos d'Ane, a cleft through a mountainous ridge, opening a communication with Capesterre, a more level and beautiful part of the island. The ascent from Basseterre to this pass was so very steep, and the way so broken and interrupted by rocks and gullies, that there was no prospect of attacking it with success, except at the first landing, when the inhabitants were under the dominion of a panic. They very soon recovered their spirits and recollection, assembled and fortified themselves among the hills, armed and arrayed their negroes, and affected to hold the invaders at defiance. A flag of truce being sent, with offers of terms to their governor, the chevalier d'Etriel, he rejected them in a letter, with which his subsequent conduct but ill agreed. [504] [See note 3 U, at the end of this Vol.] Indeed, from the beginning his deportment had been such as gave a very unfavourable impression of his character. When the British squadron advanced to the attack, instead of visiting in person the citadel and the batteries, in order to encourage and animate his people by his exhortation and example, he retired out of the reach of danger to a distant plantation, where he remained a tame spectator of the destruction in which his principal town and citadel were involved. Next morning, when he ought to have exerted himself in preventing the disembarkation of the English troops, who had a difficult shore and violent surf to surmount, and when he might have defended the intrenchments and lines which had been made to oppose their landing, he abandoned all these advantages, and took shelter among the mountains that were deemed inaccessible.

But, howsoever deficient the governor might have been in the article of courage, certain it is, the inhabitants behaved with great spirit and activity in defence of their country. They continually harassed the scouring detachments, by firing upon them from woods and sugar plantations, which last the English burned about their ears in resentment. Their armed negroes were very expert in this kind of bush fighting. The natives or militia appeared in considerable parties, and even encountered detached bodies of the British army. A lady of masculine courage, whose name was Ducharmy, having armed her slaves, they made several bold attempts upon an advanced post occupied by major Melville, and threw up intrenchments upon a hill opposite to the station of this officer, who had all along signalized himself by his uncommon intrepidity, vigilance, and conduct. At length the works of this virago were stormed by a regular detachment, which, after an obstinate and dangerous conflict, entered the intrenchment sword in hand, and burned the houses and plantations. Some of the enemy were killed, and a great number taken. Of the English detachment twelve soldiers were slain, and thirty wounded, including three subaltern officers, one of whom lost his arm. The greatest body of the enemy always appeared at the governor's head-quarters, where they had raised a redoubt, and thrown up intrenchments. From these a considerable detachment advanced on the sixth day of February, in the morning, towards the citadel, and fell in with an English party, whom they engaged with great vivacity; but, after a short though warm dispute, they were obliged to retire with some loss. Without all doubt, the inhabitants of Guadaloupe pursued the most sensible plan that could possibly have been projected for their own safety. Instead of hazarding a general engagement against regular troops, in which they could have no prospect of success, they resolved to weary them out by maintaining a kind of petty war in separate parties, to alarm and harass the English with hard duty in a sultry climate, where they were but indifferently supplied with provisions and refreshments. Nor were their hopes in this particular disappointed. Both the army and the navy were invaded with fevers, and other diseases, epidemical in those hot countries; and the regimental hospitals were so crowded, that it was judged convenient to send five hundred sick men to the island of Antigua, where they might be properly attended.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



FORT-LOUIS REDUCED, &c.

In the meantime, the reduction of the islanders on the side of Guadaloupe appearing more and more impracticable, the general determined to transfer the seat of war to the eastern and more fertile part of the island, called Grandterre, which, as we have already observed, was defended by a strong battery, called Fort-Louis. In pursuance of this determination, the great ships were sent round to Grandterre, in order to reduce this fortification, which they accordingly attacked on the thirteenth day of February. After a severe cannonading, which lasted six hours, a body of marines being landed, with the Highlanders,* they drove the enemy from their intrenchments sword in hand; and, taking possession of the fort, hoisted the English colours.

* A reinforcement of two or three hundred Highlanders, had joined the fleet immediately before the troops landed on Guadaloupe.

In a few days after this exploit, general Hopson dying at Basseterre, the chief command devolved on general Barrington, who resolved to prosecute the final reduction of the island with vigour and despatch. As one step towards this conquest, the commodore ordered two ships of war to cruise off the island of Saint Eustatia, and prevent the Dutch traders from assisting the natives of Guadaloupe, whom they had hitherto constantly supplied with provisions since they retired to the mountains. General Barrington, on the very first day of his command, ordered the troops who were encamped to strike their tents and huts, that the enemy might imagine he intended to remain in this quarter; but in a few days the batteries in and about Basseterre were blown up and destroyed, the detachments recalled from the advanced posts, and the whole army re-embarked, except one regiment, with a detachment of artillery, left in garrison at the citadel, the command of which was bestowed on colonel Debrisay, an accomplished officer of great experience. The enemy no sooner perceived the coast clear than they descended from the hills, and endeavoured to take possession of the town, from which, however they were driven by the fire of the citadel. They afterwards erected a battery, from whence they annoyed this fortification both with shot and shells, and even threatened a regular attack; but as often as they approached the place, they were repulsed by sallies from the castle. *

* The battery which they had raised was attacked at noon, taken, and destroyed by captain Blomer, of the sixty-first regiment.

In the midst of these hostilities, the gallant Debrisay, together with major Trollop, one lieutenant, two bombardiers, and several common soldiers, were blown up, and perished, by the explosion of a powder magazine at the flanked angle of the south-east bastion. The confusion necessarily produced by such an unfortunate accident, encouraged the enemy to come pouring down from the hills, in order to make their advantage of the disaster; but they were soon repulsed by the fire of the garrison. The general, being made acquainted with the fate of colonel Debrisay, conferred the government of the fort upon major Melville, and sent thither the chief engineer to repair and improve the fortifications.



ENGLISH FLEET SAILS TO DOMINIQUE.

In the meantime, commodore Moore having received certain intelligence that monsieur de Bompart had arrived at Martinique, with a squadron consisting of eight sail of the line and three frigates, having on board a whole battalion of Swiss, and some other troops, to reinforce the garrisons of the island, he called in his cruisers, and sailed immediately to the bay of Dominique, an island to windward, at the distance of nine leagues from Guadaloupe, whence he could always sail to oppose any design which the French commander might form against the operations of the British armaments. For what reason Mr. Moore did not sail immediately to the bay of Port-Royal in Martinique, where he knew the French squadron lay at anchor, we shall not pretend to determine. Had he taken that step, M. Bompart must either have given him battle, or retired into the Carenage, behind the citadel; in which last case, the English commander might have anchored between Pigeon-Island and Fort-Negro, and thus blocked him up effectually. By retiring to Dominique, he left the sea open to French privateers, who rowed along the coasts of these islands, and in a very little time carried into Martinique above fourscore merchant-ships, belonging to the subjects of Great Britain. These continual depredations, committed under the nose of the English commodore, irritated the planters of the English islands, some of whom are said to have circulated unfavourable reports of that gentleman's character. [505] [See note 3 X, at the end of this Vol.]



GENERAL BARRINGTON TAKES GOSIER, &c.

General Barrington being left with no more than one ship of forty guns for the protection of the transports, formed a plan of prosecuting the war in Guadaloupe by detachments, and the success fully answered his expectation. He determined to make a descent on the division of the island called Grandterre, and for that purpose allotted six hundred men; who, under the command of colonel Crump, landed between the towns of St. Anne and St. Francois, and destroyed some batteries of the enemy, from whom he sustained very little opposition. While he was thus employed, a detachment of three hundred men attacked the town of Gosier, which, notwithstanding a severe fire, they took by storm, drove the garrison into the woods, set fire to the place, and demolished the battery and intrenchment raised for its defence. This service being happily performed, the detachment was ordered to force their way to Fort-Louis, while the garrison of that castle was directed to make two sallies in order to favour their irruption. They accordingly penetrated, with some loss sustained in forcing a strong pass, and took possession of a battery which the enemy had raised against the English camp, in the neighbourhood of Fort Louis. The general, having hitherto succeeded in his designs, formed the scheme of surprising at one time the three towns of Petitbourg, Gonoyave, and St. Mary's situated on the Basseterre side of the little Cul de Sac, and committed the execution of it to the colonels Crump and Clavering: but the night appointed for the service proved exceedingly dark and tempestuous; and the negro conductors were so frightened, that they ran several of the flat-bottomed boats on the shoals that skirt this part of the island. Colonel Clavering landed with about eighty men; but found himself so entangled with mangrove trees, and the mud so impassably deep, that he was obliged to re-embark, though not before the enemy had discovered his design. This project having miscarried, the general detached the same commanders, whose gallantry and conduct cannot be sufficiently applauded, with a detachment of fifteen hundred men, including one hundred and fifty volunteers from Antigua, to land in a bay not far from the town of Arnonville, at the bottom of the little Cul de Sac, under the protection of his majesty's ship Woolwich. The enemy made no opposition to their landing; but retreated, as the English advanced, to a strong intrenchment thrown up behind the river Licorne, a post of the utmost importance, as it covered the whole country as far as the bay of Ma-haut, where provisions and supplies of all sorts were landed from St. Eustatia. The river was rendered inaccessible by a morass covered with mangroves, except at two narrow passes, which they had fortified with a redoubt, and intrenchments well pallisadoed, mounted with cannon, and defended by a numerous militia: besides, the narrow roads, through which only they could be attacked, were intersected with deep and wide ditches. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, the English commanders determined to hazard an assault. While four field-pieces and two howitzers maintained a constant fire upon the top of the intrenchments, the regiment of Duroure and the Highlanders advanced under this cover, firing by platoons with the utmost regularity. The enemy, intimidated by their cool and resolute behaviour, began to abandon the first intrenchment on the left. Then the Highlanders, drawing their swords, and sustained by part of the regiment, threw themselves in with their usual impetuosity, and followed the fugitives pell-mell into the redoubt, of which they took possession: but they still maintained their ground within the intrenchments on the right, from whence they annoyed the assailants both with musquetry and cannon. In half an hour, an occasional bridge being made, the English troops passed the river in order to attack this post, which the enemy abandoned with precipitation; notwithstanding all their haste, however, about seventy were taken prisoners, and among those some of the most considerable inhabitants of the island. This advantage cost the English two officers and thirteen men killed, and above fifty wounded.

The roads being mended for the passage of the artillery, the troops advanced towards Petitbourg, harassed in their march by flying bodies of the enemy, and arrived late at night on the banks of the river Lizarde, the only ford of which the French had fortified with strong intrenchments, protected by a battery of four cannon erected on a rising ground in the rear. Colonel Clavering, while he amused them all night at this place by a constant fire into their lines, transported in two canoes, which he launched about a mile and a half farther down the river, a sufficient number of troops, by day-break, to attack them on the other side in flank, while he advanced in front at the head of his little army; but they did not think proper to sustain the assault. On the contrary, they no sooner perceived his intention, than they forsook the post, and fled without order. Colonel Clavering, having passed the river, pursued them to Petit bourg, which they had also fortified; and here he found captain Uvedale, of the Grenada bomb-ketch, throwing shells into the redoubt. He forthwith sent detachments to occupy the neighbouring heights; a circumstance which the enemy no sooner observed, than they deserted the place, and retired with great expedition. On the fifteenth day of April, captain Steel destroyed a battery at Gonoyave, a strong post, which, though it might have been defended against an army, the French abandoned at his approach, after having made a hasty discharge of their artillery. At the same time colonel Crump was detached with seven hundred men to the bay of Mahaut, where he burned the town and batteries which he found abandoned, together with a vast quantity of provisions which had been brought from the island of St. Eustatia. Colonel Clavering, having left a small garrison at Petitbourg, began his march on the twentieth day of the month towards St. Mary's, where he understood the enemy had collected their whole force, thrown up intrenchments, and raised barricadoes; but they had left their rear unguarded. The English commander immediately detached colonel Barlow with a body of troops to attack them from that quarter, while he himself advanced against the front of their intrenchment. They stood but one cannon-shot, and then fled to their lines and batteries at St. Mary's, the flanks of which were covered with woods and precipices. When they perceived the English troops endeavouring to surmount these difficulties, and turn their lines, they quitted them in order to oppose the design, and were immediately attacked with such vivacity, in the face of a severe fire of musketry and cannon, that they abandoned their ground, and fled in the utmost confusion, leaving the field and all their artillery to the victors, who took up their quarters for that night at St. Mary's. Next day they entered the charming country of Capesterre, where eight hundred and seventy negroes belonging to one planter surrendered at discretion. Here colonel Clavering was met by messieurs de Clainvilliers and Duqueruy, deputed by the principal inhabitants of the island to know what capitulation would be granted. These he conducted to Petitbourg, where they were presented to general Barrington; who, considering the absence of the fleet, the small number of his forces daily diminishing, the difficulty of the country, and the possibility of the enemy's being reinforced from Martinique, wisely took the advantage of the present panic, and settled terms of capitulation without delay. The sanity of this resolution soon appeared. The inhabitants had just signed the agreement, when a messenger arrived in their camp with information that M. de Beauharnois, the general of the French islands, had landed at St. Anne's, to the windward, with a reinforcement from Martinique, consisting of six hundred regulars from Europe, about fifteen hundred volunteers, besides a great number of the militia drafted from the companies of Martinique, with a great supply of arms and ammunition, mortars and artillery, under convoy of the squadron commanded by M. de Bompart, who no sooner learned that the capitulation was signed, than he re-embarked the troops and stores with all possible expedition, and returned to Martinique. Thus we see the conquest of this important island, which is said to produce a greater quantity of sugar than is made in any of the English plantations, was as much owing to accident as to the valour of the troops and the conduct of the general; for, had the reinforcement arrived an hour sooner than it actually landed, in all probability the English would have found it impracticable to finish the reduction of Guadaloupe. Be that as it may, the natives certainly deserved great commendation, not only for persevering so gallantly in defence of their country, but also for their fortitude in bearing every species of distress. They now quitted the Dos d'Ane, and all their other posts, and returned to their respective habitations. The town of Basseterre being reduced to a heap of ashes, the inhabitants began to clear away the rubbish, and erect occasional sheds, where they resumed their several occupations with that good humour so peculiar to the French nation; and general Barrington humanely indulged them with all the assistance in his power.



ISLAND OF MARIGALANTE TAKEN.

The small islands of Deseada, Los Santos, and Petit-terre, were comprised in the capitulation of Guadaloupe. The inhabitants of Marigalante, which lies about three leagues to the south-east of Grandterre, extending twenty miles in length, fifteen in breadth, flat and fertile, but poorly watered and ill fortified, having refused to submit when summoned by the squadron to surrender, general Barrington resolved to reduce them by force. He embarked a body of troops on board of transports, which sailed thither under convoy of three ships of war and two bomb vessels from Prince Rupert's Bay, and at their appearance the islanders submitting, received an English garrison. Before this period, commodore Moore having received intelligence that M. de Bompart had sailed from Martinique, with a design to land a reinforcement on Guadaloupe, and that his squadron was seen seven leagues to windward of Marigalante, he sailed from Prince Rupert's Bay, and turned to windward. After having been beating about for five days to very little purpose, he received notice from one of his cruisers, that the French admiral had returned to Martinique; upon which information he retired quietly to his former station in the bay of Dominique, the people of which were so insolent as to affirm, in derision, that the English squadron sailed on one side of the island, and the French upon the other, that they might be sure of not meeting; but this, without doubt, was an impudent calumny.*

* The commodore declared that he carried a press-sail night and day, in order to come up with the French squadron, and took every step that could be devised for that purpose. He says, if he had pursued any other course, the French commander might have run into the road of St. Kitt's, and destroyed or taken a great number of merchant ships which were then loading with sugar for England. He says he tried every stratagem he could contrive for bringing M. de Bompart to action. He even sent away part of his squadron out of sight of the inhabitants of Dominique, that they might represent to their friends at Martinique his force much inferior to what it really was; but this expedient had no effect upon M. de Bompart, who made the best of his way to Cape Francois, on the island of Hispaniols.

General Barrington, having happily finished the conquest of Guadaloupe, gave notice to the commodore, that he intended to send back part of the troops with the transports to England, about the beginning of July. In consequence of this intimation, Mr. Moore sailed with his squadron to Basseterre road, where he was next day joined by two ships of the line from England, which rendered him greatly superior in strength to the commander of the French squadron, who had retired to the island of Grenada, lying about eight leagues from Guadaloupe. Here he was discovered by the ship Rippon, whose captain returned immediately to Basseterre, to make the commodore acquainted with this circumstance: but before he could weigh anchor, a frigate arrived with information, that Bompart had quitted Grenada, and was supposed to have directed his course to Hispaniola. The commodore immediately despatched the Ludlow Castle with this intelligence to admiral Coats, who commanded the squadron at Jamaica. General Barrington having made a tour of the island, in order to visit and repair such fortifications as he thought necessary to be maintained, and the affairs relating to the inhabitants being entirely settled, he sent the Highlanders, with a body of drafts, to North America, under convoy: he garrisoned the principal strength of the island, and left the chief command to colonel Crump, who had for some time acted as brigadier-general; colonel Clavering having been sent home to England with the account of the capitulation. Colonel Melville, who had signalized himself in a remarkable manner ever since their first landing, continued governor of the citadel at Basseterre; and the command at Grandterre was conferred on colonel Delgarno. Three complete regiments were alloted as a sufficient guard for the whole island, and the other three were embarked for England. General Barrington himself went on board the Roebuck in the latter end of June, and took his departure for England. About a month after, the transports, under convoy of captain Hughes, with a small squadron, set sail for Great Britain; while commodore Moore, with his large fleet, directed his course to Antigua.



TREATY WITH THE INDIANS.

While this armament had been employed in the conquest of Guadaloupe, North America exhibited still more sanguinary scenes of war and devastation; which, in order properly to introduce, it will be necessary to explain the steps that were taken on this continent, previous to this campaign. In October of the preceding year, a grand assembly was held at Easton, about ninety miles from Philadelphia; and there, peace was established, by a formal treaty, between Great Britain and the several nations of Indians inhabiting the country between the Apalachian mountains and the lakes. The Twightwees, however, settled between the river Ohio and the lakes, did not assist at this treaty, though some steps had been taken towards an alliance with that people. The conferences were managed by the governors of Pennsylvania and new Jersey, accompanied by sir William Johnston's deputy for Indian affairs, four members of the council of Pennsylvania, six members of the assembly, two agents for the province of New Jersey, a great number of planters and citizens of Philadelphia, chiefly Quakers. They were met by the deputies and chiefs of the Mohawks, Oneidoes, Onondagoes, Cayugas, Senecas, Tuscaroras, Nanticoques, and Conoys; the Tuteloes, Chugnues, Delawares, and Unamies; the Minisinks, Mohicans, and Wappingers; the whole number, including their women and children, amounting to five hundred. Some of the Six Nations, thinking themselves aggrieved by the British colonists, who had imprisoned certain individuals of their nation, and had killed a few, and treated others with contempt, did not fail to express their resentment, which had been artfully fomented by the French emissaries, even into an open rapture. The Delewares and Minisinks, in particular, complained that the English had encroached upon their lands, and on that account were provoked to hostilities: but their chief, Teedyuscung, had made overtures of peace; and in the character of ambassador from all the Ten Nations, had been very instrumental in forming this assembly. The chiefs of the Six Nations, though very well disposed to peace, took umbrage at the importance assumed by one of the Delawares, over whom, as their descendants, they exercise a kind of parental authority; and on this occasion they made no scruple to disclose their dissatisfaction. The business, therefore, of the English governors at this congress, was to ascertain the limits of the lands in dispute, reconcile the Six Nations with their nephews the Delawares, remove every cause of misunderstanding between the English and the Indians, detach these savages entirely from the French interest, establish a firm peace, and induce them to exert their influence in persuading the Twightwees to accede to this treaty. Those Indians, though possessed of few ideas, circumscribed in their mental faculties, stupid, brutal, and ferocious, conducting themselves nevertheless, in matters of importance to the community, by the general maxims of reason and justice; and their treaties are always founded upon good sense, conveyed in a very ridiculous manner. Their language is guttural, harsh, and polysyllabical; and their speech consists of hyperbolical metaphors and similies, which invest it with an air of dignity and heighten the expression. They manage their conferences by means of wampum, a kind of bead formed of a hard shell, either in single strings, or sewed in broad belts of different dimensions, according to the importance of the subject. Every proposition is offered, every answer made, every promise corroborated, every declaration attested, and every treaty confirmed, by producing and interchanging these belts of wampum. The conferences were continued from the eighth to the twenty-sixth day of October, when every article was settled to the mutual satisfaction of all parties. The Indian deputies were gratified with a valuable present, consisting of looking-glasses, knives, tobacco-boxes, sleeve-buttons, thimbles, sheers, gun-locks, ivory combs, shirts, shoes, stockings, hats, caps, handkerchiefs, thread, clothes, blankets, gartering, serges, watch-coats, and a few suits of laced clothes for their chieftains. To crown their happiness, the stores of rum were opened; they drank themselves into a state of brutal intoxication, and next day returned in peace to their respective places of habitation.



PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN.

This treaty with the Indians, who had been debauched from the interest of Great Britain, auspiciously paved the way for those operations which had been projected against the French settlements in Canada. Instead of employing the whole strength of the British arms in North America against one object, the ministry proposed to divide the forces, and make impressions on three different parts at once, that the enemy might be divided, distracted, and weakened, and the conquest of Canada completed in one campaign. That the success might be the more certain, the different expeditions were planned in such a manner as to co-operate with each other, and even join occasionally; so practicable was it thought for them to maintain such a correspondence as would admit of a junction of this nature. The project of this campaign imported, that general Wolfe, who had distinguished himself so eminently in the siege of Louis-bourg, should proceed up the river St. Laurence, as soon as the navigation should be clear of ice, with a body of eight thousand men, and a considerable squadron of ships from England, to undertake the siege of Quebec, the capital of Canada: that general Amherst, who commanded in chief, should, with another army of regular troops and provincials, amounting to twelve thousand men, reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point, cross the lake Champlain, and, proceeding along the river Richelieu to the banks of the river St. Laurence, join general Wolfe in the siege of Quebec: that brigadier-general Prideaux, with a third body, reinforced with a considerable number of friendly Indians, assembled by the influence and under the command of sir William Johnston, should invest the French fort erected at the fall or cataract of Niagara, which was certainly the most important post of all French America, as it in a manner commanded all the interior parts of that vast continent. It overawed the whole country of the Six Nations, who were cajoled into a tame acquiescence in its being built on their territory: it secured all the inland trade, the navigation of the great lakes, the communication between Canada and Louisiana, and opened a passage for inroads into the colonies of Great Britain. It was proposed that the British forces, having reduced Niagara, should be embarked on the lake Ontario, fall down the river St. Laurence, besiege and take Montreal, and then join or co-operate with Amherst's army. Besides these larger armaments, colonel Stanwix commanded a smaller detachment for reducing smaller forts, and scouring the banks of the lake Ontario. How far this project was founded on reason and military knowledge may be judged by the following particulars, of which the projectors were not ignorant. The navigation of the river St. Laurence is dangerous and uncertain. The city of Quebec was remarkably strong from situation, and fortification, from the bravery of the inhabitants, and the number of the garrison. Monsieur de Montcalm, an officer of great courage and activity, kept the field between Montreal and Quebec, with a body of eight or ten thousand men, consisting of regular troops and disciplined militia, reinforced by a considerable number of armed Indians; and another body of reserve hovered in the neighbourhood of Montreal, which was the residence of monsieur de Vaudreuil, governor-general of Canada. The garrison of Niagara consisted of above six hundred men; the march to it was tedious and embarrassed; and monsieur de Levi scoured the country with a flying detachment, well acquainted with all the woods and passes. With respect to general Amherst's share of the plan, the forts of Ticonderoga and Crown-Point stood in his way. The enemy were masters of the lake Champlain, and possessed the strong fort of Chambly, by the fall of the river Richelieu, which defended the pass to the river St. Laurence. Even had these obstacles been removed, it was hardly possible that he and Mr. Wolfe should arrive at Quebec in the same instant of time. The first that reached it, far from being in condition to undertake the siege of Quebec, would have run the risk of being engaged and defeated by the covering army; in which case the other body must have been exposed to the most imminent hazard of destruction, in the midst of an enemy's country, far distant from any place of safety to which it could retreat. Had these disasters happened (and, according to the experience of war, they were the natural consequences of the scheme), the troops at Niagara would in all probability have fallen an easy sacrifice, unless they had been so fortunate as to receive intelligence in time enough to accomplish their retreat before they could be intercepted. The design would, we apprehend, have been more justifiable, or at least not so liable to objection, had Mr. Amherst left two or three regiments to protect the frontiers of New-York, and, joining Mr. Wolfe with the rest, sailed by the river St. Laurence to besiege Quebec. Even in that case the whole number of his troops would not have been sufficient, according to the practice of war, to invest the place, and cope with the covering enemy. Nevertheless, had the enterprise succeeded, Montcalm must either have hazarded an engagement against great odds, or retired farther into the country; then the route would have been open by land and water to Montreal, which could have made little resistance. The two principal towns being taken, and the navigation of the river St. Laurence blocked up, all the dependent forts must have surrendered at discretion, except Niagara, which there was a bare possibility of supplying at an incredible trouble and expense, from the distant Mississippi; but even then, it might have been besieged in form, and easily reduced. Whatever defects there might have been in the plan, the execution, though it miscarried in some essential points, was attended with surprising success. The same good fortune that prospered the British arms so remarkably in the conquest of Guadaloupe, seemed to interpose still more astonishingly in their favour at Quebec, the siege of which we shall record in its proper place. At present, we must attend the operations of general Amherst, whose separate army was first in motion, though such impediments were thrown in his way as greatly retarded the progress of his operations; impediments said to have arisen from the pride, insolence, and obstinacy of certain individuals, who possessed great influence in that part of the world, and employed it all to thwart the service of their country. The summer was already far advanced before general Amherst could pass lake George with his forces, although they met with no opposition, and reached the neighbourhood of Ticonderoga, where, in the preceding year, the British troops had sustained such a terrible disaster. At first the enemy seemed determined to defend this fortress: but perceiving the English commander resolute, cautious, and well prepared for undertaking the siege; having, moreover, orders to retreat from place to place, towards the centre of operations at Quebec, rather than run the least risk of being made prisoners of war, they, in the night of July the twenty-seventh, abandoned the post, after having in some measure dismantled the fortifications; and retired to Crown -Point, a fort situated on the verge of lake Champlain, General Amherst having taken possession of this important post, which effectually covered the frontiers of New-York, and secured to himself a safe retreat in case of necessity, ordered the works to be repaired, and allotted a strong garrison for its defence. This acquisition, however, was not made without the loss of a brave accomplished young officer, colonel Boger Townshend, who, in reconnoitering the fort, was killed with a cannon-shot, and fell near the same spot which, in the former year, had been enriched with the blood of the gallant lord Howe, whom he strongly resembled in the circumstances of birth, age, qualifications and character.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



GENERAL AMHERST EMBARKS ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN.

While the general superintended the repairs of Ticonderoga, and the men were employed in preparing batteaux and other vessels, his scouting parties hovered in the neighbourhood of Crown-Point, in order to watch the motions of the enemy. From one of these detachments he received intelligence, on the first day of August, that the enemy had retired from Crown-Point. He immediately detached a body of rangers before him to take possession of the place: then he embarked with the rest of the army, and on the fourth day of the month landed at the fort, where the troops were immediately encamped. His next care was to lay the foundation of a new fort, to be maintained for the further security of the British dominions in that part of the country; and particularly for preventing the inroads of scalping parties, by whom the plantations had been dreadfully infested. Here information was received that the enemy had retired to the Isle aux Noix, at the other end of the lake Champlain, five leagues on the hither side of St. John's; that their force encamped in that place, under the command of M. de Burlemaque, consisted of three battalions and five piquets of regular troops, with Canadians and marines, amounting in the whole to three thousand five hundred effective men, provided with a numerous artillery; and that the lake was occupied by four large vessels mounted with cannon, and manned with piquets of different regiments, under the command and direction of M. le Bras, a captain in the French navy, assisted by M. de Rigal, and other sea-officers. In consequence of this intimation, general Amherst, who had for some time employed captain Loring to superintend the building of vessels at Ticonderoga, being resolved to have the superiority on the lake, directed the captain to build with all possible expedition a sloop of sixteen guns, and a radeau eighty-four feet in length, capable of carrying six large cannon. These, together with a brigantine, being finished, victualled, and manned by the eleventh day of October, the general embarked with the whole of the troops in batteaux, in order to attack the enemy; but next day, the weather growing tempestuous, was obliged to take shelter in a bay on the western shore, where the men were landed for refreshment. In the meantime, captain Loring, with his small squadron, sailing down the lake, gave chase to a French schooner, and drove three of their ships into a bay, where two of them were sunk, and the third run aground by their own crew, who escaped; one, however, was repaired and brought away by captain Loring, so that now the French had but one schooner remaining. General Amherst, after having been some days wind-bound, re-embarked his forces, and proceeded down the lake; but the storm, which had abated, beginning to blow with redoubled fury, so as to swell the waves mountains high, the season for action being elapsed, and winter setting in with the most rigorous severity, he saw the impossibility of accomplishing his design, and was obliged to desist. Returning to the same bay where he had been sheltered, he landed the troops, and began his march for Crown-Point, where he arrived on the twenty-first day of October. Having secured a superiority on the lake, he now employed all his attention in rearing the new fortress at Crown-Point, together with three small outforts for its better defence; in opening roads of communication with Ticonderoga, and the governments of Massachusetts and New Hampshire; and in making dispositions for the winter-quarters of his troops, so as to protect the country from the inroads of the enemy.



NIAGARA REDUCED.

During this whole summer he received not the least intelligence of Mr. Wolfe's operations, except a few hints in some letters relating to the exchange of prisoners, that came from the French general Montcalm, who gave him to understand that Mr. Wolfe had landed in the neighbourhood of Quebec, and seemed determined to undertake the siege of that city; that he had honoured him (the French general) with several notes, sometimes couched in a soothing strain, sometimes filled with threats; that the French army intended to give him battle, and a few days would determine the fate of Quebec. Though Mr. Amherst was ignorant of the proceedings of the Quebec squadron, his communication continued open with the forces which undertook the siege of Niagara; and he received an account of their success before he had quitted the lines of Ticonderoga. General Prideaux, with his body of troops, reinforced by the Indian auxiliaries under sir William Johnston, advanced to the cataract of Niagara, without being exposed to the least inconvenience on his march; and investing the French fortress about the middle of July, carried on his approaches with great vigour till the twentieth day of that month, when, visiting the trenches, he was unfortunately slain by the bursting of a cohorn. Mr. Amherst was no sooner informed of his disaster, than he detached brigadier-general Gage from Ticonderoga, to assume the command of that army. In the meantime it devolved on sir William Johnston, who happily prosecuted the plan of his predecessor with all the success that could have been desired. The enemy, alarmed with the apprehension of losing a place of such importance, resolved to exert their endeavours for its relief. They assembled a body of regular troops, amounting to twelve hundred men, drawn from Detroit, Venango, and Presque Isle; and these, with a number of Indian auxiliaries, were detached under the command of monsieur d'Aubry, on an attempt to reinforce the garrison of Niagara. Sir William Johnston having received intelligence of their design, made a disposition to intercept them in their march. In the evening he ordered the light infantry and picquets to post themselves to the left, on the road leading from Niagara Falls to the fortress; these were reinforced in the morning with the grenadiers and part of the forty-sixth regiment, commanded by lieutenant-colonel Massey; and another regiment, under lieutenant-colonel Farquhar, was posted at the tail of the works, in order to support the guard of the trenches. About eight in the morning, the enemy being in sight, the Indians in the English army advanced to speak with their countrymen who served under the French banners; but this conference was declined by the enemy. Then the French Indians having uttered the horrible scream called the war-whoop, which by this time had lost its effect among the British forces, the enemy began the action with impetuosity; but they met with such a hot reception in front, while the Indian auxiliaries fell upon their flanks, that in a little more than half an hour their whole army was routed, their general, with all his officers, taken, and the pursuit continued through the woods for several miles with considerable slaughter. This battle, which happened on the twenty-fourth day of July, having been fought in sight of the French garrison at Niagara, sir William Johnston sent major Harvey with a trumpet to the commanding officer, to present him with a list of seventeen officers taken in the engagement, and to exhort him to surrender before more blood was shed, while he had it in his power to restrain the Indians. The commandant, having certified himself of the truth, by sending an officer to visit the prisoners, agreed to treat, and in a few hours the capitulation was ratified. The garrison, consisting of six hundred and seven effective men, marched out with the honours of war, in order to be embarked in vessels on the lake, and conveyed in the most expeditious manner to New-York. They laid down their arms when they embarked; but were permitted to keep their baggage, and by proper escort protected from the savage insolence and rapacity of the Indians. All the women were conducted, at their own request, to Montreal; and the sick and wounded, who could not bear the fatigue of travelling, were treated with humanity. This was the second complete victory obtained on the continent of North America, in the course of the same war, by sir William Johnston, who, without the help of a military education, succeeded so signally in the field by dint of innate courage and natural sagacity. What remarkably characterizes these battles, is the circumstance of his having taken, in both, the commanders of the enemy. Indeed, the war in general may be distinguished by the singular success of this gentleman and the celebrated lord Clive, two self-taught generals; who, by a series of shining actions, have demonstrated that uninstructed genius can, by its own internal light and efficacy, rival, if not eclipse, the acquired art of discipline and experience. Sir William Johnston was not more serviceable to his country by his valour and conduct in the field, than by the influence and authority which his justice, benevolence, and integrity, had acquired among the Indian tribes of the Six Nations, whom he not only assembled at Niagara to the number of eleven hundred, but also restrained within the bounds of good order and moderation.



INTRODUCTION TO THE EXPEDITION AGAINST QUEBEC.

The reduction of Niagara, and the possession of Crown-Point, were exploits much more easily achieved than the conquest of Quebec, the great object to which all these operations were subordinate. Of that we now come to give the detail fraught with singular adventures and surprising events; in the course of which a noble spirit of enterprise was displayed, and the scenes of war were exhibited in all the variety of desolation. It was about the middle of February that a considerable squadron sailed from England for Cape Breton, under the command of admirals Saunders and Holmes, two gentlemen of worth and probity, who had on several occasions signalised their courage and conduct in the service of their country. By the twenty-first day of April they were in sight of Louisbourg; but the harbour was blocked up with ice in such a manner, that they were obliged to bear away for Halifax in Nova-Scotia. From hence rear-admiral Durell was detached with a small squadron to sail up the river St. Laurence as far as the Isle de Coudres, in order to intercept any supplies from France intended for Quebec: he accordingly took two store-ships; but he was anticipated by seventeen sail, laden with provision, stores, and some recruits, under convoy of three frigates, which had already reached the capital of Canada. Meanwhile admiral Saunders arrived at Louisbourg; and the troops being embarked, to the number of eight thousand, proceeded up the river without further delay. The operations by land were intrusted to the conduct of major-general James Wolfe, whose talents had shone with such superior lustre at the siege of Louisbourg; and his subordinates in command were the brigadiers Monckton, Townshend, and Murray; all four in the flower of their age, who had studied the milifeiry art with equal eagerness and proficiency, and though young in years, were old in experience. The first was a soldier by descent, the son of major-general Wolfe, a veteran officer of acknowledged capacity: the other three resembled each other, not only in years, qualifications, and station, but also in family rank, all three being the sons of noblemen. The situation of brigadier Townshend was singular; he had served abroad in the last war with reputation, and resigned his commission during the peace, in disdain at some hard usage he had sustained from his superiors. That his military talents, however, might not be lost to his country, he exercised them with equal spirit and perseverance in projecting and promoting the plan of a national militia. When the command and direction of the army devolved to a new leader, so predominant in his breast was the spirit of patriotism and the love of glory, that though heir-apparent to a British peerage, possessed of a very affluent fortune, remarkably dear to his acquaintance, and solicited to a life of quiet by every allurement of domestic felicity; he waived these considerations: he burst from all entanglements; proffered his services to his sovereign; exposed himself to the perils of a disagreeable voyage, the rigours of a severe climate, and the hazard of a campaign peculiarly fraught with toil, danger, and difficulty.



GENERAL WOLFE LANDS ON THE ISLAND OF ORLEANS.

The armament intended for Quebec sailed up the river St. Laurence, without having met with any interruption, or having perceived any of those difficulties and perils with which it had been reported that the navigation of it was attended. Their good fortune in this particular, indeed, was owing to some excellent charts of the river, which had been found in vessels taken from the enemy. About the latter end of June the land-forces were disembarked in two divisions upon the isle of Orleans, situated a little below Quebec, a large fertile island, well cultivated, producing plenty of grain, abounding with people, villages, and plantations. General Wolfe no sooner landed on the island of Orleans, than he distributed a manifesto among the French colonists, giving them to understand that the king his master, justly exasperated against the French monarch, had equipped a considerable armament in order to humble his pride, and was determined to reduce the most considerable French settlements in America. He declared it was not against the industrious peasants, their wives and children, nor against the ministers of religion, that he intended to make war; on the contrary, he lamented the misfortunes to which they must be exposed by the quarrel; he offered them his protection; and promised to maintain them in their temporal possessions, as well as in the free exercise of their religion, provided they would remain quiet, and take no part in the difference between the two crowns. He observed, that the English were masters of the river St. Laurence, so as to intercept all succours from Europe; and had besides a powerful army on the continent, under the command of general Amherst. He affirmed, that the resolution they ought to take was neither difficult nor doubtful; as the utmost exertion of their valour would be useless, and serve only to deprive them of the advantages which they might reap from their neutrality. He reminded them that the cruelties exercised by the French upon the subjects of Great Britain in America, would excuse the most severe reprisals; but Britons were too generous to follow such barbarous examples. He again offered to the Canadians the sweets of peace, amidst the horrors of war; and left it to themselves to determine their own fate by their own conduct. He expressed his hope that the world would do him justice, should they oblige him, by rejecting these favourable terms, to adopt violent measures. He expatiated upon the strength and power, as well as upon the generosity, of Great Britain, in thus stretching out the hand of humanity; a hand ready to assist them on all occasions, even when France was by her weakness compelled to abandon them in the most critical conjuncture. This declaration produced no immediate effect; nor indeed did the Canadians depend on the sincerity and promised faith of a nation, whom their priests had industriously represented as the most savage and cruel enemy on earth. Possessed of these notions, which prevailed even among the better sort, they chose to abandon their habitations, and expose themselves and families to certain ruin, in provoking the English by the most cruel hostilities, rather than be quiet, and confide in the general's promise of protection. Instead of pursuing this prudent plan of conduct, they joined the scalping parties * of Indians who skulked among the woods; and falling upon the English stragglers by surprise, butchered them with the most inhuman barbarity.

* The operation of scalping, which, to the shame of both nations, was encouraged both by French and English, the savages performed in this manner—The hapless victim being disabled, or disarmed, the Indian, with a sharp knife, provided and worn for the purpose, makes a circular incision to the bone round the upper part of the head, and tears off the scalp with his fingers. Previous to this execution, he generally despatches the prisoner by repeated blows on the head, with the hammer-side of the instrument called a tomahawk: but sometimes they save themselves the trouble, and sometimes the blows prove ineffectual; so that the miserable patient is found alive, groaning in the utmost agony of torture. The Indian strings the scalps he has procured, to be produced as a testimony of his prowess, and receives a premium for each from the nation under whose banners he has been enlisted.

Mr. Wolfe, whose nature revolted against this wanton and perfidious cruelty, sent a letter to the French general, representing that such enormities were contrary to the rules of war observed among civilized nations, dishonourable to the service of France, and disgraceful to human nature; he therefore desired that the French colonists and Indians might be restrained within due bounds, otherwise he would burn their villages, desolate their plantations, and retaliate upon the persons of his prisoners whatever cruelties should, in the sequel, be committed on the soldiers or subjects of his master. In all probability the French general's authority was not sufficient to bridle the ferocity of the savages, who continued to scalp and murder, with the most brutal appetite for blood and revenge, so that Mr. Wolfe, in order to intimidate the enemy into a cessation of these outrages, found it necessary to connive at some irregularities in the way of retaliation.

M. de Montcalm, who commanded the French troops, though superior in number to the invaders, very wisely resolved to depend upon the natural strength of the country, which appeared almost insurmountable, and had carefully taken all his precautions of defence. The city of Quebec was tolerably fortified, secured with a numerous garrison, and plentifully supplied with provisions and ammunition. Montcalm had reinforced the troops of the colony with five regular battalions formed of the best of the inhabitants, completely disciplined all the Canadians of the neighbourhood capable of bearing arms, and several tribes of savages. With this army he had taken the field in a very advantageous situation, encamped along the shore of Beaufort, from the river St. Charles to the Falls of Montmorenci, every accessible part being deeply intrenched. To undertake the siege of Quebec against such odds and advantages, was not only a deviation from the established maxims of war, but a rash enterprise, seemingly urged in diametrical opposition to the dictates of common sense. Mr. Wolfe was well acquainted with all the difficulties of the undertaking; but he knew at the same time he should always have it in his power to retreat, in case of emergency, while the British squadron maintained its station in the river; he was not without hope of being joined by general Amherst; and he was stimulated by an appetite for glory, which the prospect of accumulated dangers could not allay. Understanding that there was a body of the enemy posted, with cannon, at the Point of Levi, on the south shore, opposite the city of Quebec, he detached against them brigadier Monckton, at the head of four battalions, who passed the river at night; and next morning, having skirmished with some of the enemy's irregulars, obliged them to retire from that post, which the English immediately occupied. At the same time colonel Carlton, with another detachment, took possession of the western point of the island of Orleans: and both these posts were fortified, in order to anticipate the enemy; who, had they kept possession of either, might have rendered it impossible for any ship to lie at anchor within two miles of Quebec. Besides, the Point of Levi was within cannon shot of the city, against which a battery of mortars and artillery was immediately erected. Montcalm, foreseeing the effect of this manoeuvre, detached a body of sixteen hundred men across the river, to attack and destroy the works before they were completed; but the detachment fell into disorder, fired upon each other, and retired in confusion. The battery being finished without further interruption, the cannons and mortars began to play with such success, that in a little time the upper town was considerably damaged, and the lower town reduced to a heap of rubbish.



ENGLISH FLEET DAMAGED BY A STORM.

In the meantime, the fleet was exposed to the most imminent danger. Immediately after the troops had been landed on the island of Orleans, the wind increased to a furious storm, which blew with such violence, that many transports ran foul of one another, and were disabled. A number of boats and small craft foundered, and divers large ships lost their anchors. The enemy resolving to take advantage of the confusion which they imagined this disaster must have produced, prepared seven fire ships; and at midnight sent them down from Quebec among the transports, which lay so thick as to cover the whole surface of the river. The scheme, though well contrived, and seasonably executed, was entirely defeated by the deliberation of the British admiral, and the dexterity of his mariners, who resolutely boarded the fire ships, and towed them fast aground, where they lay burning to the water's edge, without having done the least prejudice to the English squadron. On the very same day of the succeeding month they sent down a raft of fire-ships, or radeaux, which were likewise consumed without producing any effect.



GENERAL WOLFE ENCAMPS NEAR THE FALLS OF THE RIVER MONTMORENCI.

The works for the security of the hospital and the stores, on the island of Orleans, being finished, the British forces crossed the north channel in boats; and, landing under cover of two sloops, encamped on the side of the river Montmorenci, which divided them from the left of the enemy. Next morning a company of rangers, posted in a wood to cover some workmen, were attacked by the French Indians, and totally defeated; however, the nearest troops advancing, repulsed the Indians in their turn with considerable loss. The reasons that induced general Wolfe to choose this situation by the Falls of Montmorenci, in which he was divided from Quebec by this and another river called St. Charles, he explained in a letter to the secretary of state. He observed, that the ground which he had chosen was high, and in some measure commanded the opposite side on which the enemy was posted: that there was a ford below the Falls passable in every tide for some hours, at the latter part of the ebb and beginning of the flood; and he hoped that means might be found of passing the river higher up, so as to fight the marquis de Montcalm upon less disadvantageous terms than those of directly attacking his intrenchments. Accordingly, in reconnoitring the river Montmorenci, a ford was discovered about three miles above; but the opposite banks, which were naturally steep and covered with woods, the enemy had intrenched in such a manner, as to render it almost inaccessible. The escort was twice attacked by the Indians, who were as often repulsed; but these rencounters cost the English about forty men killed and wounded, including some officers. Some shrewd objections might be started to the general's choice of ground on this occasion. He could not act at all without passing the river Montmorenci at a very great disadvantage, and attacking an enemy superior to himself in number, secured by redoubts and intrenchments. Had he even, by dint of extraordinary valour, driven them from these strong posts, the success must have cost him a great number of officers and men: and the enemy might have retreated behind the river St. Charles, which he also must have passed under the same disadvantages, before he could begin his operations against the city of Quebec. Had his good fortune enabled him to surmount all these difficulties, and after all to defeat the enemy in a pitched battle, the garrison of Quebec might have been reinforced by the wreck of their army; and he could not, with any probability of success, have undertaken the siege of an extensive fortified place, which he had not troops sufficient to invest, and whose garrison would have been nearly equal in number to the sum total of the troops he commanded. At any rate, the chance of a fair engagement in the open field was what he had little reason to expect in that situation, from the known experience, and the apparent conduct, of the French general. These objections appeared so obvious and important, that general Wolfe would not determine to risk an attack, until he had surveyed the upper part of the river St. Laurence, in hopes of finding some place more favourable for a descent.

On the eighteenth day of July, the admiral, at his request, sent two ships of war, two armed sloops, and some transports with troops on board, up the river; and they passed the city of Quebec, without having sustained any damage. The general, being on board of this little armament, carefully observed the banks on the side of the enemy, which were extremely difficult from the nature of the ground; and these difficulties were redoubled by the foresight and precaution of the French commander. Though a descent seemed impracticable between the city and Cape Rouge, where it was intended, general Wolfe, in order to divide the enemy's force, and procure intelligence, ordered a detachment, under the command of colonel Carleton, to land higher up, at the Point au Tremble, to which place he was informed a great number of the inhabitants of Quebec had retired with their most valuable effects. This service was performed with little loss; and some prisoners were brought away, but no magazine was discovered. The general, thus disappointed in his expectation, returned to Montmorenci, where brigadier Townshend had, by maintaining a superior fire across that river, prevented the enemy from erecting a battery, which would have commanded the English camp; and now he resolved to attack them, though posted to great advantage, and everywhere prepared to give him a warm reception. His design was, first to reduce a detached redoubt close to the water's edge, seemingly situated without gunshot of the intrenchment on the hill. Should this fortification be supported by the enemy, he foresaw that he should be able to bring on a general engagement: on the contrary, should they remain tame spectators of its reduction, he could afterwards examine their situation at leisure, and determine the place at which they could be most easily attacked. Preparations were accordingly made for storming the redoubt. On the last day of July, in the forenoon, part of brigadier Monckton's brigade was embarked in the boats of the fleet, to be transported from the Point of Levi. The two brigades, commanded by the brigadiers Townshend and Murray, were drawn out in order to pass the ford when it should be necessary. To facilitate their passage, the admiral had stationed the Centurion ship of war in the channel, to check the fire of the lower battery, by which the ford was commanded: a numerous train of artillery was placed upon the eminence, to batter and enfilade the left of the enemy's intrenchment; and two flat-bottomed armed vessels, prepared for the purpose, were run aground near the redoubt, to favour the descent of the forces. The manifest confusion produced among the French by these previous measures, and by the fire of the Centurion, which was well-directed and sustained, determined Mr. Wolfe to storm this intrenchment without further delay. Orders were issued that the three brigadiers should put their troops in motion at a certain signal, which was accordingly made at a proper time of the tide. Many of the boats from Point Levi ran aground upon a ledge that runs off a considerable distance from the shore; and this accident occasioned a disorderly which so much time was lost, that the general was obliged to stop the march of brigadier Townshend's corps, which he perceived to be in motion. In the meantime, the boats were floated, and ranged in proper order, though exposed to a severe fire of shot and shells; and the general in person sounding the shore, pointed out the place where the troops might disembark with the least difficulty. Thirteen companies of Grenadiers, and two hundred men of the second American battalion, were the first who landed. They had received orders to form in four distinct bodies, and begin the attack, supported by the corps of brigadier Monckton, as soon as the other troops should have passed the ford, and be near enough to contribute to their assistance. These instructions, however, were entirely neglected. Before Mr. Monckton had landed, and while brigadier Townshend was on his march at a considerable distance, the grenadiers, without waiting to be drawn up in a regular form, impetuously rushed towards the enemy's intrenchments in the utmost disorder. Their courage served only to increase their misfortune. The first fire they received did such execution among them, that they were obliged to shelter themselves under the redoubt which the French had abandoned at their approach. In this uncomfortable situation they remained some time, unable to form under so hot a fire, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of many gallant officers, who lavishly exposed, and even lost their lives in the honourable discharge of their duty. [511] [See note 3 Y, at the end of this Vol.] The general, seeing all their efforts abortive, ordered them to retreat, and form behind Monckton's brigade, which was by this time landed, and drawn up on the beach in order. They accordingly retired in confusion, leaving a considerable number lying on the field, to the barbarity of the Indian savages, who massacred the living, and scalped the dead, even in the sight of their indignant companions. This unhappy accident occasioned a new delay, and the day was already far advanced. The wind began to blow with uncommon violence, and the tide to make; so that in case of a second repulse, the retreat of brigadier Townshend might have been rendered hazardous and uncertain; Mr. Wolfe, therefore, thought proper to desist, and returned without further molestation to the other side of the river Montmorenci. The admiral ordered the two vessels which were aground to be set on fire, that they might not fall into the hands of the enemy. The advantages that favoured an attack in this part, consisted of the following particulars:—All the artillery could be used with good effect; all the troops could act at once; and in case of a miscarriage, the retreat was secure and open, at least for a certain time of the tide. These, however, seemed to be over-balanced by other considerations. The enemy were posted on a commanding eminence; the beach was covered with deep mud, slippery, and broken into holes and gullies; the hill was steep, and in some places impracticable; the enemy were numerous, and poured in a very severe fire from their intrenchments. Had the attack succeeded, the loss of the English must have been very heavy, and that of the French inconsiderable, because the neighbouring woods afforded them immediate shelter. Finally, the river St. Charles still remained to be passed before the town could be invested.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}



BRIGADIER MURRAY DETACHED UP THE RIVER.

Immediately after this mortifying check, in which above five hundred men, and many brave officers, were lost, the general detached brigadier Murray, with twelve hundred men, in transports, above the town, to co-operate with rear-admiral Holmes, whom the admiral had sent up with some force against the French shipping, which he hoped to destroy. The brigadier was likewise instructed to seize every opportunity of fighting the enemy's detachments, and even of provoking them to battle. In pursuance of these directions, he twice attempted to land on the north shore; but these attempts were unsuccessful. The third effort was more fortunate. He made a sudden descent at Chambaud, and burned a considerable magazine, filled with arms, clothing, provisions, and ammunition. The enemy's ships being secured in such a manner as not to be approached, and nothing else occurring that required the brigadier's longer stay, he returned to the camp, with intelligence obtained from his prisoners, that the fort of Niagara was taken, Crown Point abandoned, and general Amherst employed in making preparations to attack the corps at the isle aux Nois, commanded by M. Burlemaque. The disaster at the Falls of Montmorenci made a deep impression on the mind of general Wolfe, whose spirit was too great to brook the most distant prospect of censure or disgrace. He knew the character of the English people—rash, impatient, and capricious; elevated to exultation by the least gleam of success, dejected even to despondency by the most inconsiderable frown of adverse fortune; sanguine, even to childish hyperbole, in applauding those servants of the public who have prospered in their undertakings; clamorous, to a degree of prosecution, against those who have miscarried in their endeavours, without any investigation of merit, without any consideration of circumstances. A keen sense of these vexatious peculiarities conspiring with the shame of disappointment, and eager desire of retrieving the laurel that he might by some be supposed to have lost at the Falls of Montmorenci, and the despair of finding such an occasion, excited an internal agitation, which visibly affected his external frame, and disordered his whole constitution, which was naturally delicate and tender. Among those who shared his confidence, he was often seen to sigh; he was often heard to complain; and even in the transports of his chagrin declare, that he would never return without success, to be exposed, as other unfortunate commanders had been, to the censure and reproach of an ignorant and ungrateful populace. This tumult of the mind, added to the fatigues of the body he had undergone, produced a fever and dysentery, by which for some time he was totally disabled.

Before he recovered any degree of strength, he desired the general officers to consult together for the public utility. It was their opinion, that, the Points of Levi and Orleans being left in a proper state of defence, the rest of the troops should be conveyed up the river, with a view to draw the enemy from their present situation, and bring them if possible to an engagement. This measure, however, was not adopted, until the general and admiral had reconnoitred the town of Quebec, with a view to a general assault; and concluded from their own observations, reinforced by the opinion of the chief engineer, who was perfectly well acquainted with the interior of the place, that such an attack could not be hazarded with any prospect of success. The ships of war, indeed, might have silenced the batteries of the lower town, but they could not affect the upper works, from which they must have sustained considerable damage. When we consider the situation of this place, and the fortifications with which it was secured; the natural strength of the country; the great number of vessels and floating batteries they had provided for the defence of the river; the skill, valour, superior force, and uncommon vigilance of the enemy; their numerous bodies of savages continually hovering about the posts of the English, to surprise parties, and harass detachments; we must own that there was such a combination of difficulties as might have discouraged and perplexed the most resolute and intelligent commander.



THE TROOPS LAND AT THE HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM.

In consequence of the resolution taken to quit the camp at Montmorenci, the troops and artillery were re-embarked, and landed at Point Levi: they afterwards passed up the river in transports, while admiral Holmes made a movement with his ships to amuse the enemy posted on the north shore; and the men being much crowded on board, the general ordered one-half of them to be landed for refreshment on the other side of the river. As no possibility appeared of annoying the enemy above the town, the scheme of operations was totally changed. A plan was formed for conveying the troops farther down in boats, and landing them in the night within a league of Cape Diamond, in hopes of ascending the heights of Abraham, which rise abruptly with a steep ascent from the banks of the river, that they might take possession of the ground on the back of the city, where it was but indifferently fortified. The dangers and difficulties attending the execution of this design were so peculiarly discouraging, that one would imagine it could not have been embraced but by a spirit of enterprise that bordered on desperation. The stream was rapid; the shore shelving; the bank of the river lined with sentinels; the landing place so narrow as to be easily missed in the dark; and the ground so difficult as hardly to be surmounted in the day-time, had no opposition been expected. If the enemy had received the least intimation from spy or deserter, or even suspected the scheme; had the embarkation been disordered in consequence of the darkness of the night, the rapidity of the river, or the shelving nature of the north shore, near which they were obliged to row; had one sentinel been alarmed, or the landing place much mistaken; the heights of Abraham must have been instantly secured by such a force as would, have rendered the undertaking abortive: confusion would necessarily have ensued in the dark; and this would have naturally produced a panic, which might have proved fatal to the greater part of the detachment. These objections could not escape the penetration of the gallant Wolfe, who nevertheless adopted the plan without hesitation, and even executed it in person; though at that time labouring under a severe dysentery and fever, which had exhausted his constitution, and reduced him almost to an extremity of weakness. The previous steps being taken, and the time fixed for this hazardous attempt, admiral Holmes moved with his squadron farther up the river, about three leagues above the place appointed for the disembarkation, that he might deceive the enemy, and amuse M. de Bougainville, whom Montcalm had detached with fifteen hundred men to watch the motions of that squadron; but the English admiral was directed to sail down the river in the night, so as to protect the landing of the forces; and these orders he punctually fulfilled. On the twelfth day of September, an hour after midnight, the first embarkation, consisting of four complete regiments, the light infantry commanded by colonel Howe, a detachment of Highlanders, and the American grenadiers, was made in flat-bottomed boats, under the immediate command of the brigadiers Monck-ton and Murray; though general Wolfe accompanied them in person, and was among the first who landed; and they began to fall down with the tide, to the intended place of disembarkation, rowing close to the north shore in order to find it the more easily. Without any disorder the boats glided gently along: but by the rapidity of the tide, and the darkness of the night, the boats over-shot the mark, and the troops landed a little below the place at which the disembarkation was intended. [513] [See note 3 Z, at the end of this Vol.] As the troops landed the boats were sent back for the second embarkation, which was superintended by brigadier Townshend. In the meantime, colonel Howe, with the light infantry and the Highlanders, ascended the woody precipices with admirable courage and activity, and dislodged a sergeant's guard which defended a small intrenched narrow path, by which alone the rest of the forces could reach the summit. Then they mounted without further molestation from the enemy, and the general drew them up in order as they arrived. Monsieur de Montcalm no sooner understood that the English had gained the heights of Abraham, which in a manner commanded the town on its weakest part, than he resolved to hazard a battle; and began his march without delay, after having collected his whole force from the side of Beauport.



BATTLE OF QUEBEC.

General Wolfe, perceiving the enemy crossing the river St. Charles, began to form his own line, which consisted of six battalions and the Louisbourg grenadiers; the right commanded by brigadier Monckton, and the left by brigadier Murray: to the rear of the left, colonel Howe was posted with his light infantry, just returned from a four-gun battery, which they had taken without opposition. M. de Montcalm advancing in such a manner as to show his intention was to flank the left of the English, brigadier Townshend was sent thither with the regiment of Amherst, which he formed en potence, presenting a double front to the enemy: he was afterwards reinforced by two battalions; and the reserve consisted of one regiment drawn up in eight sub-divisions, with large intervals. The right of the enemy was composed of half the colony troops, two battalions, and a body of Canadians and savages; their centre consisted of a column formed by two other regular battalions; and on the left one battalion, with the remainder of the colony troops, was posted; the bushes and corn-fields in their front were lined with fifteen hundred of their best marksmen, who kept up an irregular galling fire, which proved fatal to many brave officers, thus singled out for destruction. This fire, indeed, was in some measure checked by the advanced posts of the British line, who piqueered with the enemy for some hours before the battle began. Both armies were destitute of artillery, except two small pieces on the side of the French, and a single gun which the English seamen made shift to draw up from the landing place. This was very well served, and galled their column severely. At length, about nine in the morning, the enemy advanced to the charge with great order and vivacity, though their fire was irregular and ineffectual. On the contrary, the British forces reserved their shot until the French had approached within forty yards of their line: then they poured in a terrible discharge; and continued the fire with such deliberation and spirit, as could not fail to produce a very considerable effect. General Wolfe was stationed on the right, at the head of Bragg's regiment and the Louisbourg grenadiers, where the attack was most warm. As he stood conspicuous in the front of the line, he had been aimed at by the enemy's marksmen, and received a shot in the wrist, which however did not oblige him to quit the field. Having wrapped a handkerchief round his hand, he continued giving orders without the least emotion; and advanced at the head of the grenadiers with their bayonets fixed; when another ball unfortunately pierced the breast of this young hero,* who fell in the arms of victory, just as the enemy gave way.

* When the fatal ball took place, general Wolfe, finding himself unable to stand, leaned upon the shoulder of a lieutenant, who sat down for that purpose. This officer seeing the French give way, exclaimed, "They run! they run!"—"Who run?" cried the gallant Wolfe, with great eagerness. When the lieutenant replied, "The French."— "What!" said he, "do the cowards run already? then I die happy." So saying, the glorious youth expired.



At that very instant, every separate regiment of the British army seemed to exert itself for the honour of its own peculiar character. While the right pressed on with their bayonets, brigadier Murray briskly advanced with the troops under his command, and soon broke the centre of the enemy: then the High landers, drawing their broad-swords, fell in among them, with irresistible impetuosity, and drove them with great slaughter into the town, and the works they had raised at the bridge of the river St. Charles. On the left and rear of the English, the action was not so violent. Some of the light infantry had thrown themselves into houses; where, being attacked, they defended themselves with great courage and resolution. Colonel Howe having taken post with two companies behind a small copse, sallied out frequently on the flanks of the enemy during this attack, and often drove them into heaps; while brigadier Townshend advanced platoons against their front; so that the right wing of the French were totally prevented from executing their first intention. The brigadier himself remained with Amherst's regiment, to support this disposition, and to overawe a body of savages posted opposite to the light infantry, waiting for an opportunity to fall upon the rear of the British army. General Wolfe being slain, and at the same time Mr. Monckton dangerously wounded at the head of Lascelles' regiment, where he distinguished himself with remarkable gallantry, the command devolved on brigadier Townshend, who hastened to the centre; and finding the troops disordered in the pursuit, formed them again with all possible expedition. This necessary task was scarce performed, when M. de Bougainville, with a body of two thousand fresh men, appeared in the rear of the English. He had begun his march from Cape Rouge, as soon as he received intelligence that the British troops had gained the heights of Abraham, but did not come up in time to have any share in the battle. Mr. Townshend immediately ordered two battalions, with two pieces of artillery, to advance against this officer; who retired, at their approach, among woods and swamps, where general Townshend very wisely declined hazarding a precarious attack. He had already obtained a complete victory, taken a great number of French officers, and was possessed of a very advantageous situation, which it would have been imprudent to forego. The French general, M. de Montcalm, was mortally wounded in the battle, and conveyed into Quebec; from whence, before he died, he wrote a letter to general Townshend, recommending the prisoners to that generous humanity by which the British nation is distinguished. His second in command was left wounded on the field; and next day expired on board an English ship, to which he had been conveyed. About one thousand of the enemy were made prisoners, including a great number of officers; and about five hundred were slain on the field of battle. The wreck of their army, after they had reinforced the garrison of Quebec, retired to Point-au-Tremble; from whence they proceeded to Jacques Quatiers, where they remained intrenched until they were compelled by the severity of the weather to make the best of their way to Trois Rivieres and Montreal. This important victory was obtained at the expense of fifty men killed, including nine officers; and of about five hundred men wounded: but the death of general Wolfe was a national loss, universally lamented. He inherited from nature an animating fervour of sentiment, an intuitive perception, an extensive capacity, and a passion for glory, which stimulated him to acquire every species of military knowledge that study could comprehend, that actual service could illustrate and confirm. This noble warmth of disposition, seldom fails to call forth and unfold the liberal virtues of the soul. Brave above all estimation of danger, he was also generous, gentle, complacent and humane; the pattern of the officer, the darling of the soldier: there was a sublimity in his genius which soared above the pitch of ordinary minds; and had his faculties been exercised to their full extent by opportunity and action, had his judgment been fully matured by age and experience, he would without doubt have rivalled in reputation the most celebrated captains of antiquity.



QUEBEC TAKEN.

Immediately after the battle of Quebec, admiral Saunders, who, together with his subordinates Durell and Holmes, had all along co-operated heartily with the land-forces for the advantage of the service, sent up all the boats of the fleet with artillery and ammunition; and on the seventeenth day of the month sailed up with all the ships of war, in a disposition to attack the lower town, while the upper part should be assaulted by general Townshend. This gentleman had employed the time from the day of action in securing the camp with redoubts, in forming a military road for the cannon, in drawing up the artillery, preparing batteries, and cutting off the enemy's communication with the country. On the seventeenth, before any battery could be finished, a flag of truce was sent from the town, with proposals of capitulation; which, being maturely considered by the general and admiral, were accepted, and signed at eight next morning. They granted the more favourable terms, as the enemy continued to assemble in the rear of the British army; as the season was become wet, stormy, and cold, threatening the troops with sickness, and the fleet with accident; and as a considerable advantage would result from taking possession of the town while the walls were in a state of defence. What rendered the capitulation still more fortunate for the British general, was the information he afterwards received from deserters, that the enemy had rallied, and were reinforced behind cape Rouge, under the command of M. de Levy, arrived from Montreal for that purpose, with two regular battalions; and that M. de Bougainville, at the head of eight hundred men, with a convoy of provisions, was actually on his march to throw himself into the town on the eighteenth, that very morning on which it was surrendered. The place was not then completely invested, as the enemy had broke the bridge of boats, and posted detachments in very strong works on the other side of the river St. Charles. The capitulation was no sooner ratified, than the British forces took possession of Quebec on the land side; and guards were posted in different parts of the town, to preserve order and discipline; at the same time captain Palliser, with a body of seamen, entered the lower town and took the same precautions. Next day about a thousand prisoners were embarked on board transports, which proceeded to France with the first opportunity. Meanwhile the inhabitants of the country came in great numbers, to deliver up their arms, and take the oath of fidelity to the English government. The death of Montcalm, which was indeed an irreparable loss to France, in all probability overwhelmed the enemy with consternation, and confounded all their councils; otherwise we cannot account for the tame surrender of Quebec to a handful of troops, even after the victory they had obtained: for although the place was not regularly fortified on the land-side, and most of the houses were in ruins, their walls and parapets had not yet sustained the least damage; the besiegers were hardly sufficient to complete the investiture; a fresh army was assembled in the neighbourhood, with which their communication continued open; the season was so far advanced, that the British forces in a little time must have been forced to desist by the severity of the weather, and even retire with their fleet before the approach of winter, which never fails to freeze up the river St. Laurence.