CHAPTER VIII.
We must now return to the proceedings in the British camp. In the stern climate of Northern America the season for military action was very limited. From the breaking up of the ice on the lakes and rivers, and the melting of the forest snows, till they again hindered or forbid the movement of troops, but little interval was left for the march of an invading army. To pursue with effect the great plan of the campaign, it was necessary to take the field with the earliest signs of returning spring. General Amherst, therefore, left New York on the 28th of April, 1759, and arrived at Albany on the 3d of May: there he busied himself in assembling and organizing his army for the field, preparing boats for transporting the troops, artillery, and stores, and instructing the raw Provincial levies in the rudiments of military discipline. Before this time, he had dispatched the active partisan officer, Major Rogers, with 350 men, from Fort Edward, to feel the strength of the enemy at Ticonderoga and Crown Point: they succeeded in surprising a French working party close to the disastrous scene of the previous year's defeat, killed some men, and took several prisoners, with but little loss to themselves. The intense severity of the weather, however, made the victors pay dearly for their success: two thirds of the detachment were frost-bitten in the feet, some of them to such an extent that their more fortunate companions were obliged to carry them back to the British camp.
The whole month of May was occupied in preparation for the advance. The Provincial regiments, as fast as they arrived at head-quarters, were encamped, and instructed with all diligence. The regular troops were pushed on by the road to Fort Edward, and posted at a place fifty-six miles from Albany, while a detachment under Major West constructed a small stockaded fort between Fort Edward and the lake. On the 3d of June the near divisions of the army were ordered to take the field. That same day the general left Albany, and encamped at Port Edward on the 6th.
During this time of military inaction but of tedious toil, an alarming spirit of desertion broke out among the British troops. A large proportion of even the regulars were young and untrained men, unaccustomed to the dull restraint of discipline, and as yet almost unconscious of that professional pride which, to a certain extent, may practically supply the place of a higher principle in the soldier's mind. The Provincials were chiefly new levies, and not always very zealous recruits. The duties of the camp were harassing, the labors on the works were wearying; before them lay a dreary and dangerous march, behind them the pleasant villages and well-stored homesteads of New England. The temptation was strong, the principle of resistance weak. Appeals to patriotism, stringent orders, and moderate punishments proved ineffectual; still by twos and threes, and at length by scores, Amherst's army melted away into the neighboring forests. The last example became necessary; a general court-martial sentenced two deserters, Dunwood and Ward, to death, and they were immediately executed. Despite this terrible warning, despite all promises and threats, the vile treason still prevailed, especially among the Provincials; two other traitors, Rogers and Harris, were also apprehended, convicted, and shot.
An insidious attempt to examine the British strength, under the pretext of a flag of truce from M. de Bourlemaque, was frustrated by Amherst's vigilance; he would not suffer the French officers to enter the camp, but examined the dispatches, and returned answer while they remained at a suitable distance. The general's active care could not protect the frontier settlers from the atrocious cruelties of the French and Indians; although scouting parties were constantly moving through the forests, the subtle and ferocious enemy eluded their vigilance, and scalped men, women, and children without mercy. These outrages gave rise to the following order by Amherst, which he found means to forward to the Governor of Canada and his general:
"No scouting party, or others in the army, are to scalp women or children belonging to the enemy. They are, if possible, to take them prisoners, but not to injure them on any account, the general being determined, should the enemy continue to murder and scalp women and children, who are the subjects of the King of Great Britain, to revenge it by the death of two men of the enemy for every woman or child murdered by them."
It were a needless pain to dwell upon the cruelties of this bloody war. Our countrymen must bear their share, although not an equal share, of the deep disgrace. The contending parties readily acquired the fiendish ingenuity in torture of their Indian allies; the Frenchman soon became as expert as his red teacher in tearing the scalp from a prostrate enemy; and even the British soldier counted these odious trophies with unnatural triumph. In the exterminating strife, the thirst of blood became strong and deep, and was slaked, not only in the life-streams of the armed foe, but in that of the aged, the maimed, the helpless woman, and the innocent child. The peaceful hamlet and the smiling corn-field excited hostile fury alike with the camp, the intrenchment, and the fort, and shared in their destruction when the defenders were overpowered. Yet still over these murdered corpses and scenes of useless desolation, the spotless flag of France and the Red Cross of St. George waved in alternate triumph, proudly and remorselessly, by their symbolic presence sanctioning the disgraceful strife.
The greater part of the troops, artillery, and stores being now arrived, the general advanced from Fort Edward on the 21st of June, with about 6000 men, in two columns; he visited the several posts established on the communications by the way, and that night encamped on the woody banks of Lake George, where the following morning he traced out the plan of a small fort.[166] The remainder of the troops and the boats were brought up to this point with all dispatch, but the difficulties of the carrying place, the intense heat of the weather, and the badness of the roads proved harassing impediments to the British chief. During these delays several unimportant affairs occurred between our advanced parties and the French light troops and Indians, which usually ended in favor of the enemy. However, the time was profitably employed by Captain Loring of the navy, who exerted himself bravely and successfully in the arrangements for embarkation: he raised, rigged, and armed the sloop Halifax, and also a floating battery of eight heavy guns, both of which had been sunk in the last campaign. On the 21st of July, all was in readiness; the troops and stores had arrived; the army embarked upon the lake.
The force with which General Amherst now undertook the invasion of Canada consisted of 111 of the Royal Artillery, having under charge fifty-four pieces of ordnance of various descriptions; six battalions of regulars, numbering, officers included, 5743 men; nine battalions of Provincials,[167] with a regiment of Light Infantry, newly raised and commanded by General Gage, 5279 men, in all numbering 11,133. This army crossed the lake in four columns: the following day it reached the second Narrows without interruption except from the roughness of the weather, and landed near the spot where Abercromby had disembarked the year before. The British vanguard, composed principally of light troops, pushed on rapidly into the bush, and soon fell upon a detachment of the Regiment de Berry and some Indians, commanded by Captain Bournie; the French were instantly overpowered and dispersed, two were "made prisoners, and four were scalped: their wounded they carried off with them in their flight." Amherst followed with his main body in good order, and took up a position of great strength near the Saw-mills. He learned from the French prisoners that M. de Bourlemaque commanded at Carillon, his garrison, three battalions of regulars, and a large body of Canadian militia, and some Indians, in all 3400 men.
That night the British troops lay on their arms, and at earliest dawn the heavy sound of the advancing artillery warned the French that a formidable attack was about to open upon the lines under the shelter of which their brilliant victory of the preceding year had been gained. They ventured not to try the issue of a second combat against a different chief, and abandoning the blood-stained breast-works, fell back upon the neighboring fort. The Grenadiers of the English regulars immediately occupied the deserted intrenchments, and the rest of the army encamped at a short distance to the rear.
In the center of these remarkable lines, the French had, in celebration of the victory of Carillon, erected a lofty cross, which still remained; a deep grave was sunk before it, and on the cross was affixed a plate of brass, with this inscription:
"Pone principes eorum sicut Oreb et Zebec et Zalmanna."
The French kept up a warm fire from the fort upon the position where the British lay encamped, but the great height and strength of the breast-works erected for their own defense now sheltered their enemies, and rendered the shower of shot and shells perfectly harmless. The preparations for the siege rapidly progressed, and the garrison were apparently equally vigorous in dispositions for defense; but M. de Bourlemaque soon perceived that the English general possessed the skill and determination, as well as the necessary force, to insure success; he therefore silently abandoned the fort on the night of the 23d, leaving 400 men to continue such a resistance as might mask the retreat of his army. This small but gallant band, while their countrymen filed cautiously down toward the lake, made a sudden attack upon the advanced guard in the besiegers' trenches, killed and wounded sixteen men, and caused such confusion that in the darkness of the night the British fired upon each other.
On the 24th and 25th, the remaining French in the fort kept up a continuous fire upon the besiegers' camp, and, having ascertained the range, caused much annoyance and some loss. Colonel Townshend, a brave and beloved officer—the Lord Howe of Amherst's army—was struck down by a cannon shot in the trenches, and he instantly expired, to the great grief of all who knew him. Meanwhile the English approaches were advanced within 600 yards of the fort, and the Indians, under Major Rogers, harassed the defenders with a continuous fire from the advanced works. At ten o'clock on the night of the 26th some deserters to the British camp informed the general that the French had abandoned the fort, but that they had left every gun loaded and pointed, several mines charged for the utter destruction of the defenses, and a lighted fuse communicating with the well-stored powder magazine. While they yet spoke, an awful explosion, bursting upon the silence of the night, confirmed the tale; then, from under the dense cloud of smoke and dust, and the shower of burning embers, arose the flames of the wooden breast-works, barracks, and stores, while at intervals, from the mass of fire, the yellow flash of the bursting guns and the exploding mines varied the tints of the light that fell far and near upon the lake and the surrounding forest.
The retreat of the French had been so hurried that they were unable to give warning to their scouting parties, who, on returning to the fort, fell into the hands of the English. Colonel Haviland, with some Rangers[168] and light troops in fast boats, pursued the flying enemy across the lake, and succeeded in capturing some bateaux laden with powder, and sixteen prisoners. At daylight in the morning a sergeant of the British regulars volunteered for the dangerous duty of entering the burning fort, to strike the French flag and raise that of England in its place; he succeeded, and carried the white banner in safety to his general. Soon afterward a detachment was sent to extinguish the flames, and save any guns which yet might have remained uninjured. This object was accomplished with some difficulty, but no loss. No more than seventy-six men of the British force had been killed and wounded in all the preceding operations.
Amherst set vigorously to work in repairing the fort of Ticonderoga; most of the ramparts, the covered way, and the walls of the buildings remained uninjured; his principal exertions were therefore employed in leveling his own now useless siege works, and completing the road from the shore. Meanwhile Captain Loring still labored to strengthen the British naval power on the lake; he weighed some French bateaux which had been sunk, and constructed a brig with all possible dispatch. The general was intent, in the mean time, on forwarding the main objects of the campaign. Crown Point was the next obstacle to be overcome; little was known as to its defenses or situation, but it at least was not guarded by the gloomy memories which had hung around the neighboring stronghold of Ticonderoga.
Major Rogers, who had so often proved his activity and skill, was pushed on with about 200 Rangers to feel the strength of the enemy and examine the position of Crown Point; his orders were to seize some strong and safe post near the fort, and, in case of attack, to hold out at all hazards until relieved by the advancing army. After a little fruitless skirmishing and scalping, the Rangers established themselves in a commanding situation, but on the 1st of August intelligence arrived which proved that all precautions had been needless: the enemy had abandoned Crown Point. A small English detachment immediately took possession, but Amherst, with the main army, did not arrive till the 4th. He then encamped his troops, and traced out the lines of a new fort, as a defense in future against the savage scalping parties which had so long been a terror to the frontier settlers of New York.
The skillful and cautious movements of the British general had thus, with scarcely any loss, secured possession of the two important strongholds which ruled the destiny of the long-disputed lakes: where his predecessor had not only been baffled, but had received a terrible chastisement, he, with an inferior power, had almost uninterruptedly won his way, and overcome all opposition more by demonstration than by force. The country, now thus cheaply won, was rich and beautiful; far as the eye could reach, magnificent forests and verdant turf alternated on the undulations of the landscape, down to the margin of the transparent lake. The sugar-tree, and various fruits and flowers, abounded in the sunny valleys, and the scent of aromatic herbs filled the pure air with a delightful perfume. Deep was the sorrow of the French when they abandoned forever that lovely land which had been adorned by their taste and industry, strengthened by their skill and toil, defended by their best blood, and endeared to their vain but gallant hearts by memories of glorious victory.
The orders of M. de Bourlemaque were to impede more than to resist the overwhelming British force. The naval superiority which he still retained upon the lakes enabled him to carry out these orders, despite the vigor and skill of his opponent; but his losses in material, if not in life and honor were considerable. Besides a large quantity of guns, ammunition, and stores sunk or destroyed, several pieces of cannon of various sizes, some swivels, small arms, powder, and intrenching tools fell into the hands of the English.
On the 16th of August, Amherst was informed by deserters that the French had encamped on Isle aux Noix, at the northern extremity of Lake Champlain, where a strong position gave them the command of the entrance to the Richelieu River. Joined by some small detachments, sufficient to repair their losses by defection and in the field, they still mustered 3500 men; 100 pieces of cannon, and four armed vessels, commanded by naval officers, and manned by picked soldiers of the line, enabled them even yet to offer a formidable front.
The fate of this portion of the campaign now evidently turned upon the relative strength of the contending parties on the waters of the lake. Amherst's great superiority of troops was unavailable while French vessels cruised triumphantly between him and his enemy. He therefore stimulated Captain Loring to increased exertions; on the 17th, a large raft to carry six heavy guns was commenced. But the enemy were also active, and in a fortnight afterward launched a new vessel pierced for sixteen guns. On the 3d of September the English began the construction of a sloop equal in size to that of the French. It was not, however, till the 11th of October that the raft, the brig from Ticonderoga, and the new sloop were ready for action. And already the bleak autumnal winds were sweeping over the lake; the nights fell dark and chill; the dreary winter approached, when no zeal or courage could avail an invading force. Montcalm had therefore insomuch succeeded, and Amherst failed, in their several objects: the main force of the British army was destined once again to waste its strength upon the very threshold of Canada,[169] and played no part of real importance in the great results which the hand of Providence directed surely but unexpectedly elsewhere.
In consequence of intelligence received of General Prideaux's death before Niagara, Brigadier-general Gage had been dispatched by Amherst on the 28th of July to join that army, and the second battalion of the Royal Highlanders was also sent from head-quarters to Oswego, to support, if necessary, the movement in the West. Gage had been instructed, in case of the reduction of Niagara, to take post immediately at a place called La Galette, a position commanding the entrance of the River St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario. Amherst knew that the occupation of this post was so essential for the security of the British frontiers from the enemy's scalping parties, that on the receipt of Gage's dispatch he instantly sent Major Christie to the brigadier to repeat and enforce his former orders. The difficulties in the way of this movement were, however, considerable, and General Gage had conceived himself justified in representing them to his chief, and deferring the execution of his orders until a more favorable opportunity. Meanwhile the dreary winter advanced apace, and difficulty became impossibility; to Amherst's infinite chagrin, this important operation was necessarily postponed to another year.
General Gage does not appear to have sufficiently felt the importance of fulfilling the portion of the great scheme which fell to his lot; doubtless the difficulties in his path were many and formidable, but it was to overcome difficulties that he was selected for the proud post of leader to thousands of gallant men. His first duty, assuredly, was to fulfill the task confided to him, upon which, perhaps, the success or failure of the campaign, and his country's glory might depend. One object lay distinctly before him; in accomplishing that object, he could not have been too cautious, or too precious of his men; but rather than abandon the enterprise, and fail in his share of the combination, far better would it have been for England's cause and his own honor had he dared the worst dangers of the trackless wilderness and of the stormy lake.
Meanwhile General Amherst sent Captain Kennedy with a flag of truce to the warlike Indians of St. François, offering them peace and amity: their populous village lay at the western extremity of Lake St. François. The savages, however, detained the British officer and his party as prisoners, and returned no answer to their communications. Amherst promptly determined to inflict the severest chastisement for the insult. The expedition undertaken for this purpose was perhaps the most daring and extraordinary of any during the progress of the war.
Early in October, 200 men were sent against the Indians of St. François, under the command of Major Rogers, an officer already distinguished for courage and ability. His orders were to inflict condign punishment on the warriors of this tribe for a long arrear of cruelties and atrocities committed upon the unprotected British settlers, but to spare all women and children. A glance at the map of North America will show the great distance of the point of attack from Amherst's head-quarters. The route lay through one vast forest, utterly a wilderness, and untrodden by human foot, except where the invaders' deadly enemies lay in wait, or scoured the country for their destruction. The casualties and hardships of the march reduced Rogers's small detachment by more than a fourth of its strength; the survivors, however, came in sight of the Indian village on the evening of the 22d day. The leader left his men in a place of concealment, and went forward alone, with necessary caution, to observe the enemy. For several hours he hovered about, now approaching close to the dangerous scene, now again falling back into the darkness of the night, and still darker shades of the forest, until he had at length fully informed himself of the situation and state of the village. It so chanced that the savages were engaged in celebrating some of their wild and mysterious rites: they danced and shouted furiously, and devoured the war-feast with ravenous zeal. At length they lay down to sleep, exhausted by fatigue and repletion. Major Rogers, satisfied with his observations, returned to his party at two o'clock in the morning.
A little before dawn the English detachment marched silently to within 500 yards of the sleeping village, and laid aside their packs and all other incumbrances. Not a sound arose, not a limb moved among the Indians; in the fatal confidence of savage tactics, not a scout or sentinel was placed to give notice of impending danger. When the sun had already risen, but not yet gained sufficient strength to reach the drowsy eyes of the slumberers, Rogers formed his men, and gave the long wished-for order to attack; with a loud cry of vengeance they burst upon the sleeping village. The surprise was complete; the Indians had no time to arm or resist; they were slain without mercy; many never wakened, others were struck down at the doors of their huts as they endeavored to fly; some few escaped to the Great River, but were pursued by the English, and, with their frail canoes swamped in the waters. The conquerors then fired the village, saving only three houses where corn was stored; the wretched savages who had concealed themselves in the cellars and lofts perished in the flames. By seven o'clock in the morning the destruction was accomplished, and more than 200 Indian warriors were slain. Women and children were spared by the sword, but doubtless many must have perished in the fire and in the confusion of the strife: twenty were taken alive; six of these, however, only were detained; the rest received the scant mercy of freedom to wander back to their ruined homes, and to the now lonely hunting-grounds of their tribe.
Five English captives were released from slavery by this success, and taken under the protection of their countrymen. The loss to the victors was very slight; one friendly Indian was killed, and Captain Ogden, with six men, were wounded. The situation of the little detachment was, however, most perilous; the prisoners informed Major Rogers that a party of 300 French, with some savages, had discovered and seized his boats, down the river, about four miles from the village of St. François. He could not doubt the truth of this unwelcome news, for they told him the exact number of his boats, and described the place where they had been left. He also learned that another force of 200 French and 15 Indians lay in wait for him higher up the stream. The English officers held a hurried council on their almost desperate position, and agreed unanimously that the only chance of safety lay in a return to the British settlements by the upper branches of the Connecticut River. This route was attended with toils and hardships well-nigh incredible.
Rogers marched his detachment for eight successive days to the southeast without interruption, but provisions began to fail, and it became necessary to divide his people into small parties, that each might provide for themselves as they best could. A guide was appointed to every division, and they parted near the beautiful shores of Lake Memphremagog, with orders to reassemble at the point where the Amansook pours into the Connecticut River: there the provident chief had before caused a dépôt of provisions to be prepared. Major Rogers and his party reached the place of meeting in safety on the 5th of November, worn out with fatigue and cold, and almost famished.
Another party, commanded by Lieutenant George Campbell, of the Rangers, underwent trials more severe than any of their companions had suffered. At one time they were four days without a morsel of food; they had wandered from the direct route, and knew not whither they went. The weak in mind went mad from suffering and despair; the weak in body sank. They had already devoured their leather straps, and the covers of their cartouch boxes: no resource, and but a faint glimmering of hope remained. At length, on the 28th of October, in crossing a small stream dammed up with logs, they espied some human bodies, scalped and horribly mangled, probably the corpses of their companions. Their furious hunger knew no restraint; they did not wait even for a fire to prepare the ghastly banquet, but ate like beasts of prey; then collecting carefully the remnants, pursued their journey. A squirrel and a few roots helped to keep them alive till the 4th of November, when, to their unutterable joy, they saw a boat on the Connecticut River, sent by Rogers to their relief. On the 7th they rejoined their companions.
We must now return to the insignificant conclusion of General Amherst's campaign. On the 10th of October, the brig arrived from Ticonderoga with eighteen guns; seventy seamen and sixty soldiers embarked as marines. The following day the little fleet was completed by the arrival of the new sloop carrying sixteen guns, sixty sailors, and fifty soldiers, under the command of Lieutenant Grant, of Montgomery's Highlanders. In the afternoon the troops embarked for Isle aux Noix in the bateaux; the armed vessels got out first, and sailed up the lake with a fair wind, the army following in four divisions. As night fell, lights were hoisted on board the brigantine and Great Radeau, to guide the expedition. In the gray of the morning, some guns were suddenly heard in the advance, and a message was sent to the general that his armed vessels were in action with those of the French. He hastened to the front, and soon discovered the mistake. The bateaux containing a wing of the 42d Regiment, under Major Reid, had gone astray in the night, and got unexpectedly among the enemy's sloops; the first light of day revealed the dangerous error, and they happily ran the gauntlet of the French guns in safety. One boat, however, with a lieutenant and twenty men, being very far in advance, could not effect an escape, and was captured. The enemy's squadron, content with this small advantage, crowded all sail, and disappeared among the numerous islands. Toward the evening of the 12th the wind increased, and the waters of the lake rose into formidable waves; the light bateaux and clumsy rafts were equally unfit to face this boisterous weather. The general was most unwillingly compelled to order the expedition to seek the shelter of a neighboring bay on the western shore, where commodious anchorage opportunely offered. The troops were then landed, and allowed to stretch their cramped limbs, while Gage's Light Infantry scoured the adjacent forest to guard against surprise; at the same time, the Rangers disembarked on an island that commanded the entrance of the harbor, and overlooked the lake. Meanwhile, despite the angry skies, Captain Loring, with the armed vessels, still stoutly kept at sea, and strove with untiring zeal to bring the enemy to action. At daylight in the morning he had caught sight of a French schooner, about forty-five miles down the lake, and crowded all sail in her pursuit; but, ignorant of the navigation in those strange waters, he had run two of his vessels ashore. After much exertion, however, he succeeded in getting them off. At length, to his great joy, he espied three hostile sloops, and immediately gave chase with all the sail he could carry. The French, finding escape impossible, ran for a small bay on the western shore, drove one of the vessels aground, and sunk the two others. The crews, under their commandant, M. de Bolabarras, made their escape through the woods, after having encountered extreme difficulty and hardship.
The deepening shades of evening prevented the English from seeing the catastrophe of the enemy's squadron, and rendered it difficult or impossible for them to pursue into the rocky shallows; they therefore prepared as they best could to brave out the stormy night, and cast anchor at the entrance of the bay. When daylight came they saw the abandoned vessels; the French schooner, however, had escaped. Captain Loring left Lieutenant Grant with the sloop to endeavor to save the stranded vessel, with her guns, stores, and rigging; he himself again put out into the lake in pursuit of the only hostile sail now left upon the waters.
The storm continued to the 15th of October; on the 16th there was frost; on the 17th a contrary wind again rose. During all this time General Amherst was forced to remain inactive. Every hour was precious; the fate of the campaign, his fame and England's interests might have hung upon his movements, and he did not stir. By flags of truce and letters of ceremony from the hostile chief, he had received information, vaguely, that a British fleet lay before Quebec; that combats had been fought, and blood had freely flowed; and while the balance of victory trembled under the walls of the great stronghold, he, with his overwhelming power, lay helpless, as in a nightmare, on the banks of the stormy lake.[170]
On the 18th the waters became somewhat calmer, and a south wind blew gently up Lake Champlain. Amherst made one other effort; the troops were once more hurried into the bateaux, and the expedition pushed on to the north. They reached in a few hours the bay where the French vessels had been driven ashore a few days previously; there again, however, the uncertain winds veered round; the clouds darkened in the north, and a chill blast swept down the lake, plowing the angry waters. The British general was now finally baffled; winter had almost commenced; he had no hope of grappling with the enemy before the season closed; the fate of Quebec must, ere then, have been decided; there was much to risk and little to gain by another effort upon the lakes. Nothing was left but to prepare for the inglorious step of disposing his army in winter quarters. Amherst therefore fell back upon Crown Point on the 21st, directed the completion of the defenses, made roads and bridges, and nursed the Provincials, who had become uncommonly sickly. Thus ended his campaign.