FOOTNOTES:
[1] Mr. Shirley was born in England, and brought up to the law. In that profession he afterward practiced for many years in the Massachusetts Bay, and in 1741 was advanced to the supreme command of that colony. Upon the conclusion of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he was chosen as one of the British commissioners at Paris, and when the conference there broke up, he resumed his government in New England (in 1753).
[2] "The salaries allotted to the officers of the civil departments in the French colonial governments were extremely moderate, and inadequate to support their respective situations. In 1758, that of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor and lieutenant general of Canada, amounted to no more than £272 1s. 8d. sterling, out of which he was to clothe, maintain, and pay a guard for himself, consisting of two sergeants and twenty-five soldiers, furnishing them with firing in winter, and with other necessary articles. The pay of the whole officers of justice and police was £514 11s. sterling, and the total sum appropriated for the pay of the established officers, composing the various branches of the civil power, did not exceed £3809 8s. sterling."—Heriot's Travels in Canada, p. 98.
[3] "On the 1st January of this year England adopted the New Style, which had been long before in use among all civilized nations except Russia and Sweden. They, with England, still clung to the exploded system, for no better reason, apparently, than because it was a Pope who established the new. 'It was not, in my opinion,' writes Chesterfield, 'very honorable for England to remain in gross and avowed error, especially in such company.' The bill for the reformation of the calendar was moved by Lord Chesterfield in a very able, and seconded by Lord Macclesfield in a very learned speech, and it was successfully carried through both Houses. The bill had been framed by these two noblemen in concert with Dr. Bradley and other eminent men of science. To correct the old calendar, eleven nominal days were to be suppressed in September, 1752, so that the day following the 2d of that month should be styled the 14th. The difficulties that might result from the change, as affecting rents, leases, and bills of exchange, were likewise carefully considered and effectually prevented."—Lord Mahon's History of England, vol. iv., p. 23.
[4] "He amassed, while governor of Canada, by commerce alone, more than a million livres, besides which, he had for many years sixty thousand livres from his appointments and pensions. Yet, notwithstanding his riches, his avarice was in many instances so extreme, that he denied himself the common necessaries of life. During his last illness, he ordered the wax tapers that were burning in his room to be changed for tallow candles, observing that 'the latter would answer every purpose, and were less expensive.'"—Smith's Hist. of Canada, vol. i., p. 223.
[5] "While Britain claimed an indefinite extent to the west, France insisted on confining her to the eastern side of the Allegany Mountains, and claimed the whole country whose waters run into the Mississippi, in virtue of her right as the first discoverer of that river. The delightful region between the summit of those mountains and the Mississippi was the object for which these two powerful nations contended, and it soon became apparent that the sword alone could decide the contest."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 294; Belsham, vol. ii., p. 363, 364.
"Thus France would have enjoyed, in time of peace, the whole Indian trade, and the English colonies, in time of war, must have had a frontier of 1200 miles to defend against blood-thirsty savages, conducted by French officers, and supported by regular troops. It was, in fact, to attempt the extinction of the British settlements, and yet, without such interior communication as was projected between Canada and Louisiana, the French settlements on the St. Lawrence and Mississippi could never, it was said, attain any high degree of consequence or security; the navigation of one of those rivers being at all seasons difficult, and that of the other blocked up with ice during the winter months, so as to preclude exterior support or relief. This scheme of usurpation, which is supposed to have long occupied the deliberations of the court of Versailles, was ardently embraced by M. de la Jonquière, now commander-in-chief of the French forces in North America, and by La Galissonière, a man of a bold and enterprising spirit, who had been appointed governor of New France in 1747. By their joint efforts, in addition to those of their predecessors, forts were erected along the Great Lakes, which communicate with the River St. Lawrence, and also on the Ohio and Mississippi. The vast chain was almost completed from Quebec to New Orleans, when the court of England, roused by repeated injuries, broke off the conferences relative to the limits of Nova Scotia."—Russell's Modern Europe, vol. iii., p. 273.
[6] See Appendix, [No. LXV.]
[7] "The governors of Canada, who were generally military men, had, for several preceding years, judiciously selected and fortified such situations as would give their nation most influence with the Indians, and most facilitate incursions into the northern English provinces. The command of Lake Champlain had been acquired by erecting a strong fort at Crown Point, and a connected chain of posts was maintained from Quebec up the St. Lawrence and along the Great Lakes. It was now intended to unite these posts with the Mississippi, by taking positions which should enable them to circumscribe, and at the same time annoy, the frontier settlements of the English. The execution of this plan was probably in some degree accelerated by an act of the British government. The year after the conclusion of the war with France, several very influential persons, both in England and Virginia, who associated under the name of the Ohio Company, obtained from the crown a grant for 600,000 acres of land, lying in the country which was claimed by both nations. Several opulent merchants, as well as noblemen and gentlemen, being members of this company, its objects were commercial as well as territorial; and measures were immediately taken to derive all the advantages expected from their grants in both these respects, by establishing houses for carrying on their trade with the Indians. The governor of Canada, who obtained early intelligence of this intrusion, as he deemed it, into the dominions of his Christian majesty, wrote immediately to the governors of New York and Pennsylvania, informing them that the English traders had encroached on the French territory by trading with the Indians, and warning them that, if they did not desist, he should be under the necessity of seizing them wherever they should be found. This threat having been disregarded, it was put in execution by seizing the British traders among the Twightwees,[55] and carrying them as prisoners to a fort on Lake Erie."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 297.
[8] "The country taken possession of by the French troops had actually been granted as a part of the territory of Virginia to the Ohio Company, who were, in consequence, commencing its settlement."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 298.
[9] "Which was the less to be wondered at," remarks Major Washington, in his journal, "as the garrison of the fort consisted but of thirty-three effective men." They were commanded by Captain Trent.
[10] This name was given in honor of the then governor of Canada, the Marquis du Quesne de Menneville. Fort Du Quesne is now called Pittsburg.
[11] Smollett says that "Jumonville bore a summons to Colonel Washington, requiring him to quit the fort, which he pretended was built on ground belonging to the French or their allies. So little regard was paid to this intimation, that the English fell upon this party, and, as the French affirm, without the least provocation, either slew or took the whole detachment. De Villiers, incensed at these unprovoked hostilities...."—Smollett, vol. iii., p. 421.
[12] "This skirmish, of small importance, perhaps, in itself, was yet among the principal causes of the war. It is no less memorable as the first appearance in the pages of history of one of their brightest ornaments—of that great and good man, General Washington."—Lord Mahon's History of England, vol. iv., p. 65.
"This event was no sooner known in England than the British embassador at Paris received directions to complain of it to the French ministry, as an open violation of the peace."—Smollett, vol. iii., p. 421.
[13] "The capitulation was written in French, and as neither Mr. Washington nor any of his party understood that language, a foreigner was employed to read it to them in English. But, instead of acting the part of a faithful interpreter, when he came to the word 'assassination,'[56] employed in the capitulation to designate M. de Jumonville's defeat and death, he translated it 'the defeat of M. de Jumonville.' This I have the best authority to assert; the authority of the English officers who were present. Indeed, the thing speaks for itself. It can not be supposed that these gentlemen should know so little of what they owed to themselves, both as men and as soldiers, as not to prefer any extremity rather than submit to the disgrace of being branded with the imputation of so horrid a crime. After all, had they been guilty of this charge, they could scarce have been worse used than they were."—History of the late War in America by Major Thomas Mante, p. 14 (London, 1772).
[14] "The coal measures of this part of Maryland are usually called the Cumberland coal-field, from Fort Cumberland, famous for the wars of the English with the French and Indians, in which General Washington took part before the American Revolution. The carboniferous strata are arranged geologically in a trough about twenty-five miles long from north to south, and from three to four miles broad. Professor Silliman and his son, who surveyed them, have aptly compared the shape of the successive beds to a great number of canoes placed one within another."—Lyell's Geology, vol. ii., p. 17.
[15] "An able diplomacy in Europe exerted betimes would probably have allayed the rancor of these feuds in America. But, for our misfortune, we had then at Paris as embassador the Earl of Albemarle, an indolent man of pleasure."—Lord Mahon's History of England, vol. iv., p. 66. London, 1844.
"Between you and me, for this must go no further, what do you think made Lord Albemarle, colonel of a regiment of Guards, governor of Virginia, groom of the stole, and embassador to Paris, amounting in all to £16,000 or £17,000 a year? Was it his birth? No; a Dutch gentleman only. Was it his estate? No; he had none. Was it his learning, his parts, his political abilities and application? You can answer these questions as easily and as soon as I can ask them. What was it, then? Many people wondered, but I do not, for I know, and will tell you: it was his air, his address, his manners, and his graces."—Lord Chesterfield to his Son, May 27, 1752.
Lord Albemarle died suddenly at his post in December, 1754. "You will have heard, before you receive this, of Lord Albemarle's sudden death at Paris. Every body is so sorry for him—without being so; yet as sorry as he would have been for any body, or as he deserved. Can any one really regret a man who, with the most meritorious wife and sons in the world, and with near £15,000 a year from the government, leaves not a shilling to his family, but dies immensely in debt, though when he married he had near £90,000 in the funds, and my Lady Albemarle brought him £25,000 more."—Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann, Jan. 9, 1755.
Lord Hertford was named to succeed Lord Albemarle as embassador to Paris, but war being soon declared between the two nations, he never went there.
[16] "On the 6th of March, 1754, the calm and languid course of public business had been suddenly broken through by the death of the prime minister,[57] Mr. Pelham. 'Now I shall have no more peace!' exclaimed the old king, when he heard the news; and the events of the next few years fully confirmed his majesty's prediction. At the tidings of his brother's death—a death so sudden and unlocked for—the the mind of Newcastle was stirred with the contending emotions of grief, fear, and ambition. The grief soon passed away, but the fear and the ambition long struggled for the mastery. After a dishonest negotiation with Henry Fox (younger son of Sir Stephen Fox, a brother of the first Earl of Ilchester), the duke, finding him not sufficiently subservient, bestowed the seals of secretary upon Sir Thomas Robinson. It was certainly no light or easy task which Newcastle had thus accomplished: he had succeeded in finding a secretary of state with abilities inferior to his own.... The new Parliament met in November, 1754. Before that time a common resentment had united the two statesmen whom rivalry had hitherto kept asunder, Pitt and Fox. 'Sir Thomas Robinson lead us!' exclaimed Pitt to Fox: 'The duke might as well send his jackboot to lead us!' ... At length, in January, 1755, the Duke of Newcastle renewed his negotiations with Fox. The terms he offered were far less than those Fox had formerly refused, neither the head of the House of Commons nor the office of Secretary of State, but admission to the cabinet, provided Fox would actively support the king's measures in the House, and would in some sort lead without being leader.... The conduct of Fox to Pitt (in accepting these terms) seems not easy to reconcile with perfect good faith, while the sudden lowering of his pretensions to Newcastle was, beyond all doubt, an unworthy subservience. On one or both of these grounds he fell in public esteem. By the aid of Fox and the silence of Pitt the remainder of the session passed quietly. But great events were now at hand. The horizon had long been dark with war, and this summer burst the storm."—Lord Mahon's History of England, vol. iv., p. 65; Belsham, vol. ii., p. 354, 355.
[17] "The French have taken such liberties with some of our forts that are of great consequence to cover Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia, that we are actually dispatching two regiments thither. As the climate and other American circumstances are against these poor men, I pity them, and think them too many if the French mean nothing farther, too few if they do. Indeed, I am one of those that feel less resentment when we are attacked so far off: I think it an obligation to be eaten the last."—Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann, Oct. 6, 1754.
"A detachment of fifty men of the regiment of artillery embarked with the 2d battalion, No. 44 and No. 48, under the command of Major-general Braddock, for America.... This detachment was mostly cut to pieces near Fort du Quesne, on the Monongahela, on the 9th of July, 1755."—Memoirs of the Royal Regt. of Artillery, 1743. MSS., Col. Macbean, R.A. Library, Woolwich.
[18] The Duke of Cumberland was then at the head of the regency, during the absence of his father, George II., on the continent.
[19] Officers were appointed for two regiments, consisting of two battalions each, to be raised in America, and commanded by Sir William Pepperel and Governor Shirley, who had enjoyed the same command in the last war.[58]
[20] "Although the force to be employed was to be drawn almost entirely from Massachusetts, the command of the expedition was conferred on Lieutenant-colonel Monckton, a British officer, in whose military talents more confidence was placed than in those of any provincial. The troops of Massachusetts embarked at Boston on the 20th of May, 1755, together with Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Winslow, who was a major general of the militia, and an officer of great influence in the province. About four miles from Fort Lawrence they were joined by 300 British troops and a small train of artillery."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 310.
[21] "In the obstinate conflict which was commencing between the French and English crowns, the continuance of the Acadians in Nova Scotia was thought dangerous on account of their invincible attachment to France; and to expel them from the country, leaving them at liberty to choose their place of residence, would be to re-enforce the French in Canada. A council was held, aided by the Admirals Boscawen and Morty, for the purposes of deciding on the destinies of these unfortunate people, and the severe policy was adopted of removing them from their homes and dispersing them among the other British colonies. This harsh measure was immediately put into execution, and the miserable inhabitants of Nova Scotia, banished from their homes, were in one instant reduced from ease and contentment to a state of beggary. Their lands and movables, with the exception of their money and household furniture, were declared to be forfeit to the crown; and to prevent their being able to subsist themselves, should they escape, the country was laid waste, and their habitations reduced to ashes."—Minot, quoted by Marshall, vol. i., p. 312.
[22] "When the French were in possession of this garrison, they had no artillery; however, they were not at a loss to deceive their enemies at Fort Lawrence, for they provided a parcel of birch, and other hard, well-grown trees, which they shaped and bored after the fashion of cannon, securing them from end to end with cordage, and from one of these they constantly fired a morning and evening gun, as is customary in garrisons; but upon the reduction of the place, and a spirited inquiry after the cannon, they found themselves obliged to discover this ingenious device."—Knox's Hist. Journal, vol. i., p. 58.
[23] "Captain, afterward Lord Howe, after an engagement in which he displayed equal skill and intrepidity, succeeded in taking the two French ships, the Alcide and the Lys."—Lord Mahon's History of England, vol. iv., p. 68.
[24] "At home, in the king's absence, our councils were most feeble and wavering.... A great difference appeared among the members of the regency. The Duke of Cumberland, always inclined to vigorous measures, wished to declare war at once, and to strike the first blow.... The Duke of Newcastle, trimming and trembling as was ever his wont, thought only of keeping off the storm as long as possible, and of shifting its responsibility from himself.... At length, as a kind of compromise, it was agreed that there should be no declaration of war; that our fleet should attack the French ships of the line, if it fell in with any, but by no means disturb any smaller men-of-war or any vessels engaged in trade. When, at the Board of Regency, these instructions came round to the bottom of the table to be signed by Fox, he turned to Lord Anson, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and asked if there were no objections to them. 'Yes,' answered Anson, 'a hundred; but it pleases those at the upper end of the table, and will signify nothing, for the French will declare war next week, if they have not done it already.'[59] While the prospects of peace grew darker and darker, there was also gathering a cloud of popular resentment and distrust against the minister. It was often asked whether these were times when all power could be safely monopolized by the Duke of Newcastle? Was every thing to be risked—perhaps every thing lost—for the sake of one hoary jobber at the Treasury?"—Lord Mahon's History of England, vol. iv., p. 72.
[25] MS. Journal of Major-general Braddock's Expedition against Fort du Quesne, 1755. Royal Artillery Library, Woolwich.
[26] "Mr. Franklin had observed that Sir John St. Clair's uniform (the quarter-master general) was of the hussar kind, and this gave him a hint which he immediately improved: he caused a report to be propagated among the Germans that, except 150 wagons could be got ready and sent to the general within a certain time, St. Clair, who was a hussar, would come among them, and take away what he found by force. The Germans, having formerly lived under despotic power, knew the hussars too well to doubt their serving themselves, and believing that General St. Clair was indeed a hussar, they provided, instead of 150, 200 wagons, and sent them within the time that Franklin had limited. The Pennsylvanians also advanced a further sum above the king's bounty, and sent him 190 wagons more, laden with a ton of corn and oats, four wagons with provisions and wine for the officers, and 60 head of fine cattle for the army."—Gentleman's Magazine, August, 1755.
[27] "Those who have experienced only the severities and dangers of a campaign in Europe can scarcely form an idea of what is to be done and endured in an American war. In an American campaign every thing is terrible—the face of the country, the climate, the enemy. There is no refreshment for the healthy nor relief for the sick. A vast inhospitable desert surrounds the troops where victories are not decisive, but defeats are ruinous, and simple death is the least misfortune that can happen to a soldier. This forms a service truly critical, in which all the firmness of the body and the mind is put to the severest trial, and all the exertions of courage and address are called out. If the actions of these rude campaigns are of less dignity, the adventures in them are more interesting to the heart, and more amusing to the imagination than the details of a regular war."—(Burke, Annual Register, 1763.) "Yet Adam Smith ventures to assert, in the plenitude of learned ignorance and ingenious error, that 'nothing can be more contemptible than an Indian war in North America.' ... Colonel Barré, who had served in America, declared, in his celebrated speech upon American taxation, in 1765, that the Indians were as enemies 'the most subtile and the most formidable of any people upon the face of God's earth.'"—Graham's History of the United States, vol. iv., p. 448.
[28] "You will see ... the condition of the troops in this country, particularly that of the infamous Free Companies of New York."—Letter from General Braddock to Colonel Napier, Adjutant General. Williamsburg, Feb. 24, 1754.
[29] "The (Duke of Cumberland), who is now the soul of the regency, is much dissatisfied at the slowness of General Braddock, who does not march as if he was at all impatient to be scalped. It is said for him that he has had bad guides, that the roads are exceedingly difficult, and that it was necessary to drag as much artillery as he does. This is not the first time, as witness in Hawley, that the duke has found that brutality did not necessarily constitute a general. Braddock is a very Iroquois in disposition."—Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann, Aug. 21, 1755.
[30] "Want of intelligence and reconnoitering parties was the sole cause of defeat."—General Kane's Mil. Hist. of Great Britain to 1757.
[31] "After the successful expedition against Fort du Quesne in 1758, General Forbes resolved to search for the relics of Braddock's army. As the European soldiers were not so well qualified to explore the forests, Captain West, the elder brother of Benjamin West, the painter, was appointed, with his company of American Sharp-shooters, to assist in the execution of this duty; and a party of Indians were requested to conduct him to the places where the bones of the slain were likely to be found. In this solemn and affecting duty, several officers belonging to the 42d regiment accompanied the detachment, and with them Major Sir Peter Halket, who had lost his father and brother in the fatal destruction of the army. It might have been thought a hopeless task that he should be able to discriminate their remains from the common relics of the other soldiers; but he was induced to think otherwise, as one of the Indian warriors assured him that he had seen an officer fall near a remarkable tree, which he thought he could still discover; informing him, at the same time, that the incident was impressed on his memory by observing a young subaltern, who, in running to the officer's assistance, was also shot dead on his reaching the spot, and fell across the other's body. The major had a mournful conviction in his own mind that those two officers were his father and brother; and, indeed, it was chiefly owing to his anxiety on the subject that this pious expedition, the second of the kind that is on record, was undertaken. Captain West and his companions proceeded through the woods and along the banks of the river toward the scene of the battle. The Indians regarded the expedition as a religious service, and guided the troops with awe and in profound silence. The soldiers were affected with sentiments not less serious; and as they explored the bewildering labyrinths of those vast forests, their hearts were often melted with inexpressible sorrow, for they frequently found skeletons lying across the trunks of fallen trees: a mournful proof to their imaginations that the men who sat there had perished of hunger in vainly attempting to find their way to the plantations. Sometimes their feelings were raised to the utmost pitch of horror by the sight of skulls and bones scattered on the ground, a certain indication that the bodies had been devoured by wild beasts; and in other places they saw the blackness of ashes amid the relics, the tremendous evidence of atrocious rites. At length they reached a turn of the river, not far from the principal scene of destruction, and the Indian who remembered the death of the two officers stopped: the detachment immediately halted. He then looked round in quest of some object which might recall distinctly his recollection of the ground, and suddenly darted into the wood. The soldiers rested their arms without speaking; a shrill cry was soon after heard; and the other guides made signs for the troops to follow them toward the spot from which it came. In a short time they reached the Indian warrior, who, by his cry, announced to his companions that he had found the place where he was posted on the day of battle. As the troops approached, he pointed to the tree under which the officers had fallen. Captain West halted his men round the spot, and, with Sir Peter Halket and the other officers, formed a circle, while the Indians removed the leaves which thickly covered the ground (the leaves of three seasons). The skeletons were found, as the Indian expected, lying across each other. The officers having looked at them for some time, the major said that as his father had an artificial tooth, he thought he might be able to ascertain if they were indeed his bones and those of his brother. The Indians were therefore ordered to remove the skeleton of the youth, and to bring to view that of the old officer. This was done, and after a short examination, Major Halket exclaimed, "It is my father!" and fell back into the arms of his companions. The pioneers then dug a grave, and the bones being laid in it together, a Highland plaid was spread over them, and they were interred with the customary honors."—Galt's Life of West.
[32] "The whole was in disorder, and, it is said, the general himself, though exceedingly brave, did not retain all the sang froid that was necessary."—Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann, August 28, 1755.
[33] MS. Journal of Major-general Braddock's Expedition against Forte du Quesne, 1755. Royal Artillery Library, Woolwich.
"He was borne off the field by some soldiers whom his aid-de-camp had bribed to that service by a guinea and a bottle of rum to each."—Lord Mahon's Hist. of England, vol. iv., p. 70.
[34] "Among the rest, the general's cabinet, with all his letters and instructions, which the French court afterward made great use of in their printed manifestoes."—Smollett's Hist. of England, vol. iii., p. 448; Belsham, vol. ii., p. 369.
[35] "Major Washington acquired on this occasion, in the midst of defeat, the honors and laurels of victory."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 369.
"They had seen a chosen army from that country, which, reverencing as a mother, they had fondly believed invincible; an army led by a chief who had been selected from a crowd of trained warriors for his rare military endowments, disgracefully routed by a handful of French and Indians, and only saved from annihilation by the spirit and coolness of a Virginian boy, whose riper fame has since diffused itself with the steady influence of moral truth to the uttermost confines of Christendom."—Last of the Mohicans.
[36] "Though the enemy did not so much as attempt to pursue, nor even appeared in sight, either in the battle or after defeat. On the whole, this was, perhaps, the most extraordinary victory that ever was obtained, and the farthest flight that ever was made."—Smollett's Hist. of England, vol. iii., p. 440.
[37] "I have already given you some account of Braddock; I may complete the poor man's history in a few more words. He once had a duel with Colonel Gumly, Lady Bath's brother, who had been his great friend. As they were going to engage, Gumly, who had good-humor and wit (Braddock had the latter), said, 'Braddock, you are a poor dog! here, take my purse; if you kill me, you will be forced to run away, and then you will not have a shilling to support you.' Braddock refused the purse, insisted on the duel, was disarmed, and would not even ask his life. However, with all his brutality, he has lately been governor of Gibraltar, where he made himself adored, and where never any governor was endured before. Adieu! Pray don't let any detachment from Pannoni's[60] be sent against us: we should run away."—Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann, August 28, 1755.
[38] "The European troops, whose cowardice has thus injured their country, are the same that ran away at Preston Pans. To prevent, however, any unjust national reflections, it must be remarked, that, though they are called Irish regiments, they are not regiments of Irishmen, but regiments on the Irish establishment, consisting of English, Irish, and Scotch, as other regiments do. It is, however, said, that the slaughter among our officers was not made by the enemy; but as they ran several fugitives through the body to intimidate the rest, when they were attempting in vain to rally them, some others, who expected the same fate, discharged their pistols at them, which, though loaded, they could not be brought to level at the French. On the other hand, it is alleged that the defeat is owing more to presumption and want of conduct in the officers than to cowardice in the private men; that a retreat ought to have been resolved upon the moment they found themselves surprised by an ambuscade; and that they were told by the men, when they refused to return to the charge, that if they could see their enemy they would fight him, but that they would not waste their ammunition against trees and bushes, nor stand exposed to invisible assailants, the French and Indian rangers, who are excellent marksmen, and in such a situation would inevitably destroy any number of the best troops in the world."—Gentleman's Magazine, August, 1755.
[39] "The American regulars, consisting of Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, constituted the principal force relied on for the reduction of Niagara."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 308.
[40] "The fort of Niagara had been repaired by the French in 1741, in consequence of the apprehension they felt that the trading-house at Oswego, just established by the English at the mouth of the Onondaga River, would deprive them of a profitable trade, and of the command of the Lake Ontario."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 286.
"This fort was in other respects a very important post, for the lakes are so disposed that, without a somewhat hazardous voyage, one can not, any otherwise than by Niagara Fort, pass from the northeast to the southwest of North America for many hundred miles."—New Military Dictionary, London, 1760.
[41] "Bateaux are a kind of light, flat-bottomed boats, widest in the middle and pointed at each end, of about fifteen hundred weight burden, and managed by two men, called bateaux-men, with paddles and setting poles, the rivers being in many places too narrow to admit of oars."—Smollett's Hist. of England, vol. iii., p. 457.
[42] "Mr. Burnet,[61] governor of New York and New Jersey, deemed it an object of great magnitude to obtain the command of Lake Ontario, and, in pursuance of this plan, he had, in 1722, erected a trading-house at Oswego, in the country of the Senecas, which soon became of considerable importance. After ineffectual remonstrances, both in America and in Europe, against the re-establishment of Niagara Fort, Governor Burnet, to countervail as much as possible its effects, erected at his own expense a fort at Oswego."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. iv., p. 287.
[43] "The preparations for General Shirley's expedition against Niagara were not only deficient, but shamefully slow, though it was well known that even the possibility of his success must in a great measure depend upon his setting out early in the year, as will appear to any person who considers the situation of our fort at Oswego, this being the only way by which he could proceed to Niagara. Oswego lies on the southeast side of Lake Ontario, near 300 miles almost due west from Albany, in New York. The way to it from thence, though long and tedious, is the more convenient, as the far greater part of it admits of water-carriage by the Mohawk River, Wood's Creek, Lake Oneida, and the River Onondaga, which, after a course of twenty or thirty miles, unites with the River Seneca, and their united streams run into the Lake Ontario at the place where Oswego Fort is situated."—Smollett, vol. iii., p. 458.
[44] "Though repeated advice had been received that the French had there at least 1000 men at their Fort of Frontenac, on the same lake; and, what was still worse, the new forts (that of Ontario, and a new fort bearing the same name as the old, Oswego) were not yet completed, but left to be finished by the hard labor of Colonel Mercer and his little garrison, with the addition of this melancholy circumstance, that if besieged during the winter, it would not be possible for his friends to come to his assistance."—Smollett's England, iii. p. 461.
[45] Russell's Modern Europe, vol. iii., p. 279.
"The justly celebrated Sir William Johnson held an office difficult both to define and execute. He might, indeed, be called the Tribune of the Five Nations; their claims he asserted, their rights he protected, and over their minds he possessed a greater sway than any individual had ever attained. He was an uncommonly tall, well-made man, with a fine countenance, which, moreover, had rather an expression of dignified sedateness, approaching to melancholy. He appeared to be taciturn, never wasting words on matters of no importance, but highly eloquent where the occasion called forth his powers. He possessed intuitive sagacity, and the most entire command of temper and of countenance. He did by no means lose sight of his own interest, but, on the contrary, raised himself to power and wealth in an open and active manner, not disdaining any honorable means of benefiting himself. He built two spacious and convenient places of residence on the Mohawk River, known afterward by the name of Johnson Castle and Johnson Hall. The Hall was his summer residence. Here this singular man lived like a little sovereign; kept an excellent table for strangers and officers, whom the course of their duty now frequently led into these wilds; and by confiding entirely in the Indians, and treating them with unwearied truth and justice, without ever yielding to solicitation that he had once refused, he taught them to repose entire confidence in him. So perfect was his dependence on those people, whom his fortitude and other manly virtues had attached to him, that when they returned from their summer excursions, and exchanged the last years furs for fire-arms, &c., they used to pass a few days at the Castle, when his family and most of his domestics were down at the Hall. There they were all liberally entertained by Sir William; and 500 of them have been known for nights together, after drinking pretty freely, to lie around him on the ground, while he was the only white person in a house containing great quantities of every thing that was to them valuable or desirable. Sir William thus united in his mode of life the calm urbanity of a liberal and extensive trader, with the splendid hospitality, the numerous attendance, and the plain though dignified manners of an ancient baron."—Memoirs of an American Lady, vol. ii., p. 61.
Sir William Johnson was regularly appointed and paid by government as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
[46] "Few countries could produce such dexterous marksmen, or persons so well qualified for conquering those natural obstacles of thick woods and swamps, which would at once baffle the most determined European. Not only were they strong of limb, swift of foot, and excellent marksmen, the hatchet was as familiar to them as the musket; in short, when means or arguments could be used powerful enough to collect a people so uncontrolled and so uncontrollable, and when headed by a leader whom they loved and trusted, a well-armed body of New York Provincials had nothing to dread but an ague or an ambuscade, to both of which they were much exposed on the banks of the lakes, and amid the swampy forests they had to penetrate in pursuit of an enemy."—Memoirs of an American Lady, vol. i., p. 203.
[47] "Our artillery then began to play on them, and was served, under the direction of Captain Eyre ... in a manner very advantageous to his character."—Letter from General Johnson to the Governor of New York. Camp at Lake George, Sept. 9th, 1755.
[48] "Just arrived from America, and to be seen at the New York and Cape Breton Coffee-house, in Sweeting's Alley, from 12 to 3, and from 4 till 6, to the latter end of next week, and then will embark for America in the General Webb, Captain Boardman, a famous Mohawk Indian warrior! the same person who took M. Dieskau, the French general, prisoner, at the battle of Lake George, where General Johnson beat the French, and was one of the said general's guards. He is dressed in the same manner with his native Indians when they go to war; his face and body painted, with his scalping knife, tom-ax, and all other implements of war that are used by the Indians in battle: a sight worthy the curiosity of every true Briton.
"Price one shilling each person.
"*** The only Indian that has been in England since the reign of Queen Anne."—Public Advertiser, 1755.
[49] "There are flying reports that General Johnson, our only hero at present, has taken Crown Point."—Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann, Dec. 4, 1755.
[50] "General Johnson complained that his troops seemed impressed with apprehensions of the enemy, from the boldness with which they had been attacked, and were unwilling, from the insufficiency of their clothing, want of provisions, and other causes, to proceed further on the enterprise; and, although urged by General Shirley, now commander-in-chief (since Braddock's death), to attempt Ticonderoga, even that object was abandoned."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 318.
[51] "They erected a little stockaded fort at the nether end of Lake George, in which they left a small garrison as a future prey for the enemy, a misfortune which might have been easily foreseen."—Smollett, vol. iii., p. 456.
This was Fort William Henry. Between Lake George and the River Hudson, twelve miles of high table-land intervened; at its extremity was the portage or carrying-place for the River Hudson. Here Fort Edward had been erected a few weeks before.
[52] Crown Point was called Fort Frederic by the French. It was situated at the south end of Lake Champlain or Lake Corlaer. At fifteen miles' distance, at the north end of Lake George, the French were now beginning to fortify the post of Ticonderoga.
[53] "Three days before the meeting of Parliament, November 1755, Sir Thomas Robinson, secretary of state, from an honest and sincere consciousness of his incapacity to conduct the business of Parliament in the House of Commons, had resigned the seals, which were directly transferred to Mr. Fox, secretary at war, who unquestionably, in respect of political ability, had at this time no rival in the House of Commons, Mr. Pitt only excepted.... There had been vain attempts at a negotiation with Pitt during the summer, but his positive refusal to consent to 'a system of subsidies' threw the Duke of Newcastle into Fox's power, and the seals were now given to him upon his own terms."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 379; Lord Mahon's History of England, vol. iv., p. 76, 77.
"This session of Parliament was distinguished by an act of generosity and humanity, which conferred the highest honor upon the Parliament and nation. The city of Lisbon was almost totally destroyed by a tremendous earthquake on the 1st of November, 1755. A message from the throne informed both houses of this dreadful calamity, and the sum of £100,000 was instantly and unanimously voted for the use of the distressed inhabitants.... Amid the millions and millions expended for the purposes of devastation and destruction, a vote of this description seems as a paradise blooming in the wild!"—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 381. See Lord Mahon's History of England, vol. iv., p. 87; Southey's Peninsular War, vol. iii., p. 388, 8vo edition.
[54] Smollett, vol. iii., p. 520.
"The Earl of Loudon, an officer of reputation and merit."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 370.
"If it had been the wish or intention of the British ministers to render the guardian care of the parent state ridiculous, and its supremacy odious to the colonists, they could hardly have selected a fitter instrument for the achievement of this sinister purpose than Lord Loudon. Devoid of genius, either civil or military; always hurried and hurrying others, yet making little progress in the dispatch of business; hasty to project and threaten, but mutable, indecisive, and languid in pursuit and action; negligent of even the semblance of public virtue; impotent against the enemy whom he was sent to destroy, formidable only to the spirit and liberty of the people whom he was commissioned to defend, he excited alternately the disgust, the apprehension, and the contemptuous amazement of the colonists of America."—Graham's History of the United States, vol. iv., p. 4.
[55] The Twightwees were Indians who lived on the banks of the Ohio.
[56] Washington makes a labored defense of his conduct in the affair of M. de Jumonville, in the "Journal of his Expedition to the Ohio." In M. de Villiers's "Journal of his Campaign," he always uses the term "assassination" with reference to his brother's death. The only notice he takes of the broken terms of the capitulation is, "The consternation of the English was so great, when they heard the French savages laid claim to the pillage, that they ran away and left behind them even their flag and a pair of their colors."—Translation of M. de Villiers's Journal, July 4th, 1754.
The following is the testimony of the Canadian historian, Garneau: "Le 17 Mai (1754), au soir M. de Jumonville s'était retiré dans une vallon profond et obscur, lorsque des sauvages qui rôdaient le découvrirent et en informèrent le Colonel Washington, qui arrivait dans le voisinage avec ses troupes. Celui-ci marcha toute la nuit pour le cerner, et le lendemain au point du jour il l'attaqua avec précipitation, marchant comme à une surprise à la tête de son détachment. Jumonville fut tué avec neuf hommes de sa suite. Les Français prétendent que ce deputé fit signe qu'il était porteur d'une lettre de son commandant, que le feu cessa, et que ce ne fut qu'après que l'on eût commencé la lecture de la sommation que les assaillans se remirent à tirer. Washington affirme qu'il étoit à la tête de la marche, et qu'aussitôt que les Français le virent, ils coururent à leurs armes sans appeller, ce qu'il aurait dû entendre s'ils l'avaient fait. Il est probable qu'il y a du vrai dans les deux versions: l'attaque fut si précipitée qu'il dût s'ensuivre une confusion qui ne permit pas de rien démêler; mais s'il n'y a pas eu d'assassinat, on se demandera toujours pourquoi Washington avec des forces si supérieures à celles de Jumonville, montra une si grande ardeur pour le surprendre au point du jour comme s'il eût été un ennemi fort à craindre? Ce n'était point certainement avec 30 hommes que Jumonville était en état d'accepter le combat.... Tels sont les humbles exploits par lesquels le futur conquérant des libertés Américaines commença sa carrière.... La victoire que M. de Villiers venoit d'obtenir, fut le premier acte de ce grand drame de 29 ans, dans lequel la puissance Française et Anglaise devait subir de si terribles échecs en Amérique."—Histoire du Canada, vol. ii., p. 541 (Quebec, 1846).
[57] "Another revolution about this period (November, 1744) took place in the British cabinet. Lord Carteret, now become Earl of Granville, had insinuated himself so far into the good graces of his sovereign as to excite apprehension and dislike of the Duke of Newcastle and his brother Mr. Pelham. They therefore effected the downfall of this ambitious and haughty minister, whose power they envied, and whose talents they feared. Mr. Pelham, who, on the death of Lord Wilmington, had succeeded to the direction of the Board of Treasury, was now nominated Chancellor of the Exchequer, and may be considered from this period as first minister."—Belsham, vol. ii., p. 313.
[58] "To reward Colonel Pepperel and Governor Shirley for the conquest of Louisburg in 1745, a regiment, to be raised in America, was bestowed on each."—Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 280.
[59] War was not declared against France until May in the following year.
[60] Pannoni's coffee-house of the Florentine nobility, not famous for their courage of note.—Ibid.
[61] He was the son of Bishop Burnet.