Destruction of the village of St. Francis.
It had been the resort of Indian robbers and murderers, where were deposited the scalps and plundered goods of hundreds of hapless Englishmen. It was taken and destroyed by a party under Major Rogers, after a series of adventures and hair-breadth escapes, which have more the appearance of romance than reality. There was a general conflagration of the cabins, and out of three hundred inhabitants, two hundred were killed, twenty women and children captured, and five English prisoners in the village set free.
The army destined against Niagara, was composed principally of provincials, rëinforced by a strong body of friendly Indians. It was placed under the command of General Prideaux, who commenced the siege of the place on the 6th of July. While directing the operations of the place, he was killed by the bursting of a shell. The command of the army then fell upon Sir William Johnson, who prosecuted the enterprise with judgment and vigor. The French, alarmed at the prospect of losing a post which formed the communication between Canada and Louisiana, in the mean while, made a strenuous effort to raise the siege, by collecting a large body of troops from several neighboring garrisons. These were brought, on the morning of the 24th, in battle array against the besiegers, ushered in by the horrible sound of the Indian war-whoop. The French charged with great impetuosity, but the English maintained their ground, and eventually repulsed them with signal slaughter. The fate of Niagara was now decided. The next day a capitulation was signed, and this portion of the country fell into the hands of the English.
The grand enterprise for the reduction of Quebec was entrusted, as already noticed, to the gallant and accomplished Wolfe, who sailed from Halifax early in the season, and near the last of June landed the whole army on the island of Orleans, a few miles below Quebec. Here the sight presented to him of the formidable position and works of the enemy by no means served to encourage expectations of success. But his resolution and desire of victory overcame every other sentiment.
