CHAPTER III.
Stimulated by the general success of their arms during the campaign of 1756, the French suffered not their energies to slumber even through the chilly Canadian winter. With detachments of Indians and hardy "habitans," they scoured the northern frontiers of the British colonies, and gained intelligence of every movement. From information thus acquired, Montcalm determined to move a force suddenly on Fort William Henry,[89] at the southern extremity of Lake George,[90] where the English had formed a dépôt for a vast quantity of provisions and warlike stores, which was as yet unprotected by any sufficient garrison. Fifteen hundred men, of whom four hundred were Indians, led by Rigaud de Vaudreuil and the Chevalier de Longueuil, were dispatched to surprise and escalade the fort, and, in case of failure, to destroy the stores and buildings beyond the protection of its walls, and also the shipping and bateaux on the neighboring lake. On the 19th of March, at the dead of night, the French noiselessly approached the little fortress, but the vigilant sentries discovered them in time, and alarmed the defenders, who drove them back with a brisk fire of cannon and musketry. Having failed to surprise, they invested the place the following day, and twice again vainly attacked the fort. On the 21st they summoned the commandant, Major Eyres, to surrender, which demand he instantly refused. The French assailed the stronghold a fourth and even a fifth time; but, having been repulsed in every attack, contented themselves by destroying the undefended property without. Furthermore, they strengthened Ticonderoga and Crown Point with two battalions, and sent Captain Pouchot as commandant to Niagara, with orders to fortify that important post as he best might. They then returned to Montreal. Shortly afterward they gained an advantage of some value over a detachment of 400 men, led by Colonel Parker, which had been sent by water to attack their advanced guard near Ticonderoga. By a cleverly devised ambuscade, and the opportune arrival of a re-enforcement, they completely overpowered the British troops, and slew or captured more than half the number.
In the mean while the Earl of Loudon exerted himself to the utmost in collecting a sufficient force to strike a decisive blow. The favorite object of carrying Crown Point was laid aside, and the grander scheme of reducing the formidable stronghold of Louisburg, in Acadia, adopted instead.[91] There the naval power of England could be brought to bear, and the distracting jealousies of the several colonies might not interfere to paralyze vigorous action. Preparations for this enterprise were rapidly pushed on in England, and by the end of January, 1757, seven regiments of infantry and a detachment of artillery, all commanded by Major-general Hopson, were ordered to assemble at Cork, and await the arrival of a powerful fleet of fourteen line-of-battle ships, destined to bear them to America. June had nearly closed,[92] however, before this powerful armament, under Admiral Holborne, arrived at the place of rendezvous. Lord Loudon had arranged to meet the expedition at Halifax with all the force he could collect; to accomplish this transport, he was injudiciously led to lay an embargo on all the ships in the British North American ports. This arbitrary measure at once aroused a storm of indignation among the merchants and planters, whose trade it ruinously affected. The home government, ever jealous of commercial liberty, immediately disapproved the high-handed proceeding, and issued peremptory orders against its repetition.
On the 20th of June, 1757, Lord Loudon had embarked at New York with a considerable force drawn from the protection of the vast colonial borders. Sir Charles Hardy commanded a fleet of four ships of war and seventy transports for the troops; each ship had orders, in case of separation, to make the best of her way to Halifax. On the 30th they all reached that port, where they found eight vessels of war and some artillery, with two regiments of infantry. The troops were landed as soon as possible, and busied in various and somewhat trivial occupations, while fast-sailing vessels were dispatched to examine the French strength at Louisburg, and also to watch for the arrival of the remainder of the English fleet under Holborne. By the 9th of July the whole of the enormous armament had assembled. Nineteen ships of the line, with a great number of smaller craft, and an army of thirteen battalions in high spirit and condition, were now at the disposal of the British leaders.
Much valuable time was wasted at Halifax in unnecessary drills and silly sham fights; at length, however, on the 1st and 2d of August, the troops were embarked, with orders to proceed to Gabarus Bay, to the westward of Louisburg; but on the 4th, information received by a captured sloop that eighteen ships of the line and 3000 regular troops, with many militia-men and Indians, were prepared to defend the harbor, altered the views of the English chiefs. The attack was abandoned,[93] the troops were directed to land in various places on the Acadian peninsula, while the fleet was to cruise off Louisburg and endeavor to bring the French to action. About the middle of the month, a dispatch from Boston, containing the disastrous news of the loss of Fort William Henry, reached Lord Loudon; in consequence, his orders were again altered.[94] The luckless general himself, with a part of the troops and fleet, made sail for New York; the remaining regiments, not before landed, were directed upon the Bay of Fundy, and Admiral Holborne, with the bulk of this vast armament, bore away for the harbor of Louisburg.
The objects of this cruise can hardly be even conjectured; some imagine that curiosity was Holborne's sole motive. It is obvious that he did not mean to engage the enemy; for, when he approached within two miles of the hostile batteries, and saw the French admiral's signal to unmoor, he immediately made the best of his way back to Halifax. Being re-enforced by four ships of the line about the middle of September, Holborne again sailed within sight of Louisburg, being then certain that the French would not leave the shelter of their batteries to encounter his superior strength, and thus risk unnecessarily the safety of their colony.
While continuing this useless demonstration, a violent storm from the southwest assailed the British fleet on the 24th of October, at the distance of about forty leagues from the rock-bound coast. In twelve hours the ships were driven almost to within gunshot of the shore, when a happy shift of wind saved them from total destruction. But the Tilbury, a magnificent vessel of sixty guns, went to pieces on Cape Breton, and 225 of her crew perished in the waves; the Newark drove into Halifax crippled and damaged; others subsequently gained the same shelter, dismasted, and in a still more disastrous plight. When the weather moderated, Admiral Holborne made the best of his way for England with the remainder of the fleet, leaving, however, a small squadron, under Lord Colville, to protect the British traders in those northern seas.[95]
While the main force of the British armies had been occupied in the ill-fated expedition against Louisburg, Colonel Stanwix had marched to protect the Western frontier with a detachment of regular troops, and nearly 2000 of the Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia militia. At the same time, the borders of Carolina were intrusted to the care of Colonel Bouquet with a nearly similar force. But to the north, the province of New York and the New England states were feebly held by Colonel Webb with about 4000 men, and Colonel Monro with his garrison of Fort William Henry, against the able and vigilant Montcalm. Although Webb could not but be aware of the movements of his dangerous enemy, he unaccountably neglected to avail himself of the means of defense within his reach. With an indifference bordering on infatuation, he abstained from calling out the numerous and hardy militia of the surrounding states, in themselves a force sufficient to overpower his active antagonist. At length, when the white banner of France had actually been unfurled on the shores of Lake Champlain, Webb awoke from his lethargy, but only to make a precipitate and disgraceful retreat. He fell back upon Fort Edward the following day, leaving Colonel Monro, with about 2000 men, to bear the brunt of battle, and defend the post which he had thus shamefully abandoned.
When Lord Loudon had put to sea with the main army, Montcalm instantly seized the opportunity of renewing his favorite project of gaining the command of Lake George, through the reduction of Fort William Henry. He rapidly concentrated his forces at Ticonderoga, including a considerable body of Indians, numbering altogether 8000 men, well appointed and provisioned, with a proportionate force of artillery, and, without delay, pushed on a large division of his army, under M. de Levi, along the shores of the lake. On the 1st of August he followed with the remainder, who, together with the heavy ordnance and warlike stores, were embarked in canoes and bateaux. On the night of the 2d, both divisions met in a bay near the English fort, and soon afterward the general learned from some prisoners, who were the survivors of a party surprised by the Indians, the retreat of Webb and the weakness of the British garrison. He immediately advanced upon the fort in three columns, sending M. de Levi, with all his savage allies, to scour the neighboring woods; these fierce warriors suddenly fell upon a small foraging party of the English, slew and scalped forty of their number, and carried off fifty head of cattle.