With Rogers on the Frontier: A Story of 1756

by J. Macdonald Oxley

"Well, upon my honor, that's the queerest proceeding I've ever seen," exclaimed Major Eyre laughingly. "What can have frightened them this time that they retreat before we've fired a shot at them?"

There was something the matter, although he did not know it; and that was the material out of which the French force was chiefly composed, namely, Canadians and Indians, who were not at all suited for the work at hand. Useful as they undoubtedly were for scouting, and for fighting in the forest with plenty of cover, they had no stomach for such service as was now required; and in reality out of his sixteen hundred men the only ones upon which Rigaud could rely were the comparatively few regular soldiers he had with him, who, however brave and willing they might be, were not by themselves equal to the taking of the fort.

This was the explanation of what seemed like ludicrous vacillation on his part, and for which he was not so much to blame as his opponents imagined.

Well pleased at the retirement of the French, but still puzzled to guess what they would do next, the English spent the rest of the day in strengthening the defences of the fort, and making every preparation against a night attack.

When night did come the French were heard advancing again, and those in the fort nerved themselves for what they took for granted would be a supreme effort on the part of their foes.

Yet once more were they misled, as the real object of the assault proved not to be the fort itself, but the buildings outside of it, which consisted of several storehouses, a hospital, a sawmill, and the huts of the Rangers, besides a sloop on the stocks, and a number of scows and whale-boats.

Under cover of the night the French crept up carrying fagots of pine, and placing them against the farther side of the buildings, set them on fire, taking care to escape before the flames broke out sufficiently to make them visible to the watching English who, straining their eyes to penetrate the darkness, fired wherever they thought there was a chance of hitting them.

If they were not particularly successful as besiegers, however, they certainly were as incendiaries, for in the course of the night they had every building ablaze, and the burning cinders fell inside the fort in such showers that it required hard work on the part of the garrison to save the barracks and other buildings from being set on fire.

Happily the elements came to their aid in the very crisis of their danger, for a thick fall of snow began filling the air with large moist flakes which soon covered the roofs, and effectually protected them against the danger of ignition.

This snow-fall continued all that day and all the next night, not stopping until the ground was covered to a depth of quite three feet; and while it lasted the French lay quiet in their camp, so that their opponents were enabled to gain some respite from the strain they had been enduring.