History of the United States

by John Clark Ridpath

Lake Champlain.

28. In the beginning of the next year the command of the English forces was given to Governor Shirley. Washington, at the head of the Virginia provincials, repelled the French and Indians in the valley of the Shenandoah. The expeditions, which were planned for the year, embraced the conquest of Quebec and the capture of Forts Frontenac, Toronto, Niagara, and Du Quesne.

29. The earl of Loudoun now received the appointment of commander-in-chief of the British forces. On the 17th of May Great Britain, after nearly two years of actual hostilities, made a declaration of war against France. In July Lord Loudoun assumed the command of the colonial army. The French, meanwhile, led by the marquis of Montcalm, who had succeeded Dieskau, besieged and captured Oswego.

Massacre at Ft. William Henry.

30. In the following campaign the daring Montcalm, with more than seven thousand French, Canadians, and Indians, advanced against Fort William Henry. For six days the French pressed the siege with vigor. The ammunition of the garrison was exhausted, and nothing remained but to surrender. Honorable terms were granted by the French. On the 9th of August the French took possession of the fortress. Unfortunately, the Indians procured a quantity of spirits from the English camp. In spite of the utmost exertions of Montcalm, the savages fell upon the prisoners and massacred thirty of them in cold blood.

31. Such had been the successes of France during the year, that the English had not a single hamlet left in the whole basin of the St. Lawrence. Every cabin where English was spoken had been swept out of the Ohio valley. At the close of the year 1757 France possessed twenty times as much American territory as England, and five times as much as England and Spain together.

Louisburg Captured.

32. William Pitt was now placed at the head of the English ministry. Loudoun was deposed from the American army. General Abercrombie was appointed to succeed him. General Amherst was to lead a division, and young Lord Howe was next in rank to Abercrombie. Three expeditions were planned for 1758: one to capture Louisburg; a second, to reduce Crown Point and Ticonderoga; and the third to retake Fort Du Quesne from the French. The first was successful, and on the 28th of July, Louisburg capitulated. Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island were surrendered to Great Britain. The garrison, numbering nearly six thousand men, became prisoners of war.

Defeat at Ticonderoga.

33. On the 5th of July General Abercrombie, with an army of fifteen thousand men, moved against Ticonderoga. On the morning of the 6th the English fell in with the picket line of the French. A severe skirmish ensued; the French were overwhelmed, but Lord Howe was killed in the onset. On the morning of the 8th, the English divisions were arranged to carry Ticonderoga by assault. A desperate battle of more than four hours followed, until, at six o'clock in the evening, the English were finally repulsed. The loss on the side of the assailants amounted in killed and wounded to nineteen hundred and sixteen. In no battle of the Revolution did the British have so large a force engaged, or meet such terrible loss.