Canadian Scenery, Volume 1 (of 2)

by Nathaniel Parker Willis

The French, feeling secure in their dominions, pushed forward their outposts with vigour by means of the fur-traders, and more than ever alarmed the contiguous English colonists, who now became daily convinced of the impossibility of both nations remaining as rivals on the same continent; the French seeking dominion by military power and conquest, the English by an extension of the arts of peace, aided by a liberal spirit. The latter, therefore, resolved on using every possible means for the total expulsion of their Gallic neighbours from Canada, who refused the offer made to them to remain pacific while the mother countries were at war. The main object of Frontenac was to take possession of every point calculated to extend the dominion of France, to cut off the English from the fur-trade, and, finally, to hem them in between the Highlands of Nova Scotia and the Alleghany mountains. He began by checking the incursions of the Iroquois, whom he weakened so much by destructive warfare, and hemmed so closely in by a judicious distribution of military stations or forts, as to prevent them ever after from making an impression on Canada, such as they had been wont to produce. Frontenac’s next step was the preparation, in 1697, of a large armament to cooperate with a strong force from France, which was destined for the conquest of New York; but while the brave and active Canadian Governor was preparing to take the field, the news arrived of the treaty of peace between France and England, concluded at Ryswick, 11th of September, 1697, much to the dissatisfaction of Frontenac.

The renewal of the war between Great Britain and France in May, 1702, soon led to acrimony and hostility in America; and the cruel persecutions of the Protestants in France caused a religious animosity to be superadded to the hatred entertained by the New Englanders towards their neighbours, whose numbers had now increased to about 15,000. In 1708 the Marquis de Vandreuil carried his operations into the British frontier settlements, having previously negotiated for the neutrality of the Iroquois, who were flattered by being treated as an independent power; but the destruction of the village of Haverhill, and the massacre of some of its inhabitants, compelled the Canadians again to assume a defensive position. The New Englanders made every preparation for an attack on Montreal by land; but the English forces destined for the cooperation by the St. Lawrence river were required for Portugal, and thus the Marquis de Vandreuil had time to make better preparations for defence. The ensuing year (1709) was spent by the English in reducing Acadia, now Nova Scotia; and when the combined land and sea expedition against Canada took place in 1711, it was so ill-managed, and the British fleet, owing to tempestuous weather and ignorance of the coast, met with so many disasters,—losing by shipwreck in one day (the 22d of August) eight transports, 884 officers, soldiers, and seamen—that the expedition returned to Boston, and the restoration of peace between France and England by the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, left the former yet a little longer to harass and molest the British colonists along the Canadian frontier. The Marquis de Vandreuil availed himself of the peace to strengthen the fortifications of Quebec and Montreal; the training of the military, amounting to 5,000 in a population of 25,000, was carefully attended to; barracks were constructed; and a direct assessment levied on the inhabitants for the support of the troops and the erection of fortifications. During ten years of foreign and internal tranquillity, the trade and property of Canada made rapid progress: in 1723 nineteen vessels cleared from Quebec, laden with peltries, lumber, stones, tar, tobacco, flour, pease, pork, &c.; and six merchant ships and two men-of-war were built in the colony.

Long Sault Rapid, on the St. Lawrence.

The death of the Marquis de Vandreuil in October, 1725, was deservedly lamented by the Canadians. He was succeeded in 1726 by the Marquis de Beauharnois, (a natural son of Louis XIV.) whose ambitious administration excited yet more the alarm and jealousy of the English colonists of New York and New England; while the intrigues of the Jesuits with the Indians, contributed not a little to bring about the final struggle for dominion on the American continent, between the two most powerful nations of Europe. The war between Great Britain and France in 1745, led to the reduction in that year of Cape Breton, by a British naval and military force, combined with the provincial troops of the New England colonies; but the successful battle of Fontenoy roused the martial spirit of the Canadians to attempt the re-conquest of Nova Scotia in 1746 and 1747, in which they failed, and the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 suspended further hostilities. Commissioners were then appointed to settle a boundary line between the British and French territories in North America. The object of the French was to confine the English within the boundary of the Alleghany mountains, and prevent their approach to the Lakes, the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, (where the former were now establishing themselves,) and their tributary streams. The Canadian Government, without any authority from home, and accompanied by a display of military pomp, calculated to impress on the minds of the Indians the idea that France would assert her territorial right to the limits marked, proceeded to survey the projected line of demarcation between the possessions of France and those which the Canadian Governor was pleased, in his liberality, to assign to England: leaden plates, bearing the royal arms of France, were sunk at proper distances, and the whole ceremony was concluded with much formality. Such an imprudent step, it may be imagined, seriously alarmed the Indians, as well as the English, and terminated in their active cooperation for the utter expulsion of the French from North America.

In pursuance of the line of policy marked out by the French consuls at home and in Canada, the Jesuits were employed to intrigue with the Acadians, or descendants of the early French inhabitants, with the view of prevailing on them to quit Nova Scotia, and resort to a military post now established beyond its frontier, on the Canada side, where a new colony was to be formed, in aid of which the royal sanction was granted for an appropriation of 800,000 livres. Cornwallis, the governor of Nova Scotia, soon convinced the French that he was aware of their proceedings; he caused a fort to be erected opposite the French, near the bay of Fundy, on the side of the river Beauhassin; and placed it under the command of Major Laurence, and caused to be captured at the mouth of the St. John river, a vessel laden with supplies for the French. While these measures were in progress, the French commenced enforcing their power along the line of demarcation they had marked out; three individuals, who had licenses to trade from their respective English governors, with the Indians on the Ohio, were seized by the French, and carried prisoners to Montreal, whence, after severe treatment and strict examination, they were at length liberated, with injunctions not to trespass on the French territories.

The intrigues of the Jesuits with the Iroquois, to detach them from the English, were so far successful, that the Indians permitted the French to erect the Fort La Presentation near their border; and but for the perseverance and extraordinary influence of Sir William Johnston, the wily character of the Canadians would have gone far to frustrate the confederacy forming between the English and the Indians, for the expulsion of the French; whose downfall was ultimately occasioned by the corruption that prevailed within the colony, and the scandalous jobs that the very highest authorities not only winked at, but profited by. The arrival of the Marquis du Quesne de Menneville, in 1752, as Governor of Canada, Louisiana, Cape Breton, St. John’s, and their dependencies, gave indications that hostilities might soon be expected in Europe; and the activity of the marquis was displayed in training and organizing the militia for internal defence: detachments of regulars, militia, and Indians, were despatched to the Ohio; Fort du Quesne (actually within the Virginian territory) and other posts were erected, with a view of keeping the English within the Apalachian or Alleghany mountains; and from Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Fort Niagara, the most ferocious attacks were made on the peaceable English settlers, notwithstanding the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748. The British, though still acting on the defensive, were not idle; a fort was built in the vicinity of Du Quesne, quaintly termed Necessity, and a garrison was despatched from Virginia, under the command of George Washington, whose name has since become so illustrious, and who then held a Lieutenant-colonel’s commission. Washington, on his march to assume the command of Fort Necessity, was met by a reconnoitring party from Du Quesne fort, under M. de Jumouville, who peremptorily forbad the English to proceed further. This mandate was answered by a burst of indignation, and a volley of musquetry, which killed Jumouville and several of his men. The French commandant at Du Quesne, Monsieur Contrecœur, quickly commenced offensive hostilities, invested Fort Necessity, and obliged Washington to capitulate. England at that time was preparing for an open war with France, which the ambition of Frederick of Prussia, and the state of Europe soon rendered general. A strong fleet, with troops and warlike munition, was despatched to reinforce Quebec; an English fleet pursued it, but succeeded in capturing only two frigates, with the engineers and troops on board, on the banks of Newfoundland.

Quebec,
from the opposite shore of the St. Lawrence.

In 1755, the Marquis du Quesne having resigned, he was succeeded, in July, by the last French governor in Canada, the Marquis de Vandreuil de Cavagnal, whose administration was auspiciously opened by the defeat of the brave but rash General Braddock, on the 29th July, 1755, in one of the defiles of the Alleghany mountains. Braddock, accustomed to European, rather than to Indian warfare, neglected every precaution of scouts and advanced posts, and refused to make any preparations against the French and their Indian allies, who, when the enemy had entered a gorge, where retreat was almost impossible, poured from their ambuscades on the devoted British a deadly fire, under which the soldiers of the unfortunate Braddock fell rapidly, without even the satisfaction of seeing or meeting their foes. The death of their leader was the signal that further advance was hopeless; and to the credit of George Washington, the second in command, he succeeded in rescuing the remainder of the British army, who were afterwards joined by 6,000 provincial troops, under General Johnston and Governor Shirley. Johnston, with the intention of investing Crown Point, joined General Lyman near Lake George, where they were attacked by 3,000 French, commanded by Baron Dieskau. After a battle of four hours’ duration, the French retreated to Crown Point, with the loss of 1,000 men, and the capture of their leader, who was severely wounded. This success restored the drooping spirits of the British army, and helped to train the provincials (who were brigaded along with the regular troops,) for those contests which they were soon to wage for their independence with the very men by whose side they now fought hand to hand against the French—their subsequent allies. Little did Washington then contemplate the destiny that awaited him.