The English colonies had increased rapidly, and now contained a population upwards of a million. From France there had been almost no voluntary emigration, and the valley of the St. Lawrence was peopled to the extent of only sixty-five thousand. The English were strong enough to trample out their rivals. But they were scattered at vast distances, and conflicting opinions hindered them from uniting their strength. 1754 A.D. And France, at this time, began to send out copious military stores and reinforcements, as if in preparation for immediate aggression. The two countries were still at peace, but the inevitable conflict was seen to be at hand. The English Governors begged earnestly for the help of regular soldiers, in whose prowess they had unbounded confidence. Two regiments were granted to their prayers, and they themselves provided a strong body of bold but imperfectly disciplined troops. They were too powerful to wait for the coming of the enemy. A campaign was designed whose success would have shaken the foundations of French authority on the continent. One army under General Braddock was to cross the Alleghany Mountains and destroy Fort du Quesne, the centre of French power on the Ohio. Two armies would operate against the French forts on the Great Lakes; yet another force moved against the French settlements in the Bay of Fundy. To crown the whole, a British fleet cruised off the banks of Newfoundland watching the proceedings of a rival force.
1755 A.D. Ruin, speedy and complete, overwhelmed the unwisely-guided armament which followed General Braddock through the Virginian forests.[15] In the north there were fought desperate and bloody battles. The English forced on board their ships three thousand French peasants—peaceful inhabitants of Nova Scotia—and scattered them among the southern colonies. The Indian allies of the French surprised many lonely hamlets, slaughtered many women and children, tortured to death many fighting-men. The English fleet captured two French ships. But no decisive advantage was gained on either side. The problem of American destiny was solving itself according to the customary methods—by the desolation of the land, by the slaughter and the anguish of its inhabitants; but the results of this bloody campaign did not perceptibly hasten the solution after which men so painfully groped.
During the next two years success was mainly with the French. The English were without competent leadership. An experienced and skilled officer—the Marquis de Montcalm—commanded the French, and gained important advantage over his adversaries. He took Fort William Henry, and his allies massacred the garrison. He took and destroyed two English forts on Lake Ontario. He made for himself at Ticonderoga a position which barred the English from access to the western lakes. The war had lasted for nearly three years; and Canada not merely kept her own, but, with greatly inferior resources, was able to hold her powerful enemy on the defensive.
But now the impatient English shook off the imbecile Government under which this shame had been incurred, and the strong hand of William Pitt assumed direction of the war. 1757 A.D. When England took up in earnest the work of conquest, France could offer but feeble resistance. The Canadians were few in number, and weakened by discontent and dissension. Their defensive power lay in a few inconsiderable forts, a few thousand French soldiers, and five ships of war. The insignificance of their resources had been concealed by the skilful leadership of Montcalm.
Pitt proposed, as the work of the first campaign, to take Louisburg—the only harbour which France possessed on the Atlantic; to take Fort du Quesne, in the valley of the Ohio; and Ticonderoga, in the north. He was able to accomplish more than he hoped. Louisburg was taken; Cape Breton and the island of St. John became English ground. Communication between France and her endangered colony was henceforth impossible. The French ships were captured or destroyed, and the flag of France disappeared from the Canadian coast. Fort du Quesne fell into English hands, and assumed the English name of Pittsburg, under which it has become famous as a centre of peaceful industry. France had no longer a footing in the Mississippi valley. 1758 A.D. At Ticonderoga, incapable generalship caused shameful miscarriage: the English attack failed, and a lamentable slaughter was sustained. But the progress which had been made afforded ground to expect that one campaign more would terminate the dominion of France on the American continent.
The spirit of the British nation rose with the return of that success to which they had long been strangers. Pitt laid his plans with the view of immediate conquest. Parliament expressed strongly its approbation of his policy and his management, and voted liberal sums to confirm the zeal of the colonists. The people gave enthusiastic support to the war. Their supreme concern for the time was to humble France by seizing all her American possessions. The men of New England and New York lent their eager help to a cause which was peculiarly their own. The internal condition of Canada prepared an easy way for a resolute invader. The harvest had been scanty; no supply could now be hoped for from abroad, for the English ships maintained strict blockade; food was scarce; a corrupt and unpopular Government seized, under pretence of public necessity, grain which was needed to keep in life the families of the unhappy colonists. There were no more than fifteen thousand men fit to bear arms in the colony, and these were for the most part undisciplined and reluctant to fight. The Governor vainly endeavoured to stimulate their valour by fiery proclamations. The gloom and apathy of approaching overthrow already filled their hearts.
1759 A.D. It was the design of Pitt to attack simultaneously all the remaining strongholds of France. An army of eleven thousand men, moving northward from New York by the valley of the Hudson, took with ease the forts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point; and the fair region which lies around Lake Champlain and Lake George passed for ever away from the dominion of France. A smaller force attacked Fort Niagara, the sole representative now of French authority on Lake Ontario. This stronghold fell, and France had no longer a footing on the shores of the Great Lakes.
In the east the progress of the British arms was less rapid. Montcalm held Quebec, strongly fortified, but insufficiently provided with food. He had a force of twelve thousand men under his command—heartless and ill-armed, and swarms of allied Indians lurked in the woods, waiting their opportunity. Before Quebec there lay a powerful British fleet, and a British army of eight thousand men. Pitt knew that here lay the chief difficulty of the campaign; that here its crowning success must be gained. He found among his older officers no man to whom he could intrust the momentous task. Casting aside the routine which has brought ruin upon so many fair enterprises, he promoted to the chief command a young soldier of feeble health, gentle, sensitive, modest, in whom his unerring perception discovered the qualities he required. That young soldier was James Wolfe, who had already in subordinate command evinced courage and high military genius. To him Pitt intrusted the forces whose arms were now to fix the destiny of a continent.
The long winter of Lower Canada delayed the opening of the campaign, and June had nearly closed before the British ships dropped their anchors off the Isle of Orleans, and Wolfe was able to look at the fortress which he had come to subdue. His survey was not encouraging. The French flag waved defiantly over tremendous and inaccessible heights, crowned with formidable works, which stretched far into the woods and barred every way of approach. Wolfe forced a landing, and established batteries within reach of the city. For some weeks he bombarded both the upper and the lower town, and laid both in ruins. But the defensive power of Quebec was unimpaired. The misery of the inhabitants was extreme. “We are without hope and without food,” wrote one: “God has forsaken us.” Regardless of their sufferings, the French general maintained his resolute defence.
The brief summer was passing, and Wolfe perceived that no real progress had been made. He knew the hopes which his countrymen entertained; and he felt deeply that the exceptional confidence which had been reposed in him called for a return of exceptional service. July 31, 1759 A.D. He resolved to carry his men across the river and force the French intrenchments. But disaster fell, at every point, on the too hazardous attempt. His transports grounded; the French shot pierced and sunk some of his boats; a heavy rain-storm damped the ammunition of the troops; some of his best regiments, fired by the wild enthusiasm of battle, dashed themselves against impregnable defences and were destroyed. The assault was a complete failure, and the baffled assailants withdrew, weakened by heavy loss.