Early in the spring of 1755, the British government despatched general Braddock to America, with a respectable force, to expel the French, and keep possession of the territory; and preparations having been made by France to despatch a reinforcement to her armies in Canada, admiral Boscawenwas ordered to endeavor to intercept the French fleet before it should enter the gulf of St. Lawrence. In April, general Braddock met the governors of the several provinces to confer upon the plan of the ensuing campaign. Three expeditions were resolved upon; one against Du Quesne, to be commanded by general Braddock; one against forts Niagara and Frontignac, to be commanded by governor Shirley; and one against Crown Point, to be commanded by general Johnston. This last originated with Massachusetts, and was to be executed by colonial troops raised in New England and New York.
While preparations were making for these expeditions, another, which had been previously concerted, was carried on against the French forts in Nova Scotia. This province was settled by the French, but was ceded to the English by the treaty of Utrecht. Its boundaries not having been defined, the French continued to occupy a portion of the territory claimed by the English, and had built forts for their defence. To gain possession of these was the object of the expedition. About two thousand militia, commanded by colonel Winslow, embarked at Boston; and being joined on their passage by three hundred regulars, arrived in April at the place of their destination. The forts were invested, the resistance made was trifling and ineffectual, and in a short time the English gained entire possession of the province according to their own definition of its boundaries. Three only of their men were killed.
As soon as the convention of governors was dissolved, general Braddock proceeded to the post at Wells’ Creek, whence the army commenced its march about the middle of June. Their progress was very much retarded by the necessity of cutting a road; and, lest the enemy should have time to collect in great force, the general concluded to set forward with twelve hundred select men, while colonel Dunbar should follow slowly in the rear, with the main body and the heavy baggage. Colonel Washington’s regiment had been split into separate companies, and he had only joined the army as aid to the general. The roughness of the country prevented the advanced corps from reaching the Monongahela till the 8th of July. It was resolved to attack Du Quesne the very next day; and lieutenant-colonel Gage was sent in front with three hundred British regulars, while the general himself followed at some distance with the main body. He had been strongly cautioned by colonel Washington to provide against an ambuscade, by sending forward some provincial companies to scour the woods; but he held the provincials and the enemy in equal contempt. The Monongahela was crossed the second time, about seven miles from Du Quesne; and the army was pressing forward in an open wood, through high and thick grass, when the front was suddenly thrown into disorder by a volley from small arms. The main body was formed three deep, and brought to its support: the commander-in-chief of the enemy fell; and a cessation of the fire led general Braddock to suppose that the assailants had fled; but he was soon attacked with redoubled fury.
Concealed behind trees, logs, and rocks, the Indians poured upon the troops a deadly and incessant fire; officers and men fell thickly around, and the survivors knew not where to direct their aim to revenge their slaughtered comrades. The whole body was again thrown into confusion; but the general, obstinate and courageous, refused to retreat; and instead of withdrawing them beyond the reach of the enemy’s muskets, wheretheir ranks might easily have been formed anew, undertook to rally them on the very ground of attack, and in the midst of a most incessant and deadly fire. He persisted in these efforts until five horses had been shot under him, and every one of his officers on horseback, except colonel Washington, was either killed or wounded. The general at length fell, and the rout became universal. The troops fled precipitately until they met the division under Dunbar, then sixty miles in the rear. Sixty-four officers out of eighty-five, and about half of the privates, were killed or wounded. General Braddock died in Dunbar’s camp; and the whole army, which appears to have been panic struck, marched back to Philadelphia. The provincial troops, whom Braddock had so lightly esteemed, displayed during the battle the utmost calmness and courage. Though placed in the rear, they alone, led on by Washington, advanced against the Indians, and covered the retreat; and had they at first been permitted to engage the enemy in their own way, they would easily have defeated them.
The two northern expeditions, though not so disastrous, failed in attaining their proposed objects. The campaign of 1755 was thus utterly unsuccessful. Immense preparations had been made, but no desired result was obtained. By the failure of the three expeditions, the whole frontier was left open to the ravages of the Indians. The second campaign was almost as pregnant with evil. Montcalm had marched against Oswego, and by destroying it had thrown the English and American army on the defensive. No successful measures were put in operation to carry out the plans of the colonists, and it was necessary to wait till the following year.
At the commencement of the following year a council was held at Boston, composed of lord Loudoun, and the governors of the New England provinces and of Nova Scotia. At this council his lordship proposed that New England should raise four thousand men for the ensuing campaign; and that a proportionate number should be raised by New York and New Jersey. These requisitions were complied with; and in the spring his lordship found himself at the head of a very considerable army. Admiral Holbourn arriving in the beginning of July at Halifax with a powerful squadron, and a reinforcement of five thousand British troops, under George viscount Howe, lord Loudoun sailed from New York with six thousand regulars, to join those troops at the place of their arrival. Instead of the complex operations undertaken in previous campaigns, his lordship limited his plan to a single object. Leaving the posts on the lakes strongly garrisoned, he resolved to direct his whole disposable force against Louisbourg; Halifax having been determined on as the place of rendezvous for the fleet and army destined for the expedition. Information was, however, soon received, that a French fleet had lately sailed from Brest; that Louisbourg was garrisoned by six thousand regulars, exclusive of provincials; and that it was also defended by seventeen line-of-battle ships, which were moored in the harbor. There being no hope of success against so formidable a force, the enterprise was deferred to the next year; the general and admiral on the last of August proceeded to New York; and the provincials were dismissed.
The marquis De Montcalm, availing himself of the absence of the principal part of the British force, advanced with an army of nine thousand men, and laid siege to fort William Henry. The garrison at this fortconsisted of between two and three thousand regulars, and its fortifications were strong and in very good order; and for the additional security of this important post, general Webb was stationed at fort Edward with an army of four thousand men. The French commander, however, urged his approaches with such vigor, that, within six days after the investment of the fort, colonel Monro, the commandant, having in vain solicited succor from general Webb, found it necessary to surrender by capitulation. The garrison was to be allowed the honors of war, and to be protected against the Indians until within the reach of fort Edward; but the next morning, a great number of Indians, having been permitted to enter the lines, began to plunder; and meeting with no opposition, they fell upon the sick and wounded, whom they immediately massacred. Their appetite for carnage being excited, the defenceless troops were attacked with fiend-like fury. Monro in vain implored Montcalm to provide the stipulated guard, and the massacre proceeded. All was turbulence and horror. On every side savages were butchering and scalping their wretched victims. Their hideous yells, the groans of the dying, and the frantic shrieks of others shrinking from the uplifted tomahawk, were heard by the French unmoved. The fury of the savages was permitted to rage without restraint until fifteen hundred were killed, or hurried captives into the wilderness. The day after this awful tragedy, major Putnam was sent with his rangers to watch the motions of the enemy. When he came to the shore of the lake, their rear was hardly beyond the reach of musket-shot. The prospect was horrible in the extreme; the fort demolished; the barracks and buildings yet burning; innumerable fragments of human carcasses still broiled in the decaying fires; and dead bodies, mangled with tomahawks and scalping knives, in all the wantonness of Indian barbarity, were everywhere scattered around. Thus ended the third campaign in America; happily forming the last of a series of disasters, resulting from folly and mismanagement, rather than from want of means and military strength.
The British nation was alarmed and indignant, and the king found it necessary to change his councils. At the head of the new ministry he placed the celebrated William Pitt, afterwards earl of Chatham, under whose administration public confidence revived, and the nation seemed inspired with new life and vigor. He was equally popular in both hemispheres. Lord Loudoun was replaced by general Abercrombie, who, early in the spring of 1758, was ready to enter upon the campaign at the head of fifty thousand men, the most powerful army ever seen in America.
Three points of attack were marked out for this campaign; the first Louisbourg; the second Ticonderoga and Crown Point; and the third, fort Du Quesne. Its result was highly honorable to the British arms. Of the three expeditions, two completely succeeded, and the leader of the third had made an important conquest. Fort Du Quesne was reduced, supplied with a new garrison, and its name changed to Pittsburg. As usual, the Indians joined the strongest side. A peace was concluded with all the tribes between the Ohio and the lakes; and the frontier inhabitants of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, were once more relieved from the terrors of fire and scalping knives.
To the commanding talents of Pitt, and the confidence which they inspired, this change of fortune must be chiefly attributed; and in no respect were these talents more strikingly displayed than in the choice of men toexecute his plans. The advantages of this campaign had, however, been purchased by an expensive effort and corresponding exhaustion of provincial strength; and, when a circular letter from Mr. Pitt to the several governors induced the colonies to resolve upon making the most vigorous preparation for the next, they soon discovered that their resources were by no means commensurate with their zeal.