The expedition against the French Fort du Quesne, on the Ohio river, so fatal to General Braddock, was entrusted to General Forbes, with Washington, colonel of the Virginia regulars, as second in command.

Forbes, though wasting under the disease of consumption, heroically superintended and endured for three months the difficulties and fatigues of the same line of march pursued by Braddock three years before, leaving Philadelphia in command of 8,000 men early in July, but not reaching Fort du Quesne until late in November. On the evening preceding his arrival, the French garrison, deserted by their Indians, abandoned the fort, and escaped in boats down the Ohio. Hutchinson says: "The expedition for dispossessing the French of Fort du Quesne, near the Ohio, had at first a very unfavourable prospect. The English forces met with a variety of obstructions and discouragements; and when they had advanced to within thirty or forty miles of the fort, they were at a stand deliberating whether they should go forward or not. Receiving intelligence that the garrison was in a weak condition, they pushed on.

Upon their arrival at the fort they met with no opposition. The enemy had deserted it, for want of provisions, as was generally believed; and it was added that the provisions intended to supply that fort were destroyed by Bradstreet at Fort Frontenac.[244] Thus the gallant and laborious exploit of Bradstreet in demolishing Fort Frontenac contributed to the reduction of Fort du Quesne without firing a shot."

"The English now took possession of that important fortress, and, in compliment to the popular Minister, called it Pittsburg. No sooner was the English flag erected on it, than the numerous tribes of the Ohio Indians came in and made their submission to the English. General Forbes having concluded treaties with the natives, left a garrison of provincials in the fort and built a block-house near Loyal Hannah, but, worn out with fatigue, he died before he could reach Philadelphia."[245]

In the same month of July that Sir William Johnson dispossessed the French of Niagara, General Amherst took possession of the enemy's lines at Ticonderaga, which the French abandoned after having set fire to the fort. A few days afterwards, in the beginning of August, General Amherst obtained possession of the fort at Crown Point, it having also been abandoned by the French. About the middle of the month General Amherst received information at Crown Point that General Bourlamarque was encamped at Isle aux Noix with 3,500 men and 100 cannon, and that the French had four vessels on the lake under the command of the captain of a man-of-war. He therefore judged it necessary to build a brigantine, a radeau, and a sloop of 16 guns. Such a fleet could not be got ready before the beginning of October; on the 11th of which month General Amherst embarked in batteaux, under the convoy of armed vessels, and proceeded down the lake; but encountering cold and stormy weather and contrary winds, he resolved, on the 19th, to return to Crown Point and go into winter quarters. No communications could be opened between the armies of Amherst and Wolfe; but the withdrawal of a great part of the French force from Quebec, to watch and counteract the movements of General Amherst, doubtless contributed to General Wolfe's success. The fleet under Sir Charles Saunders, and the army of five thousand men under General Wolfe, arrived before Quebec the latter part of June, and from that time to the 13th of September a series of daring but unsuccessful attempts were made to get possession of the city. How unyielding perseverance and heroic courage, against apparently insurmountable obstacles, effected the capture of that Gibraltar of America, with the fall of the leaders of both armies in the b.l.o.o.d.y struggle, has often been vividly described and variously ill.u.s.trated, which I need not here repeat.

The British and colonial arms were completely successful this year.[246]

Bradstreet destroyed Fort Frontenac; Sir William Johnson captured Niagara; Forbes, aided by Washington, retook Fort du Quesne, and named it Pittsburg; Lord Amherst took possession of Ticonderaga and Crown Point; and Wolfe became the conqueror of Quebec. In each of these expeditions the provincial troops rendered essential service. The several provinces were prompted to put forth their utmost efforts from their impending perils by the successive victories of the French and Indians the previous year, and encouraged by the appeal of the Prime Minister, Pitt, who a.s.sured them of the strong forces by sea and land from England, and that they would be compensated for the expense they might incur.

The heart of Ma.s.sachusetts had for many years been set upon the conquest of Canada, both for her own security and for the extension of her northern limits, and she had sacrificed much treasure and many lives for that purpose, but had failed in each attempt. The taking of Quebec did not complete the conquest of Canada. On the fall of that city, Montreal became the seat of the French Government; the inhabitants of Canada remained subjects of the King of France; the French military forces within the province, were still very considerable;[247] and M. de Levi, who succeeded Montcalm as Commander-in-Chief of the army, made a very formidable attempt to recover Quebec.[248] On the reduction of that city, the fleet under Sir Charles Saunders returned to England, and General Murray was left in command at Quebec with a garrison of 5,000 men, which, during the ensuing winter, owing to the extreme cold, and the want of vegetables and fresh provisions, was reduced to 3,000 men fit for service, when in April M. de Levi, with a superior force, attacked the city, drove General Murray's little army from the Plains of Abraham within the walls, and closely besieged the city, which was relieved, and M. de Levi compelled to raise the siege, by the opportune arrival of the English fleet.

In the meantime, General Amherst was energetically pursuing the most effective measures for the complete extinction of French power in Canada. At the commencement of the year 1760, he applied to the northern colonies for men and means equal to what they had provided for 1759,[249] and during the winter he made arrangements to bring the armies from Quebec, Lake Champlain, and Lake Ontario, to act against Montreal. Colonel Haviland, by his orders, sailed early in the spring with a detachment from Crown Point, took possession of the Isle aux Noix, which he found abandoned by the enemy, and proceeded thence to Montreal; while Lord Amherst, with his own division, consisting of about 10,000 regulars and provincials, left the frontier of New York and advanced to Oswego, where he was joined by 1,000 Indians of the Six Nations, under Sir William Johnson. Embarking with his entire army on Lake Ontario, and taking the fort of Isle Royale in his way, he arrived at Montreal, after a difficult and dangerous pa.s.sage, on the same day that General Murray landed near the place from Quebec. The two generals met with no opposition in disembarking their troops; and by a happy concurrence in the execution of a well-concerted plan, Colonel Haviland joined them with his detachment the next day. The strength of these combined armies, and the masterly disposition made by the commanders, convinced M. de Vaudreuil that resistance would be ineffectual, and he demanded a capitulation; and on the 8th of September, 1760, Montreal, Detroit, Michili-Mackinac, and all other places within the government of Canada, were surrendered to his Britannic Majesty. The destruction of an armament ordered out from France in aid of Canada completed the annihilation of French power on the continent of America.[250]

But though the conquest of Canada was thus completed, and the American colonies thus secured from the encroachments and dangers which had disturbed their peace and caused much sacrifice of life for one hundred and thirty years, yet the war between England and France was not ended, and in 1762 Spain joined France in the war against the former; but the actual scene of the war was chiefly the West Indies, and the series of naval and other battles fought there were successive victories on the part of England. "The progress of the British conquests, which threatened all the distant possessions of the enemy, was arrested by preliminary articles of peace, which were signed and interchanged at Fontainebleau between the Ministers of Great Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal, on the 3rd day of November. On the 10th of February, 1763, a definite treaty was signed at Paris, and soon after ratified."[251]

The joy was general and intense throughout England and North America at such a conclusion of a seven years' open war, preceded by several years of hostile and b.l.o.o.d.y encroachments on the settlements of the English provinces by the French and Indians. It was a war prompted and commenced by the colonies, and in which their very existence as well as liberties were involved. No one of the American colonies had a deeper, if as deep a stake in the results of this protracted struggle as the province of Ma.s.sachusetts; no one had more suppliantly and importunately solicited the aid of money and men from England; and no colony had benefitted so largely in its commerce and resources during the successive years of the contest, as Ma.s.sachusetts. As early as 1755 (the year before war was formally declared between England and France), the Legislature of Ma.s.sachusetts adopted an address to the King, in which, after referring to their large expenditure in their unsuccessful expedition against Crown Point, they stated their services and prayed to be relieved from the burden incurred by means of them. They pleaded the precedent of the Cape Breton invasion (for expenses incurred in which, in 1745, the British Parliament had granted them compensation), and prayed that his Majesty would give orders for the support of such forts and garrisons as they hoped to establish, and aid them in the further execution of their designs. And in another address, adopted in October of the same year, the Ma.s.sachusetts Court said that the design of securing his Majesty's territories against the invasions of the French was what his Majesty alone was equal to project and execute, and the nation to support; and that unless they could obtain the relief which they were soliciting from the royal bounty, they should be so far from being able to remove encroachments that they would be unable to defend themselves.[252]

Ma.s.sachusetts having succeeded, with the other colonies, to "drag," as Mr. Bancroft expresses it, "England into a war with France," was thus importunate in soliciting aid and compensation from England for her self-originated expenses, and was so successful in her applications as to make the war a pecuniary benefit as well as a means of securing and enlarging her boundaries; for, in the words of the historian quoted above, in a previous page, "The generous compensations which had been made every year by Parliament not only alleviated the burden of taxes, which otherwise would have been heavy, but, by the importation of such large sums of specie, increased commerce; and it was the opinion of some that the war added to the wealth of the province, though the compensation did not amount to half the charges of the government."[253]

The monies raised by the colonies were expended in them and upon their own citizens--monies pa.s.sing from hand to hand, and for provisions provided and works done in the colonies; but the large sums appropriated by Parliament for the war in the colonies was so much money abstracted from England, sent across the Atlantic, and added to the resources and wealth of the colonies.

After the close of the war, in 1763, Ma.s.sachusetts acknowledged her obligations to England for her protection and safety. In an address of both Houses of her Legislature to the Governor that year, they acknowledge that "the evident design of the French to surround the colonies was the immediate and just cause of the war; that without the protection afforded them during the war, they must have been a prey to the power of France; that without the compensation made them by Parliament, the burden of the expense of the war must have been insupportable." In their address to the King they make the same acknowledgments, and at the conclusion promise to evidence their grat.i.tude by every expression of duty and loyalty in their power.[254]

Mr. Otis, afterwards the most eloquent agitator against England, and advocate of independence, at the first town meeting of Boston after the peace, having been chosen chairman, addressed the inhabitants in the following words, which he caused to be printed in the newspapers:

"We in America have certainly abundant reasons to rejoice. The heathen are not only driven out, but the Canadians, much more formidable enemies, are conquered and become our fellow-subjects. The British dominion and power may be said literally to extend from sea to sea, and from the great river to the ends of the earth. And we may safely conclude, from his Majesty's wise administration hitherto, that liberty and knowledge, civil and religious, will be co-extended, improved, and preserved to the latest posterity. No other const.i.tution of civil government has yet appeared in the world so admirably adapted to these great purposes as that of Great Britain. Every British subject in America is of common right, by Act of Parliament, and by the laws of G.o.d and nature, ent.i.tled to all the essential privileges of Britons. By particular Charters, there are peculiar privileges granted, as in justice they might and ought, in consideration of the arduous undertaking to begin so glorious an empire as British America is rising to. Those jealousies that some weak and wicked minds have endeavoured to infuse with regard to the colonies, had their birth in the blackness of darkness, and it is a great pity they had not remained there for ever.

The true interests of Great Britain and her plantations are mutual; and what G.o.d in His providence has united, let no man dare attempt to pull asunder."[255]

Such were the official acknowledgments and professed feelings of Ma.s.sachusetts herself in regard to the conduct of England towards her at the close of the seven years' war with France, which was ratified by the Peace of Paris, 1763, and which secured the American colonies from the hostilities of the French and their Indian allies for more than a hundred years. The language of Ma.s.sachusetts was but the language of all the American colonies in regard to Great Britain at this period--the language of grat.i.tude and affection.

Down, therefore, to within thirteen years of the American Declaration of Independence, the conduct of England to her American colonies is acknowledged upon the highest authority to have been just and generous.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 223: "The French, upon recovering Louisburg, had laid the scheme (the particulars of which shall be exhibited in their due place) for engrossing the whole empire of North America, and in a manner for extirpating the English interest there. Notice of this was, soon after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, given to the English Government by their Governors in America, and proper instructions were dispatched to them to resist all encroachments attempted to be made upon the English territories. The Earl of Albemarle (British Amba.s.sador in Paris) had orders from his Court to remonstrate on this occasion; but his remonstrances had so little effect that the French seemed rather encouraged in than deterred from their usurpations. The English Governors in America daily sent over complaints of the French encroachments there, which were too little regarded, in hopes of matters being compromised." (Rapin's History of England, Vol. XXI., p. 418.)]

[Footnote 224: "But their encroachments went further (than Nova Scotia), and this year (1754) they began to make settlements upon the River Ohio, within the limits of the British possessions in the western parts of Virginia. They had likewise committed many hostilities against British subjects in other parts of America."

"All the while the French were multiplying their hostilities and strengthening their usurpations by new recruits of men, money, provisions of all kinds, and ammunition, and some of the best officers in France."

"When the Government of England complained to the French Court of those encroachments, the Ministry gave evasive answers, and promised that everything should be amicably adjusted; but without desisting from their usurpations, which became every day more and more intolerable. The English, perceiving this, sent general orders to all their Governors in America to repel force by force, and to drive them from all the settlements which they had made contrary to the faith of treaties, and especially along the Ohio." (Rapin's History of England, Vol. XXI., pp.

478-491.)]

[Footnote 225: "They had been incessantly making settlements upon the English property since the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, and at last they made a settlement on the western part of Virginia, upon the River Ohio.

Mr. Dinwiddie (Governor of Virginia) having intelligence of this, sent an officer, Major Washington, with a letter to the French commandant there, requiring him to desist, and with orders, if possible, to bring the Indians over to the British interest. Washington had but indifferent success with the Indians; and when he arrived with some of the Indians at the French settlements, he found the French by no means inclined to give over their undertaking, and that the Indians, notwithstanding all their fair promises, were much more in their interest than in that of England. Upon further inquiry it was found that the Indians called the Six Nations, who, by the treaty of Utrecht, were acknowledged to be subject to Great Britain, had been entirely debauched by the French, who had likewise found means to bring over to their interest those vast tracts that lie along the great lakes and rivers to the west of the Apalachian (or Allegany) mountains.

"Having thus got the friendship of those Indians, they next contrived how they could cut them off from all communication with the English, and for that purpose they seized the persons and effects of all the English whom they found trading with the Indians; and they erected a chain of forts from Canada to Mississippi, to prevent all future communication between the English and those Indians; at the same time destroying such of the Indians as discovered any affection or regard for the British subjects: so that in a very few years all the eastern as well as the western colonies of Great Britain were in danger of being ruined."--_Ib._, pp. 290, 291.

"Though the several provinces belonging to Great Britain, in the neighbourhood of the French encroachments, raised both men and money against them, yet the forms of their legal proceedings in their a.s.semblies were so dilatory that the French always had the start of them, and they surprised a place called Log's Town, belonging to the Virginians, on the Ohio. This was a place of great importance, and the French made themselves masters of the block-house and the truck-house, with skins and other commodities to the amount of 20,000, besides cutting off all the English traders in those parts but two, who found means to escape. About the same time, near 1,000 French, under the command of Monsieur de Carstrecoeur, and 18 pieces of cannon, came in 300 canoes from Venango, a fort that they had usurped upon the banks of the Ohio, and surprised an English fort on the forks of the Monongah.e.l.la. After this, a great many skirmishes happened between the English and the French with various success.

"In the meanwhile, orders came from England to the Governors of the British settlements in America to form a kind of political confederacy, to which every province was to contribute a quota. Though the scheme of political confederacy was the best measure that could be pursued in the situation of the British settlements, yet it had not all the effect that was expected from it." (Rapin's History of England, Vol. XXI., pp. 491, 492.)]

[Footnote 226: Rapin's History of England, Vol. XXI., pp. 520, 521.

Rapin adds:--"While all Europe was in suspense about the fate of the English and French squadrons, the preparations for a vigorous sea war were going on in England with unparalleled spirit and success.

Notwithstanding, the French Court still flattered itself that Great Britain, out of tenderness to his Majesty's German dominions, would abstain from hostilities. Mirepoix (the French Amba.s.sador at London) continued to have frequent conferences with the British Ministry, who made no secret that their admirals, particularly Boscawen, had orders to attack the French ships wherever they should meet them; on the other hand, Mons. de Mirepoix declared that his master would consider the first gun fired at sea, in a hostile manner, as a declaration of war.

This menace, far from intimidating the English, animated them to redouble their preparations for war."--_Ib._, p. 521.]

[Footnote 227: Rapin, Vol. XXI., p. 521. It was during this interval that the unfortunate expedition, death, and defeat of General Braddock took place, on the banks of the Ohio river, at Fort du Quesne, afterwards called Pittsburg. "The naval expedition, under Admiral Boscawen, was somewhat more fortunate (than that of Braddock), though far from answering the expectations of the public. He made a prosperous voyage till he came to the banks of Newfoundland, where his rendezvous was; and in a few days the French fleet, under De la Mothe, came to the same station. But the thick fogs which prevail on those coasts, especially at that time of the year, kept the two squadrons from seeing one another; and part of the French squadron escaped up the River St.

Lawrence, while some of them went round and got into the same river by the Straits of Belleisle, by a way which had never been attempted before by ships of war. While Boscawen's fleet, however, lay before Cape Race, on the banks of Newfoundland, which was thought to be the proper station for intercepting the enemy, two French ships--the _Alcide_, of 60 guns and 480 men; and the _Lys_, pierced for 64 guns, but mounting only 22, and having eight companies of land forces on board--fell in with the _Dunkirk_, Captain Howe, and the _Defiance_, Captain Andrews, two 60-gun ships of the English squadron, and were, both of them, after a smart engagement, in which Captain (afterwards Lord) Howe behaved with the greatest skill and intrepidity, taken, with about 8,000 on board.

Though this action was far from answering the grand destination of the fleet, yet when the news reached England it was of infinite service to the public credit of every kind; as the manner in which it was conducted was a plain proof that the English Government was resolved to observe no further measures with the French, but to take or destroy their ships wherever they could be met with."--_Ib._, pp. 525, 526.

Yet, in the face of these facts, that the French Government had been encroaching upon the colonies for six years--ever since the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle; had been transporting soldiers and all the munitions of war to America to exterminate the English colonies; had put to death British subjects; and that complaints of these outrages had been made to England year after year by the Governors and representatives of the Colonies, and that the French Government had at this time, by fair words and false pretences, deceived the Government of England, which had warned the French Government that the English admirals had orders to attack and take all the French ships, public and private, that should be met with at sea; yet, in the face of such facts, Mr. Bancroft, with his habitual hostility to England and endless perversions of historical facts, says in 1755: "France and England were still at peace, and their commerce was mutually protected by the sanct.i.ty of treaties. _Of a sudden_, hostile orders were issued to all British vessels of war to take all French vessels, private as well as public," and "eight thousand French seamen were held in captivity. All France resented the perfidy.

'Never,' said Louis the Fifteenth, 'will I forgive the piracies of this insolent nation.' And in a letter to George the Second he demanded ample reparation for the insult to the flag of France by Boscawen, and for the piracies of the English men-of-war, committed in defiance of international law, the faith of treaties, the usages of civilized nations, and the reciprocal duties of kings." (History of the United States, Vol. IV., pp. 217, 218.)

Among the eight thousand French seamen held in captivity were the soldiers destined for America, to invade the British colonies in time of protracted peace and against "the faith of treaties." Mr. Bancroft also ignores the fact that a year before this the Commissioners from the Legislative a.s.semblies of the several colonies, a.s.sembled at Albany, had represented to the British Government the alarming encroachments of the French, and imploring aid, and that the French authorities in America had offered the Indians bounties on English scalps.]

[Footnote 228: Hutchinson's History of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, Vol. III., pp.

21-23.

"While the Convention was sitting, and attending princ.i.p.ally to the frontiers of the colonies, in the western parts, Mr. Shirly (Governor of Ma.s.sachusetts) was diligently employed in the east, prosecuting a plan for securing the frontiers of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay."--_Ib._, p. 25.

"In the beginning of this year (1755) the a.s.sembly of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, in New England, pa.s.sed an Act prohibiting all correspondence with the French at Louisburg; and early in the spring they raised a body of troops, which was transported to Nova Scotia, to a.s.sist Lieutenant-Governor Lawrence in driving the French from the encroachments they had made upon that province." (Hume and Smollett's History of England, Vol. VII., p. 7.)]

[Footnote 229: History of the United States, Vol. IV., pp. 276, 277.]

[Footnote 230: Minot's History of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, Vol. I., p. 228.

Dr. Minot adds: "The whole number a.s.signed for this expedition against Crown Point was 3,700, of which Ma.s.sachusetts voted to raise 1,560, besides 500 by way of reinforcement, if judged necessary by the Commander-in-Chief, with the advice of the Council; and to these 300 more were added after the defeat of General Braddock. The General Court also voted 600 to be applied towards engaging the Indians of the Six Nations in the enterprise, and supporting their families. In short, this became a favourite enterprise both with the General Court and the people of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, not only because it originated with them, but because it was directed against a quarter (considering the French in Nova Scotia were subdued and dispersed) whence they had the most to fear."--_Ib._, pp. 229, 230.]

[Footnote 231: Before Johnson could attack Crown Point, he was himself attacked in his own quarters, at what was called Carrying Place, near Lake George, by Dieskau, at the head of 200 regular troops, 600 Canadians, and 600 savages. Johnson's force consisted of 3,400 provincial soldiers and 300 Indians, "regularly enlisted under the English flag and paid from the English treasury." Among the New England men was Israel Putman, of Connecticut, then a private soldier, afterwards famous. Mr. Bancroft, as might be expected, depreciates the services of Sir William Johnson in this important and successful battle.

But he cannot deny that Johnson selected the most advantageous position for his camp; sent out scouts on all sides, and obtained timely information of the approach of the enemy, and was fully prepared for it; directed the order of battle, in the early part of which he was wounded, causing his removal from the field, when for five hours the provincial soldiers, good marksmen, under their own officers, "kept up the most violent fire that had yet been known in America." The House of Lords, in an address to the King, praised the colonists as "brave and faithful,"

and Johnson was honoured with a t.i.tle and money. "But," says Mr.

Bancroft, "he did little to gain the victory, which was due to the enthusiasm of the New England men. 'Our all,' they cried, 'depends on the success of this expedition.' 'Come,' said Pomeroy, of Ma.s.sachusetts, to his friends at home, 'Come to the help of the Lord against the mighty; you that value our holy religion and our liberties will spare nothing, even to the one-half of your estate.' And in all the villages 'the prayers of G.o.d's people' went up that 'they might be crowned with victory, to the glory of G.o.d;' _for the war with France seemed a war for Protestantism and freedom_." (History of the United States, Vol. IV., p.

212.) Dr. Minot justly observes: "Such a successful defence made by the forces of the British colonists against a respectable army, with which the regular troops of France were incorporated, was an honourable instance of firmness, deliberation, and spirit." (History of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, Vol. I., p. 254.)]

[Footnote 232: Hume and Smollett's History of England, Vol. XII., p. 25.

"Thus," says Minot, "ended the transactions of the year 1755--'a year,'

says a well-informed writer of that time, 'never to be forgotten in America.' It opened with the fairest prospects to these distant possessions of the British empire. Four armies were on foot to remove the encroachments of a perfidious neighbour, and our coasts honoured with a fleet for their security, under the command of the brave and vigilant Boscawen. We had everything to hope--nothing to fear. The enemy was dispersed; and we only desired a proclamation of war for the final destruction of the whole country of New France. But how unlooked-for was the event! General Winslow (great-grandson of Edward Winslow, one of the patriarchs of the Plymouth Colony), indeed succeeded in Nova Scotia; but Braddock was defeated; Niagara and Crown Point remained unreduced; the savages were let loose from the wilderness; many thousand farms were abandoned; the King's subjects inhumanly butchered or reduced to beggary. To all which might be added an impoverishment of finances to a desperate state, the Crown Point expedition having cost, on the part of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay alone, 76,618 8s. 9-1/2d., besides unliquidated accounts to a large amount for the charge of the sick and wounded, the garrisons at the two forts of William Henry and Edward, and the great stock of provisions laid in for their support." (History of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, Vol. I., pp. 259-261.)]

[Footnote 233: "Mr. Fox, on the 28th of January, presented to the House of Commons a message from the King, desiring them to take into consideration the faithful services of the people of New England and some other parts of North America; upon which 115,000 were voted, and 5,000 as a reward to Sir William Johnson in particular." (Hume and Smollett's History of England, Vol. XII., p. 42.)

"The sum granted by Parliament was 115,000 sterling, which was apportioned in the following manner: Ma.s.sachusetts Bay,54,000; Connecticut, 26,000; New York, 15,000; New Hampshire, 8,000; Rhode Island, 7,000; New Jersey, 5,000. This money arriving in New York with the troops from England, enabled the Government (of Ma.s.sachusetts) to pay off by antic.i.p.ation the sums borrowed of the Commander-in-Chief, and to replenish the public treasury. They had also the satisfaction to find that the Province had not only antic.i.p.ated the King's expectations in raising men, but had furnished them with provisions, which he had ordered to be found at the national expense." (Minot's History of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, Vol. I., p. 288.)]

[Footnote 234: "The loss of the two small forts, called Ontario and Oswego, was a considerable national misfortune. They were erected on the south side of the great Lake Ontario, standing on the opposite sides, at the mouth of Onondaga river, that discharges itself into the lake, and const.i.tuted a port of great importance, where vessels had been built to cruise upon the lake, which is a kind of inland sea, and interrupt the commerce as well as the motions and designs of the enemy. The garrison consisted of 1,400 men, chiefly militia and new-raised recruits, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Mercer, an officer of courage and experience; but the situation of the forts was very ill-chosen; the materials mostly timber or logs of wood; the defences wretchedly contrived and unfurnished; and, in a word, the place altogether untenable against any regular approach. Such were the forts which the enemy wisely resolved to reduce. They a.s.sembled a body of troops, consisting of 1,300 regulars, 1,700 Canadians, and a considerable number of Indian auxiliaries, under the command of the Marquis de Montcalm, a vigilant and enterprising officer, to whom the conduct of the siege had been entrusted by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor and Lieutenant-General of New France. The garrison having fired away all their sh.e.l.ls and ammunition from Fort Ontario, spiked up the cannon, and, deserting the fort, retired next day across the river into Fort Oswego, which was even more exposed than the other, especially when the enemy had taken possession of Fort Ontario, from whence they immediately began to fire without intermission. Colonel Mercer being on the 13th killed by a cannon ball, the fort dest.i.tute of all cover, the officers divided in opinion and the garrison in confusion, they next day demanded capitulation, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war, on condition that they should be exempted from plunder, conducted to Montreal, and treated with humanity. These conditions, however, the Marquis did not punctually observe. The British officers were insulted by the savage Indians, who robbed them of their clothes and baggage, ma.s.sacred several of them as they stood defenceless on parade, and barbarously scalped all the sick people in the hospital. Finally, Montcalm, in direct violation of the articles as well as in contempt of common humanity, delivered up above twenty men of the garrison to the Indians in lieu of the same number they had lost during the siege; and in all probability these miserable captives were put to death by those barbarians, with the most excruciating tortures, according to the execrable custom of the country.

"The prisoners taken at Oswego, after having been thus barbarously treated, were conveyed in batteaux to Montreal, where they had no reason to complain of their reception; and before the end of the year they were exchanged. The victors immediately demolished the two forts (if they deserved that denomination), in which they found one hundred and twenty-one pieces of artillery, fourteen mortars, with a great quant.i.ty of ammunition, warlike stores and provisions, besides two ships and two hundred batteaux, which likewise fell into their hands." (Hume and Smollett's History of England, Vol. XII., pp. 92-94.)

"The policy of the French was no less conspicuous than the superiority of their arms. Instead of continuing the fort at Oswego, they demolished it in presence of the Indians of the Five Nations, to whom they represented that the French aimed only at enabling them to preserve their neutrality, and therefore destroyed the fortress which the English had erected in their country to overawe them, disdaining themselves to take the same advantage, although put in their hands by the right of conquest." (Minot's History of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, Vol. I., pp. 285, 286.)]