USA > Connecticut > A complete history of Connecticut, civil and ecclesiastical, from the emigration of its first planters, from England, in the year 1630, to the year 1764; and to the close of the Indian wars > Part 29
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All the shipping which was employed in the service was insured by government. None could be engaged on any other condition. The whole naval force which New- England could then furnish, consisted of twelve ships and vessels only. These were the Connecticut and the Rhode- Island sloops of war; a privateer ship, of about two hun- dred tons ; a snow, of less burthen, belonging to Newport ; a new snow, captain Rouse ; a ship, captain Snelling ; a snow, captain Smethhurst ; a brig, captain Fletcher; three sloops, captains Saunders, Donehew, and Bosch; and a ship of twenty guns, captain Ting. Ting was commodore,. and commanded the whole. Several of these vessels sail- ed as early as the middle of March, to cruise off the har- bour of Louisburg. As a sufficient artillery could not be obtained in New-England, governor Shirley, with much difficulty, procured, on loan, ten eighteen pounders from New-York.
The General Assembly of Connecticut convened on the General 14th of March, according to adjournment. They com- Assembly pleted the appointment of all the officers. As two of the of Con- necticut,- five captains appear to have failed, two other captains March were now appointed to fill the regiment .* The Rev. Eli- 14th.
* The captains at this time appointed, were James Church, Daniel -Chapman, William Whiting, Robert Dennison and Andrew Ward.
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Book II. sha Williams, who had been rector of Yale College, was appointed chaplain to the regiment from Connecticut. 1745. The assembly appointed the last Wednesday in April to be observed as a day of fasting and prayer, to implore the divine blessing upon the expedition.
In two months, under all the existing difficulties, this army was enlisted, clothed, victualled and equipped for ser- vice. By the 23d of March, the troops of Massachusetts were all embarked, and the fleet was ready to sail. The same day an express boat which had been sent to commo- dore Warren in the West-Indies, arrived with advice from him, that as the expedition was wholly a colonial affair, without orders from England, and as his squadron had been weakened by the loss of the Weymouth, he must ex- cuse himself from any concern in the enterprise. Though this must have given great uneasiness to the governor and general, yet they suppressed the advice, and sailed the next morning as though nothing discouraging had happen- ed .. The governor, doubtless, hoped that if the reduction of Louisburg should not be effected, Canso might be re- gained, Nova-Scotia preserved, the French fishery be des- troyed, and the New-England and Newfoundland fisheries be restored. The troops of the other colonies sailed about the same time.
April 4th, arrives at Canso.
On the 4th of April, the fleet and army, from Massachu- setts, arrived at Canso. The troops from New-Hampshire, had arrived four days before them. On the 25th, govern- or Wolcott arrived with the troops from Connecticut. The land army now consisted of more than four thousand troops, in health and high spirits.
The advice from commodore Warren was truly discour- aging; yet, under the all governing hand of the Supreme Ruler, every thing was procceding in the happiest train. Had every thing been preconcerted in the wisest manner, it could not have been better.
Soon after the sailing of the express boat for Boston, commodore Warren received orders from England to re- pair with such ships as could be spared to Boston, and to. concert measures with governor Shirley, for his majesty's general service in America. The commodore sailed im- mediately for Boston, dispatching an express to such ves- sels as were in these seas, immediately to join him. The Eltham of forty guns, was at Portsmouth, in New-Hamp- shire, as convoy to the mast fleet. When the express ar- rived, she had sailed with the fleet, but was soon overta- ken by an express boat. The captain remanded the fleet into port, and sailed directly for Cansos He arrived on
March 24th, the armament sails.
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the twenty third of April, to the great joy of the army. Book II. Commodore Warren receiving intelligence, on his passage, that the fleet had sailed for Canso, proceeded directly to 1745. the same port, where he arrived the same day with the The El- Eltham, in the Superb of sixty guns, in company with the tham and Lauceston and Mermaid of forty guns each. High indeed commo- dore War- was the tide of joy which at once arose throughout the ren arrive whole fleet and army. They had now a sufficient naval at Canso, force for their defence : a force more than equal to any , April 23d. which was expected from France. After a short consulta- tion with the general, the commodore, with his men of war, sailed to cruise before Louisburg.
Before this time, the ships and vessels which had been sent to cruise before the harbor, had done very important services. They had taken several vessels bound to Louis- burg, with provisions and West-India goods. They had also engaged the Renomme, a French ship, of thirty six guns, which had been sent with dispatches from France. For some time, she kept up a running fire with the small ships, as she could easily out sail them ; but after making several attempts to enter the harbor, she put back to France, to relate what she had discovered. She fell in with the Connecticut troops, under convoy of their own, and of the Rhode-Island colony sloop; and notwithstand- ing she had force sufficient to have taken them both, yet, after exchanging some shot, and considerably damaging the Rhode-Island sloop, she made off for France. The fleet and army soon followed the men of war, and on the 30th of April, arrived in Chapeaurouge bay. The enemy had not received the least intimation of any design against them, till, early in the morning, they discovered the trans- ports from the town. The cruisers had, almost every day, been seen before the harbor, but the enemy imagined that they were privateers, in quest of their fishing and trading vessels.
The sight of the transports first gave the alarm to the town. Bouladrie was detached with an hundred and fifty men to oppose the landing of the troops. But while the Troops general amused the enemy by a feint, at one place, he was land. landing his men at another. Bouladrie, with his detach- inent, soon attacked them, but as many of his men were killed on the spot, himself and others taken prisoners, the remainder were obliged to make a precipitate flight, to pre- vent their being instantly destroyed, by the troops who were landing in great numbers.
The next morning, four hundred men marched round behind the hills to the north-east harbor, setting fire to all
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Burn the adjacent country.
Book II. the houses and stores, in their way, till they came within a mile of the grand battery. Such a cloud of smoke arose 1745. as made it difficult to discover an enemy at the distance of a few rods only. The enemy, therefore, expecting the whole army upon them, threw their powder into a well and deserted the grand battery, and the provincials took possession of it without the loss of a man. The cannon, which were forty two pounders, were turned upon the town; but the expense of powder was so great, that it was judged best to cease the firing, and to reserve the ammuni- tion for the fascine batteries.
Difficul- ties of the siege.
It was soon }found, notwithstanding the remarkable suc- cess which had thus far attended the enterprise, that the capture of the town would be a work of uncommon labor and difficulty. The fortifications were almost impregna- ble, and the approach to the town exceedingly difficult. The army had nearly two miles to drag their cannon, mor- tars, shot, and the like, through a morass, in which oxen and horses would bury themselves in mud, and be of no service. This was to be performed by mere dint of manual labor. Men of the firmest limbs, and who had been ac- customed to the drawing of pine trees for masts, were ap- pointed to this service. By the twentieth of May, the troops had erected five fascine batteries. One of them mounted five forty-two pounders. This did great execu- tion.
The New-Englanders knew nothing of regular approach- es, but took the advantage of the night and went on in their own way.
While the troops were thus busy on shore, the fleet was equally vigilant and active in cruising off the harbor. The Vigilant, a French sixty-four gun ship, was met by the Mermaid, whom she immediately engaged : but as she was of inferior force, captain Douglass suffered himself to be chased, till he drew the Frenchman under the command of the commodore, and the other ships, on which she struck to the British flag : She was commanded by the Marquis de la Maison Forte, and had on board five hundred and sixty men, with stores of all kinds, for the garrison. This capture was of great consequence, not only as it increased the naval force before the town, and afforded considerable supplies of military stores, but more especially as it was a capital loss and disappointment to the enemy. It depriv- ed them of all expectation of further supplies or succour, and tended to accelerate the capitulation.
But a few days before this capture, a proposal had been made, that the men of war should anchor in Chapeaurouge
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bay, and that the marines, and as many of the sailors as Book II. could be spared, should land and assist the army. Had this been done, the Vigilant would have made the harbor, and defeated the expedition. Such were the prodigious la- bors of the seige, that a great number of troops were want- ed ; yet their numbers were constantly diminishing, by the extraordinary service. This, however, was in some mea- sure counterbalanced, by the continual increase of the na- val force before the town. Four days after the capture of the Vigilant, the Princess-Mary, of sixty, and the Hector, of May 22d. forty guns, arrived. Soon after, arrived the Canterbury, June 10th; and the Sunderland, of sixty, and the Chester of fifty guns. and 12th, There were now eleven men of war; one sixty-four, four sixty, one fifty, and five forty gun ships. Such was the naval force, it was determined that on the 18th of June, the ships should go into the harbor, and co-operate with the army, in a joint attack upon the town.
Before this, the island battery was nearly silenced, and was considered as not long tenable ; the west gate of the town was much damaged and nearly beat down, and a breach was said to have been made in the adjoining wall. The circular battery of sixteen guns, and the principal one against ships, was nearly ruined. The northeast battery was much damaged, and the enemy driven from the guns. The west flank of the king's bastion was almost demolish- ed. From the preparations on board the men of war, the enemy expected a general and furious assault. This they were not willing to risk.
On the fifteenth of June, they therefore desired a cessa- tion of hostilities, that they might enter on the considera- tion of articles of capitulation. On the seventeenth, after a siege of forty nine days, the city of Louisburg. and island Louisburg of Cape Breton, were delivered up to his Britannic majes- ty. Neither the inhabitants nor the garrison were to bear arms against Great Britain or her allies in twelve months. The captives were embarked in fourteen ships, and trans- ported to Rochefort.
Nothing could have been more timely than this capitu- lation. Notwithstanding the capture of the Vigilant, laden with stores, the besiegers were in want of powder ; and such were the hardships and length of the siege, that a. greater number of men was found to be necessary. The general had sent off dispatches to the colonies for a recruit of men and ammunition. The colonies sent on a rein- forcement of seven or eight hundred men, with all the powder they could purchase : but the recruits did not ar- sive until after the place was taken. The assembly of July 20.
surrenders June 17th,
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BOOK II. Connecticut was convened on the occasion, and voted to raise three hundred able bodied men, to reinforce the 1745. army, giving the same encouragements which they had given to the other troops.
The very day after the surrender, the rains began, and continued incessantly for ten days. These must have greatly impeded, if not broken up the siege. They must have been fatal to many of the troops, as they had no bet- ter lodgings than the wet ground, and, as their tents, gene- rally made of common Osnaburgs only, would not secure them against a single shower. But, by this opportune sur- render; Providence housed them in the city, in dry and convenient barracks.
During this long and severe siege, the men on all occa- sions, at landing, in skirmishes with the French and In- dians, and in their approaches to the city, behaved well. In voluntarily embarking in the enterprise, they exhibited a noble spirit, and in the prosecution of it, a steadiness, perseverance and fortitude which before had never had a parallel in the affairs of America. So remarkable was the hand which directed them, that during this long and dangerous siege, the whole loss by sickness and the enc- my was no more than one hundred and one ; sixty of these were lost in an unfortunate attack on the island battery.
On the 3d of July the news of this important acquisition arrived at Boston and instantly flew through the colonies. The joy which it diffused was great and universal. Those colonies which had no share in the honours and dangers of the enterprise, were not insensible of the importance of the acquisition, nor that they were deeply interested in the cvent. Pennsylvania, therefore, contributed four; New- Jersey, two; and New-York, three thousand pounds, in money and provisions, for the support of the troops.
To France, Louisburg was a place of capital importance. It had been fortified with prodigious art and expense. With propriety it might be called the American Gibraltar. The fosse, or ditch, round the town, was eighty feet wide, and the ramparts thirty feet high. On these, round the town, were mounted sixty-five cannon, of different sizes. The entrance into the harbour, was defended by the grand bat- tery, and the island battery. On the former, were mounted thirty cannon, carrying a forty-two pound ball ; and on the latter, an equal number, carrying a ball of twenty-eight pounds. The garrison, at the time of the surrender, con- sisted of six hundred regulars, and thirteen hundred mili- tia. There were ten thirteen, and six nine inch mortars. There were provisions and ammunition for five or six months.
News of the cap- fure of Louisburg arrives in New- England.
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Neither by the combined armies of Great-Britain and Book II. her allies, nor by her formidable fleets, had France, from the commencement of the war, received so deep and sen- 1745. sible a wound. No event had taken place, by which her schemes had been so entirely disconcerted and deranged. The acquisition was, indeed, grand, and the consequences were vast and important.
The value of the prizes taken, in consequence of the Conse- expedition, was little, if any thing, short of a million ster- quences of ling. The town was taken at a time when ships and ves- the cap- sels from all parts were expected in the harbour. To de- Louisburg. ture of coy them, the French flag was kept flying. Besides the Vigilant, and the prizes taken before and during the siege, two East-India ships, and another from the South sea, were taken, which, together, were estimated at six hun- dred thousand pounds sterling .* Besides, Nova-Scotia and the English fisheries were preserved, and those of the French, in America, were totally destroyed. At the same time, the colonies themselves, and their trade, were much more secure. Indeed, the colonies were delivered from dangers, of which, at that time, they had no knowledge. Duvivoir, the winter after the surprise of Canso, went to France, on the business of soliciting an armament for the reduction of Nova-Scotia. On this application, he was dispatched with seven ships of war, for that purpose. On his passage, he took a prize, on board of which was lieu- tenant governor Smith, of New-York. By him, receiving intelligence of the reduction of Louisburg, he returned to France. In expectation of this fleet, Monsieur Marin ap- peared, with nine hundred French and Indians, from Cana- da, before the fort at Annapolis ; but finding no shipping for his assistance, he soon retired.t Thus, by this enter- prise, were the plans of France broken, and the colonies scoured. This enabled Great-Britain more honourably to treat with France, at the general pacification, and seems to have been the means of restoring to her a great part of what she had lost in Germany.
In this enterprise, New-England, first and last, employed more than five thousand men. From the time of the sur- render of the town, until the twenty-fourth of May, nearly eleven months, it was kept wholly by the New-England troops. During part of this time, great sickness and mor-
* July 24th, an East-India ship, from Bengal, was taken, estimated at 75,000 !. Another East-Indiaman was soon after taken, valued at 125,0001. The South sea ship was decoyed by the Boston packet, captain Fletcher, under the guns of the men of war, and taken, August 22d. She was esti- mated at 400,0001.
+ Douglas, vol. i. page 562. L 2
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Book II. tality prevailed, and New-England sustained a consider- able loss of men: After this time, the garrison consisted 1745. partly of regular troops, drawn from Gibraltar, and partly of New-England men, both paid by the crown.
The colony of Connecticut employed in this enterprise, more than a thousand men. At first, they furnished five hundred men for the land service, and their country sloop, manned with an hundred men ; and, during the siege, they sent on two hundred men. As the place could not be kept, for a number of months, but by New-England men only, the colony provided three hundred and fifty men, to keep garrison during the winter.
At a special assembly in August, the legislature address- ed a letter to his majesty, congratulating him on the suc- cess of his arms, in the reduction of Louisburg ; represent- ing the number of troops which they had employed in the reduction of it to the obedience of his majesty, and the num- ber they had engaged to furnish, to assist in keeping gar- rison, until his majesty's pleasure should be further made known. It was also represented, that, by reason of the Spanish war, the great expense which they had been at in the expedition against Louisburg, and the large boun- ties they were obliged to give, to raise the men immediate- ly necessary for his majesty's service, in that great under- taking, and by the assistance the colony had given to Massachusetts, in defending their frontiers, it was become extremely in debt, and was reduced to a very low ebb. "They humbly begged his majesty's favour and bounty to- wards them, in relieving their heavy burthens. They hum- bly prayed his majesty to permit them to recommend to his royal consideration, the officers and soldiers, who, though they had endured great hardships, and acted with spirit during the siege, had been allowed no share in any thing taken ; while his majesty's officers by sea, had, be- fore and after the surrender of the town, shared in great and valuable prizes, which fell into their hands, amounting, by estimation, to more than a million sterling, which would none of them have been taken, had it not been for the siege and capture of the town. They say, "We have pre- sumed to send your majesty a roll of the officers from Con- necticut, and most humbly pray your majesty's most gra- cious audience and favour."
At the session in October, the assembly desired the gov- ernor to write a letter to the honourable Peter Warren, Esq. commodore, &c. acknowledging his favour of the 14th of September, congratulating him on the honour his majesty had put upon him, in the success of his majesty's arms ;
CHAP. IX.
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and representing the happy consequences of harmony in Book II. the government of Louisburg, to the people there, and to the colonies in general: At the same time, the governor 1745. was desired to solicit the commodore's good offices with his majesty, in a favourable representation of the services rendered to his majesty by the troops of the colony; and that it might please him to order a reimbursement of the expenses of the expedition against Louisburg; and that favours might be conferred on the officers and soldiers .*
Thomas Fitch, Esq. was appointed agent for the colony, to proceed to England, and solicit a reimbursement of the expenses of it, in the expedition against Louisburg, and to transact the other affairs of the colony, at the court of Great-Britain. Mr. Fitch, notwithstanding, declined the service, and never went.
Notwithstanding these important services, the colonies had no share in the prizes, nor in any thing taken on the island of Cape Breton, excepting a small sum allowed cap- tain Fletcher, for leading in the South sea ship.t
In consequence of the success of this expedition, a shade was thrown over the imprudence and rashness with which it seems to have been undertaken. On both sides of the water, pious people could not but with grateful admiration, notice the remarkable coincidence of circumstances which contributed to this great event. Governor Shirley, in his speech to the general court of Massachusetts, observes, that " scarce such an instance is to be found in history." The annual convention of the New-England ministers, in their address to his majesty, term it "the wonderful suc- cess God has given your American forces." A clergyman, writing from London, has this observation : " This pros- perous event can hardly be ascribed to any thing short of an interposition from above, truly uncommon and extraor- dinary."
Both to Great-Britain and France, the reduction of Lou- Effects of isburg, by New-England, was an affair of no small sur- the cap- prise. In each of these courts, it was productive of grand ture of Louisburg plans of operation. Great-Britain, flushed with victory, on the thought of nothing less for the business of the next cam- courts of paign, than the conquest of Canada, and the extirpation of England and the French from the northern continent. The French, France. fired with resentment at the losses which they had sustain-
* Notwithstanding these humble and earnest solicitations, I believe no officer except captain, afterwards general Wooster, who went, on business, to England, and was honoured with a lieutenancy, and half pay during life, received any appointment or emolument from the crown.
t Hutch. vol. ii. p. 416, 423. Douglas, vol. i. p. 3.42, 347, 356. Rider's Hist, vol. xxxviii. p. 124, 126.
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Book II. ed, meditated the recovery of Louisburg, the conquest of Nova-Scotia, the destruction of Boston, and the ravaging 1746. of the American coast, from Nova-Scotia to Georgia. . It was the plan of the British court, that eight battalions of regular troops should, in conjunction with the provincials to be raised in New-England, rendezvous at Louisburg, and, with a squadron under admiral Warren, proceed up the St. Lawrence to Quebec. From New-York and the southern colonies, as far as Virginia, another army was to be raised, and to rendezvous at Albany. This, under the command of general St. Clair, was to cross the country to Montreal. No proportion was fixed for the several colo- nies; but they were left to show their zeal for the common cause, by raising such numbers as they pleased. It was expected that they would send five thousand men, at least, into the field. The New-England colonies granted five thousand and three hundred men. The other colonies agreed to raise two thousand and nine hundred. Eight thousand two hundred, in the whole .* Notice of the plan June, 1746. was communicated to the colonies the beginning of June, and in six weeks most of the New-England troops were ready to embark.
The General Assembly of Connecticut convened on the 19th, and resolved to raise one thousand able bodied men ; and, that it might be done immediately, a bounty of thirty pounds was voted for every soldier who would enlist. It was also resolved, that, if provisions could not be had with- out, they should be impressed. Such was the zeal of the colony for the public service.
While these exertions bad been making in the colonies, a powerful armament, under the command of Richard Lestock, admiral ol the blue, had been prepared at Ports- mouth, with transports which had six regiments on board, to co-operate with the provincials in carrying the great plan into execution. The fleet had orders to sail by the first opportunity ; but its departure was unaccountably de- layed, till it was judged that the season was too far ad- vanced, to risk the great ships on the boisterous coasts of America. It is not improbable, that the landing of the young pretender, the rebellion in Scotland, and the appre-
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