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 44
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420
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CHAP. XX,
BOOK II. overcome. They finally gained Quebec. As the action continued an hour and three quarters, with great exertion 1760. and spirit on both sides, the loss was very considerable. The English lost most of their artillery, and had not less than a thousand men killed and wounded, about one third of their whole number. The loss of the enemy was sup- posed to be more than double that number .*
General Murray's engaging with such superior numbers, in the open field, when he might have acted with greater security in a fortified city, has been censured, as savouring more of youthful impatience, and over abounding courage, than of that military discretion which ought to have dis- tinguished a commander in his critical situation. The reasons given by Mr. Murray for his conduct, are said, by the British historian, to be incomprehensible. It is not improbable that, as he was a man of the most ardent and intrepid courage, passionately desirous of glory, and emu- lous of the character of the incomparable Wolfe, that he designed, by one bold stroke, so to disable the enemy, as to pave the way to the conquest of Canada, by his own force ; and, by this means, to raise himself to the height of military glory. Be this as it may, it was indeed an unhap- py affair. For a short time, it exceedingly elated the French, both in Europe and America. The blow was, in- deed, sensibly felt by the English in both countries. It was not expected that the garrison, after such a defeat, would hold out any considerable time. The English fleet was at a great distance, and general Amherst could afford no immediate assistance. The acquisition and defence of Quebec, in less than a year, had cost the nation more than three thousand lives, besides a vast expense of money. Were this now to be retaken, it would all have been loss. The sanguine hopes that Canada would be conquered the next campaign, must all be broken and vanish.
Quebec besieged by the French.
The French, whose only hope of success depended on the accomplishment of their work before the arrival of a British squadron, lost not a moment in improving their, victory. The very night succeeding the victory, trenches were opened against the town. Three ships anchored at a small distance below their camp, and for several days were employed in landing their cannon, mortars and am- munition. At the same time, the enemy worked incessant- ly in their trenches before the town. On the 11th of May, they opened one bomb battery, and three batteries of can- non. The first day, they cannonaded the town with great vivacity.
General Murray, in his letter to Mr. Pitt, estimates it at 2500.
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General Murray was not less active in his defence of the Book II. town, than the enemy were in the siege. The defeat which he had suffered, served only to rouse him to more strenu- 1760. ous exertions. He was deeply sensible, that if Quebec should be retaken, it would be imputed to the rashness of his counsels. He knew that in proportion to the liberali- ty with which the public had heaped honors upon the men who had conquered it, they would not fail to pour resent- ment and reproach on the man by whom it should be lost. It did not escape his reflection, that nothing makes a worse figure than unfortunate rashness. These ideas pressed him on to vigilance and activity in the defence of the city. He prosecuted with the utmost vigor, the fortifications which had been suspended by the severity of the winter. The soldiers, by his example and influence, exerted themselves with incredible firmness and activity. Out works were contrived, and on the ramparts were mounted an hundred and thirty-two pieces of artillery. By the time that the enemy's batteries opened, the English were able to main- tain such a superior fire, as greatly to check, and almost to silence them. The French were very deficient as to the number of their cannon and weight of their metal. Their heaviest cannon, it seems, were but twelve pounders.
But, notwithstanding these circumstances, the relief of the city depended on the early arrival of the English fleet. This was looked for, with anxious expectation, every hour. It was the general expectation, that should a French fleet arrive before the English, this important acquisition must be lost.
. In the mean time, the English admirals, as soon as the season would admit, got into the river. Lord Colville, with the fleet under his command, sailed from Halifax, on the 22d of April ; but he was retarded by thick fogs, con- trary winds, and shoals of ice which floated down the river. Commodore Swanton, however, who had sailed from Eng- land, with a small reinforcement for Quebec, with two ships, got into the river and landed at the isle of Beck the beginning of May. Here he designed to wait for the rest of his squadron, which had parted from him on his pas- sage. But the Lowestoffe, one of his frigates, got into the river before him, and on the ninth of May, to the great joy of the garrison, anchored in the bason. This gave them the intelligence of a British squadron at hand. Ad- miral Swanton, soon receiving the news that Quebec was besieged, sailed up the river with all possible expedition, and, on the evening of the fifteenth, cast anchor above lish ar- Point Levi. General Murray wishing for relief, express- rive.
The Eng-
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Book Il. cd his earnest desire, that the French squadron, above the town, might be removed. The commodore, therefore, or- 1760. dered two frigates, early the next morning, to slip their ca- bles, and attack the enemy's fleet.
French ships des- troyed. No sooner were they in motion, than the French ships fled in the utmost disorder. One of their frigates was driven on the rocks above Cape Diamond ; another ran on shore at Point au Tremble, and was burned. The whole fleet was soon destroyed or taken. So thunder struck were the enemy, at this disaster, and the intelligence of an English fleet in the river, that, as soon as the darkness of the night favored them, they raised the siege, and retreat- Siege rais- ed with the greatest precipitation ; leaving their artillery, ed, May 16th. implements, provisions and whole camp standing. Thirty pieces of battering cannon, ten field pieces, six mortars, their tents, baggage, stores, and the whole camp equipage, fell into the hands of the English. On the 19th, lord Col- ville arrived. The English now became formidable in that quarter, and capable of offensive operations. The clouds were now dissipated, and the prospect of an entire reduction of Canada, once more brightened.
General Assembly at New- Haven, . While these things were transacted in Canada, the colo- nies were, with great zeal and union, preparing for an early campaign. The general assembly of Connecticut, con- March 13. vened on the thirteenth of March. Mr. Pitt's letter was communicated, in which he laid open his majesty's de- sign, to complete the conquest of Canada, and that he re- quired the spirited exertions of the colonies. He stated the great encouragement they had still to exert themselves, from the success of former years. General Amherst made the same requisition this year, which he had made in the preceding years. The assembly therefore voted, to raise four regiments, consisting of twelve companies each, com- prising a body of five thousand effective men, officers in- cluded. It resolved, that all necessary provision should be made for levying, clothing and paying them : and that they should be raised with all possible dispatch. Major general Lyman, was colonel of the first regiment, and com- mander of the whole. The other officers were generally the same as the last year .*
Gen. Am- herst takes the field.
General Amherst took the field at an early period ; and found himself at the head of a very respectable body of men. They were sufficient for three formidable armies. Plan of the His plan was, by three different routes, to concentre his campaign, whole force at Montreal, for the reduction of that important
* The chaplains were, Beckwith of Lyme, Leavenworth of Waterbury, Pomeroy of Hebron, and Beebe of Stratford.
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city, where almost the whole force of Canada was collect- Book II. ed; and whence all the out posts received their supplies and support. The capture of this, would be the fall of 1760. them, and the reduction of the whole country.
To effect this, he detached general Haviland, to proceed with an army, by the way of lake George, Crown Point and lake Champlain, to the place of general rendezvous. At the same time, general Murray was ordered, with all the troops which could be spared from the garrison of Quebec, to advance towards Montreal, by the river St. Lawrence; while the general himself, penetrated into Canada, by lake Ontario, and down the river St. Law- rence. To second these measures, captain Loring was de- tached to cruise on the lake. Two armed sloops were prepared for the same purpose. A great number of bat- teaux and small vessels were built, for the transportation of the troops, artillery, provisions, ammunition, imple- ments and baggage of the army.' At an early period, seve- ral regiments were sent forward from Albany to Oswego, for these purposes, and to make all necessary preparations for crossing the lake.
In June, the general commenced his march from Sche- nectady, with the main army, and proceeded by the Mo- hawk and Oneida rivers, to Oswego. In less than three weeks the general reached this post with his whole army. This consisted of ten thousand regular and provincial troops, and one thousand Indians, under general Johnson.
Very great had been the difficulties already surmount- ed, in conducting such an army, with its artillery, provis- ions and military stores, through that vast tract of country between Albany and lake Ontario. Other generals had spent whole campaigns in accomplishing less than general Amherst had done' already : but, greater difficulties still remained, in transporting this numerous army, with its necessary supplies, in open boats and gallies, across that vast lake, and down the numerous rapids of a mad river. It required the utmost caution, and the strictest order, lest they should fall foul of each other ; lest they should ap- proach too near the shore, or be driven too far out, on a sudden squall or storm, seasonably to reach the land : or lest they should not be steered and pushed forward with such exactness as to shoot the falls without turning side- ways, and overseting and dashing to pieces among the rocks. But the general, whose calm and steady resolution was not unequal to the difficulties before him, made all his dispositions with that admirable method and regularity of military arrangement, which so strongly marked the cha-
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After a detachment from
Book II. racter of that great commander. the army had been sent forward to remove obstructions in 1760. the river St. Lawrence, and to find the best place for the passage of the boats and vessels, the army embarked and passed the lake without any misfortune. The general re- ceiving intelligence that one of the enemy's vessels was aground, and disabled, and that another lay off Lagalett, determined, with the utmost dispatch, to go down the river and attack Oswegatchie and isle Royal.
On the 17th of August, the row gallies fell in with the French sloop commanded by M. de la Broquerie, who, af- ter a smart engagement, surrendered to the English gallies. The enemy retired with great precipitation before the ar- my, until it arrived in the neighbourhood of isle Royal. This was immediately so completely invested, that the garrison had no means of escaping. By the 23d, two bat- teries were opened against the fort, and it was cannonaded by these, in concert with the row gallies in the river. Dis- I«le Royal positions having been made for a general attack, M. Pon- surrenders, chant, the commander, beat a parley and surrendered the Aug. 25. fort on terms of capitulation.
As this was a post of singular importance, both to com- mand the lake Ontario, and to protect the frontiers of the colonies, the general spent some time in repairing the fort, in making every preparation, and taking every precaution in his power for passing his troops down the river to Mon- treal. As all the falls lie between this post and the city, this was by far the most dangerous part of the enterprise.
About the same time general Haviland took possession of the isle Aux Noix and by the most direct route was cross- ing the country to the St. Lawrence. General Murray, with the British fleet, was advancing up the river, and sub- duing the adjacent country. The respective armies bore down all before them, and the operations of the campaign were approaching to an important crisis.
When the necessary preparations had been made, gene- ral Amherst proceeded down the river; but notwithstanding all his precaution in passing the rapids, the stream was so Falls in the violent, that numbers of the batteaux and whale-boats turn- cd over and went down sideways, and were dashed in pic- ces on the rocks. About ninety men, nearly fifty batteaux, seventeen whale-boats and one galley, some artillery, pro- visions and ammunition were lost. This was indeed to be lamented, but considering the greatness of the embarka- tion, and the extreme difficulties to be encountered, the loss was not very considerable. Without any further misfor- tune, after a tedious, fatiguing and dangerous march and
Loss at the St. Law- rence.
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voyage of two months and seventeen days, after its depar- Book II. ture from Schenectady, the army; with great joy, saw the city of Montreal, the object of their ardent wishes, and the 1760. happy period of their labours and dangers. The troops Army ar- rives at
were immediately landed in the best order. No opposi- Montreal, tion was made, excepting from some flying parties, who, Sept. 6th, after exchanging a few shot, fled with precipitation. The general marched about six miles from the landing place, and drew up his army on a plain before the city. There it lay upon its arms during the night.
So remarkably had providence guided the motions of the several armies, that though they pursued long and dif- ferent routes, through the enemy's country, in which they had numerous difficulties to encounter, and in which they could have no intelligence of each others' operations, they all met at the same time, at the place of general rendez- vous. General Murray landed on the island, the same day that general Amherst took possession of it : and gen- form a Armies eral Haviland, with the army under his command, appear- junction, ed on the other side of the river, opposite to the city.
General Amherst had given orders, that the cannon should be immediately brought on from the landing place, at La Chine ; and in the morning determined to invest the town. But, as soon as the morning appeared, the Mar- quis Vaudreuille, governor of Canada, finding himself com- passed with armies, addressed a letter to general Amherst, demanding a capitulation. After several letters had pass- ed between the general and governor, the demand was granted. The terms were such as, while they were hu- mane and favorable to the French, did honor to the Brit- ish arms and nation.
The Marquis Vaudreuille had done every thing for the defence of Canada, which became a vigilant and magnan- imous officer. When all hope of the recovery of Quebec failed him, he fixed his head quarters at Montreal, and us- ed every art and exertion for its preservation. He not on- ly levied forces, collected magazines, and erected new for- tifications on the Island, but he had recourse to feigned in- telligence, and other arts of delusion, to support the de- pressed spirits of the Canadians .* His chief hopes were not, however, placed in the greatness of his strength, nor. in his various arts, but in the difficulties, which, on all sides, attended the entrance of Canada. He flattered him- self that, after the general sickness and defeat of the garri- son at Quebec, there would be little danger from that quar-
* See his circular letter to the militia of Canada, preserved in Rider's History of England. Vel, xlvi.
D 3
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Book II. ter. He knew the great distance between Albany and Montreal, by the way of Oswego and the St. Lawrence, and 1760. the almost insuperable difficulties of conducting an army down so many rifts and rapids, as there were in that river, between lake Ontario and Montreal. These, in conjunc- tion with the impenetrable woods, morasses and moun- tains, which covered the country through which the ar- mies from New-York and New-England must pass, he hop- ed would so retard their operations, and protract the war, that a general pacification would finally save the country. But when he saw the three armies, notwithstanding all these difficulties, forming a junction before the town, con- sisting of more than twenty thousand men, all his hopes were dashed, and he perceived that his only safety was in capitulation. The extent of the country was so great, the interests of the people, and the objects of the treaty were so many, that it made the capitulation a work of consider- able time. It consisted of nearly sixty articles ; but on the eighth of September it was completed,
Montreal, with all Canada given up, Sept. 8th.
By this, not only Montreal, but all the other French posts in Canada, with the whole country, were surrender- ed to the crown of Great Britain. All the troops in Mon- treal, and in the other posts, were allowed the honors of war, and were to be treated strictly as prisoners ; but to be sent directly to France, on condition of their not serv- ing during the war. The capitulation secured to the in- habitants, of every character, the full enjoyment of the Ro- man Catholic religion, personal safety, and property of ev- ery kind.
Montreal is the second place in Canada, for extent, numbers, buildings, commerce, strength, and opulence. It stands on an excellent and well cultivated island, about ten leagues in length, and nearly four in its greatest breadth. The city is built in a quadrangular form, on the bank of the river St. Lawrence. The bank gently rising, divides the city into the lower and upper towns. Though the as- cent from the lower to the upper town is so gradual as to be scarcely perceivable, yet when you have reached the citadel in the upper, it appears entirely to overlook them both, and to command the river and the adjacent country. The city, by reason of its central situation, between Que- bec and lake Ontario, became the grand resort of the In- dian traders, and depot of their commerce. As it is more than three degrees south of Quebec, and as the river, in its whole extent, from that city to this, inclines considera- bly to the south, the country is far more pleasant, and the seasons more clement, than at the capital. Father Char-
Descrip- tion of Montreal.
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levoix says, " After passing Richlieu islands, one would Book II, think he were transported into another climate. The air becomes softer and more temperate, the country more lev- 1760. el, the river more pleasant, and the banks infinitely more pleasant and delightful."
Before the war, the fortifications of this city were mean and inconsiderable : and though additions had been made since, yet there was nothing to render the capture of it an enterprise of any great difficulty, except that of leading an army through such a prodigious and difficult tract of coun- try, as the English were obliged to pass, that they might appear before it ; and that here was collected all the regu- lar, and most of the provincial force of Canada.
General Amherst had the honor and good fortune of sur- Observa- mounting all difficulties, and of making such dispositions, tions on the con- as that, almost without the shedding of blood, to complete quest. the conquest of Canada. Thus, in a little more than a cen- tury and an half from its first settlement, in the sixth year of the war, after six general battles, this vast country was completely conquered, by the conjoined arms of Great- Britain and her colonies. This conquest, if we consider the extent and difficulty of the operations by which it was effected, the number of inhabitants,* the greatness and fertility of the country subdued, the safety it gave to the English colonies in America, and the transfer of the whole Indian trade to the merchants of Great-Britain, appears to have been one of the most important, ever achieved by the English arms.
The accomplishment of so great a work, with so little On the bloodshed, without a single instance of rashness or inhu- general. manity, without any considerable accident or misfortune, while it reflected the highest military honor on the comman- der in chief, did equal honor to the humanity and good- ness of his heart. , It must be allowed, that he was pecu- liarly happy, in having subordinate commanders, who, with such ability and vigor, seconded him in all his opera- tions ; and in commanding a body of regular and provin- cial troops, whom no labors could discourage, and whom no dangers could dismay.
After all, the principal honor is to be ascribed to the Su- On Provi- preme Ruler, whose all-governing agency directed the dence. whole series of these successful events. He only could harmonize and direct so many hearts and circumstances, in Europe and America, by land and sea, as combined their influence in this happy event. He never wants
* These, at the time of the conquest, were estimated at more than 100,000.
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Book II. means to accomplish his own purposes. When, in his moral government, great events are to be effected, he will 1760. qualify and call forth instruments, and guide their counsels and operations, to the accomplishment of his designs. A Moses, Joshua, David and Cyrus, will never be wanting, when the emergencies of his people call for such aids.
The repairing and garrisoning of the several forts, the removing the French troops from Detroit and Michilimaki- nack ; and the replacing them with English garrisons ; the preserving of a communication between the various distant parts ; and the securing of the obedience of the country ; made it necessary that general Amherst, and the other generals of the army, should return by the same routes which they had taken to form a junction at Montreal. This, for the commander in chief, was, in some respects, more laborious and difficult, than it had been to conduct the ar- my to the place of conquest. His shipping, boats, artille- ry and baggage, were to be carried back against the stream, into lake Ontario. This laborious and difficult service kept the army in constant fatigue, during the remainder of the campaign, and protracted it nearly to the beginning of winter.
While general Amherst was performing these important services in Canada, the enemy sustained a considerable loss in the bay of Chaleurs. The French court, not insen- sible of the importance of their settlements in Canada, nor of the danger in which they were, at that time, had fitted out an armament of three frigates and twenty transports, with troops and military stores, as a reinforcement for Mon- treal. They hoped to get into the river St. Lawrence, bc- fore any of the English shipping, and by this means to ef- fect their design. But on their arrival in the bay, they re- ceived the intelligence, that lord Colville's fleet had got into the river before them, and that it was entirely under his command. They therefore disembarked and formed a little settlement on the bay, determining, if possible, to make their way to the main army by land. But, in the course of the summer, they were discovered by lord By- ron, who was in the bay with three ships of the line. He took the whole armament, and broke up the settlement. Thus, whatever the enemy attempted, in America, was at- tended with loss and disappointment.
Great and universal was the joy, which sprcad through the English colonies, especially through New-England, on the conquest of Canada, which, for more than a century, had occasioned so much alarm, such an expense of blood and treasure to them, as well as to the sister colonies. Ma-
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ny had been their own and their forefathers fastings and Book II. prayers for this great event. Now they conceived that they were fully answered. Days of public thanksgiving 1760. were generally appointed in New-England, to recognize General the divine goodness, and ascribe due honors to HIM, whose Assembly
at New- is the greatness and the victory, and whose kingdom ruleth Haven. over all .* The General Assembly of Connecticut, at their Oct. 1760. usual session in October, resolved that a letter of con- gratulation, and of thanks, be presented to his majesty, congratulating him, on the success of his arms in the va- rious quarters of the world, and especially in North-Ame- rica ; in the entire conquest of Canada, and the submission of that extensive country to his majesty's government. They rendered their thanks for his paternal care of the col- onies ; and especially for his royal care and beneficence towards his colony of Connecticut. They also ordered that a letter of congratulation and thanks should be ad- dressed to general Amherst, congratulating him on the suc- cess of his majesty's arms, under his immediate care and command, and returning him the thanks of the colony for his wise conduct and care over, and protection of the pro- vincial troops, and especially of those of the colony of Connecticut,
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