USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 2 > Part 39
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The result of Braddock's campaign against Fort Duquesne is a part of national history. It ended most disastrously. Braddock himself was mortally wounded on July 13, 1755, and his army massacred; George Washington barely escaped with his life. Frontier massacres continued; among those killed was Governor Shirley's son, who had acted as secretary to General Braddock.
427
CAMPAIGN ON WEST AND NORTH
Preparations were made all along the line to carry out the plans for the Crown Point Campaign. The attack on Crown Point was approved by the Massachusetts Assembly in Febru- ary, 1755, and they voted money to pay 1,200 men, provided the other colonies would contribute their proportion. Forty- five hundred men, one in every eight of the adult males in Massachusetts, enlisted, some of them under the pay of the Province and some under the pay of the King. Connecticut voted 1,200 men, New Hampshire 500, and Rhode Island 400. This was Johnson's first service, but he had a strong hold upon the Indians of the Six Nations and in addition he had about 3,000 white soldiers. Among the officers were Phineas Lyman, who had been a teacher at Yale and who was second in com- mand, Colonel Moses Titcomb, who fought at the capture of Louisburg, and Colonel Ephraim Williams, who had been a member of the General Court and also a deputy sheriff. At his death he left his property to establish Williams College.
The French were warned that the British were planning this campaign. Duquesne had resigned his post and the Marquis de Vaudreuil took his place and appointed Baron Dieskau to take charge of the defense of Crown Point with 3,500 men, including Indians. Crown Point was the pivotal point on the road to Lac Sacrément, which Johnson re-named Lake George in honor of the King. He also changed the name of Fort Lyman to Fort Edward, and erected another fort at the head of Lake George, which he called Fort William Henry. In the clash of arms Johnson failed to capture Crown Point, and some English troops were massacred by the Indians and French, who could not be controlled. But Dieskau was wounded and captured, which was enough to secure knight- hood for William Johnson.
The failure to capture Crown Point was a great disappoint- ment. Colonel Seth Pomeroy, of Massachusetts, who had been at the capture of Louisburg, thinking that he alone survived the conflict, wrote, September 8, 1755: "Come to the help of the Lord against the mighty. You that value our holy religion and liberties will spare nothing even to the one half of your estates."
Governor Shirley and Sir William Pepperrell had a little army at Albany, where they were making preparations for the
428
FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS
trip to Oswego and Niagara. They remained there so long that one of the Massachusetts men wrote home and said that it looked to him as though the rum, which it seems was a neces- sary part of the campaign, "would only last nine weeks."
Finally Shirley succeeded in reaching Oswego, but he could get no further because Fort Frontenac was still in the hands of the French. A conference was held, September 18, 1755; and it was decided to give up all attempts to capture Niagara. Shirley and Pepperrell left Colonel Mercer with 700 men to guard Oswego, and with the remainder of the army they returned to Albany. Thus ended the campaign against Niag- ara, the farthest western movement as yet undertaken by Massachusetts troops in colonial times.
THE ACADIAN QUESTION (1713-1755)
At the conference called by Governor Dinwiddie at Alexan- dria in April, 1755, the fourth military movement planned was the removal of the Acadians. By the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the French inhabitants in Nova Scotia, the Acadians, had been permitted to remain on their lands as subjects of Great Britain, with the privilege of enjoying their own relig- ion. They were required to take oath that they would not take up arms against Great Britain; and they were also obliged to swear allegiance to the King. The French authorities and the French people never became reconciled to this situation, and influence was brought to bear to prevent them from taking these oaths. In return the Acadians induced the Indians to make raids against the northern settlements of Massachusetts. The attitude of the French authorities was indifferent, and even the Canadian government connived in this unsettling status of the Acadians.
The situation finally became so critical that Governor Shir- ley commissioned John Winslow on May 28, 1755, to raise 2,000 volunteers to carry out the plan agreed upon at Alexan- dria in April for scattering these people among the colonies. Before this date, on February 11, 1755, he gave written in- structions to Colonel Winslow which are the basis of the re- moval of the inhabitants. The significant points of the docu- ment were as follows :
429
THE ACADIAN QUESTION
"1st: You are to enlist none but able bodied men, not under the age of seventeen years nor above forty-five.
"2nd : You are to give each Man at the time of his Enlistment two Dollars, in Part of ten Pounds Old Tenor, as Bounty Money, the Remainder to be paid thereafter their arrival at Head Quarters and Having passed Muster.
"3rd: You are to enlist each Man for one year from the Date of his Enlistment and to assure them that they shall in every respect be treated as other of his Majesties Forces, Serving with them.
"4th: That they will receive His Majest. Pay from the Date of their enlistment, and receive when they get to Head Quarters, Provisions, Clothes, and Arms and Camp Necessaries.
"5th : You are to assure them that they shall be discharged at the end of the Term, enlisted for, or sooner, if the Service will admit it.
"6th: You are to direct, and Order them that they be at Boston, without Fail, the Twenty-fifth Day of March next.
"7th: You are to enlist no Recruits, but such as you can be answerable for, as well for their appearing at their Head Quarters, as for their passing Muster at their arrival there, and for every Recruit, you shall produce, and accepted, you are to receive Six Dollars, and to be employed as so much in Discharge of the Money you have Received toward Recruiting, said Regiment, and no Further Expense will be allowed.
"8th: It is expected that the officers in this Service, in their different Ranks, recruit in the Following Manner (viz.) Each Captain 50 Men, each Lieutenant 25 Men, and each Ensign 15 Men.
"9th : Every Recruiting Officer is directed not only to make Return, but also to Send his Enlistments to Governours, Every Monday Morning of each week, of such Men as he raises, that the Service may not be Hurt, and that
430
FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS
Prefference will be given to the Industrious in this affair.
"Given under my Hand at Boston 12th February, 1755.
W. Shirley."
The Massachusetts volunteers were placed under the com- mand of Colonel Monckton and sailed on May 2, 1755, in three small frigates, Success, Mermaid, and Siren. On the 26th of May they reached the Bay of Fundy. When the Acadians realized what was about to happen they sent to Louisburg for aid: but in the presence of the British fleet resistance was futile; and after a short struggle the Acadians hoisted the white flag and surrendered. The inhabitants were summoned to meet at a certain place, and they were notified that they must emigrate. The scene of their emigration and embarka- tion has been made famous by Longfellow's Evangeline. Five ships came to carry them away and seven thousand of these poor people were scattered among the colonies all the way to Louisiana. A few subsequently made their way back to Canada, but most of them remained where they were taken.
The suffering inevitable under such conditions is set forth in many contemporary documents. For example, the follow- ing extract from John Thomas, Surgeon in the Winslow Expedition :
"August ye 1 AD: 1755
11. Colonel Muncton Got 250 of the Inhabitants Into Foart Cumberland & Confined them major Bourn with 150 men Guarded the Greater Part of them to Foart Law- rence whare they are Confined major Prible with 200 men was ordered to Tantamar Capt. Perey with 100 men ware ordered to Point abute & Clake In order to Bring in what they Could Find Capt. Osgood Took a Smal Party as thay ware Driveing of thare Cattle & Brought them to ye Camp Capt Lues of ye Rangers marched this morning with a Party of our men to Cobi- gate Ramshak & Sum other viliges 150 miles Distant.
21. the Syren Capt Proba Arived here from Hallefax with 7 Transports under her Convoy In order to Cary the
431
NEW CAMPAIGN PLANS
French Inhabitants of Capt Gay arived from Boston in 63 hours Pasage.
25. 40 men Returned upon Party that have bin out with Capt. willard to Cobigate & thay Brought in Several Prisoners Burnt Several Fine Viliges.
30. Cloudy uncomfortable wather Capt. Gilbert Marched to the Bay of vert with a Party of 50 men to Bring in what Inhabitants he could Find and Burn thare Vileges."
Some of them were scattered up and down the coast. Here is a list of charges of the town of Bridgewater for Acadians quartered in the town from 1756-1757.
"An Acco't. of the Expenses the Town of Bridgwater hath been at, towards the support of the French in s'd Town from Nov. 8 1756 to June 10, 1757. Viz :
To 29 Cords Wood £5.4.8 4.0
1 pr. womens Shoes
House Rent
1.1.4
Sundry Utensils
1.8.0
£7.18.0
A true Acc't.
Thomas Wittie - Select Men
Shepard Fisk
of
Thos. Whitman
Bridgwater
June 10th 1757
To Andrew Oliver Esq. Secretary of the
Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England."
RENEWED PLANS OF CAMPAIGN (1756)
The conflict which had been going on for two years in America now spread to Europe, and war was formally de- clared by Great Britain against France on May 17, 1756; and, June 9, the King of France declared war against Great Britain. The European war was fought by two coalitions; on one side was Great Britain and her Prussian ally, Frederick the Great, and on the other France, Austria and Russia.
After the death of General Braddock in 1755, Governor Shirley received the high honor of appointment as Com-
432
FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS
mander-in-Chief of the troops in America. Something had been learned in England as to the lack of appreciation of colonial conditions by British officers sent over with little knowledge of the country. A conference was held in New York in December, at which colonial governors were present and plans of campaign were made for the year 1756. The general plan formulated was to raise 10,000 troops for another campaign against Crown Point, 6,000 for a campaign against Niagara, 3,000 for an attack on Frontenac, 3,000 to proceed against Fort Duquesne, and 2,000 to attack Quebec by way of the Kennebec River. Sir William Johnson was to undertake a special mission to the Six Nations. Shirley gave him elaborate instructions for placating the Six Nations who were the most formidable combination of Indians ever en- countered by the northern colonists. He promised them pro- tection from the French.
"You are to assure them in the Strongest terms that I shall do all in my power to protect them and their Allies from any Danger they may apprehend from the French and as the Building Forts in the Several Nations will not only Secure them from an Attack of the French or their Indians but will also more effectually fix them in the British Interest. You are to let the Indians of Cayuga and Seneca's Castles know that if they are desirous to have Forts built for the protection of their Castles as is done for those of the Mohawks; and the Tuscarora, Oneida and Onondaga Indians have desired me to do for them I will give orders for the Erecting of them and you are to take care that Forts are built as soon as may be for the Tuscarora, Oneida and Onondaga Indians, according to the Model herewith sent you in such places as you shall Judge most proper, and to supply them with whatever you shall Judge absolutely necessary for the Defense of such Forts, and if they should desire to have.
"You are to dispose them as much as you can, to be desir- ous of having English Ministers reside among them, in like Manner as the Mohawks have, for the Instruction of them in the knowledge of the Christian Religion, and performance of Divine Worship among them ; as also to teach their Children the English Language; and to let them know that in such case I will order Chappells to be built for that purpose, and procure
433
THE MASSACHUSETTS TROOPS
Ministers to do the before mentioned duty among them and acquaint them that their Bretheren of the Mohawks Castles have found great benefit and satisfaction from it.
"You are to use every Expedient in your power to cultivate and Improve a good Correspondence with the Indians of the Six Nations, and their Allies and Endeavor to prevail on them to take part and Act with his Majesty's forces in such oppera- tions as I shall think most Conducive to the good of his Maj- esty's Service."
Armed with these and other messages-with some threats -Sir William Johnson succeeded in winning the valuable alliance of the Six Nations.
THE MASSACHUSETTS TROOPS (1756)
Great difficulty was found in raising the Massachusetts quota, for the old soldiers had not been paid, until Governor Shirley agreed to loan the Province of Massachusetts 30,000 pounds of the King's money, to be reimbursed from allowances made by Parliament or, failing that, from colonial taxes to be collected within the next two years. This proposal resulted in the raising of 3,500 men, and General Winslow was recalled from Nova Scotia to take command of the expedition.
At this distance of time it is hard to realize the difficulty of raising, equipping, provisioning, housing, and transporting troops. An illustration is a set of proposals laid at this time before Shirley by Winslow :
"That he Command the New England Provisional Troops.
That he be allowed the Sum of Eight Hundred Pounds, Sterling, in Consideration of his Giving up the Benefit of the Cloathing and other Regimental Perquisites and paid in Sterl- ing Bills before his Embarkation, and without Deduction.
That all Regimental Charges as well forseen, as unforseen, be borne At the Cost of the Crown, and the Deductions to be made out of his Pay therefor.
That suitable officers be appointed such as can Raise the Men.
That the Companies consist of one Captain, two Lieuten- ants, one Ensigne, four Serjeants, four Corporals and 90 Private Men, and Enlisted for one year, from the time of their Embarkation, being Entrance upon Actual Duty.
434
FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS
That the same Pay be allowed the Officers of Every Rank, as is to other of his Majesties' Forces, Serving with them, and that two Months' pay be allowed before their Leaving this Porte, After the Companies are Compleated.
That a Sum of Money be advanced to each particular Officer, to enable them to Raise Men, they giving Bonds with Sureties, for the Applying the Money to that Use.
That the Officers enlisting the Men have two Dollars pr. Man allowed them for Extraordinary Expenses, and for Marching them to their Head Quarters, the said Officer to be at the Risque of all Directions, and for the Men's not passing muster or otherwise have a Reasonable Allowance for extra- ordinary Expenses and for Marching the Men.
That the Men be enlisted for one Year, and paid fifteen Pounds Old Tenor pr. Man (viz) Ninety Shillings pr. Man at the time of Enlistment, and Ten Pounds, ten Shillings at their Mustering at the Place of Rendevous, and that their pay Commence from the time of their Enlistment.
That each Mess Containing Six Men be allowed a lamp Kettle, a Bowl, and Plater, and the Officers of each Company two, and every Man a Spoon.
That each Man be allowed a Blanket, and I apprehend that there will be great Danger of the Men falling Sick, and Rendered unserviceable, if they have not also one Bed to two Men.
That they be allowed each Man, a Knapsack, and Banderlet.
That they be accoutred with the Kings Arms and Accourtre- ments.
That they be treated in every Respect as other of the Kings Officers Serving with them and dismissed at the end of one year, or Sooner if not wanted."
WAR GOVERNORS (1756-1769)
Shirley himself was anxious to take charge of the campaign against Oswego and Niagara, and had sent General Brad- street only to prepare the way. But early in the year he was doomed to disappointment. There was more or less friction be- tween him and Johnson, possibly due to jealousy; and Hardy, the Governor of New York, was dissatisfied and made repre-
-
WOLFE 1759 --
INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY IN 1713 AS LATER ESTABLISHED
COLONIAL BOUNDARIES AS EVENTUALLY ESTABLISHED
QUEBEC
LOUISBOURG
SECANSEAU
MONTREAL
CROWN POINT TICONDEROGA
SWEGO
FORT NIAGARA
+-1760
1755:
ALB
1758
1757
1755-32
1766 BOSTON
1757
0
NEW YORK
GENERALIZED MAP OF PRINCIPAL OFFENSIVE MOVEMENTS OF MASSACHUSETTS TROOPS IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS
ACADIA
1760
1755-
-- LOUDON 1757 ---- - 174 5
--- 1759
435
WAR GOVERNORS
sentations to the Home Government resulting in a communica- tion to Shirley from Fox announcing that he was to be pro- moted to the governorship of Jamaica; that he would be suc- ceeded by the Earl of Loudon as commander of the British forces in America; and that until the arrival of the Earl of Loudon the command of the army would be in the hands of General Abercrombie and General Webb, who were to arrive early in June.
Shirley was doomed to still another great disappointment, for he was relieved of the governorship of the Province of Massachusetts, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phips, who was quite advanced in years. Phips was born at Rowley, Massachusetts, in 1685. He was the adopted son of the former governor, William Phips, and graduated at Harvard College in 1703. Phips remained as governor until his death in 1757, and was succeeded by Thomas Pownell, who held this post until August 4, 1760, when he was followed by Sir Francis Bernard, who was an English lawyer, gradu- ated at Oxford in 1736; in 1758 he was appointed Governor of New Jersey, and in 1760 Governor of Massachusetts. When the division came he stood by the Crown and by his harsh methods hastened the Revolution. He prorogued the General Court because they would not provide supplies for the British soldiers. In 1769 he was recalled, much to the pleasure of the inhabitants, and made a baronet. He did much for the library of Harvard College.
July 23, Shirley met the Earl of Loudon in New York and soon after sailed for Europe. He held his place there only for a few years, when he resigned and returned to Boston, where he built a beautiful house in Roxbury, but died before he was able to live in it. Franklin claimed that Shirley would have made a much better campaign if he had continued in power. Franklin said of Shirley that, although not bred a soldier, he was sensible and sagacious in himself, attentive to good advice from others, capable of forming judicious plans, and quick and active in carrying them into execution.
A royal order was issued on May 12, 1756, reducing all the higher colonial officers to the rank of captain so long as they were serving in the same army with officers of the King. The colonists were greatly incensed, and it was only through the
436
FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS
influence of Governor Shirley that General Winslow and others were prevented from resigning. Washington protested against this order. The people of Massachusetts were so incensed over it that they instructed William Bolan, the son-in-law of Gover- nor Shirley, who was the Colonial Agent of Massachusetts in London, to present a petition to have this order removed. In this petition he stated that the provincial soldiers "enlisted not for a livelihood but with the intent to return to their farms and trades, being chiefly influenced to take up arms by a re- gard for the honor of the King, the defense of their country, and the preservation of their religion and liberties." No action was taken until Pitt was at the head of the government.
MONTCALM'S CAMPAIGN (1756)
Learning the weakness of Fort Oswego and Fort Ontario, Montcalm, the ablest commander sent out by France during the war, in August, 1756, with a force of 3,000 men appeared before these forts, knowing that they were garrisoned by no more than 1,000 British and colonial troops. On August 14th he forced the abandonment of Fort Ontario; on the following day he stormed and captured Fort Oswego, dismantled both forts, and, having seized supplies and guns of Bradstreet's, returned to Ticonderoga. Montcalm did what he could to pre- vent the massacre of the British prisoners, but he was unable to control the Indians. This victory of Montcalm gave the French great encouragement all along the line, and practically closed the campaign for that year, which ended most dis- astrously for the British.
The diary of Captain William Bacon, of Dedham, Massa- chusetts, gives interesting facts on this campaign in the homely style of a provincial soldier. For example :
"May ye 9 march from Natik to Col. Buckmafter in fram- ingham 7 mils and refrefh ourfelves and then went to mr Bridgmin the forenoon meeting in the forenoon and then between meeting march to mr Stone meeting houfe and tarry there in the afternoon meeting five mils in southbury then march from Southbury to weftbury four mile to Abraham Bruce may ye 9 march from Bruce to John Maynard at Weft- bury 2 mile loge there that night.
437
MONTCALM'S CAMPAIGN
"October ye 1 ye 1756 at the camp near fort wm Henary this Day I worked upone the collonals houfe and the mohakes came in and reported that thea Difcovered a large party of the enemy coming upon us and this evening their came a number of the new recruts and we have a number of our men foling tres
"October ye 4 ye 1756 at the camp near fort wm Henary this morning heefcout fet out at five a clok in the morning and this Day tu of our men that ware taken captive by the French came to us at this fort one of the men was Captain Rogers man that was taken laft fpring and the other is a Dutch man who was taken near Aafwago and thea fay that the french have prefed all both rich and poor that thea have and that thea are coming with an army of twelve or fifteen thou- sands with an artillary which tha took at afwago from us
"October ye 5 ye 1756 at the Camp near fort wm Henary this Day I worked upone the Collonals hous and we had a number of wagons came in this night with rum which was very exceptable
"October ye 9 ye 1756 at the Camp near fort wm Henary this Day was a Coart marfhal held at my tent and I was prafa- dant and captain and captain Bengiman williams and Leuten- ant Jacon and Leutenant Peck and infin Swing ware members to try tumen and one wee cleared and the other we gave fifty Lafhes for gitting drunk and leaving his poft when he was up one fentry.
"October ye 28 ye 1756 at the camp near fort william Hen- ary this morning the wagons fet out for the half moon with the fick tu hundred and thirty fick men in fixty wagons and I head Samuel Colburn and Elezar Thar and John Hopper fet of in the wagons and this night wee had a heavy rain in the for part of the night and then cleared of very cold and this eving we had a poft came into this fort from Bofton the countifies has been ever fince lord Lowden arived at this place a frind to Lord Lowen
"November ye 7 ye 1756 at the camp near fort william Henary this being Lords Day and the text in the four non was in Proverbs the 5 chapter and the 11 vers and in the after- noon it was in Ifiah the 8 chapter and the 13 vers and this
438
FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS
night there came up twenty-fix wagons to this fort with a gard of tuhundred regulars with kings ftors
"November ye 8 at the camp near fort wm Henary this morning it fnoed and it proved a rany day and this Day I bought tu onions and gave four coppers for them and this day I Dined upone roft beaf an onions and this eving their came up to this camp nine ox carts to cary of our bageg
"November 25 ye 1756 this morning wee marched from the fton hous and it fnoed very faft and it coft mee for my supper and brexfaft three fhillings york monny and for my Diner one fhilling york mony and this Proved & very ftormy Day of fno and haill and this night I arived at Sheffeld and lodged at mifter Sheldens."
CAMPAIGN OF 1757
In January Loudon met the governors of the Northern Colo- nies in Boston, and in March he had a conference with the governors of the Southern Colonies in Philadelphia. Pep- perrell's success at Louisburg was still remembered as a great victory, and it was Loudon's own ambition to repeat that suc- cess and to capture Louisburg. With that end in view New England agreed to furnish 4,000 men, and Loudon withdrew some of his best soldiers from northern New York. Alto- gether he had nearly 12,000 troops and ships carrying 1,400 guns. He sailed from New York and disembarked in Nova Scotia without mishap, and there he spent six or seven weeks practising sham battles and planting cabbages, as he designed to spend some time on this campaign.
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