USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the provincial period. 1692-1775 v. II > Part 20
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CHAP. VIII. Shortly after his arrival, the legislature of the province being in session, application was made by Governor Shirley for 1756. Fcb. 4. men and munitions to carry out the plans projected at Albany. The province pleaded poverty ; but the governor, in reply, urged that their furnishing a quota of men for the service would probably free them from the burden of future taxes, as it would remove the enemy, which rendered them necessary, and would be an inducement to the crown to remunerate them for what had been already expended. To obviate the objection of pov- erty, he offered to loan the government thirty thousand pounds sterling out of the moneys committed to him for the payment of the troops, but with the proviso that an act should be passed for levying a tax, in the two succeeding years, of an equal amount, as collateral security.
The plea of poverty urged by the province was doubtless a political pretence ; for the credit of the government was good, and funds could have been easily procured to meet any exi- gency, had the disposition existed. The offer of Mr. Shirley was equally politic, and it answered his purpose ; for many of the assembly, glad to shift the responsibility from their shoul- ders to his, favored his proposal, especially as they were led to believe that the action of Parliament would indemnify them against actual loss. Hence resolutions were passed " for rais- ing three thousand men, in order to remove the encroachments of the French from his majesty's territories at or near Crown Point, in humble confidence that his majesty will hereafter be graciously pleased to give orders for defraying the expense of this expedition, and for establishing such garrisons as may be needed in order to maintain the possession of the country." 1 At the same time it was intimated to his excellency, that it would encourage men to enlist in the service if the chief com-
1 Letter of March 11, 1756, in Mass. Archives, Letters, fol. 141 ; Mass. Rec's ; Journal of H. of R. for 1755-56, 309, 311, 332, 335, 338;
Stirling's Vindication, 62-69; Wil- lard's Letter, in 1 M. H. Coll. vi. 40, and Bollan's Mem. in ibid. 47 ; Hutch- inson, iii. 45, 46 ; Minot, i. 267-273.
211
PROCEEDINGS OF PARLIAMENT.
mand was conferred upon a resident of the province ; and this CHAP. intimation was the more pleasing to him, inasmuch as he could, VIII. without being accused of intentional disrespect, decline making 1756. the offer to General Johnson, whose views he was resolved to thwart, if possible. Accordingly, in February, he offered the Feb. command to Sir William Pepperrell, knowing his popularity with the people ; but, having by this means secured that gen- tleman's vote for the passage of his favorite measures, on the pretence that his advices from England compelled him to the change, he altered his mind, and conferred the appointment on General Winslow, an officer of high standing and distinguished Feb. 18. abilities.1
Parliament, in the mean time, was not inattentive to the con- Feb. 2. dition of the colonies ; and, as a measure of temporary expe- diency, not of permanent policy, one hundred and fifteen thousand pounds were granted, and forwarded to America, as Aug.28. a reward for the services of the troops for the past year. Of this sum there were paid to Massachusetts fifty-four thousand pounds ; to Connecticut, twenty-six thousand ; and to New York, fifteen thousand ; the remaining twenty-four thousand being apportioned to the other colonies.2 The next measure. of the government wore a less favorable aspect. The plan of military dictatorship, which for nearly sixty years had been 1697 to 1756. insisted upon as indispensable to systematize the management of colonial affairs, and repress the insubordinate spirit which, it was alleged, existed in every province, was now revived and carried into effect.3 Mr. Shirley, in his eagerness to forward his own interests, had so far disregarded the feelings of others as to have raised many enemies in different parts of the coun- try ; and the manner in which he had. treated both civil and
1 Winslow's MS. Journal for 1756, fol. 1; Mass. Rec's ; Stirling's Vin- dication, 65, 70 ; Journal H. of R. for 1755-56, 387, 423 ; Winslow's Lett. in 1 M. H. Coll. vi. 34; Minot, i. 265, 273; Parsons, Life of Pepper- rell, 289.
2 Journal H. of R. for 1756, p. 74; Trumbull MSS. i. 114; Mass. Arch. Letters, fol. 182; Minot, i. 288; Ban- croft, iv. 227.
3 Doc. Hist. N. Y .; Chalmers, Re- volt, i. 269 ; Bancroft, iv. 227, 228.
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212
RECALL OF SHIRLEY.
CHAP. military officers had led to complaints which reached the ears VIII. of his employers in England.1 His services in behalf of the 1756. crown, it was intimated, had been greatly over-estimated, and that he was lacking in efficiency in the prosecution of his schemes, and in the urbanity necessary to constitute a success- ful commander. No one, perhaps, on this side the Atlantic, expected to succeed him in the command, nor does any one appear to have been recommended for that purpose. Hence these complaints carried the more weight ; and, at the instance March. of Cumberland and Fox, Mr. Shirley was displaced, and the Earl of Loudoun, the friend of Halifax, and an earnest ad- vocate of the subordination of the colonies, was appointed governor of Virginia, and commander-in-chief of the army throughout the British continental provinces in America, with powers superior to and independent of the other provincial governors.2
Nor did the government stop here ; for, during the session of 1756, the authority of Parliament over American affairs was signally extended. By different acts, approved by the king, foreign Protestants might be employed as engineers and offi-
1 In the Williams MSS. i. 256, is a very severe letter from William Williams, dated Albany, September 13, 1756, reflecting upon the conduct of Shirley, in which he calls him the " Massachusetts Dagon." "Many are the conjectures," says he, " what will become of him. Some are apprehen- sive he is in such situation that he will fall upon his face, and only a stump will be left. Others, to prevent him that honor, are for serving him by a halter, so that he shall not have an opportunity of ending his feats and life in so honorable a manner. This piece of paper would not contain the heads of the sentences pronounced against him by all orders and degrees of men. In short, your Dagon is looked upon as meaner and viler than the mean prince of the power of the air. Men of superior genius to my-
self have so placed him, that I have no occasion nor inclination to dislodge him. I wish his idolaters had seen their mistaken worship sooner; nor do I wish any of them so bad a hell as Mr. S. must bear in his mind." Without doubt some allowance is to be made here for the warmth of the writer ; yet this is but a specimen of numerous letters I have seen, all more or less severe, and proving that the feeling against the commander-in- chief was not confined to a few per- sons, nor to those only who could be suspected of sinister motives in their opposition.
Trumbull MSS. i. 114-116, Let- ters of Fox of March 13, 1756, and of Halifax of May 11; Doc. Hist. N. Y. ii. 710 ; 1 M. H. Coll. vii. 134, 135, 145; Parsons, Life of Pepperrell, 295.
213
RECALL OF SHIRLEY.
cers to enlist a regiment of aliens ; indented servants might be CHAP. accepted as soldiers, and their masters compensated by the sev- VIII. eral assemblies ; volunteers were freed from the process of law 1756. for petty debts ; the naval code of England was extended to all persons employed in the king's service " upon the lakes or rivers in North America ;" and each northern province was forbidden to negotiate with the Indians - the management of Indian affairs being intrusted exclusively to Sir William Johnson, with no subordination but to Loudoun. It was useless for Massachusetts to object to either of these meas- ures. Whether acceptable or not, they were to be carried into effect ; and an army was raised without their approval ; taxes were levied without their consent ; and martial law was extended to all the settlements. Yet such was the posture of public affairs, and such was the necessity for overlooking minor evils whose burden was not pressingly felt, that the provincial government peacefully submitted to these innovations, and con- tented itself simply with expressing its dissatisfaction in terms of the utmost courtesy and propriety.1
Before the arrival of the intelligence of the removal of Mr. Shirley, that gentleman had left Boston for Albany, and soon Apr. 21. after a council of war was held to consider the measures which May 25. were necessary to be taken. The preparations for the western expedition were somewhat extensive. The naval force upon the lake consisted of two sloops of ten carriage guns each, and two row galleys of ten swivels each; and three other vessels, a "snow " of eighteen carriage guns and twenty swivels, a brig- antine of fourteen carriage guns and twelve swivels, and a
1 Acts, &c., 29 Geo. II. chaps. v. xxxV. xxxvii. ; Trumbull MSS. i. 98; Journal H. of R. for 1756, 82; Bol- lan's Letters; Chalmers, Revolt, ii. 281; Minot, i. 275-280 ; Bancroft, iv. 231, 232. The proposals for the conduct of the war, when Lord Lou- doun took the command, are said to have been the same as when Braddock
was sent over, viz. : that the provinces should not only bear the expenses of the troops they raised for their own defence, but should likewise supply at their expense the regular troops sent for their protection with provisions. Loudoun's Communication of Feb. 1, 1757, in Williams's MSS. ii. 6.
214
RECALL OF SHIRLEY.
CHAP. sloop of six carriage guns, were building. Besides these, there VIII. were to be two hundred and fifty whale boats upon the lake, 1756. each capable of containing sixteen men. The land forces, then at Oswego and the way stations, or on their march thither, were his own and Pepperrell's regiments, with the regiment raised and supported by New Jersey, the four independent companies of New York, and the four provincial companies of North Carolina - in all about two thousand men. Of these, one hundred and fifty were to be stationed at the magazine of stores and provisions at the Canajoharie Falls, about thirty-five miles from Schenectady ; and a like number at the German Flats, to secure another magazine, guard the portage, and con- vey the provisions through Wood Creek ; at the Oneida car- rying place two hundred men were to be left ; and at the falls near Oswego a fort was to be built and a garrison of forty men established ; while four companies, of sixty privates each, were to be raised to scout along the route, and harass the French settlements between Frontenac and Montreal. Fort the northern expedition, the New England colonies had voted to raise nearly eighty-eight hundred men, including the officers and garrisons at Forts Edward and William Henry ; and to these such Indians as could be mustered were to be joined, to harass the enemy upon Lake Champlain, and procure intelli- gence of their motions in Canada.1
Such were the movements on foot, and such were the plans Jun. 26. of General Shirley at the time he was displaced. While at Jun. 29. New York he received despatches from Mr. Fox, the secretary Dated Mar. 13 and 31. of state, signifying his majesty's pleasure that he should return to England, as "his presence might be necessary to consult upon measures for the conduct of the war." Lord Loudoun was expected to leave soon, to take the command of his majesty's forces ; and in the mean time that charge was devolved on Jun. 15. General Abercrombie, who arrived with Otway's and the
1 Stirling's Vindication, 13, 41, 57, H. Coll. vi. 34, and vii. 146-149; 75, 76, 79, 90, 94 ; Winslow, in 1 M. Letter on the Ohio Defeat, 14.
215
DIFFICULTIES IN THE ARMY.
Highland regiments of nine hundred men.1 But the season CHAP. was fast wearing away, and nothing had been done. Lord VIII. Loudoun did not leave England until the middle of May, nor 1756. May 17. did the cannon for Lake Ontario arrive until a later date. Aug. Well might Sharpe, the lieutenant governor of Maryland, ex- claim, " We shall have good reason to sing Te Deum, at the conclusion of this campaign, if matters are not then in a worse situation than they are at present." 2
Matters were in a worse situation ; for the disasters and reverses of the campaign of 1756 were greater, if possible, than those of the previous year. At the outset, an incident oc- curred which came near threatening serious consequences. General Abercrombie, soon after taking his command, asked General Winslow, who was just leaving Albany with about July 15 seven thousand men, " What effect the junction of his majesty's forces would have with the provincials, if ordered to join them in their intended expedition ?" To which, after consultation July 22. with his officers, he replied, that "he should be extremely pleased if such a junction could be made, and that he was under the immediate command of the commander-in-chief ; but apprehended that if, by this junction, the provincial officers were to lose their command, as the men were raised immediately under them by the several governments, it would cause almost an universal discontent, if not desertion." After the arrival of Lord Loudoun,3 a similar question was asked, and the same Aug. 4. answer was returned. The provincial officers unanimously signified their willingness to "submit to him in all dutiful obedience, and their readiness and willingness to act in con- junction with his majesty's troops, and put themselves under
1 Journal H. of R. for 1756, 106; sede Shirley. Mortimer's England, Stirling's Vindication, 58; Rogers's iii. 529. Journal, 22, 23; 1 M. H. Coll. vii. 2 Quoted in Bancroft, iv. 235. 150 ; Smith's N. Y. ii. 234; Hutch- inson, iii. 47; Minot, i. 275. Aber- 3 The Earl of Loudoun arrived at Albany July 23. Mortimer's Hist. England, iii. 529; Smith's N. Y. ii. 235. crombie was despatched from Eng- land in the beginning of March, with two regiments, with orders to super-
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216
AFFAIRS AT OSWEGO.
CHAP. his command as his majesty's commander-in-chief of all his VIII. forces in North America ; but as the troops, raised by the sev- 1756. eral colonies and provinces in New England, had been raised this year on particular terms, and had proceeded to act thus far under that form, they humbly begged it as a favor of his lordship to let those troops act separate, as far as was consist- ent with his majesty's service." With this reply his excellency seemed satisfied, the point was not pressed further, and the separate operation of the troops was permitted.1
July 12. Meanwhile intelligence reached Albany of the threatening aspect of affairs at Oswego. Colonel John Bradstreet had thrown into the fort provisions for five or six months, and a great quantity of stores ; and, hastening eastward for addi- July 3. tional troops, skirmishing by the way, he brought word that the French army, numbering twelve hundred men, was in motion to attack the place. Colonel Webb, with the forty- fourth regiment, was ordered to its relief ; but nothing was Jun. 26. done. Shirley himself had urged the necessity of this measure some days before, but the mind of Abercrombie was otherwise occupied. The movements of Loudoun were equally dilatory ; and Oswego fell.2
All through the season the French had been active; and neither the inclemency of the weather nor the apprehension of danger availed to deter them from prosecuting their designs. Mar. 17. At spring dawn, while the sides of the mountains were yet clad with ice, De Lery, at the head of three hundred men, set out for Montreal, penetrated to Fort Bull at the Oneida portage, took it after a short struggle, and returned with thirty prison-
1 Winslow's MS. Journal, ii. 349 et seq., and iii. 13-36; 1 M. H. Coll. vi. 35-37 ; Letters of J. Dwight, of July 26, 1756, and Aug. 16, in Williams's MSS. i. 237, 241; 1 M. H. Coll. vii. 157; Letter on Ohio De- feat, 7-9; Stirling's Vindication, 96, 97; Chalmers, Revolt, ii. 305; Mi- not, i. 283, 284. The difficulty al-
luded to in the text was not the only one which prevailed, for there was a dispute among the provincial officers themselves relative to their rank. Letter of Thos. Williams, of July 27, in Williams's MSS. i. 238.
2 Stirling's Vindication, 99; Hist. of the War, 107-109; 1 M. H. Coll. vii. 156, 157.
217
FALL OF OSWEGO.
ers.1 The Marquis de Montcalm had by this time reached CHAP. Quebec, with De Levis, Bourlamaque, and other officers of his VIII. staff. Hurrying thence to Fort Carillon, at Ticonderoga, his 1756. practised eye ran over the defences, orders for strengthening them were issued, and he was ready for Oswego. Collecting at Montreal three regiments from Quebec, he set out for Fort Frontenac ; and, posting five hundred men, under De Villiers, beneath the shelter of a dense thicket, near the mouth of Sandy Creek, whence he could intercept supplies for Oswego, he em- barked for Niagara, and the same evening anchored in Sack- Aug. 5. ett's Harbor. A week later Oswego was invested ; and the Aug.12. next day the gallant Mercer was killed by a cannon ball, and Aug.13. a breach was made in the walls. In two days the place was Aug.15. taken ; the regiments of Shirley and Pepperrell capitulated ; the forts were razed, and Oswego was a solitude. The joy of the Canadians vented itself in extravagant ecstasies ; the mis- sionaries planted a cross, on which was inscribed, "This is the banner of victory ; " and by its side rose a pillar, with the arms of France, and the inscription, "Bring lilies with full hands." 2
" Oswego is lost - lost, perhaps, forever !" was the despair- ing exclamation of the English. " Would to God this was all, and we had nothing more to apprehend ! The French can now, with the utmost facility, secure the inland country, and confine us to the very brinks of the ocean ; a free communica- tion is opened between Canada and Louisiana, and all our intercourse with the Indians totally rescinded."3 This heavy disaster filled the army with consternation, and every plan of offensive operations was immediately relinquished. The orders to General Winslow to march to Ticonderoga were counter- Aug.20.
1 Pouchot's Mems. i. 67 ; Stirling's Vindication, 76; Warburton's Con- quest of Canada, ii. 43.
2 Journal H. of R. for 1756, 157, 164, 172; Winslow's MS. Journal, ii. 142-148; Pouchot's Mems. i. 70, 31; Stirling's Vindication, 110-116; M. H. Coll. vii. 158; Hutchinson,
iii. ; Minot, i. 285 ; Smith's N. Y. ii. 239, 240; Bancroft, iv. 237-239. 3 Winslow's MS. Journal, iii. 41, 42, 55, 56, 85, 86 ; Rogers's Journal, 33, 34, 37; Winslow, in 1 M. H. Coll. vii. 37; Johnson MSS. in Doc. Hist. N. Y. ii. 732; Minot, i. 287; Par- sons, Life of Pepperrell, 290, 291.
218
CHANGE IN THE MINISTRY.
CHAP. manded, and he was directed to fortify his own camp at Fort VIII. William Henry ; General Lyman was to remain at Fort Ed- 1756. ward ; General Webb, with fourteen hundred men, was posted at the Great Carrying Place ; and Sir William Johnson, with five hundred men, was posted at the German Flats. The expedition to the Kennebec resulted in a scouting party, which did as much harm as good ; the attempt against Fort Du Quesne was abandoned ; the troops went into winter quar- ters, and not a blow was struck which was seriously felt. When the Massachusetts forces returned to their homes, no provisions had been made by the government for their pay. Hence three commissioners were appointed to apply to Lord Loudoun for relief ; but, though that officer is said to have " generously supported and enforced our solicitations with his interest," he declined making any disbursement on his own, account, as the soldiers were enlisted "antecedent to his com- mand ; " and the burden, as usual, fell upon the province.1
Dec. 4.
Before the close of this year a change took place in the English ministry, and a change of momentous importance to the colonies. The party which, for over forty years, had mis- managed affairs, and brought disgrace upon the banner of St. George, went out of power ; and William Pitt, known as " the great commoner," and afterwards as Earl of Chatham, - the early, devoted, and consistent friend of America, " distinguished by his regard for religion, honor, and his country," - assumed the reins which had fallen from the hands of the Duke of New- castle. From this time forward the affairs of the war assumed a new aspect ; a " cheerful bloom of spirit and joy revived ir the countenance of every individual ; " and the cry was echoed
1 Mass. Rec's ; Journal H. of R. for 1756-57, 232; Rogers's Journal, 38, 51; Hutchinson, iii. 50. The Journal H. of R. p. 232, says Lord L. treated the commissioners with great condescension, and they were assured he was zealously disposed to promote the interests of the colonies;
yet he gave no encouragement to ex- pect the advance of moneys, on the plea that all he had received was ne- cessary for the support of the regular troops ; and should he draw upon this it must greatly prejudice his majesty's service.
219
MILITARY COUNCIL IN BOSTON.
" Canada - Canada must be destroyed ! Delenda est Cartha- CHAP. go, or we are undone! We have wasted our strength in lop- VIII.
ping the branches ; the axe must be laid to the root of the 1756. tree." 1
A military council was held in Alexandria in 1755, another in New York in 1756 ; and this year it was proposed that one should be held in the town of Boston. For this purpose Lord Loudoun visited the Bay Province, where he was received by Governors Lawrence, of Nova Scotia, Fitch, of Connecticut, and Hopkins, of Rhode Island .? In the absence of Governor Shirley, who had embarked for England in the preceding fall, the chief command in Massachusetts devolved upon Spencer Phips, the lieutenant governor ; but he declining to act in the present emergency, a commission was appointed to represent the province, consisting of Thomas Hutchinson, William Brat- tle, Thomas Hubbard, John Otis, and Samuel Welles. The levies called for from New England amounted to four thousand men ; and of these Massachusetts was to raise eighteen hundred, Connecticut fourteen hundred, Rhode Island four hundred and fifty, and New Hampshire three hundred and fifty - all of whom were to be mustered before the last of March, ready for Mar.25. 1757. service.3
1757. Jan. 29.
1756. Sep. 12.
The death of Lieutenant Governor Phips occurred while April 4. this plan for raising and forwarding the forces was in execu- tion ; and the Council, upon whom the government devolved, with Sir William Pepperrell as their president, proceeded in the necessary public affairs, and, having enlisted, forwarded the quota of the province, under Colonel Joseph Frye, to the ap- pointed rendezvous.4 Before the next session of the court, May.
I Review of Pitt's Administration, 10, 14, 16; 1 M. H. Coll. vii. ; Trum- bull MSS. i. 121; Hist. of the War, 110 ; Bancroft, iv. 247.
2 Loudoun's Speech of January 29 s given in the Williams MSS. ii. 5. 3 Journal H. of R. for 1756-7, 271- :73, 280; Lord Loudoun's Speech of anuary 29, 1757, in Winslow's MS.
Journal, iii. 425; Hutchinson, iii. 50, 51; Minot, ii. 11-15. See also the Proc- lamation of Phips, Feb. 21, 1757, the Letter of Andrew Oliver, March 18, 1757, and the Letter of Phips, March 23, in Williams's MSS. ii. 9, 11, 13.
4 Proclamation of Council, April 5, 1757 ; Hutchinson, iii. 52, 53; Minot, ii. 15, 16.
220
POWNALL APPOINTED GOVERNOR.
CHAP. letters were received from Mr. Bollan, the son-in-law of Shir VIII. ley and the agent of the province in England, informing the Council that his majesty had been pleased to appoint Thomas Mar.12. Pownall, Esq., governor, in the room of Mr. Shirley, and that 1757. he was to embark for New England, by the way of Halifax, the day after the date of his letters.1
Mr. Pownall's first visit to America was made in 1754, as private secretary to Sir Danvers Osborne, the governor of New York, where he remained until after the adjournment of the 1754. July. congress at Albany, when he visited Boston, was admitted to the confidence of Governor Shirley, and sent to New York to solicit the concurrence of that colony in the plan against Crown Point, which the legislature of Massachusetts had resolved to prosecute.2 Penetrating the designs of Shirley, whom he ex- celled in political sagacity, Mr. Pownall joined his opposers, and having acquainted himself with the geography of the country 1755. Feb. and its resources, he returned to England to press his own plans upon the notice of the ministry. When Lord Loudoun came to America, Mr. Pownall accompanied him, but remained less than two months, when he hastened to England to solicit a reenforcement of troops for the prosecution of the war. Here he received his appointment as governor of Massachusetts, embarked in the fleet which brought the forces with Lord Howe to Halifax, and thence proceeded to Boston, where he Aug. 3. was formally received, and his commission was publicly read.3
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