USA > New York > New York City > History of the New Netherlands, province of New York, and state of New York : to the adoption of the federal Constitution. Vol. I > Part 45
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Colonel Peter Schuyler, of New York, who had been made prisoner, with his New Jersey regiment, on the surrender of Os- wego, was at Montreal when the news arrived of the loss of Louis- bourg, on the one side, and of Fort Frontignac, on the other ; and witnessed the consternation of the French, who called out their militia, and supposed Bradstreet would descend upon them from Lake Ontario. But Bradstreet had secured the lake, and restored that confidence to the Iroquois which was necessary to' preserve them in the English interest.
The fall of Fort Frontignac, and defection of the Indians from the French, in consequence, prepared the way for the success of General Forbes ; and Fort Duquesne was abandoned on the 24th of November. 'The garrison, after burning as much as they could, escaped by the River Ohio. The warlike operations in the Pro- vince of New York were concluded by the erection of Fort Stan- wix, at the carrying place-a fort afterwards so famous in the annals of our revolutionary war, and now in the midst of the town of Rome.
Lieutenant-governour De Lancey met the assembly, and con- gratulated them upon all that was worthy of congratulation in the preceding campaign, passing over the defeat of Abercrombie as lightly as possible. Oliver De Lancey, the governour's brother, had served with Abercrombie, as commander-in-chief of the New York forces ; and was, with Mr. John Cruger and Mr. Beverley Robin- son, paymaster and commissary for laying out the £100,000 devo- ted for the campaign.
The assembly gave the lieutenant-governour £1,S00 for a salary, £400 for fuel, candles, and lights ; and for his three visits to Al- bany, £300 .* This assembly expired in December ; it was then known that General Amherst was to command the next campaign, and on the 12th inst. he arrived at New York.
. 1759 The pre-eminence given to the Episcopalians, by the modelling of the college, is supposed to have had its influ- ence on the elections for the new assembly. Philip Livingston, a
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PLAN OF CAMPAIGN OF 1759.
popular alderman, was elected by the city. William Livingston represented his brother's manor, while Robert R. and Henry were elected by Duchess. These, and several others, are represented as opponents to the De Lanceys. But the lieutenant-governour had his brother Oliver, with the mayor, John Cruger, and Leonard Lispen- ard, who likewise got in for the city, as well as Philip Livingston. The governour's cousins, Verplanck and Renselaer, were likewise members ; and his cousin-german, Mr. Watts, with many others, his friends. In the council, he was paramount. Chief Justice Smith now calls the opposition, the Livingston party. I would observe, that the De Lancey party generally went with the British, in the great contest of 1775.
The assembly met the lieutenant-governour on the 31st of Janu- ary, and in the latter part of February, Mr. Pitt's requisitions arrived. The colonies felt assured that their exertions would be applied to the removal of the French from Canada. They cheer- fully complied with every demand made by England, and confided in the assurances that the crown would furnish arms, ammunition, tents, and provisions, for the troops raised, and even repay the expense of levying, clothing, and paying the forces.
New York authorized the raising of 2,650 men, to be completed by draughts upon the militia, in case volunteers could not be pro- cured ; bills of credit to ££100,000, redeemable in 1768, were issued. The province maintained this force during the war, and provided liberally for every other purpose.
The prime minister, Pitt, was determined to secure the sole profit of the colonies to Great Britain, by overthrowing the French power in America. His wisdom and energy were sufficient for this great purpose; and, if not thwarted by others, he would have bound the provinces to Great Britain, for her benefit, in the times that followed. His present plan for the expulsion of the French, was to send Wolfe, with a fleet and 8,000 soldiers, to ascend the St. Lawrence and attack Quebec, while Amherst, with 12,000, took Ticonderoga and Crown Point, descending with the waters of Champlain, to join Wolfe. Prideaux was destined to capture Fort Niagara, and then join, by Ontario and the St. Lawrence, the generals below. To General Stanwix was confided the northern frontier.
It appears to me, that the possession of Quebec, was the key- stone of this great superstructure : that the occupation of this city, harbour, and fortress-the possession, of course, of the entrance from the Gulf of St. Lawrence-by a nation commanding the sea, gave that nation the provinces of Canada and the north.
The successes of Amherst fall particularly under my province; but Wolfe was left alone to contend with all the difficulties which attended the conquest of Quebec, where Montcalm, who had tri-
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GREAT PREPARATIONS.
umphed over Oswego and Fort William Henry, commanded an army of the finest troops of France.
The English government had been stimulated by the recent suc- cesses at Louisbourg and Frontignac, and seemed now determined to prosecute the conquest of Canada. Amherst, the commander- in-chief of the army, was possessed of the confidence of the nation; and Wolfe was already considered a hero. The plan of operations was, that three armies should invade Canada as nearly as possible at the same time, by different routes. Amherst was to subdue the fortresses on Lake Champlain, and by the Sorel, having entered the ' St. Lawrence, to form a junction with the army below, under Wolfe. A third force, principally provincials, under General Pri- deaux, accompanied by the Iroquois under the influence of John- son, was to take Fort Niagara, descend the St. Lawrence, and make itself master of Montreal.
The historian of Connecticut remarks, that by so many dif- ferent attacks, it was designed to distract and divide the enemy. Minot and Smollet, think the plan of the campaign was too com- plex and multifarious. It was successful-not from its wisdom -- for if Wolfe had failed at Quebec, and every probability was in favour of his failure-the whole campaign would have been fruit- ful of nothing but disaster.
The colonies were taxed to their utmost bearing, to make the. necessary efforts for this campaign. The burthens already incur- red were heavy, and the compensations made by England, were far below the expenses the colonists had incurred. However, the effort was made both with men and money ; and as America was destined to support a defensive war, before the generation of 1759 had passed away, it was happy for her, that a number of her sons were innured to scenes of blood, and had gained some know- ledge in the science of destruction, before those armies and fleets she was now aiding, to remove an intrusive and mischievous neigh- bour, were employed in endeavours to deprive her of her rights, and spread destruction over her fields and happy villages.
The result of Wolfe's expedition, and the details of difficulties surmounted, repulses sustained, and final triumph, and victory in death, are the theme of every historian of the time, and are not so immediately connected with my subject as to require more than an incidental notice, as connected with the progress of the war in the province of New York, and its immediate vicinity.
The head quarters of the English commander-in-chief, General Amherst, were at the city of New York, until the spring ; and he was indefatigable in urging the military preparations of the colo- nies. By the end of May, the troops which were to operate under the immediate command of Amherst, were assembled at Albany, to which place he had removed. By the route of the Hudson,
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AMHERST'S EXPEDITION.
and Lake George, the army proceeded to the neighbourhood of Ticonderoga, which place the general prepared to invest with an overwhelming force. On the 22d of July, the English army reached the northern extremity of Lake George, and found the enemy ap- parently determined to maintain the strong hold, which had proved so fatal to Abercrombie and Howe. But the approaches of Am- herst were conducted with more skill; and with a caution dictated by experience.
The French commander, however, had received orders to withdraw the garrison, and retire from post to post, for the defence ultimately of the capital of the province. He dismantled Ticon- deroga, and retreated to Crown Point. Amherst cautiously fol- lowed ; and from Crown Point, the French army withdrew to Isle aux Noix ; where having three thousand five hundred men, a large train of artillery, and powerfully armed vessels, a stand was made ; and, for a time the victorious progress of the English and provincials, was impeded. A naval force was to be created by Amherst, which was soon done under the active ardour of the Americans. Two vessels were built and equipped ; with which Colonel Israel Putman, succeeded in destroying two of the French squadron-but the summer had passed during these operations- the storms of autumn came to the assistance of the assailed-and Amherst was forced to postpone his operations, and to retrace his way up Lake Champlain, to find, or make, winter quarters for his troops at Crown Point, and Ticonderoga. So far from joining Wolfe, the commander-in-chief had no means of communicating with him, and it was only through a proposition made by Montcalm respecting an exchange of prisoners, that Amherst knew of the ar- rival of Wolfe before Quebec.
In the meantime, early in July, General Prideaux conveyed the army destined for the conquest of Niagara, to Lake Ontario, and advanced with a force well calculated to overcome the difficulties of a campaign in a country of wilderness, opposed to. savages and Canadians inured to savage warfare. Niagara, so familiar to us now, was then only known as the important post which gave France facility of communication with the west and north.
Prideaux reached Niagara even before Amherst arrived at Ti- conderoga, and the place was invested on all sides : but on the 20th of July, while visiting the trenches, he lost his life, from the acci- dental bursting of a cohorn. By this event, the command devolved upon Sir William Johnson, who sent for succour to General Hal- dimand, a German commander in the English service, who had previously been successful against the French. Smollet says, that Amherst sent Gage, likewise to Niagara; but before either arrived, Johnson, learning that the French had drawn together a force from Detroit and other garrisons, and, with their Indian auxiliaries, were
399
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CAPTURE OF FORT NIAGARA.
advancing by the way of the Falls of Niagara with design to raise the siege or reinforce the besieged, made a judicious disposition to prevent a sally from the fort, and then advanced to meet the ap- proaching enemy. On the 23d or 24th of July, the advance parties of the opposing forces met. The French commander, observing that the English Indians sought an opportunity to speak with his auxiliaries, and fearing the effect of such communication, injudi- ciously ordered a charge ; and in consequence, after a fight of an bour, the party was routed with loss. Smith says, the Mohawks stood aloof until the battle was decided. The French commander and all his forces fell into the hands of the English, after a disas- trous retreat of five miles.
Johnson returned to the siege, and notified the garrison of the fort, that they had no longer a possibility of receiving succour. The French commander capitulated, and marched out with the honours of war. The Iroquois were restrained so effectually that the priso- ners and their baggage were protected, and sent to New York: the women, who preferred it, being sent to Montreal, with their children.
The fall of Fort Niagara broke a link of the chain by which France was circumscribing, and might ultimately have bound the English colonies.
Perhaps from not knowing the success of Wolfe, the army of Amherst attempted no farther operations against the enemy.
General Stanwix had been completely successful on the Ohio ; and the campaign of 1759 was hailed with exultation both in America and Great Britain, although far from terminating the 1 war.
1760 The attempt of Levis, the French general who succeeded Montcalm, to regain Quebec, now garrisoned by English, commanded by Murray, and the events attending the French in their successful commencement and eventual failure, I pass over, for the same reason that induced me not to dwell on the enticing story of Wolfe's conquest. Quebec might again have reverted to France, but for England's superiority on the seas. An English fleet, on the breaking up'of the ice in the St. Lawrence, entered that great river, and Levis with his troops retreated to Montreal, at which place M. Vaudreuil, the Governour-general of Canada, col- lected around him all the force of the colony, as if to make a des- perate effort for the preservation of the French power in America.
With skill and vigilance, he made every disposition that an accomplished general could effect, to withstand the power of his victorious enemies : and Amherst having accomplished, during the winter, every preparation for completing his conquest, brought all his forces from the Hudson, the lakes, and the St. Lawrence, from New York, from the posts to the west, and from Quebec -- opening
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CAMPAIGN OF 1760.
the campaign of 1760, by advancing from every quarter upon the point chosen by Vaudreuil, to signalize his triumph or defeat.
Colonel Haviland was ordered with a detachment from Crown Point, to take possession of Isle aux Noix, which the enemy had abandoned. Amherst himself, with 10,000 regulars and provin- cials marched to Oswego, and there was joined by Johnson and his Indians.
Those who now visit our rivers and lakes, and see smiling villa- ges and proud cities on their banks, become familiar with Erie and Ontario, and even with Michigan and Huron, flying over Lakes George and Champlain to the St. Lawrence and its cities, can scarcely realize the dense wilderness of 1759, and the thousands of yellow savages, and tens of thousands of bristling bayonets glitter- ing amidst trees, or descending rapids in batteaux ; the splendid uniforms of officers, with the flaunting colours of contending armies, amidst swamps where the scouting Indian roamed as a guard to the pioneers, who rendered the fastnesses penetrable to those white men, who were destined to exterminate his race: such scenes are little thought of, as we pass through gardens and orchards, on rail- roads or canals, or gaze at the seas and skies of our lakes in ease and security. Yet the scenes have scarcely passed away ; in 1777 they were repeated, and again in 1S14 ; but they have passed never to return.
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LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS.
CHAPTER XXV.
Legislative enactments-Death and funeral of Lieutenant-governour De Lancey-Amherst's conquest of Canada.
1759 THE people of New York expected when the French abandoned the forts on Lake Champlain, that Amherst would find no obstacle to the capture of Montreal ; but though dis- appointed, they were reconciled by the fall of Quebec and Fort Niagara. This fort was of earth, but strong from its situation. On the west, a river ; on the north, the lake ; and on the east, a morass, made it difficult of access ; and as the French still held their post at Toronto, at the north-west corner of Lake Ontario, six hundred men were left to garrison Niagara. At Oswego, a new pentagon fort was built, other fortifications erected, and nine companies stationed there for defence ; several armed vessels strengthened the post at Oswego, garrisons were planted at the Little Falls of the Onondaga river, at the Oneida Lake, and at Fort Stanwix. At the south end of Lake George fortifications were erected, Ticonderoga was repaired and strengthened, and Crown Point placed in a state, which when finished, was intended to com- prehend a circuit of nine hundred yards. These three last men- tioned places, were garrisoned by fifteen hundred men.
As provision had only been made by the legislature for the troops of New York, to the 1st of November, it was obviously ne- cessary, that the assembly should be convened, and Mr. De Lancey summoned them to his country seat, in the suburbs of New York. This mansion was within the writer's recollection, on the east side of the Bowery, above the present Grand street.
The legislature voted every thing necessary, and on the 1Sth of October, were adjourned to the 4th of December following, when they again met, and without division passed twenty acts ; among them was the five pound act, the lieutenant-governour's salary of eighteen hundred pounds, with the four hundred pounds perquisite, nominally for necessaries allowed to the garrison of the fort, where no garrison existed ; and, deducting fifty pounds from Judge Hors- manden's allowance, who was at this time superannuated, fixed. other salaries, and adjourned on the 22d.
1760 The legislature again met in the month following, and Mr. Pitt's requisition having arrived, the house voted simi- VOL. I.
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DEATH OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOUR DE LANCEY.
lar contributions to those of the last year, and a new emission of bills to the amount of sixty thousand pounds, to be sunk in eight years by tax.
1
In May, the assembly was again convened, and notwithstanding the pressure of war, appropriated two thousand five hundred pounds for the relief of the sufferers by a fire at Boston. After passing ten bills, the lieutenant-governour adjourned the legislature to June. An act was passed at this session, to regulate the practice of phy- sick and surgery, it being found that unlicensed pretenders then, as now, poisoned those who were as ignorant as themselves, but more credulous.
Before recurring to the military transactions of the year, the historian of New York must record an event which had great influence on the affairs of the province. Lieutenant-gover- nour De Lancey was found, by one of his children, expiring as he sate in his study, on the morning of the 30th of July, 1760. He was a man of talents, with many virtues. Educated in England, at the university of Cambridge, he was strongly linked to that country, which at this time commanded the general esteem and ad- miration of the people of America. Mr. De Lancey had dined the day before on Staten Island in company with Governour Mor- ris, General Provoost, Mr. Walton, Mr. Boone, Mr. Smith, and others, the great men of the day ; and it is no disparagement to him, if we credit Smith, that too much eating and drinking took place. . It was the custom of the times. Of the other causes mentioned by the historian, which might have disturbed the lieutenant-governour's equanamity during this convivial party, none are worthy of notice. Mr. De Lancey crossed the bay in the evening, rode out to his house in the Bowery, and was discovered expiring too late for me- dical or surgical aid, sitting in his chair, as he had probably done through the night, being unable to repose in a recumbent posture, at times, from a cronick asthma.
The funeral of the late lieutenant-governour took place on the evening of the 31st of July. The body was buried in the middle aisle of Trinity church : the Episcopal service being performed by . the Reverend Mr. Barclay, in that magnificent building, splendidly illuminated. The order of the funeral procession from his house in the Bowery to the church, fills columns of the papers of the day, paticularly Parker's Post Boy, wherein his age is stated as fifty-seven. It will be seen by the preceding pages, that shortly after finishing his education at Cambridge University, (where he was under the tuition of Herring, afterwards Archbishop of Can- terbury,) he was placed among his majesty's counsellors, and on the bench as a judge : that in 1733, he was made chief justice, and and in 1753, lieutenant-governour. He has been censured for giving his sanction, in 1754, to the act, incorporating the King's
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COLDEN ADMINISTERS THE GOVERNMENT.
College, by which Episcopalians alone were elegible to the chair of president, and the book of common prayer introduced for reli- gious exercise. He is praised for his " broad and popular princi- ples,"* and justly for bis political skill in successfully preserving to the assembly the right of annual appropriations, and evading the prohibition of the crown to issuing bills of credit. Smith, his po- litical enemy, allows him genius, with knowledge of the law, history and husbandry. He even praises his retentive memory, and ready elocution.
Doctor Cadwallader Colden, as president of the council, suc- ceeded De Lancey as ruler of the province, and immediately repaired to New York from his plantation in Ulster county. Mr. Colden was seventy-three years of age, when he took up his resi- dence at the province (or governour's) house, in Fort George.t
The people of New York were anxious that Mr. Colden should appoint an honourable and otherwise fitting man for the office of chief justice, fearing that by some court intrigue, the government of England mighit send for that purpose, as they had done to New Jersey, in the cases of Ainsley, the treasurer of a turnpike company, and Jones, a fellow who had left his wife to the promo- ter of his fortunes ; but Smith says, Mr. Colden had in view to compliment the first lord of trade, (afterwards Lord Halifax,) with the appointment.
The campaign of 1760, which resulted in the final reduction of Canada, calls for my particular attention. General Murray, having been successful in defeating the attempts of M. de Levis, received orders from Amherst, the commander-in-chief, to bring all the force he could command, without risking Quebec ; and, ascending the St. Lawrence, approach Montreal, where M. Vaudreuil had con- centrated the French force, and made the most skilful dispositions to sustain the efforts which England and the colonies were prepa- ring to make for the expulsion of the French from America.#
* T. Gordon.
t Smith says, the old gentleman in addition to his salary of eighteen hundred pounds, received the four hundred pounds for necessaries required by the garri- son of the fort, consisting only of his own family.
. ¿ The reader may ask, how could Amherst send orders from New York or Al- bany to General Murray, at Quebec, the country being not only principally a wil- derness, but in possession of the enemy, as well as the river ? I should be at a loss to answer the question, but that Jolin Shute, one of Rogers's rangers, who were principally, if not all, New England men, has left ns an account of the mode by which the counnunication was made. Rogers was commanded to select four men who could be relied upon, and were used to sconting in an enemy's wilderness, to carry the orders. Shute was one who, for a reward of £50, undertook this perilous enterprize. They were landed at Missisqui Bay, and directed to the river St. Francis, by a route previously known to them. This river, after some days and nights of suffering, they crossed on rafts; but not without two of the party being
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FINAL CONQUEST OF CANADA.
Colonel Haviland was detached from Crown Point for the purpose of possessing Isle-aux-Noix, and having perfect command of Lake Champlain, proceeded by this route to Montreal. Amherst, with the , main body, consisting of 4,000 English regulars and 6,000 provin- cials, left Schenectady in June, ascended the Mohawk River to Fort Stanwix, descended Wood Creek, and crossing Lake Oneida, entered Ontario at Oswego, for the purpose of clearing all the French obstructions on the upper St. Lawrence, and co-operating with Murray and Haviland in the reduction of Montreal, which, supposing all these operations should be successful, would be hemmed in by three armies.
Sir William Johnson, as may be supposed, used his influence with the Iroquois, in aid of Amherst, and gave assurances of all the force of the confederacy. But only 600 or 700 warriours, however, accompanied the army part of the way, when most of these thought proper to return home. It was not until the 10th of August, that General Amherst had full command of Lake Ontario. He then proceeded down the great river, where the principal obstacle was a fort at Oswagatchie. Israel Putnam, who had served with the pro- vincials for the last six years, and liad distinguished himself among Rogers's rangers, for strength of body, and that daring hardihood, which seems to proceed from unconsciousness of danger, was attending upon Amherst as a colonel. With 1,000 men, in fifty batteaux, he was appointed to attempt two armed vessels, by board- ing ; but they very prudently surrendered, at the approach of his force. This and other services, led the general to give Putnam the honour of attacking the most difficult point in the approach to the fort of Oswagatchie, or the Isle Royale. The abattis it was necessary to carry, hung over the water, and could only be ap- proached in batteaux, exposed to the fire of the enemy. Putnam contrived to fortify his vessels with a breastwork, and by means of plank raised in the bows and so constructed as to form a bridge when lowered and thrown upon the fort, he designed to assault the enemy. But they, seeing the approach of this formidable prepa- ration, followed the example of their countrymen who were appointed to defend the vessels on the lake, and did not put the courage or machinery of the lieutenant-colonel to the proof.
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