USA > New York > The history of New York from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 12
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At the period of these disasters on the Ohio, the New England troops, under General Lyman, of Connecticut, in conjunction with the levies from New York and New Jersey, had assembled, on their march to Crown Point, at the portage between the Hudson and Lake George, where, by the 8th of August, they had built Fort Ed- ward. When Johnson arrived from Albany, with stores and artillery, he assumed the command. Leaving a garrison at Fort Edward, he crossed the portage with the remainder of his force, amounting, with the Indians, to some thirty-four hundred men, and encamped on the southern shore of Lake George.
Aware of the dangers by which they were threat- ened, the French had not been idle. Shortly after Braddock had sailed from England for the Che- sapeake Bay, Baron Dieskau embarked on board the French squadron at Brest, with four thousand troops destined for America. Eluding the Bri- tish fleet cruising off the Banks of Newfoundland,
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1755.
he landed a thousand men at Louisburg, which had been restored to France by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and sailed with the remainder to Quebec. Having been instructed to reduce Oswego, Dieskau proceeded to Montreal for that purpose, but was diverted from his object by learning that Crown Point was menaced by the provincial forces encamped on the margin of Lake George. He immediately determined to break up the latter expedition by an assault upon Fort Edward, but as his Indian allies were re- luctant to attempt the reduction of a work strengthened by artillery, he was persuaded to change his design, and attack Johnson in his camp.
Unconscious that Dieskau was advancing upon himself, Johnson sent Colonel Williams with one thousand men, and two hundred Mohawk war- riors, commanded by the brave Hendrick, their aged chief, to the relief of Fort Edward. At a distance of about three miles from the camp, while marching carelessly, and without any ap- prehension of meeting the enemy, the detachment fell into an ambuscade, and was speedily thrown into confusion. Williams and Hendrick were both slain, but the troops being rallied by Whit- ney, the next in comand, they fell back in good order to the camp.
Flushed with this success, Dieskau pressed im- mediately forward against Johnson. The camp
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1755.] BATTLE OF LAKE GEORGE.
of the latter was secured from assault on the flanks by impassable swamps, and in front by an imperfect breastwork of trees hastily felled for that purpose, and by the wagons and baggage of the troops. A few pieces of cannon brought from Fort Edward only two days before, were hastily mounted and disposed along the line. Dieskau, driving the fugitives before him, had hoped by closing upon their rear to penetrate the camp with them, and thus derive an advantage from the confusion which would necessarily ensue. In this, however, he was disappointed. Immediately the artillery opened, the Indians and Canadians forming his right and left flanks, halted, and crouching in the brushwood could not be prevailed upon to take any part in the battle. With the regulars alone Dieskau marched directly upon the centre, and attempted to force it. Johnson being wounded early in the action, the command of the provincials devolved upon General Lyman. For five hours, sheltered by their slender breast- work, the Americans maintained an incessant and well-directed fire. Dieskau being wounded in several places, and the greater portion of the regulars terribly shattered, orders were at length given to retreat. The pursuit being closely pressed by the provincials, Dieskau, finding him- self unable, from the nature of his wounds, to keep up with his routed army, seated himself upon the stump of a tree, and ordering his attendants
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to place his military dress beside him, dismissed them. In this position he was found by one of the pursuers, who fired at and mortally wounded him.
The same evening a detachment of two hun- dred New Hampshire militia, under McGinnis, sallied out from Fort Edward, and intercepted a party of three hundred French, who were retreat- ing in good order with the baggage of the army, and after a spirited conflict completely routed them. The loss sustained by the French in these engagements has been variously estimated; that of the provincials amounted, in killed and wounded, to upward of three hundred men. For this victory, subsequently known as the battle of Lake George, Johnson was created a baronet, and received a grant from parliament of five thousand pounds ; while General Lyman, to whom the success of the provincials was mainly attri- buted, obtained no other reward for his gallantry than the honourable esteem of the people of New England.
Instead of proceeding at once to the reduction of Crown Point, Johnson, apprehensive of an at- tack with artillery, lingered on the borders of Lake George, where he employed his troops in building Fort William Henry. When the ap- proach of winter precluded all further advance, he left six hundred men to garrison the newly-
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1755.] SHIRLEY UNSUCCESSFUL.
erected fortress, and dismissed the remainder to their homes.
The expedition of Shirley against Niagara was not even partially successful. The troops col- lected for this enterprise, discouraged by the tid- ings of Braddock's defeat, and broken down by sickness and the difficulties of the route, finally reached Oswego during the month of August, where they commenced the erection of a new fort, and constructed a sufficient number of boats to bear them across Lake Ontario. But storms, heavy rains, and a scarcity of provisions, com- bined to delay the progress of the enterprise until the season was too far advanced to attempt it with any reasonable degree of safety. Baffled by these untoward circumstances, Shirley left seven hundred men in garrison at Oswego, and disbanding the rest of his forces, returned to Albany.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1755.
CHAPTER XVI.
Sir Charles Hardy appointed governor of New York-His popularity-Congress of governors-Expeditions agreed upon against Crown Point, Forts Niagara and Duquesne- Surprise of Ticonderoga proposed by Shirley -- Rejected by New York-Action of the assembly-Taxation for revenue resorted to-War formally declared against France -- Ob- noxious acts passed in England-Arrival of Abercrombie --- Assembling of the troops-Arrival of Loudoun-Activity of Montcalm-Oswego attacked-Death of Mercer-Capitula- tion of Forts Ontario and Oswego-Loudoun abandons offensive operations-Quarrels with the citizens of New York-Campaign of 1757-Futile expedition to Louisburg -Siege of Fort William Henry-Spirited defence of Monroe -- Surrender of the garrison-Indian outrages -- Conduct of Webb-Of Loudoun-Campaign of 1758-Energetic course of Pitt-Louisburg captured-Abercrombie repulsed before Ticonderoga-Fort Frontenac surprised and captured by Bradstreet-Forbes marches against Fort Duquesne- Its abandonment by the French.
ON the 2d of September, 1755, Sir Charles Hardy arrived at New York, and assumed the government of the province ; but as the new go- vernor, submitting to the counsel of his prede- cessor, did not seek to enforce the instructions with which he was charged, he soon became popular with the assembly, a majority of which still consisted of members friendly to the interest of Delancey.
Nothing could more strikingly display the ne- cessity of union among the colonies than the
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1755.] CONGRESS OF GOVERNORS.
want of success in the late hostile operations. With forces far superior in point of numbers to those which the French could bring into the field, the various expeditions had not only accomplished nothing of moment, but, in the case of Braddock, had sustained a terrible defeat, which encou- raged the Indians friendly to the French to fol- low up the successes of their active ally, by ravaging and laying waste the weak and exposed frontiers.
In the midst of this deplorable state of affairs, a congress of governors and military officers met at New York, on the 12th of December, to adopt a plan of operations for the ensuing year. All of those present expressed themselves conscious that no imposing success could attend the efforts of the colonies until parliament should interfere, and, by a general system of taxation and a uni- form plan of operations, give that unity and directness to the forces employed which the dis- orderly action of the respective colonial assem- blies at present prevented.
It was, however, agreed upon by the council to raise an army of twenty-one thousand men, one-half of whom were to renew the expedition against Crown Point; six thousand to attempt the reduction of Fort Niagara; while the remain- ing five thousand were to be employed against Fort Duquesne and the settlements on the Chan- dière. A subsequent proposition was made by
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1756.
Shirley, who had been appointed commander-in- chief, to surprise, by a winter expedition, the post at Ticonderoga, and thereby facilitate the capture of Crown Point. But the assembly of New York, to whom the project was communi- cated by the governor, refused to assist in the prosecution of the enterprise, unless Shirley would reinforce the provincial troops by a larger number of regulars than he could spare without injury to the plan laid down for the summer campaign.
For the latter, however, the assembly voted a Jevy of seventeen hundred men, and issued bills of credit on the faith of the colony to the amount of forty thousand pounds. The previous appro- priations having exhausted the resources of the province, the assembly, at the December session, resorted to taxation for a revenue. Duties were imposed on imports and on stamps, and such other means were adopted to meet the expenses of the war as were thought least burdensome to the people.
Great Britain at length formally declared war, and the Earl of Loudoun was appointed comman- der-in-chief throughout America, with a commis- sion as governor of Virginia, and extraordinary powers. Acts had also been passed by parliament subordinating the provincial officers to those com- missioned by the crown, and for quartering the troops on private houses. Both these acts gave
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1756.] ASSEMBLY OF THE TROOPS.
great offence throughout the colonies, which was not lessened by the arrogance and discourtesy with which they were enforced.
On the 25th of June, General Abercrombie, the second in command to Loudoun, reached Albany, having brought over with him from England the 35th regiment and Murray's regi- ment of Highlanders. There also were assembled seven thousand provincials and the remains of Braddock's regiments. The forts at Oswego, by the resolute activity of Bradstreet of New York, the commissary-general, had been amply supplied with provisions and stores for five thousand men. Intelligence being brought by the latter that the French were advancing to the assault of that post, Abercrombie, who had been vainly urged previ- ously by Shirley to reinforce the garrison, now ordered General Webb to be in readiness for that service; but his march was delayed until the arrival of the Earl of Loudoun on the 27th of July. The main army at length prepared to advance upon Ticonderoga and Crown Point, while Webb was despatched with his regiment of regulars to the relief of Oswego .. It was then too late.
The Marquis of Montcalm, who had lately suc- ceeded Dieskau as commander of the French forces in Canada, seizing rapid advantage of the isolated condition of Oswego, placed himself at the head of a mixed force of regulars, militia,
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1756.
and Indians, to the number of five thousand men. Ascending the St. Lawrence from Quebec, he crossed Lake Ontario with wonderful expedition. and appeared before the forts at Oswego on the evening of the 12th of August. These forts, two in number, were situated upon the right and left banks of the river from which the station was named, and at a short distance from the lake. Fort Ontario, built upon an eminence which commanded the more substantial works of Oswego, was strongly garrisoned by Peppe- rell's and Shirley's regiments, numbering over fifteen hundred men. Against this garrison, on the morning of the 13th, Montcalm, well sup- plied with artillery, opened his fire; and during the whole day the assault and defence were con- tinucd with unceasing vigour and resolution. Finding his ammunition failing, Mercer, the English commandant, spiked his cannon, and silently evacuating Fort Ontario, crossed the river under cover of the night, and occupied Fort Oswego with the greater portion of his force. Montcalm promptly took possession of the de- serted work, and commenced an uninterrupted fire upon the opposite fortress. On the 14th, Mercer having been previously killed by a can- non-ball, the garrison proposed terms of capitu- lation. The loss in killed and wounded was not great on either side; but one hundred and thirty- four pieces of artillery, six armed vessels, two
1756.] OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS ABANDONED. 209
hundred boats and batteaux, and an immense quantity of stores and provisions, were captured by the French. The garrison, over one thou- sand in number, after enduring some outrages from the Indians, which were greatly exagge- rated at the time, were sent to Montreal as pri- soners of war. To propitiate the Six Nations, Montcalm razed the forts, and returned to Ca- Dada in triumph.
The alarm created by the successful achieve- ment of this important and ably-conducted enter- prise, led to the abandonment of offensive opera- tions on the part of the British commanders. Webb, after advancing as far as the Oncida portage, fell back precipitately to Albany. Lou- doun, the commander-in-chief, recalled the main army, then on its way to Ticonderoga, and after reinforcing Forts Edward and William, dismissed the provincials and ordered the regulars into winter quarters. A thousand of the latter were crowded into the barracks at New York; but the magistrates of the city declining to grant free lodgings for the officers, the imperious earl threatened, that if the demand was not complied with, he would billet the whole of his forces upon the city. This outrageous conduct produced great indignation among the inhabitants; and though the difficulty was finally arranged by pri- vate subscription, the insolent arrogance of Lou-
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
[1757.
doun created toward him a general feeling of detestation.
The campaign of 1757 was equally inglorious to the British arms. The carly part of the sum- mer was wasted in preparations; and it was not until July that the indolent and imbecile Lou- doun, after providing for the safety of the fron- tiers, was enabled to leave New York to co-ope- rate with a fleet under Admiral Holborne in the attempted reduction of Louisburg. Sir Charles Hardy having been appointed to a naval com- mand in this expedition, the government of New York was again left in the hands of Delancey. While Loudoun, with a well-appointed army of ten thousand men, was loitering away his time at Halifax, a French squadron of seventeen sail anchoring in the harbour of Louisburg discon- certed the proposed attack. The indignant officers, with their broken-spirited troops, werc re-embarked for New York.
They had scarcely set sail on their return from what was contemptuously called "a cab- bage-planting expedition," in allusion to a vege- table garden with which Loudoun had amused his inactivity at Halifax, before tidings reached them of the capture of Fort William Henry. Gathering together the whole disposable force of Canada, regulars, Canadians, and Indians, to the number of eight thousand men, Montcalm ascended Lake George, and on the 2d of August
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1757.] FORT WILLIAM HENRY CAPTURED.
suddenly appcared before the astonished garri- son. Disembarking his troops at the southern point of the lake, he sent a portion of the Cana- dians to cut off all communication with Webb, who lay at Fort Edward, only fourteen miles distant, with an army of five thousand men. Another strong detachment, under De Levi, was posted in the woods to the north of the fort; while the main body took up a position on the west side of the lake. On the 4th of August, Monroe, the veteran commander of Fort William HIenry, was summoned to surrender; but con- fidently expecting to be reinforced by Webb, he determined upon a vigorous defence. Montcalm at once hastened up his artillery and commenced the attack. The conduct of General Webb in this emergency has been justly censured. During the progress of the siege, Sir William Johnson repeatedly solicited permission to march with a strong body of provincials to the relief of the beleaguered garrison ; but, labouring under the apprehension that Fort Edward would be the next object of attack, Webb not only rescinded the permission which after much importunity had been extorted from him, but wrote to Mon- roe, stating his inability to render him any as- sistance, and advising him to capitulate on the best terms he could obtain.
Notwithstanding the garrison at Fort William Henry did not much exceed two thousand men,
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1757.
the brave Monroe protracted the defence for six days; when, his ammunition being nearly ex- hausted and only four of his guns remaining ser- viceable, he agreed to surrender, on condition that his troops should be allowed to march out with the honours of war, and furnished with an escort to Fort Edward sufficient to protect them from the vindictive ferocity of the savages. To these terms Montcalm consented ; but, although both himself and his officers perilled their own lives to shield the vanquished garrison from the tomahawk and the scalping-knife, in spite of their most strenuous personal efforts many of the pri- soners were massacred, and a still larger number were seized and hurried off into captivity.
Within a few days after the surrender of Mon- roe, Webb had received additions of volunteers and militia until the force at Fort Edward was increased to twenty thousand men. It was then, however, too late to render any effective service. Satisfied with having achieved a triumph with so little loss to himself, Montcalm, hastily reducing the fort and out-buildings to a heap of ruins, re-embarked for Canada, bearing with him the immense quantity of stores which had fallen into his hands.
In the midst of the alarm created by this suc- cessful incursion, Loudoun arrived at New York from his fruitless expedition against Louisburg, and, partaking of the general panic, proposed to
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ACTIVITY OF THE FRENCH.
1758.]
encamp on Long Island for the defence of the continent. And thus, amid the sneers of coffee- house wits and the contempt of his own officers, the summer was passed. With more men capable of bearing arms in a single province than there were male inhabitants in the whole territory of Canada, and with an army of regulars amounting to twenty thousand men, the English had been shamefully expelled from the valley of the Ohio and from the borders of Lake Ontario and Lake George. The French, victorious in every engage- ment, not only held possession of the disputed territory, but had succeeded in coercing the Six Nations to a position of neutrality ; while their own Indian allies, spreading themselves along the frontiers from Massachusetts to Virginia, scarcely met with any resistance to their fero- cious and sanguinary career.
The campaign of 1758 opened under happier auspices. William Pitt, who " trampled upon impossibilities," and who had risen solely by the force of his commanding talents from the humble station of a cornet of dragoons to the head of the British cabinet, no sooner found himself in a po- sition to act without restraint, than he sought, with all the energies of his large mind, to effect a radical change in the aspect of American affairs. Thoroughly acquainted with the condi- tion of the colonies, he appeased the just discon- tent of the officers attached to the provincial
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
[1758.
levies by rescinding the odious army regulations, and allowing all, from the rank of colonel down- ward, an equal command with the British. By a circular addressed to the respective governors he called for all the men they could raise, to co- operate with the sea and land forces about to be sent from England ; taking upon himself to pro- vide arms, ammunition, tents, and provisions ; and, while requiring of the colonists to clothe and pay their levies, he promised that even these expenses should be reimbursed by parliament.
His requisitions were promptly met by a hearty response. The governments of New England were profusely liberal. New York enlarged her quota from one thousand seven hundred men to two thousand six hundred and eighty, and voted. one hundred thousand pounds to defray the charges of their service and equipment. Lou- doun was recalled, and Abercrombie appointed commander-in-chief. Early in May, fifty thou- sand men, including twenty-two thousand regu- lars, were ready to take the field.
The plan of the campaign embraced three ex- peditions : Admiral Boscawen, with a squadron of thirty-eight ships of war and an army of four- teen thousand men under Amherst, assisted by Brigadier-General Wolfe, was to attempt the reduction of Louisburg ; while Abercrombie, with fifteen thousand men, advanced against Ticonde- roga ; and Forbes, with six thousand regulars and
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CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG.
1758.]
provincials, marched to the conquest of Fort Du- quesne and the expulsion of the French from the valley of the Ohio.
On the 8th of June Boscawen appeared before the fortress at Louisburg, and the same day the troops were disembarked and the works invested. The siege was pressed with great caution and energy until the 27th of July, when, the French ships of war in the harbour having been destroyed or taken, the garrison capitulated, and the islands of Cape Breton and St. Johns were immediately taken possession of by the conquerors.
During the progress of this siege, Abercrombie marched from Fort Edward with nine thousand provincials and six thousand regulars, and em- barking in one thousand boats and batteaux, sailed down Lake George, bearing with him, on rafts prepared for that purpose, his artillery and military stores. The cloudless sun of that July morning looked down upon a magnificent array of troops in scarlet and gold, of burnished arms, and of waving banners, while the shores of the lake echoed back the inspiring sounds of martial music, by which the movements of the flotilla were accompanied. On the 6th of July, in a cove on the west side of the lake and near to its out- let, the army landed, and soon after, following the windings of the river, moved in four columns along the west bank of the stream, the regulars in the centre and the provincials on the flanks.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1758.
While advancing in some confusion over the un- even ground of the dense forest, the right centre under Lord Howe suddenly encountered near Trout Brook a detachment of three hundred men, who, having been sent by Montcalm to watch the movements of the English, had, in falling back during the previous night, lost their way in the woods. A sharp but brief skirmish ensued, which ended in the complete rout of the French. One hundred and fifty-seven men were taken prisoners, the remainder being either killed or dispersed. But this petty triumph was sad- dened by the loss of Lord Howe, who was shot dead at the head of his column when the firing first commenced.
After encamping in the forest for the night, Abercrombie thought of falling back to the place of landing; but by the energy of Lieutenant- Colonel Bradstreet, the bridges, which had been broken up by the enemy above and below the falls of the stream, were renewed; and a circuit of the stream being thus avoided, the army took possession of the Saw-mills, a strong military po- sition, within one mile and a half of the works at Ticonderoga.
These works consisted of Fort Carillon, sur- rounded on three sides by the waters of the lake. and obstructed landward, on the north, by a mo- rass. To defend the approach from the north- west, Montcalmn had thrown up a breastwork of
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1758.] ABERCROMBIE REPULSED.
logs, before which an abatis had been formed of trees felled, with their branches sharpened and extending outward. The force within the lines,. by the opportune arrival of a detachment under De Levi, amounted, on the evening of the 7th of July, to three thousand six hundred and fifty men.
On the morning of the Sth, Clerk, the chief engineer, who had been despatched to recon- noitre the lines, returned and reported them easily practicable. Without waiting for his ar- tillery, Abercrombie at once determined to carry the breastworks by storm, although Mount De- fiance, an eminence commanding the works, was in possession of his troops, and a few pieces of cannon judiciously placed upon it would have rendered Ticonderoga utterly untenable, with little, if any, loss to the besiegers. Having made his dispositions for the attack, the troops, with the regulars in front, were ordered to ad- vance with fixed bayonets, rush through the fire of the enemy, and reserve their own until they had passed the breastworks. Unconscious that on the right of the French the fortifications were unfinished, the storming party bore down upon that portion of the works which was most strong- ly protected by cannon.
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