USA > Vermont > Bennington County > History of Bennington County, Vt. : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 3
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The plan of the campaign for the first year of this war was determined upon at a convention of the provincial governors, held at Albany. It was there de- cided to start four expeditions-one under Braddock, against the French at Fort Du Quesne (now Pittsburgh, Pa ) ; one against Fort Niagara, under com- mand of General Shirley ; one against Crown Point, under Sir William John- son, and one against the French settlements in Nova Scotia, under Colonels Moncton and Winslow.
At first the French were almost everywhere victorious. Braddock, almost under the very gates of Fort Du Quesne, fell into an ambuscade, and his army was almost annihilated by a force vastly inferior to his own. The command under Shirley, intended for the capture of Fort Niagara, accomplished nothing more than to strengthen the British post at Oswego, but this soon fell into the hands of the French.
Sir William Johnson, to whom was entrusted the campaign against the French at Crown Point, and along Lake Champlain, collected a force of about five hundred troops and his ever faithful Iroquois at Albany, from which point he sent forward a detachment to build the fort called Fort Edward, but John- son with his whole command remained at Albany until the 10th of August, when he moved forward and established a camp near the south end of Lake George. In the meantime Baron Dieskau, the French commander, had occu- pied Ticonderoga. Johnson made preparations to attack the place, but the Frenchman, supposing he intended attacking Crown Point, moved forward to that place. Not being attacked by the French he moved forward to engage in battle, and hoped to press forward to Albany after having taken Fort Edward. The two forces met at Lake George and a severe battle ensued, in which the French were beaten and routed with considerable loss. Baron Dieskau was severely wounded, from the effects of which he died two years later. The French 'made a halt and rallied a force on the ground where the battle orig- inally commenced. Here they were attacked by the command under Captain M'Ginness, a New Hampshire officer, who had been ordered from Fort Ed- ward to aid the main army under Johnson In this last battle, which lasted nearly two hours, the French were again routed with a heavy loss. The Eng- lish lost twelve men, among whom was the brave M'Ginness. The total loss to the English in these several engagements amounted to one hundred and thirty killed, and sixty wounded. The Indians that fought with the English lost about forty in killed. The French lost in these battles about seven hundred men.
The campaign for the next year witnessed a greatly increased force on the field on both sides, and commanders whose names were new to the field. The French were under the brave and dashing Montcalm, while the English were
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
commanded by Lord Loudon, he having been ordered to America for that purpose. He, in the spring of 1757, with six thousand men, sailed from New York, intending to attack the French at Louisburg. At Halifax his force was increased to twelve thousand, besides the addition of a large number of trans- ports under Admiral Holburne ; but intelligence was received that the French forces were also greatly increased, both with men and war ships, whereupon the expedition was abandoned
For the campaign on the land Montcalm early commenced operations. He attempted to surprise and capture Fort William Henry, but was repulsed with considerable loss After this Colonel Parker was sent down the lake with a strong force of English and provincial troops for the purpose of bringing on a fight with the enemy's advance guard at Ticonderoga. But the French, ap- prised of their design, formed an ambuscade of French and Indians, into which the unsuspecting English fell and suffered a fearful loss, only about seventy escaping out of the four hundred that started. Encouraged by these successes Montcalm determined to again attack Fort William Henry. For this purpose he collected his forces, amounting to about ten thousand men, regulars, Cana- dians and Indians, at Crown Point and Ticonderoga.
General Webb, upon whom the command of the English forces devolved on the departure of Lord Loudon, selected Major Putnam with a force of two hundred picked men for an escort for himself (Webb) in making an examina- tion of the works at Lake George, and also in ascertaining the position and strength of the French. On the latter business Putnam was sent out with a small party, but being discovered by the enemy were pursued and barely escaped capture. Webb then prepared to return to Fort Edward and ordered Putnam to provide an escort. This was done the next day.
Colonel Monroe was then sent to reinforce the garrison at Lake George. His arrival was timely, for the next day Montcalm's forces appeared upon the lake, landed and laid siege to the fort. Monroe and his brave followers made as stout resistance as was possible, and sent frequently to General Webb for reinforcements, which at the very last moment that cowardly officer declined to furnish, but advised that. Monroe make the most favorable terms of surren- der possible and pass the post over into the hands of the enemy. This was the only course now left the besieged garrison, and terms of capitulation and surrender were agreed upon. 'The men were to march out with their arms and baggage, should be escorted to Fort Edward by a detachment of French troops, and should not take up arms against the French for a term of eighteen months. How well the victors carried out and observed the terms of the sur- render on their part is shown by the fact that the garrison had no sooner than passed outside the protection of the fort than the Canadian Indians fell upon the defenseless soldiers with the greatest ferocity imaginable, and with toma- hawk and knife most inhumanly butchered and scalped them. The total loss
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CAMPAIGN OF 1758.
in this massacre amounted to not less than fifteen hundred persons. Mont- calm held the means of preventing it had he chosen to exercise his power. But Webb could have relieved the post upon which the attack was made, and thus prevented the possibility of the slaughter, but his cowardice and ineffi- ciency held him back.
The next day after the massacre Major Putnam's rangers were sent to watch the motions of the enemy who were then expected to press on toward the set- tlements further south; but Montcalm, satisfied with his victory, retired to his strongholds at Crown Point and Ticonderoga. This practically ended the year's campaign in this quarter.
During the period of the war to this time the French had been generally successful. They had maintained not only their own position, but had made inroads and conquests in the country of the English and provincials. The strength of their Indian force had been increased by the acquisition of the Sen- ecas, the most fierce and bloodthirsty of any of the tribes of the Iroquois. But they were not engaged in this region, the Indian force hereabouts being almost entirely composed of Canadian savages, between whom and the Iroquois or Six Nations, there was not the slightest friendship.
The campaign of the year 1758 was carried on by the English with more determination than had previously been shown. It had been apparent to the British government that if she intended to acquire America it must be accom- plished speedily. In this year William Pitt entered the councils of George II. as actual, though not nominal chief of the ministry, and then England entered earnestly into the contest. The western army passed under the command of General John Forbes, and that year Fort Du Quesne was abandoned and de- stroyed before the steady and determined approach of the English, and other prominent French outposts were deserted or burned.
The plan of the campaign in the east provided for a force of twelve thou- sand troops to be sent against Louisburg, in the island of Cape Breton, under the chief command of General Amherst, assisted by Generals Wolfe, Whitmore and Lawrence for the land force, while Admiral Boscawen commanded the co- operating fleet. Another army of sixteen thousand men under General Aber- erombie was provided to make an aggressive campaign against the strong- holds of Montcalm at Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
Early in May the fleet under Boscawen came to anchor at a point about seven miles west of Louisburg, and on the 8th of the month Wolfe's troops effected a landing. The French force consisted of over three thousand troops, regulars and Canadians, and ten available ships of the line and frigates, all un- der command of Chevalier Drucour. The engagement was carefully, but with determination, carried out by General Amherst, while the besieged garrison fought with no less determination, but being greatly outnumbered and their few warships destroyed, the French surrendered the town on the 26th of July.
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
The arrangements for the campaign against Montcalm were no less perfect, but by no means as successful. The whole force comprised seven thousand regular and nine thousand provincial troops, the latter being mainly from New York and New England. Among the New England soldiery were a number who afterward became prominently associated with the affairs of Bennington .county.
Abercrombie's army was moved forward to Fort William Henry, where, on the 5th of July, it embarked on batteaux and whale boats, and made a night passage to the north end of the lake, arriving on the morning of the 6th. Here the army was formed into three columns and the advance upon the encmy's outposts commenced. The French retreated before the superior force to the cover of their main works, and the English, after penetrating further and be- coming entangled in the dense undergrowth and their progress impeded by the fallen timber, thought best to retire and encamp on the site of their landing place and there pass the night. On the next morning, being desirous of mak- ing the battle before Montcalm could bring forward reinforcements, Aber- crombie sent forward his engineer to ascertain the exact position of the enemy and the probable strengh of their fortifications. The report being of a favor- able nature the advance was at once ordered. The ground between the Eng- lish and French was covered with fallen timber and a dense growth of brush and vines, and it was through this that the attacking party were compelled to work their way. All the time the French were strongly entrenched behind their breastworks of logs, from which they poured into the thicket a steady and deadly fire from the artillery and small arms. For nearly half a day the Eng- lish struggled in the thicket without being able to return the enemy's fire with any effect, but further effort being worse than useless, a retreat was ordered to their former encampment with no attempt at pursuit being made by the French or Indians. The loss to the English and provincials in this disastrous affair was eighteen hundred in killed and wounded, and twenty-five hundred stand of arms. The French loss was very light.
Abercrombie was greatly mortified by this disaster, but he by no means lost heart. He ordered the building of a fort at the " camping place," between the Mohawk and Onondaga Rivers ; from thence he dispatched Colonel Brad- street with a strong force to take Fort Frontenac, a post at the outlet of Lake Ontario (now Oswego), where was a quantity of ammunition and stores. The fort was but feebly garrisoned by two companies of French, and a few Indians, who made no resistance to the demand for surrender.
The result of the several campaigns of 1758 was wholly satisfactory to the English. The western posts had been taken or abandoned, and the French of that region had concentrated at Fort Niagara. The misfortune of General Ab- ercrombie at Ticonderoga was the most serious disaster of the year.
In 1759 still heavier blows were struck. General Amherst commanded the
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EVENTS OF THE WAR.
army intended to attack Ticonderoga and the other French posts in the Cham- plain region. General Prideaux with two thousand British and provincials, and Sir William Johnson with one thousand faithful Iroquois sailed up Ontario and laid siege to Fort Niagara. General Wolfe was sent to take Quebec. These were the three expeditions determined upon for this year, each of which was successful. The last named was the most important, for Quebec was considered the Gibraltar of the French. So it was too, and under command of the in- trepid Montcalm. In September Wolfe assailed the town and took possession of the Heights of Abraham. Hearing of this the French commander deter- mined to force a battle outside his own camp. The contest was long and fierce, but the cool determination of the British prevailed over the French impulsive- ness, and thus Quebec fell. Both Montcalm and Wolfe fell while leading their respective forces. This famous stronghold of the French-Quebec-was sur- rendered up to the British September 18, 1759.
No less successful was the campaign against the French forts on the Cham- plain. Amherst proceeded carefully through the valley, and about the mid- dle of July arrived before Ticonderoga, but the French, acting on the defen- sive, abandoned the place and concentrated their forces at Crown Point. The English occupied the deserted post and prepared for an attack on Crown Point, but this, too, was abandoned by the frightened Frenchmen who withdrew to Isle Aux Noix, a strong position at the north end of the lake. For a time General Amherst remained at Crown Point, whither he had gone after the French withdrew. From here he dispatched Major Rogers, a New Hampshire officer, with a strong force against the St. Francis Indians, whose village was on the south of the St. Lawrence. These were the Indians who, at the insti- gation of the French, had committed the several acts of cruelty upon the in- habitants of the frontier towns. They could easily pass down the Champlain Valley and across the wooded country both to the east and west and south, and under cover of night, make an attack upon some small and defenseless village. Their acts have already been narrated. They were a continual terror to the frontier settlements, and knew not mercy.
In this expedition, the details of which are not necessary, Major Rogers adopted the tactics of the Indians, without which his attempt would probably have failed. It resulted in the surprise and destruction of the Indian town, and the killing of its inhabitants. The St. Francis Indians never showed mercy, and upon this occasion they received none.
Of the three hundred occupants of the village two hundred were slain and twenty taken prisoners. The loss to Major Rogers's force was but one killed and six slightly wounded. But on account of the fact that a relief force or- dered by Major Rogers to be sent to him on the Connecticut River failed in its duty, he and his command suffered terribly on the return journey through the Connecticut Valley. 5
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
Returning to the scenes of the campaign conducted by General Amherst against the French at Isle Aux Noix, it is found that the latter are strongly posted and an effort to dislodge them with a naval fleet to co-operate with the land force is useless. The season's campaign closes while these preparations are making and the final victory over the French is reserved for another year.
Elsewhere we find General Prideaux and Sir William Johnson laying close siege to Fort Niagara ; and the post must fall unless relief comes. D'Aubrey, at Venango, answers a call and responds with his most zealous endeavors. Gathering troops from far and near, stripping bare the little French posts of the West and mustering every red man he could persuade to follow, he set forth to relieve distressed Niagara with nearly a thousand Frenchmen and four hundred dusky warriors of the West. The forces of Sir William Johnson met those of D'Aubrey, and after a long and bloody fight the French were utterly routed. On the news reaching the fort the garrison at once surrendered, and the control of Niagara, which for more than one hundred years had been in the possession of the French, passed into the hands of the English.
During the early part of the month of September, 1760, after perfect ar- rangements for the conduct of the campaign against the remaining French stronghold had been completed, and the disposition of the several attacking forces were being made, the French commander, Vaudreuil, governor-general of the province of Canada, sent a flag of truce to General Amherst requesting terms of surrender. These being arranged and agreed to, on the Sth of Sep- tember, 1760, the whole province of Canada surrendered to the British, to- gether with all other posts within the French jurisdiction. This surrender was ratified by a treaty of peace between England and France, in February, 1763, which ceded all French power in America to Great Britain.
CHAPTER V.
A Brief Review of Leading Events-The Granting of Charters-The Several Kinds of Grants or Charters-New Hampshire-New York-Disputes as to Boundaries Between Prov- inces-Events that Led to the Controversy Between New Hampshire and New York for Pos- session of " Vermont "-Respective Claims of those Provinces-Granting Townships.
T HE treaty of peace concluded between the English and French govern- ments at the close of the war left to the former the undisputed possession and jurisdiction of the whole of North America. This vast territory England had always claimed by right of discovery and possession from the time of the expedition under the Cabots in 1497; and the subsequent wars in which the
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ROYAL GRANTS. 1826774
British became engaged against other European governments was but for the maintenance of what she considered her just and indisputable right. As will be seen from the foregoing pages England first contended against Holland for the possession of New Netherlands, and having made a successful conquest be- came the recognized lawful owner and possessor of all the territory claimed by the Dutch. For like reasons was the recently mentioned contest carried on against the government of France, but the French, unlike the Dutch, con- tended for the possession of the whole territory of America, claiming the same, as did England, by priority of discovery and settlement.
During the progress of the war between France and England there ap- pears to have been but two settled localities within the limits of the present State of Vermont, the one at Fort Dummer, in the southeast corner, and the other in what is now Addison county, on the shore of Lake Champlain. The former was erected as a military post by the New England colonists for the purpose of protecting their frontier settlements on the south, and was supposed to have been within the bounds of the province of Massachusetts. The fort and settlement on Lake Champlain were built by the French, the fort as auxil- liary to their stronger fortifications at Crown Point, and the settlement for the general purpose of extending the French possessions. By the treaty, however, these were abandoned, thus leaving the whole territory of what afterward be- came Bennington county, without an occupant.
In the exercise of what England believed to be, and unquestionably was, her right and duty for the proper administration of affairs in this country, the king from time to time, as occasion or fancy suggested, made grants or char- ters of extensive tracts of land in America to divers persons, individually or collectively.
"By the English constitution," says Governor Hall's history of Vermont, " the title to all the lands belonging to the natives was vested in the king, who might grant them at pleasure. The king also exercised the power of creating corporations by charter, and prior to this grant of King Charles to the duke, extensive portions of North America had been granted by the crown, either to individuals or to corporations thus constituted. The charters to corporations not only passed the title of the crown to the lands they described, but also con- ferred on the grantees certain powers of government over the people that should thereafter inhabit them. Some of the king's charters to individuals also conferred on them powers of government, while others only conveyed title to the soil. The grants of the king with corporate powers, constituted what was denominated charter governments. To this class belonged those of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and also some of the more south- ern colonies. When the lands of a province with political authority were granted to an individual, the government thus constituted was termed a pro- prietary government. Of this character were the grants of Maryland to Lord
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
Baltimore, of Pennsylvania, to Mr. Penn, and also the grant of New Nether- lands to the Duke of York."
" There was another class of English colonial governments," continues the same writer, " which were styled royal governments. Those were governments in which the king, untramelled by charter grants of the soil or of political privileges, retained over them all his original authority. They were presided over by a governor, assisted by a council appointed by the crown, and removable at his pleasure. The governor had a negative upon the proceed- ings of any assembly of the people which he might convene, with power to prorogue or dissolve it, whenever he saw fit. To the governor was also com- mitted authority to grant, for and in the name of the king, any unchartered lands in his province. The king retained full power over the boundaries and extent of these royal colonies, and might enlarge on or contract them at pleas- ure. These changes in the limits and extent of royal provinces were not un- frequently made, sometimes by creating new charter governments in portions of the territory, sometimes by the adjudication of boundary disputes between provinces, at others by descriptions of territory in commissions to governors, and sometimes by mere informal recognition or usage. To this class of royal provinces belonged both New York and New Hampshire at the time of the territorial controversy between them in relation to Vermont; for although the former province had originally been chartered to the Duke of York with polit- ical authority, yet, on his accession to the throne in 1685, his title merged in the crown, and the colony was ever afterwards governed as a royal province."
We have extracted thus freely from Governor Hall's history of Vermont, for the reason that there does not exist any work more full and comprehensive, or one that furnishes a more intelligent explanation of the subject it purports to discuss. It would be interesting and instructive to the reader of this volume could ample space be devoted to a description of each of the numerous grants and charters of tracts of land in America to the several corporations and per- sons to whom they were made; but the scope of this work admits of no such description beyond a brief recital of the events that led to the famous contro- versy between the provinces of New York on the west, and New Hampshire on the east, for the possession of that tract of land now known as the State of Vermont. And it is not proposed to devote much space to the claim set up by Massachusetts to the tract mentioned, as that claim when compared with the other was a mere circumstance, a side issue, believed to have been inter - posed by that province for the purpose of promoting the cause of the inhabi- tants of the then called New Hampshire Grants.
In the year 1629, John Mason, who had been prominently associated with the council of Plymouth, in fact being its secretary, procured a patent for a large tract of land situate near the eastern extremity of the main land in Amer- ica, to which was given the name of New Hampshire, and so named from the
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PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
fact that Mason was a former resident of the county of Hampshire, in England. But Mason had not the right of administering the governmental affairs of this tract, the authority therefore granted being given through a commission from the crown. Therefore New Hampshire was classed as a royal province.
A dispute finally arose between the provincial government of New Hamp- shire and the charter government of Massachusetts as to the boundary line be- tween the two provinces. After several attempts at an adjustment of these differences, the king's council finally made a decree defining the boundaries, that proved entirely favorable to New Hampshire by extending the western boundary thereof " until it meets with his majesty's other governments," mean- ing the east boundary of the province of New York. This decision and order also compelled Massachusetts to surrender a twelve mile strip from off her north side to New Hampshire. This order of the council was made in 1740.
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