The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 (of 5)
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[Footnote 138: It is said the secret was kept until a member
who performed family devotion at his lodgings, betrayed it
by praying for the divine blessing on the attempt.]
The subject being re-considered, a resolution in favour of the
enterprise was carried by a single voice, in the absence of several
members known to be against it. Yet all parties manifested equal zeal
for its success. A general embargo was laid, and messengers were
despatched to the several governments as far south as Pennsylvania,
soliciting their aid. These solicitations succeeded only in the
northern provinces. There being at that time no person in New England
who had acquired any military reputation, the chief command was
conferred on colonel Pepperel, a merchant, who was also a large land
holder, and was highly respected throughout Massachusetts.[139]
[Footnote 139: Hutchison.]
All ranks of men combined to facilitate the enterprise, and those
circumstances which are beyond human control, also concurred to favour
the general wish.
The governors of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, whose orders forbade
their assent to a farther emission of bills of credit, departed from
their instructions to promote this favourite project; the people
submitted to impressments of their property; and a mild winter gave no
interruption to their warlike preparations.
The troops of Massachusetts,[140] New Hampshire, and Connecticut,
amounting to rather more than four thousand men, assembled at Canseau
about the middle of April; soon after which, to the great joy of the
colonial troops, admiral Warren arrived, with a considerable part of
his fleet. The army then embarked for Chapeau-rouge bay, and the fleet
cruised off Louisbourg.
[Footnote 140: The day before the armament sailed from
Massachusetts, an express boat, which had been dispatched to
admiral Warren to solicit assistance, returned with the
unwelcome intelligence that he declined furnishing the aid
required. This information could not arrest the expedition.
Fortunately for its success, the orders from England soon
afterwards reached the admiral, who immediately detached a
part of his fleet; which he soon followed himself in the
Superb, of sixty guns.]
After repulsing a small detachment of French troops, the landing was
effected; and, in the course of the night, a body of about four
hundred men led by Vaughan, marched round to the north east part of
the harbour, and set fire to a number of warehouses containing
spirituous liquors and naval stores. The smoke being driven by the
wind into the grand battery, caused such darkness that the men placed
in it were unable to distinguish objects; and, being apprehensive of
an attack from the whole English army, abandoned the fort and fled
into the town.
The next morning, as Vaughan was returning to camp with only thirteen
men, he ascended the hill which overlooked the battery, and observing
that the chimneys in the barracks were without smoke, and the staff
without its flag, he hired an Indian, with a bottle of rum, to crawl
through an embrasure, and open the gate. Vaughan entered with his men
and defended the battery against a party then landing to regain
possession until the arrival of a reinforcement.
For fourteen nights successively, the troops were employed in dragging
cannon from the landing place to the encampment, a distance of near
two miles, through a deep morass. The army, being totally unacquainted
with the art of conducting sieges, made its approaches irregularly,
and sustained some loss on this account.
While these approaches were making by land, the ships of war which
continued to cruise off the harbour, fell in with and captured the
Vigilant, a French man of war of sixty-four guns, having on board a
reinforcement of five hundred and sixty men, and a large quantity of
stores for the garrison. Soon after this, an unsuccessful, and,
perhaps, a rash attempt was made on the island battery by four hundred
men; of whom sixty were killed, and one hundred and sixteen taken
prisoners. All these prisoners, as if by previous concert, exaggerated
the numbers of the besieging army, a deception which was favoured by
the unevenness of the ground, and the dispersed state of the troops;
and which probably contributed to the surrender of the place. The
provincial army did indeed present a formidable front, but, in the
rear, all was frolic and confusion.
The Vigilant had been anxiously expected by the garrison, and the
information of her capture excited a considerable degree of
perturbation. This event, with the erection of some works on the high
cliff at the light house, by which the island battery was much
annoyed, and the preparations evidently making for a general assault,
determined Duchambon, the governor of Louisbourg, to surrender; and,
in a few days, he capitulated.
[Sidenote: Louisbourg surrenders.]
Upon entering the fortress, and viewing its strength, and its means of
defence, all perceived how impracticable it would have been to carry
it by assault.[141]
[Footnote 141: Belknap. Hutchison.]
The joy excited in the British colonies by the success of the
expedition against Louisbourg was unbounded. Even those who had
refused to participate in its hazards and expense, were sensible of
its advantages, and of the lustre it shed on the American arms.
Although some disposition was manifested in England, to ascribe the
whole merit of the conquest to the navy, colonel Pepperel received,
with the title of baronet, the more substantial reward of a regiment
in the British service, to be raised in America; and the same mark of
royal favour was bestowed on governor Shirley. Reimbursements too were
made by parliament for the expenses of the expedition. It was the only
decisive advantage obtained by the English during the war.
The capture of Louisbourg, most probably, preserved Nova Scotia.
Duvivier, who had embarked for France to solicit an armament for the
conquest of that province, sailed, in July, 1745, with seven ships of
war, and a body of land forces. He was ordered to stop at Louisbourg,
and thence to proceed in the execution of his plan. Hearing, at sea,
of the fall of that place, and that a British squadron was stationed
at it, he relinquished the expedition against Nova Scotia, and
returned to Europe.
The British empire on the American continent consisted, originally, of
two feeble settlements unconnected with, and almost unknown to each
other. For a long time the southern colonies, separated from those of
New England by an immense wilderness, and by the possessions of other
European powers, had no intercourse with them, except what was
produced by the small trading vessels of the north, which occasionally
entered the rivers of the south. Neither participated in the wars or
pursuits of the other; nor were they, in any respect, actuated by
common views, or united by common interest. The conquest of the
country between Connecticut and Maryland, laid a foundation, which the
settlement of the middle colonies completed, for connecting these
disjoined members, and forming one consolidated whole, capable of
moving, and acting in concert. This gradual change, unobserved in its
commencement, had now become too perceptible to be longer overlooked;
and, henceforward, the efforts of the colonies, were in a great
measure combined, and directed to a common object.
France, as well as England, had extended her views with her
settlements; and, after the fall of Louisbourg, the governments of
both nations meditated important operations for the ensuing campaign
in America.
[Sidenote: Great plans of the belligerents.]
France contemplated, not only the recovery of Cape Breton and Nova
Scotia, but the total devastation of the sea coast, if not the entire
conquest of New England.
Britain, on her part, calculated on the reduction of Canada, and the
entire expulsion of the French from the American continent.
{1746}
Shirley repaired to Louisbourg, after its surrender, where he held a
consultation with Warren and Pepperel on the favourite subject of
future and more extensive operations against the neighbouring
possessions of France. From that place he wrote pressingly to
administration, for reinforcements of men and ships to enable him to
execute his plans. The capture of Louisbourg gave such weight to his
solicitations that, in the following spring, the duke of New Castle,
then secretary of state, addressed a circular letter to the governors
of the provinces as far south as Virginia, requiring them to raise as
many men as they could spare, and hold them in readiness to act
according to the orders that should be received. Before this letter
was written, an extensive plan of operations had been digested in the
British cabinet. It was proposed to detach a military and naval
armament which should, early in the season, join the troops to be
raised in New England, at Louisbourg; whence they were to proceed up
the St. Lawrence to Quebec. The troops from New York, and from the
more southern provinces, were to be collected at Albany, and to march
against Crown Point, and Montreal.
This plan, so far as it depended on the colonies, was executed with
promptness and alacrity. The men were raised, and waited with
impatience for employment; but neither troops, nor orders, arrived
from England. The fleet destined for this service, sailed seven times
from Spithead; and was compelled as often, by contrary winds, to
return.
Late in the season, the military commanders in America, despairing of
the succours promised by England, determined to assemble a body of
provincials at Albany, and make an attempt on Crown Point. While
preparing for the execution of this plan, they received accounts
stating that Annapolis was in danger from a body of French and Indians
assembled at Minas; upon which, orders were issued for the troops of
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, to embark for Nova
Scotia. Before these orders could be executed, intelligence was
received which directed their attention to their own defence.
It was reported that a large fleet and army, under the command of the
duke D'Anville, had arrived in Nova Scotia, and the views of conquest,
which had been formed by the northern colonies, were converted into
fears for their own safety. For six weeks, continual apprehensions of
invasion were entertained; and the most vigorous measures were taken
to repel it. From this state of anxious solicitude, they were at
length relieved by the arrival of some prisoners set at liberty by the
French, who communicated the extreme distress of the fleet.
[Sidenote: The French fleet dispersed by a storm.]
This formidable armament consisted of near forty ships of war, seven
of which were of the line; of two artillery ships; and of fifty-six
transports laden with provisions and military stores, carrying three
thousand five hundred land forces, and forty thousand stand of small
arms, for the use of the Canadians and Indians. The fleet sailed in
June, but was attacked by such furious and repeated storms, that many
of the ships were wrecked, and others dispersed. In addition to this
disaster, the troops were infected with a disease which carried them
off in great numbers. While lying in Chebucto, under these
circumstances, a vessel which had been dispatched by governor Shirley
to admiral Townshend at Louisbourg, with a letter stating his
expectation that a British fleet would follow that of France to
America, was intercepted by a cruiser, and brought in to the admiral.
These dispatches were opened in a council of war, which was
considerably divided respecting their future conduct. This
circumstance, added to the calamities already sustained, so affected
the commander in chief, that he died suddenly. The vice-admiral fell
by his own hand; and the command devolved on Monsieur le Jonguiere,
governor of Canada, who had been declared _chef d'escadre_ after the
fleet sailed.
The design of invading New England was relinquished, and it was
resolved to make an attempt on Annapolis. With this view the fleet
sailed from Chebucto, but was again overtaken by a violent tempest
which scattered the vessels composing it. Those which escaped
shipwreck returned singly to France.[142]
[Footnote 142: Hutchison. Belknap.]
"Never," says Mr. Belknap, "was the hand of divine providence more
visible than on this occasion. Never was a disappointment more severe
on the part of the enemy, nor a deliverance more complete, without
human help, in favour of this country."
As soon as the fears excited by this armament were dissipated, the
project of dislodging the French and Indians, who had invaded Nova
Scotia, was resumed. Governor Shirley detached a part of the troops of
Massachusetts on this service; and pressed the governors of Rhode
Island and New Hampshire, to co-operate with him. The quotas furnished
by these colonies were prevented by several accidents from joining
that of Massachusetts, which was inferior to the enemy in numbers. The
French and Indians, under cover of a snow storm, surprised the English
at Minas; who, after an obstinate resistance, in which they lost
upwards of one hundred men, were compelled to capitulate, and to
engage not to bear arms against his Most Christian Majesty, in Nova
Scotia for one year. De Ramsay, who commanded the French, returned
soon afterwards to Canada.
No farther transactions of importance took place in America during the
war, which was terminated by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle. By this
treaty, it was stipulated that all conquests made during the war
should be restored; and the colonists had the mortification to see the
French re-possess themselves of Cape Breton.
The heavy expenses which had been incurred by the New England
colonies, and especially by Massachusetts, had occasioned large
emissions of paper money, and an unavoidable depreciation. Instead of
availing themselves of peace, to discharge the debts contracted during
war, they eagerly desired to satisfy every demand on the public
treasury, by farther emissions of bills of credit, redeemable at
future and distant periods. Every inconvenience under which commerce
was supposed to labour, every difficulty encountered in the interior
economy of the province, was attributed to a scarcity of money; and
this scarcity was to be removed, not by increased industry, but by
putting an additional sum in circulation. The rate of exchange, and
the price of all commodities, soon disclosed the political truth that,
however the quantity of the circulating medium may be augmented, its
aggregate value cannot be arbitrarily increased; and that the effect
of such a depreciating currency must necessarily be, to discourage the
payment of debts, by holding out the hope of discharging contracts
with less real value than that for which they were made; and to
substitute cunning and speculation, for honest and regular industry.
Yet the majority had persevered in this demoralising system. The
depreciation had reached eleven for one; and the evil was almost
deemed incurable, when the fortunate circumstance of a reimbursement
in specie, made by parliament for colonial expenditures on account of
the expeditions against Louisbourg and Canada, suggested to Mr.
Hutchinson, speaker of the house of representatives in Massachusetts,
the idea of redeeming the paper money in circulation, at its then real
value.
This scheme, at first deemed Utopian, was opposed by many well meaning
men who feared that its effect would be to give a shock to the trade
and domestic industry of the province; and who thought that, as the
depreciation had been gradual, justice required that the appreciation
should be gradual also.
[Sidenote: Paper money redeemed.]
With great difficulty, the measure was carried; and the bills of
credit in circulation, were redeemed at fifty shillings the ounce. The
evils which had been apprehended were soon found to be imaginary.
Specie immediately took the place of paper. Trade, so far from
sustaining a shock, nourished more than before this change in the
domestic economy of the colony; and the commerce of Massachusetts
immediately received an impulse, which enabled it to surpass that of
her neighbours who retained their paper medium.[143]
[Footnote 143: Hutchison.]
[Sidenote: Renewal of contests with the French colonies respecting
boundary.]
The treaty of Aix la Chapelle did not remove the previously existing
controversies between the colonies of France and England respecting
boundary. These controversies, originating in the manner in which
their settlements had been made, and at first of small consequence,
were now assuming a serious aspect. America was becoming an object of
greater attention; and, as her importance increased, the question
concerning limits became important also.
{1749}
In settling this continent, the powers of Europe, estimating the right
of the natives at nothing, adopted, for their own government, the
principle, that those who first discovered and took possession of any
particular territory, became its rightful proprietors. But as only a
small portion of it could then be reduced to actual occupation, the
extent of country thus acquired was not well ascertained. Contests
respecting prior discovery, and extent of possession, arose among all
the first settlers. England terminated her controversy with Sweden and
with Holland, by the early conquest of their territories; but her
conflicting claims with France and with Spain, remained unadjusted.
On the south, Spain had pretensions to the whole province of Georgia,
while England had granted the country as far as the river St. Matheo,
in Florida.
On the north, the right of France to Canada was undisputed; but the
country between the St. Lawrence and New England had been claimed by
both nations, and granted by both. The first settlement appears to
have been made by the French; but its principal town, called Port
Royal, or Annapolis, had been repeatedly taken by the English; and, by
the treaty of Utrecht, the whole province, by the name of Nova Scotia,
or Acadie, according to its ancient limits had been ceded to them.
But the boundaries of Nova Scotia, or Acadie, had never been
ascertained. Though the treaty of Utrecht had provided that
commissioners should be appointed by the two crowns, to adjust the
limits of their respective colonies, the adjustment had never been
made. France claimed to the Kennebec; and insisted "that only the
peninsula which is formed by the bay of Fundy, the Atlantic ocean, and
the gulf of St. Lawrence," was included in the cession of "Nova
Scotia, or Acadie, according to its ancient limits." England, on the
other hand, claimed all the country on the main land south of the
river St. Lawrence. Under the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, commissioners
were again appointed to settle these differences, who maintained the
rights of their respective sovereigns with great ability, and
laborious research; but their zeal produced a degree of asperity
unfavourable to accommodation.
While this contest for the cold and uninviting country of Nova Scotia
was carried on with equal acrimony and talents, a controversy arose
for richer and more extensive regions in the south and west.
[Sidenote: Discovery of the Mississippi.]
So early as the year 1660, information was received, in Canada, from
the Indians, that, west of that colony, was a great river, flowing
neither to the north, nor to the east. The government, conjecturing
that it must empty itself either into the gulf of Mexico or the south
sea, committed the care of ascertaining the fact to Joliet, an
inhabitant of Quebec, and to the Jesuit Marquette. These men proceeded
from lake Michigan up the river of the Foxes, almost to its source,
whence they travelled westward to the Ouisconsing, which they pursued
to its confluence with the Mississippi. They sailed down this river to
the 33d degree of north latitude, and returned by land, through the
country of the Illinois, to Canada.
The mouth of the Mississippi was afterwards discovered by la Salle, an
enterprising Norman, who, immediately after his return to Quebec,
embarked for France, in the hope of inducing the cabinet of Versailles
to patronise a scheme for proceeding by sea to the mouth of that river
and settling a colony on its banks.
Having succeeded in this application, he sailed for the gulf of
Mexico, with a few colonists; but, steering too far westward, he
arrived at the bay of St. Bernard, about one hundred leagues from the
mouth of the Mississippi. In consequence of a quarrel between him and
Beaulieu, who commanded the fleet, the colonists were landed at this
place. La Salle was, soon afterwards, assassinated by his own men; and
his followers were murdered or dispersed by the Spaniards and the
Indians.
Several other attempts were made by the French to settle the country;
but, by some unaccountable fatality, instead of seating themselves on
the fertile borders of the Mississippi, they continually landed about
the barren sands of Biloxi, and the bay of Mobile. It was not until
the year 1722, that the miserable remnant of those who had been
carried thither at various times, was transplanted to New Orleans; nor
until the year 1731, that the colony began to flourish.
[Sidenote: Scheme for connecting Louisiana with Canada.]
It had received the name of Louisiana, and soon extended itself by
detached settlements, up the Mississippi and its waters, towards the
great lakes.[144] As it advanced northward, the vast and interesting
plan was formed of connecting it with Canada by a chain of forts.
[Footnote 144: Abbe Raynal.]
The fine climate and fertile soil of upper Louisiana enabling it to
produce and maintain an immense population, rendered it an object
which promised complete gratification to the views of France; while
the extent given to it by that nation, excited the most serious alarm
among the colonies of Britain.
The charters granted by the crown of England to the first adventurers,
having extended from the Atlantic to the South Sea, their settlements
had regularly advanced westward, in the belief that their title to the
country in that direction, could not be controverted. The settlements
of the French, stretching from north to south, necessarily interfered
with those of the English. Their plan, if executed, would completely
environ the English. Canada and Louisiana united, as has been aptly
said, would form a bow, of which the English colonies would constitute
the chord.
While Great Britain claimed, indefinitely, to the west, as
appertaining to her possession of the sea coast; France insisted on
confining her to the eastern side of the Apalachian, or Alleghany,
mountains; and claimed the whole country drained by the Mississippi,
in virtue of her right as the first discoverer of that river. The
delightful region which forms the magnificent vale of the Mississippi
was the object for which these two powerful nations contended; and it
soon became apparent that the sword must decide the contest.
The white population of the English colonies was supposed to exceed
one million of souls, while that of the French was estimated at only
fifty-two thousand.[145]
[Footnote 145: The following estimate is taken from "The
History of the British empire in North America," and is there
said to be an authentic account from the militia rolls, poll
taxes, bills of mortality, returns from governors, and other
authorities.
The colonies of Inhabitants.
Halifax and Lunenberg in Nova Scotia 5,000
New Hampshire 30,000
Massachusetts Bay 220,000
Rhode Island and Providence 35,000
Connecticut 100,000
New York 100,000
The Jerseys 60,000
Pennsylvania (then including Delaware) 250,000
Maryland 85,000
Virginia 85,000
North Carolina 45,000
South Carolina 30,000
Georgia 6,000
---------
Total 1,051,000
The white inhabitants of the French colonies were thus
estimated:
The colonies of Inhabitants.
Canada 45,000
Louisiana 7,000
------
Total 52,000]
This disparity of numbers did not intimidate the governor of New
France--a title comprehending both Canada and Louisiana; nor deter him
from proceeding in the execution of his favourite plan. The French
possessed advantages which, he persuaded himself, would counterbalance
the superior numbers of the English. Their whole power was united
under one governor, who could give it such a direction as his judgment
should dictate. The genius of the people and of the government was
military; and the inhabitants could readily be called into the field,
when their service should be required. Great reliance too was placed
on the Indians. These savages, with the exception of the Five Nations,
were generally attached to France, and were well trained to war. To
these advantages was added a perfect knowledge of the country about to
become the theatre of action.