The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 (of 5)
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The British colonies, on the other hand, were divided into distinct
governments, unaccustomed, except those of New England, to act in
concert; were jealous of the power of the crown; and were spread over
a large extent of territory, the soil of which, in all the middle
colonies, was cultivated by men unused to arms.
The governors of Canada, who were generally military men, had, for
several preceding years, judiciously selected and fortified such
situations as would give them most influence over the Indians, and
facilitate incursions into the northern provinces. The command of Lake
Champlain had been acquired by the erection of a strong fort at Crown
Point; and a connected chain of posts was maintained from Quebec, up
the St. Lawrence, and along the great lakes. It was intended to unite
these posts with the Mississippi by taking positions which would
favour the design of circumscribing and annoying the frontier
settlements of the English.
[Illustration: Great Meadows and the Site of Fort Necessity
_On this battleground in the western Pennsylvania wilderness, which
marked the beginning of the French and Indian War, July 3, 1754, a
force of 400 men under young Major Washington was defeated by 900
French and Indian allies, and for the first and last time in his
military career Washington surrendered. He stipulated, however, that
he and his troops were to have safe conduct back to civilization, and
agreed not to build a fort west of the Allegheny Mountains for a year.
Washington was then twenty-two years old._]
{1750}
The execution of this plan was, probably, accelerated by an act of the
British government. The year after the conclusion of the war, several
individuals both in England and Virginia who were associated under the
name of the Ohio company, obtained from the crown a grant of six
hundred thousand acres of land, lying in the country claimed by both
nations. The objects of this company being commercial as well as
territorial, measures were taken to derive all the advantages expected
from their grant, in both these respects, by establishing trading
houses, and by employing persons to survey the country.
The governor of Canada, who obtained early information of this
intrusion, as he deemed it, into the dominions of his most christian
majesty, wrote to the governors of New York and Pennsylvania,
informing them that the English traders had encroached on the French
territory by trading with their Indians; and giving notice that, if
they did not desist, he should be under the necessity of seizing them
wherever they should be found. At the same time the jealousy of the
Indians was excited by impressing them with fears that the English
were about to deprive them of their country.
His threat having been disregarded, the governor of Canada put it in
execution by seizing the British traders among the Twightwees, and
carrying them prisoners to Presque-isle, on Lake Erie; where he was
erecting a strong fort. About the same time, a communication was
opened from Presque-isle, down French creek, and the Alleghany river,
to the Ohio. This communication was kept up by detachments of troops,
posted at proper distances from each other, in works capable of
covering them from an attack made only with small arms.[146]
[Footnote 146: Minot Gazette.]
{1753}
This territory having been granted as part of Virginia, to the Ohio
company, who complained loudly of these aggressions, Dinwiddie, the
lieutenant governor of that province, laid the subject before the
assembly, and dispatched MAJOR WASHINGTON, the gentleman who
afterwards led his countrymen to independence, with a letter to the
commandant of the French forces on the Ohio; requiring him to withdraw
from the dominions of his Britannic majesty.
This letter was delivered at a fort on the river Le Boeuf, the western
branch of French creek, to Monsieur le Guarduer de St. Pierre, the
commanding officer on the Ohio, who replied that he had taken
possession of the country by the directions of his general, then in
Canada, to whom he would transmit the letter of the lieutenant
governor, and whose orders he should implicitly obey.
{1754}
[Sidenote: Defeat at the Little Meadows.]
Preparations were immediately made, in Virginia, to assert the rights
of the British crown; and a regiment was raised for the protection of
the frontiers. Early in the spring, Major Washington had advanced with
a small detachment from this regiment into the country to be contended
for, where he fell in with and defeated a party of French and Indians
who were approaching him in a manner indicating hostile designs. On
being joined by the residue of his regiment, the command of which had
devolved on him, he made great exertions to pre-occupy the post at the
confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers; but, on his march
thither, was met by a much superior body of French and Indians, who
attacked him in a small stockade hastily erected at the Little
Meadows, and compelled him, after a gallant defence to capitulate. The
French had already taken possession of the ground to which Washington
was proceeding, and, having driven off some militia, and workmen sent
thither by the Ohio company, had erected thereon a strong
fortification called fort Du Quesne.
The earl of Holderness, secretary of state, perceiving war to be
inevitable, and aware of the advantages of union, and of securing the
friendship of the Five Nations, had written to the governors of the
respective colonies recommending these essential objects; and, at the
same time, ordering them to repel force by force; and to take
effectual measures to dislodge the French from their posts on the
Ohio.
[Sidenote: Convention at Albany.]
At the suggestion of the commissioners for the plantations, a
convention of delegates from the several colonies met at Albany, to
hold a conference with the Five Nations on the subject of French
encroachments, and to secure their friendship in the approaching war.
Availing himself of this circumstance governor Shirley had recommended
to the other governors to instruct their commissioners on the subject
of union. Ample powers for this object were given to the delegates of
Massachusetts; and those of Maryland were instructed to observe what
others should propose respecting it. But no direct authority for
concerting any system to call out and employ the strength of the
colonies, was given by any other of the governments.
The congress, consisting of delegates from New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland,
with the lieutenant governor and council of New York, after
endeavouring to secure the friendship of the Five Nations by large
presents, directed a committee, consisting of one member for each
colony, to draw and report a plan of union.
[Sidenote: Plan of union.]
A plan[147] was reported which was approved on the 4th of July. Its
essential principles were, that application be made for an act of
parliament authorising the formation of a grand council to consist of
delegates from the several legislatures, and a president general, to
be appointed by the crown, and to be invested with a negative power.
This council was to enact laws of general import; to apportion their
quotas of men and money on the several colonies; to determine on the
building of forts; to regulate the operations of armies; and to
concert all measures for the common protection and safety.
[Footnote 147: See note No. II, at the end of the volume.]
The delegates of Connecticut alone dissented from this plan. That
cautious people feared that the powers vested in the president general
might prove dangerous to their welfare.
In England, the objections were of a different character. The colonies
had, in several instances, manifested a temper less submissive than
was required; and it was apprehended that this union might be the
foundation of a concert of measures opposing the pretensions of
supremacy maintained by the mother country.
This confederation, therefore, notwithstanding the pressure of
external danger, did not prevail. It was not supported in America,
because it was supposed to place too much power in the hands of the
King; and it was rejected in England from the apprehension that the
colonial assemblies would be rendered still more formidable by being
accustomed to co-operate with each other.
In its stead, the minister proposed that the governors, with one or
two members of the councils of the respective provinces, should
assemble to consult, and resolve on measures necessary for the common
defence, and should draw on the British treasury for the sums to be
expended, which sums should be afterwards raised by a general tax, to
be imposed by parliament on the colonies.
This proposition being entirely subversive of all the opinions which
prevailed in America, was not pressed for the present; and no
satisfactory plan for calling out the strength of the colonies being
devised, it was determined to carry on the war with British troops,
aided by such reinforcements as the several provincial assemblies
would voluntarily afford.[148]
[Footnote 148: Minot.]
CHAPTER XI.
General Braddock arrives.... Convention of governors and
plan of the campaign.... French expelled from Nova Scotia,
and inhabitants transplanted.... Expedition against fort Du
Quesne.... Battle of Monongahela.... Defeat and death of
general Braddock.... Expedition against Crown Point....
Dieskau defeated.... Expedition against Niagara....
Frontiers distressed by the Indians.... Meeting of the
governors at New York.... Plan for the campaign of 1756....
Lord Loudoun arrives.... Montcalm takes Oswego.... Lord
Loudoun abandons offensive operations.... Small-pox breaks
out in Albany.... Campaign of 1757 opened.... Admiral
Holbourne arrives at Halifax.... Is joined by the earl of
Loudoun.... Expedition against Louisbourg relinquished....
Lord Loudoun returns to New York.... Fort William Henry
taken.... Controversy between lord Loudoun and the assembly
of Massachusetts.
{1755}
[Sidenote: General Braddock.]
The establishment of the post on the Ohio, and the action at the
Little Meadows, being considered by the British government as the
commencement of war in America, the resolution to send a few regiments
to that country was immediately taken; and early in the year, general
Braddock embarked at Cork, at the head of a respectable body of troops
destined for the colonies.
An active offensive campaign being meditated, general Braddock
convened the governors of the several provinces, on the 14th of April,
in Virginia, who resolved to carry on three expeditions.
[Sidenote: Plan of the campaign.]
The first, and most important, was against fort Du Quesne. This was to
be conducted by general Braddock in person at the head of the British
troops, with such aids as could be drawn from Maryland and Virginia.
The second, against Niagara and fort Frontignac, was to be conducted
by governor Shirley. The American regulars, consisting of Shirley and
Pepperel's regiments, constituted the principal force destined for the
reduction of these places.
The third was against Crown Point. This originated with Massachusetts;
and was to be prosecuted entirely with colonial troops, to be raised
by the provinces of New England, and by New York. It was to be
commanded by colonel William Johnson of the latter province.[149]
[Footnote 149: Minot.]
While preparations were making for these several enterprises, an
expedition, which had been previously concerted by the government of
Massachusetts, was carried on against the French in Nova Scotia.
It has been already stated that the limits of this province remained
unsettled. While the commissioners of the two crowns were supporting
the claims of their respective sovereigns in fruitless memorials, the
French occupied the country in contest, and established military posts
for its defence. Against these posts this enterprise was to be
conducted.
[Sidenote: French expelled from Nova Scotia.]
On the 20th of May, the troops of Massachusetts, together with
Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, amounting in the whole to about
three thousand men, embarked, at Boston, under the command of
lieutenant colonel Winslow. The fleet anchored about five miles from
fort Lawrence, where a reinforcement was received of three hundred
British troops and a small train of artillery. The whole army,
commanded by lieutenant colonel Monckton, immediately after landing,
marched against Beau Sejour, the principal post held by the French in
that country. At the river Mussaquack, which the French considered as
the western boundary of Nova Scotia, some slight works had been thrown
up with the intention of disputing its passage. After a short
conflict, the river was passed with the loss of only one man; and, in
five days, Beau Sejour capitulated. Other small places fell in
succession, and, in the course of the month of June, with the loss of
only three men killed, the English acquired complete possession of the
whole province of Nova Scotia.
The recovery of this province was followed by one of those distressing
measures which involve individuals in indiscriminate ruin, and
aggravate the calamities of war.
Nova Scotia having been originally settled by France, its inhabitants
were, chiefly, of that nation. In the treaty of Utrecht, it was
stipulated for the colonists that they should be permitted to hold
their lands on condition of taking the oaths of allegiance to their
new sovereign. With this condition they refused to comply, unless
permitted to qualify it with a proviso that they should not be
required to bear arms in defence of the province. Though this
qualification, to which the commanding officer of the British forces
acceded, was afterwards disallowed by the crown, yet the French
inhabitants continued to consider themselves as neutrals. Their
devotion to France, however, would not permit them to conform their
conduct to the character they had assumed. In all the contests for the
possession of their country, they were influenced by their wishes
rather than their duty; and three hundred of them were captured with
the garrison of Beau Sejour.
[Sidenote: The inhabitants transported.]
Their continuance in the country, during the obstinate conflict which
was commencing, would, it was feared, endanger the colony; and to
expel them from it, leaving them at liberty to choose their place of
residence, would be to reenforce the French in Canada. A council was
held by the executive of Nova Scotia aided by the admirals Boscawen
and Morty, for the purpose of deciding on the destiny of these
unfortunate people; and the severe policy was adopted of removing them
from their homes, and dispersing them through the other British
colonies. This harsh measure was immediately put in execution; and the
miserable inhabitants of Nova Scotia were, in one instant, reduced
from ease and contentment to a state of beggary. Their lands, and
moveables, with the exception of their money and household furniture,
were declared to be forfeited to the crown; and, to prevent their
return, the country was laid waste, and their houses reduced to
ashes.[150]
[Footnote 150: Minot.]
As soon as the convention of governors had separated, general Braddock
proceeded from Alexandria to a fort at Wills' creek, afterwards called
fort Cumberland, at that time the most western post in Virginia or
Maryland; from which place the army destined against fort Du Quesne
was to commence its march. The difficulties of obtaining wagons, and
other necessary supplies for the expedition, and delays occasioned by
opening a road through an excessively rough country, excited
apprehensions that time would be afforded the enemy to collect in such
force at fort Du Quesne, as to put the success of the enterprise into
some hazard.
Under the influence of this consideration, it was determined to select
twelve hundred men, who should be led by the general in person to the
point of destination. The residue of the army, under the command of
colonel Dunbar, was to follow, with the baggage, by slow and easy
marches.
This disposition being made, Braddock pressed forward to his object,
in the confidence that he could find no enemy capable of opposing him;
and reached the Monongahela on the eighth of July.
As the army approached fort Du Quesne, the general was cautioned of
the danger to which the character of his enemy, and the face of the
country, exposed him; and was advised to advance the provincial
companies in his front, for the purpose of scouring the woods, and
discovering ambuscades. But he held both his enemy and the provincials
in too much contempt, to follow this salutary counsel. Three hundred
British troops comprehending the grenadiers and light infantry,
commanded by colonel Gage, composed his van; and he followed, at some
distance, with the artillery, and the main body of the army, divided
into small columns.
[Sidenote: Battle of Monongahela.]
Within seven miles of fort Du Quesne, immediately after crossing the
Monongahela the second time, in an open wood, thick set with high
grass, as he was pressing forward without fear of danger, his front
received an unexpected fire from an invisible enemy. The van was
thrown into some confusion; but, the general having ordered up the
main body, and the commanding officer of the enemy having fallen, the
attack was suspended, and the assailants were supposed to be
dispersed. This delusion was soon dissipated. The attack was renewed
with increased fury; the van fell back on the main body; and the whole
army was thrown into utter confusion.
The general possessed personal courage in an eminent degree; but was
without experience in that species of war, in which he was engaged;
and seems not to have been endowed with that rare fertility of genius
which adapts itself to the existing state of things, and invents
expedients fitted to the emergency. In the impending crisis, he was
peculiarly unfortunate in his choice of measures. Neither advancing
nor retreating, he exerted his utmost powers to form his broken
troops, under an incessant and galling fire, on the very ground where
they had been attacked. In his fruitless efforts to restore order,
every officer on horseback except Mr. Washington, one of his
aides-de-camp, was killed or wounded. At length, after losing three
horses, the general himself received a mortal wound; upon which his
regulars fled in terror and confusion. Fortunately, the Indian enemy
was arrested by the plunder found on the field, and the pursuit was
soon given over. The provincials exhibited an unexpected degree of
courage, and were among the last to leave the field.
[Sidenote: Death of Braddock.]
The defeated troops fled precipitately to the camp of Dunbar, where
Braddock expired of his wounds. Their panic was communicated to the
residue of the army. As if affairs had become desperate, all the
stores, except those necessary for immediate use, were destroyed; and
the British troops were marched to Philadelphia, where they went into
quarters. The western parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia,
were left exposed to the incursions of the savages; the frontier
settlements were generally broken up; and the inhabitants were driven
into the interior. So excessive was the alarm, that even the people of
the interior entertained apprehensions for their safety, and many
supposed that the seaboard itself was insecure.
The two northern expeditions, though not so disastrous as that against
fort Du Quesne, were neither of them successful. That against Crown
Point was so retarded by those causes of delay to which military
operations conducted by distinct governments are always exposed, that
the army was not ready to move until the last of August. At length
general Johnson reached the south end of lake George, on his way to
Ticonderoga, of which he designed to take possession.
An armament fitted out in the port of Brest for Canada, had eluded a
British squadron which was stationed off the banks of Newfoundland to
intercept it; and, with the loss of two ships of war, had entered the
St. Lawrence. After arriving at Quebec the baron Dieskau, who
commanded the French forces, resolved, without loss of time, to
proceed against the English. At the head of about twelve hundred
regulars, and about six hundred Canadians and Indians, he marched
against Oswego. On hearing of this movement, general Johnson applied
for reinforcements; and eight hundred men were ordered by
Massachusetts to his assistance. An additional body of two thousand
men was directed to be raised for the same object, and the
neighbouring colonies also determined to furnish reinforcements.
Dieskau did not wait for their arrival. Perceiving that Johnson was
approaching lake George, and being informed that the provincials were
without artillery, he determined to postpone his designs upon Oswego,
and to attack them in their camp.
[Sidenote: Dieskau defeated.]
On being informed that Dieskau was approaching, Johnson detached
colonel Williams, with about one thousand men, to reconnoitre and
skirmish with him. This officer met the French about four miles from
the American camp, and immediately engaged them. He fell early in the
action; and his party was soon overpowered and put to flight. A second
detachment, sent in aid of the first, experienced the same fate; and
both were closely pursued to the main body, who were posted behind a
breast-work of fallen trees. At this critical moment, within about one
hundred and fifty yards of this work, the French halted for a short
time. This interval having given the Americans an opportunity to
recover from the first alarm, they determined on a resolute defence.
When the assailants advanced to the charge, they were received with
firmness. The militia and savages fled; and Dieskau was under the
necessity of ordering his regulars to retreat. A close and ardent
pursuit ensued; and the general himself, being mortally wounded and
left alone, was taken prisoner.
During the engagement, a scouting party from fort Edward, under
captains Folsom and McGennis, fell in with the baggage of the enemy
and routed the guard which had been placed over it. Soon afterwards,
the retreating army of Dieskau approached, and was gallantly attacked
by the Americans. This unexpected attack from an enemy whose numbers
were unknown, completed the confusion of the defeated army, which,
abandoning its baggage, fled towards the posts on the lake.[151]
[Footnote 151: Minot. Belknap. Entic.]
The repulse of Dieskau, magnified into a splendid victory, had some
tendency to remove the depression of spirits occasioned by the defeat
of Braddock, and to inspire the provincials with more confidence in
themselves. General Johnson, who was wounded in the engagement,
received very solid testimonials of the gratitude and liberality of
his country. Five thousand pounds sterling, and the title of baronet,
were the rewards of his service.
This success was not improved. The hopes and expectations of the
public were not gratified; and the residue of the campaign was spent
in fortifying the camp. Massachusetts pressed a winter campaign; but
when her commissioners met those of Connecticut and the lieutenant
governor and council of New York, it was unanimously agreed that the
army under general Johnson should be discharged, except six hundred
men to garrison fort Edward, on the great carrying place between the
Hudson and lake George, and fort William Henry on that lake.
The French took possession of Ticonderoga, and fortified it.
[Sidenote: Expedition against Niagara.]
The expedition against Niagara and fort Frontignac, was also defeated
by delays in making the preparations necessary for its prosecution.
Shirley did not reach Oswego till late in August. After ascertaining
the state of the garrison, he determined to abandon that part of the
enterprise which respected fort Frontignac, and to proceed against
Niagara. While employed in the embarkation of his troops on the lake,
the rains set in with such violence as to suspend his operations until
the season was so far advanced that the attempt against Niagara was
also relinquished, and Shirley returned to Albany.[152]
[Footnote 152: Minot. Belknap. Entic.]
Thus terminated the campaign of 1755. It opened with so decided a
superiority of force on the part of the English, as to promise the
most important advantages. But, if we except the expulsion of the
French from Nova Scotia, no single enterprise was crowned with
success. Great exertions were made by the northern colonies, but their
efforts were productive of no benefit. From the want of one general
superintending authority in their councils, which could contemplate
and control the different parts of the system, which could combine all
their operations, and direct them with effect towards the attainment
of the object pursued, every thing failed. Such delays and
deficiencies were experienced that, though a considerable force was in
motion, it could not be brought to the point against which it was to
act, until the season for action was over; nor execute the plans which
were concerted until the opportunity had passed away.