rior in numbers, the French commander resolved to take advantage of Braddock's confidence and lead him into an ambuscade. Braddock turned a deaf ear to Washington's

persistent warnings. He fell into the ambush laid for him

and his whole army was cut to pieces before it could be extricated. Braddock was carried from the field mortally wounded, and died a few days later.

146. The Acadians.-Many an act is looked upon as just in war which would be indefensible in peace. The removal of the Acadians from their homes in 1756 was such an act. Acadia comprised territory now covered chiefly by Nova Scotia. It changed hands according to the fortunes of war several times, but the French peasantry who inhabited it remained loyal to their sovereign. They had been under English rule since the fall of Port Royal in 1710, but had been allowed as great a degree of liberty, probably, as would have been accorded them by the French king. It is charged they abused this liberty by aiding the French during King George's War and in the present one. It was therefore proposed as a war measure to remove them from the region entirely. This was accomplished by an English force, who not only destroyed their homes, but drove them on board ship and distributed them among the English settlementsin many instances whole families being cruelly separated, beyond the hope or possibility of ever being reunited. The poet Longfellow has made this war incident the basis of his beautiful poem, "Evangeline."

147. Louisburg. This stronghold again became the bone of contention in the north. An expedition was organized against it in 1757, but after reaching the fort the attempt was abandoned, General Loudon refusing to attack. The next year, with a force of ten thousand men and forty-one ships, the English succeeded in capturing the fortress. This time it was dismantled and Halifax was made the English point of rendezvous on the northern coast.

148. Pitt and English Success.-On the part of the English the first three years of the war were marked with incompetency, both in the War Department at home and in the active operations on the field by the generals in charge. But a change in government brought William Pitt to the ministry. He immediately caused a change of policy, not only in the character of the men sent out, but in the treatment of the officers and men of the colonial forces. Here

tofore but scant recognition had been given to provincial officers, no matter of how great merit. The colonial officers were now taken into consultation, and the men treated as regulars of the army.

149. Contest for Supremacy in the Lake Country.-At the beginning of the war the French were masters of the Great Lakes and of Lake Champlain. At the head of Champlain were the strong forts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. In 1755 the English marched against Crown Point. The French commander left the fort and advanced south to Lake George. In the engagement the English were the victors, but failed to follow up their advantage. They retired and built Fort William Henry at the head of Lake George. In 1757 the French general, Montcalm, captured this fort, the surrender being followed by an Indian massacre of unspeakable cruelty.

In 1758 the English and colonial army under Abercrombie made a determined effort to wrest this region from the French, but Abercrombie proved incompetent and his attack on Ticonderoga was repulsed with great loss. The colonial general, Bradstreet, soon after captured Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario and with it supplies intended for Fort Duquesne, the loss of which had much to do with the abandonment of that post on the approach of an English force under General Forbes and Washington, who, on taking possession, changed its name to Fort Pitt-the Pittsburgh of to-day. The following year the whole lake country was secured to the English by the surrender of Niagara after an extended siege, and the abandonment by the French of Ticonderoga on the approach of a formidable English force.

150. The Taking of Quebec-Wolfe-Montcalm.-The year 1759 was one made memorable in English colonial history by the almost complete overthrow of the French. The northwest was freed by the gallant work of Shirley at Fort Niagara, and Lakes George and Champlain saw the last of the Frenchman as he retired before the advancing hosts of

Amherst. Both generals and their armies were to have joined Wolfe at the crowning event of the year-the taking of Quebec-but they were too slow, and did not arrive in time.

Quebec was a fortress of great strength, situated on a high bluff commanding the river. It was defended by sixteen. thousand men under General Montcalm, one of the most competent of French generals, and of large fighting expe

rience. In June, General Wolfe sailed up the St. Lawrence with four thousand men. He found the river obstructed as he neared Quebec and that city thoroughly prepared for attack. Wolfe was but thirty-three years of age and not in robust health, but he had shown fine qualities of generalship at the taking of Louisburg, and Pitt had confidence in his success. One by one the obstructions were cleared, and by the middle of the summer the lower part of the city and everything but the fort was at the mercy of the English. The fort seemed impregnable and Wolfe was in despair, for Montcalm could not be induced to give battle outside.

The Plains of Abraham lay back of the fort on the heights. Could Wolfe but reach there the French would have to give battle. But for miles the banks of the river rose in precip

itous bluffs, the summits of which were bristling with cannon. Finally a path was discovered leading to the heights, and Wolfe resolved on taking the desperate chance of scaling the bluffs. Sailing up the river at dark, to mislead the enemy, he embarked his army in small boats and dropping quietly back with the ebb tide, began the ascent. It proved arduous in the extreme, but the dawn found enough of his men on the heights to hold the position, and, with the rapidly arriving reinforcements, Wolfe soon found himself in command of three thousand five hundred picked men, eager for battle. Montcalm was not slow to see his peril. His army outnumbered that of Wolfe, but many were raw recruits. A bayonet charge was ordered. It was made with spirit, but the English met it with a murderous fire at close range, and then as the enemy wavered, they in turn used the bayonet. Soon the French were in headlong retreat, and the day was won. Both generals were mortally wounded in the fight. Rousing from his lethargy, Wolfe was told of the retreat of the French. "God be praised, I die happy," cried the young general as he expired. Montcalm expressed relief that he should not live to see the fall of Quebec, which the English took five days later.

151. The Passing of the French from America.-Quebec was the focus upon which all French hopes of success centered in the New World. It is true that a vast amount of territory yet remained, and a determined effort was made to hold Montreal the next year, when it was besieged by the English under General Amherst; but, deserted by his Indian allies, and being all but abandoned by the home government, the French commander capitulated. Thus the whole region came under English control, and French dominion in America was ended. During the latter part of the war, Spain had become involved and England had seized Havana and the Philippines.

In the treaty of peace signed at Paris, (1763) France lost power in America. At the end of the war, the vast colonial