GENERAL WOLFE; FRENCH RETREAT TO CANADA. the two were to join forces and coöperate with General Wolfe against Quebec. This last named general was born at the vicarage of Westerham, Kent, England, on January 2, 1727, the son of one of Marlborough's soldiers. At the age of fourteen, he entered the army in his father's company, but because of delicate health was obliged to be landed at Portsmouth. Soon recovering, however, he joined the troops at Dettingen and Fontenoy, and at the engagement at LaFeldt was publicly thanked by the Duke of Cumberland. Pitt had early been attracted to Wolfe because of his eminent services, and promoted him to the rank of brigadier-general, over the heads of a large number of older officers, giving him command with Amherst in the expedition against Louisburg.† As before mentioned, after this campaign had been completed, Wolfe was placed in charge of the operations against Quebec, and early in the spring of 1759 sailed from England for the St. Lawrence, where he arrived in June. His army consisted of 9,000 regular troops divided into three brigades under James Murray, Robert Monck See the text of the king's secret instructions in Doughty and Parmelee, Siege of Quebec, vol. vi., pp. 87-90. ↑ See Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. ii., p. 184 et seq.; Bradley, The Fight with France for North America, p. 211 et seq.; and the life of Wolfe by Wright and by A. G. Bradley; Doughty and Parmelee, Siege of Quebec, vol. i., pp. 1-128. See also Beckles Willson, The Life and Letters of James Wolfe (1910). 113 ton and George Townshend.* Among those who had commands in the army were Isaac Barré, Colonel (afterward Sir) Guy Carleton, Lieutenant-Colonel (afterward Sir) William Howe. In addition to the land troops there were 13,000 naval seamen and 5,000 of the mercantile marines.t General Amherst was delayed by various occurrences and did not reach Ticonderoga before the latter part of July. None of the posts in that vicinity had been reinforced because the great naval superiority of Great Britain over France prevented the latter from sending additional troops from Europe. Consequently, the French posts in America were not able to withstand an attack by so formidable a force as that over which Amherst had command. The French therefore immediately abandoned Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and simply conducted their operations so as to retard the English as much as possible, thereby delaying all operations until winter should come on, or until by gradually concentrating their forces they would be better able to make an effective defence. The French were considerably aided by a succession of storms on the lakes, beside which the number of vessels was insufficient rapidly to transport Amherst's troops. Amherst was therefore *Thwaites, The Fall of Quebec, in Hitchcock's Decisive Battles of America, pp. 67-68. See also the lists in Doughty and Parmelee, Siege of Quebec, vol. ii., pp. 22-23. † Wood, The Fight for Canada, pp. 166-167, 173. 114 PARTISAN WARFARE; NIAGARA TAKEN. unable to carry out that part of the plan which depended on him, and instead of being able to join Wolfe or to advance on Montreal, he was compelled to establish winter quarters at Crown Point.* While Amherst had thus been unsuccessful, other smaller bodies of troops had made forays on the frontiers with considerable success. One of the most noted of these bodies of troops was the New Hampshire Rangers under command of Major Robert Rogers.† In September and October Rogers and his band made a successful foray against the Indian village of St. Francis near Montreal, completely destroying the village and relieving the New England frontier of the dreaded attack from that spot.‡ Prideaux, meanwhile, early in July, had reached Niagara with a considerable force, but shortly after his arrival there and while directing the * Bancroft, vol. ii., pp. 502-503; Hitchcock, Decisive Battles of America, p. 73; Fiske, New France and New England, pp. 347-349; Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. ii., pp. 235–242; Bradley, The Fight with France for North America, Fp. 335-342; McMullen, Canada, pp. 153–156; Miles, Canada, pp. 358–361. For his early exploits see Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. i., p. 431 et seq. Putnam and John Stark accompanied him on many of his early expeditions. See Livingston, Life of Putnam, pp. 28 et seq., 48-50, 87 et seq. Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. ii., p. 253 et seq.; Bradley, pp. 342-346; Joseph B. Walker's sketch of Rogers in New Hampshire Historical and Genealogical Society Publications, 1885; F. B. Hough (ed.), Journals of Major Robert Rogers, containing an account of several excursions he made during the late war (Albany, 1883); Rowland E. Robinson, Vermont, A Study of Independence, pp. 35-41. operations of the siege, he was killed by the bursting of a gun, and the command devolved upon Sir William Johnson. The latter prosecuted the siege with the same judgment and determined vigor, soon bringing his army within 100 yards of the fort. But the French, becoming alarmed at the danger of losing a post which practically was the key to their interior empire in America, collected a large body of troops from the neighboring garrisons of Detroit, Venango and Presqu' Isle, with which they hoped to be able to raise the siege. Upon attacking Johnson's force, however, the French were completely routed and a large number taken prisoners. Consequently, on July 24, the fort surrendered and about 600 of the garrison were made prisoners, being then taken to New York. According to the original plans, Johnson should now have advanced toward Montreal so as to coöperate with Wolfe and Amherst on the St. Lawrence. The provisions became low and sufficient shipping facilities were lacking, and thus he was unable to follow out the original plan. Thus, also, Wolfe was left to carry on the siege at Quebec single-handed.† * Buell, Sir William Johnson, pp. 186-187. † Fiske, New France and New England, pp. 345347; Buell, Sir William Johnson, pp. 188-194; W. L. Stone, Life of Sir William Johnson, vol. ii.; Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. ii., pp. 242248; Bradley, The Fight with France for North America, pp. 347-352; McMullen, Canada, pp. 150-153; Griffis, Sir William Johnson and the Six Nations, pp. 173-175. QUEBEC BESIEGED. On the 26th of June, 1759, as has already been stated, Wolfe arrived off the Island of Orleans accompanied by a squadron under Admirals Sir Charles Saunders, Holmes and Durrell. Quebec, long known as the Gibraltar of America, was defended by Montcalm with a force of 4,000 regu lars of the line, 10,000 militia, and 1,000 each of colonial regulars, seamen and Indians, in all about 17,000 troops. Of these 2,000 were reserved for garrison duty and the others placed at the disposal of Montcalm for general defence.* As Montcalm had long foreseen the attack,† he had sufficient time to completely entrench and strengthen his position, but the supply of provisions was very limited. When the English ships arrived, an attempt was made to destroy them by fire-ships. This danger was averted by the English who caught the fire-ships with grappling irons, towed them aside and allowed them to burn out without any damage to themselves. Point Levis, opposite Quebec, was now occupied by Brigadier-General Monckton, who began a vigorous bombardment of Quebec; but though he succeeded in destroying a number of houses, the fort itself was not damaged. It was then seen that the fort could be carried only by storming the entrenchments which the French had thrown up in front of it, and Wolfe *Wood, The Fight for Canada, p. 152. Murray, History of British America, vol. i., pp. 175-178. 115 resolved to adopt this measure, effecting a landing on the 31st of July. The boats, however, were accidently delayed, and the grenadiers, without waiting for these reinforcements, rushed blindly to the attack. But Montcalm, who was strongly posted between Quebec and Montmorenci, poured such a destructive fire upon the English that they were repulsed with a loss of more than 500 men.* This disappointment threw Wolfe into a violent fever, and his letters at this time are full of apprehension lest he should not be able to carry out the project entrusted to him. The fleet Iwas unable to make an effective assault upon the wall of rock on which Quebec is situated, and this so reduced the attacking force that it was almost impossible for the English to take the stronghold since the garrison in the fort was of almost equal numerical strength, and had the advantage of fighting from behind a breastwork. When Wolfe's health was improved, he called a council of war and proposed that the French lines be attacked a second time, now avoiding the errors which had caused the failure of the first attack. The council decided that another attack was inexpedient, but proposed that an attempt be made on the opposite side of Quebec where the enemy were unprepared and whence they might gain the Heights of Abraham which over * Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. ii., pp. 195-234; Doughty and Parmelee, Siege of Quebec, vol. ii., chap. vi. |