Fort Du There was a French province called Acadia, now Nova Scotia; and this was occupied by the English at the beginning of the war, in 1755. The French inhabitants would not take the oath of allegiance to England; and so the New England soldiers were sent by the English Government to remove the Acadians from their country. In some villages the men were all summoned into the church to hear a royal proclamation. There they found themselves prisoners; and they were then marched to the seashore. Seven thousand people were thus sent from their homes, and scattered through the colonies. To prevent their returning, their houses were burned, and their farms laid waste. In many cases families were separated in the confusion of embarking; and members of the same family were long lost to one another. Longfellow's poem of "Evangeline" is founded upon this sad event. Meantime, in Virginia, war was beginning in earnest. When Washington went west to remonstrate with the French officers, he selected a place which he thought would be very good for an English fort. It was just where Pittsburg now stands, at the point where the Alleghany and Monongahela unite to form the Ohio. The government sent an expedition, and began to build. the fort. It was thought that as there were so many French forts in that region, there should be a few for the English also. But this was just what the French did not wish so they drove the workmen away, finished the fort themselves, and called it Fort Du Quesne. Washington carried on war against the French and Indians for a time, with the Virginia soldiers who had been placed under his command: but he was not quite defeat. strong enough to attack this important post; and so a veteran English army was sent out under General Braddock; and Washington went with him as one of his staff-officers. The English general knew nothing Braddock's about Indian warfare, and would take advice from no one. He marched slowly through the forests, building roads as he went, and spending several months on the way. As he drew near the fort, Washington urged him to place the American companies in front, for the purpose of clearing the woods of Indians. He explained that these provincial soldiers were used to dealing with Indians; while the red-coats were accustomed only to regular warfare, and to fighting in the open field. Braddock refused to listen to the advice, but marched on in regular military order, with flags flying, music playing, and the men presenting a fine appearance. The army was within seven miles of the fort, when the advanced guard was attacked by Indians. in a deep ravine, and was thrown into complete confusion. The Virginia riflemen fought from behind trees; but the regular troops crowded together, and were shot down. The fight lasted three hours. It ended in a dis- Retreat of orderly retreat of the British troops, more than seven hundred of whom were killed out of twelve hundred. General Braddock showed great courage, but was at last mortally wounded; and every one of his officers was killed or wounded, except Washington, who had two horses killed under him, and had four balls through his coat. Washington was almost prostrated by illness. that day, but took an active part in the battle, and had the command after Braddock fell. An old Indian chief said afterwards, that he and his "young braves" had the British Effect of this defeat. Capture of fired very often at that tall young American, and had decided that he must bear a charmed life. Braddock's defeat took place July 9, 1755. It made the greatest excitement throughout the colonies and in England; and its consequences were very important. The French were left in possession, for the time, of all the region west of the Alleghanies; and the Indians. began to despise the English, to reverence the French, and to make new attacks upon the colonists. All through the western parts of Virginia, especially, there were scenes of massacre and fire; and family after family had to flee for their lives. Washington, who was in command of the Virginia forces, wrote, that "the supplicating tears of women, and the moving petitions of the men, melted him with deadly sorrow." He had to meet swift and stealthy enemies, who came and went in the night, and were to be tracked only by the ruin they had left behind them. The Indians were told by their French allies that the time had come to drive the English forever from their settlements. But the colonists resisted desperately; and, three years after, Washington himself was sent against Fort Du Quesne, and took it at last. It was this distinguished military career that fitted Washington to take part in the war of the Revolution, which was fast approaching. Braddock's defeat had, moreover, taught the colonists that the red-coats were not invincible, but would run away as fast as anybody, if met by greater numbers or greater skill. Several valuable forts were taken from the French during this war, such as Niagara, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point; but the most important event was the Abraham. famous expedition against Quebec. General Wolfe was sent from England to command this attack, and had eight thousand men with him; for Quebec was one of the strongest fortresses in the world. He was at first repulsed at every point. At last he discovered a steep scaling the and narrow path which led up to the Heights of Abra- Heights of ham, above the city; and he resolved to climb it with his men. So he sent Captain Cook (afterwards so famous as a navigator) to make a pretended attack in another place; and Wolfe went with boats to the path he had discovered. As he was rowed along in his boat, he spoke to his officers of Gray's " Elegy in a Country Churchyard," and said that he would rather have written that poem than take Quebec. Then he repeated the lines: "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth, e'er gave, The paths of glory lead but to the grave." Death of Then they landed, climbed the steep: and, in the morn- The treaty. Quebec was surrendered five days later; and a peace was made in 1763, by which France gave up Canada to England, with all her American possessions east of the Mississippi, except some fishing-stations near Newfoundland. France had just before given up to Spain all her claims to the vast territory west of the MissisContinued sippi. It was supposed that all the Indian tribes would at once submit to the English power, and would show the same friendship that they had formerly shown to the French. But unfortunately the Indians were not willing to submit so easily; and the flames of battle were to be rekindled once more before the great series of French and Indian wars ended. hostility of the Indians. Pontiac. There was an Indian chief named Pontiac, a man of great courage, skill, and influence. He had led the Ottawa tribe at the time of Braddock's defeat, and had seen the red-coats run away before his men. He believed that, if the Indian tribes could be united for one more effort, they might yet expel the English from the interior of the country, at least. The French inhabitants of Canada secretly encouraged these thoughts, and told the Indians that the King of France had been asleep for a time, and that the English had therefore triumphed, but that he would soon wake up, and "drive the intruders from the country of his red children." Pontiac heard all this eagerly. “I am a Frenchman," he said, "and will die a FrenchPontiac ex- man!" He sent ambassadors through the country, each with a belt of wampum (red or black beads, signifying war), and a tomahawk stained red. In each village the belt was accepted, the tomahawk taken up, and the chiefs agreed to join in the war. Afterwards a cites the Indians against the English. |