Canada, Sir John George Bourinot [best time to read books .TXT] 📗

/> C'est le bras de ton Dieu, vainqueur sur cette croix." [2]


An important event of the year was the taking of Fort Frontenac by Colonel Bradstreet, who had assisted in the first siege of Louisbourg. The capture of this fort was regarded with every reason by the French as "of greater injury to the colony than the loss of a battle." Fort Duquesne, which was the key to the Ohio country, was abandoned by Ligneris on the approach of Brigadier Forbes, a very capable Scotch officer, but not until the French had beaten with considerable loss an advance of the main forces commanded by Major Grant. Ligneris withdrew his troops to Fort Machault (Venango), where he remained until the following year. Fort Duquesne was renamed in honour of Pitt, and a great manufacturing city has grown up on its site in the beautiful valley which, in 1758, passed away forever from the French who had only held possession of it for six short years.



[1] His full name was Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm-Gozon de Saint-Veran, whose family seat was Candiac, near Nismes, in the south of France.

[2] Parkman gives the following paraphrase of the Latin inscription;

"Soldier and chief and ramparts' strength are nought;
Behold the conquering cross! 'T is God the triumph wrought."



XVIII.


THE STRUGGLE FOR DOMINION IN THE VALLEY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE--CANADA IS WON BY WOLFE ON THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM.

(1759-1763.)

When the campaign opened in 1759 the French had probably under arms in Canada not far from twenty thousand men, regulars, militia, and Indians--one-fifth only being French regiments. At Detroit there was a very insignificant garrison, as it was of minor importance compared with Niagara, which was the key to the Lakes and West. Here Pouchot, an able officer, who has given us an interesting memoir of the war, was stationed, with authority to call to his assistance the French forces at Presqu'ile, Le Boeuf, and Venango--some three thousand men altogether, made up mostly of colonial forces and Indian auxiliaries. At Fort Rouille (Toronto) there was no force worth mentioning, as it was a mere dependency of Niagara. Fort Frontenac had been destroyed by the English, and the French had no posts from that point as far as Montreal except at {248} Point-au-Baril (near Ogdensburgh), and Ile Galops, by the side of the well-known rapids of that name. The security of Montreal depended mainly on the French continuing to hold control of Lake Champlain, and Ile-aux-Noix which they now set to work to fortify. Bourlamaque, an able officer, was in command at the French forts of the lake with a force of over two thousand men, of whom one-half were Canadian, and had orders to abandon Carillon and Crown Point, if necessary, and advance to Ile-aux-Noix. At Quebec, probably fourteen thousand men, of whom four thousand were the pick of the French regiments in Canada, were under command of Montcalm, Levis, and Vaudreuil, and were entrenched on a height of land stretching for nearly six miles from the St. Charles River, to the southeast of the fortress, as far as Montmorency River, where its current rushes wildly forward for its tremendous leap of over two hundred and fifty feet into a deep and rocky abyss, and forms that glistening sheet of billowy foam which, seen from a distance, resembles a snowdrift suspended in air. The fortifications of Quebec had been strengthened for some years back, and its defences were entrusted to Ramesay, who had led a force to Nova Scotia in the year of the Duke d'Anville's disastrous expedition. The city was ill-provided with provisions for any sustained siege, despite the opportune arrival of some relief from France in the spring. The whole country had been impoverished by the continuous drain on the agricultural and labouring population during the war, and the Canadians themselves began {249} to lose courage, and assembled at the call of the authorities with less spirit than they had hitherto shown. Canada was literally on the brink of ruin, after so many years of war and privation. Corruption had eaten into the very body of Canadian life and government. The Intendant Bigot had been for years amassing riches at the expense of the country, and had, in imitation of his lord and master at Versailles, his fair Canadian Pompadour to bedeck with jewels and favours from the proceeds {250} of his ill-gotten gains. The names of Pean, Varin, Cadet, Estebe, and Clavery are the most conspicuous amongst those officials who became rich on Canadian misery and misfortune, and are dishonourably associated with the darkest hours of Canadian history. "What a country," said Montcalm, "where all the knaves grow rich, and honest men are ruined." Not the least discouraging feature of matters in Canada at this critical time, when unity and harmony were so necessary, was the jealousy that Governor de Vaudreuil, a weak, vain man, but honest and attached to his native province, entertained of Montcalm, who was himself imbued by the loftiest spirit that could animate a brave soldier and loyal Frenchman.

It was decided that the army under General Wolfe, less than nine thousand men, and the fleet under Admiral Saunders, should attack Quebec; that the Commander-in-Chief, Amherst, should advance against Montreal by way of Lake Champlain, and that Brigadier Prideaux and Sir William Johnson should lead a considerable force against Niagara. The English fleet arrived before Quebec on the 20th June, and no time was lost in commencing operations against the fortress. Wolfe was well supported by such able soldiers as Monckton, Murray, and Carleton, the latter of whom became famous in later Canadian history as Lord Dorchester. Brigadier Townsend, however capable, was irritable and egotistic. The soldiers admired Wolfe for his soldierly qualities, and loved him for his thoughtfulness for everyone above or below him. Admiral Saunders {252} was well aided by Holmes and Durell, and gave a loyal and ready response to the plans of Wolfe. The regiments had seen service at Louisbourg, and were fully animated by the courage and spirit of their general. The siege lasted for eleven weeks, and was then only ended by an act of boldness on the part of Wolfe, which took the French entirely by surprise.

The principal events between the 26th June and the 12th September, when the last act in this great international drama was played, can be described in a few pages. One of the most important incidents was the occupation by the English of the heights of Levis, whence the fortress was bombarded with an effectiveness that surprised the French, who, under the advice of Vaudreuil, and in opposition to that of Montcalm, had not taken adequate measures for the protection of so valuable a position. So destructive was the bombardment that, when the English took possession of Quebec, they found all the churches and buildings of importance in ruins, and the Ursuline Convent alone was saved from complete destruction.

The English sustained a severe repulse near the Montmorency end of the French lines. They had made an attack on an outwork at that point, and the grenadiers had been carried away by excitement and dashed up the slope of the heights, where from twelve to fourteen thousand French soldiers were strongly intrenched. A furious storm of bullets assailed the reckless and brave grenadiers, who could not even gain a firm footing on the slippery slope, {253} while the rain came down in torrents, and their blood reddened the rivulets of water. This was, however, the only serious disaster that the English suffered throughout the siege. The fire ships of the French had been ill-managed, and failed to do any damage as they were sent down against the fleet. Montcalm, sure of his impregnable position, refused to be drawn from his intrenchments and to offer battle to Wolfe. He knew that delay was everything to him, for the autumn was drawing near. In a few weeks storm and frost would drive the Englishmen from the river. Wherever Montcalm looked, his position seemed unassailable. The high cliffs that stretched for miles above Quebec offered a guaranty of security in that direction, and to prevent any doubt, Bougainville, a capable officer--in later years famous as a navigator--was on the alert with a force of upwards of two thousand soldiers. He had double work to do, to guard these apparently impregnable cliffs, and to assure the arrival of provisions from the country by river and land. It was the expected arrival of a convoy of provisions that proved an important factor in the successful accomplishment of a plan that Wolfe had devised for the capture of the city.

While the siege was in progress, the news from the west and from Lake Champlain was discouraging for the French. Niagara had been surrendered by Pouchot to Sir William Johnson, who had taken command on the death of Prideaux--killed at the beginning of operations--and a large force that was brought up by Ligneris from the Ohio valley to {254} succour the post had been severely defeated. Crown Point and Ticonderoga had been abandoned by Bourlamaque, and there was for a time some expectation of the advance of Amherst to the St. Lawrence; Montcalm was obliged to weaken his army by sending his ablest general, Levis, with a force of fifteen hundred men, to look after the defences of Montreal, but the sluggish English general wasted his time on the banks of Lake Champlain.

It was quite clear to Wolfe and Saunders that Amherst was not to give them any assistance in the difficult work before them. It was on the night of the 12th of September that Wolfe carried out the project which had been for some time forming in his mind. He had managed to concentrate a force of four thousand men above the fortress without awakening the suspicions of the French, who were confident that Bougainville was fully able to prevent any force from attempting so impossible and foolhardy an exploit as the ascent of the high cliffs. The visitor to the historic places around Quebec will be deeply interested in a cove, just above Sillery, now known as Wolfe's Cove, but in old times as the Anse-au-Foulon. A zig-zag and difficult path led from this cove to the top of the height, and Wolfe conceived the hope that it was possible to gain access in this way to the table-land where he could best give battle to Montcalm. He saw that the cliff at this point was defended by only a small guard, under the command, as it afterwards appeared, of Vergor, who had been tried and acquitted for his questionable surrender of Beausejour. When the {255} English boats dropped down the river with the tide at midnight, on the 12th of September, there was no moon, and the stars alone gave a faint light. Montcalm had no conception of the importance of the movement of troops which, it had been reported to him, was going on for some days above Quebec, and his attention was diverted by the constant bombardment on the town from Levis, and a fierce cannonading that was kept up against Beauport by Saunders. Wolfe's thoughts on that memorable night as his boat passed under the shadow of the dark cliff, we can imagine from an incident that is related by one who was present. Hardly a dip of an oar was heard from the flotilla as it was borne down the river, but from Beauport and Levis came the constant roar of cannon. Every moment was carrying