THE FIGHT WITH FRANCE FOR NORTH AMERICA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14277, 28 July 1908, Page 6

THE FIGHT WITH FRANCE FOR NORTH AMERICA

lI.—OUR QUINTUPLE ATTACK AND OUR QUADRUPLE DEFEAT. In lite previous article published Jast Saturday tiic navigation of the Mississippi in' 1682; tlio establishment of - Fort Duquesne—now Pittsburg—in 1754; and the defeat of Washington at Fort Necessity, not far from Duquesne, in the 6ame year were briefly referred to. The result of Washington's defeat was that "the French dominion was complete from the Ohio to tlicv Illinois, a-nd from the Great- Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico as far as a, slender lino of, communication by means of widely-separated posts and settlements could make it so." In 1755 it was determined to take steps to stem the French advance, and, if possible, to assume the offensive. For this purpose, broadly speaking, live expeditions wore organised; —. . • 1. To attack Duquesne, the base being Alexandria, on the Potomac, and on the bank opposite to' where Washington now stands. This expedition was in charge of General Braddock, who arrived in tlio Hampden roads with a small British torco in February, 1755. This force was to be augmented by colonial levies. 2. To take Fort Niagara, via Albany (on the Hudson), Lake Oneida, ajul Oswego, on Ontario. This force was under Shirley, Governor of Massachusetts. 3. To capture Ticonderoga, on Lake Cha-niplain. More, again, the base was Albany, _ on the Hudson. This army was under Sir W. Johnson, a backwoods'statesman and soldier who lived in baronial style, who had married- a sister of a famous Indian chief, and who had great influence with the Indians known as the Six Nations. 4. To crush the French power in Arcadia by seizing Beausejour, a fort at the extreme point- of the left- arm of the Bay of Fundy. These troops were commanded by Laurenco and Monckton. 5. To assault Louisbourg. Tho troops were in charge of Loudoun, who had succeeded Shirley, and the squadron was in charge of Admirals Holborne and Holmes. A brief account of these five expeditions forms tile second of the series of the four art-iclcs on the subject under review, but of these five, the thrco first will be dealt with to-da.y, the other two on Saturday. In outlining the five expeditions it must be borne in mind that details did not follow one another quite in tho logical sequenoe given-in'these articles, but grouping them in this way gives a much clearer conception of. what took place,'and gives a true interpretation of history. 1.-FORT DUQUESNE. In April, 1755, a council of the colonial Governors and British officers was held at Alexandria and a'definite plan drawn hp for -the Ohio campaign. Of the troubles Braddock had in equipping and provisioning his forces nothing will ;be said, for space will not permit: suffice it that the expedition got on the uiarch and arrived in due course almost within' sight of the goal. And here might bo said a word or two about the leader. To quote Bra-d----ley: "No name has been more irresponsibly- played upon and few reputations perhaps more hardly used than Braddock's by most writers of history, and nearly all writers of fiction. Ilis personality, from its very contrast to the wild woods in which he died, has caught the fancy of innumerable pens, and justice has been sadly sacrificed to picturesque effect. He is regarded as the typical redcoat of tho Hanoverian period by all American writers—burly, brutal, blundering, blasphemous, but happily always, and without a dissentient note, brave—brave, indeed, as a lion. This familiar picture of our poor general, as a corpulent, re<l-faced, blaspheming bulldog, riding rough-shot over colonial susceptibilities, tones down amazingly when one comes to hard facts." And then Bradley gives the hard facts, and they can be read by_ those who wish to correct the mental picture they have formed of the unfortunate general. On arriving at the ford of Monoitgahela within a few miles of Duquesne, as no serious opposition had been met with, and as the scouts reported no danger, the wholo ; force wa6 drawn up "to make, the passage [ of the river with some pomp and circumstance," so "the troops were mairohed ac:oss by companies , with much preoision and with colours flying, while drum and fife and bugle woke the echoes of tho wood-h-nd wildcroeM with stirring and familiar strains." No enemy was visible, says Bradley " hut behind the vast screen of I foliage many a pair of eyes, both French and Indian, were fastened on the broad ! eheen of sunlit waters which here broke [ for a space the forest and its illimitable canopy of leaves. The ford was hardly : paswd when suddon-lv a man . dressed as j an Indian sprang out into the oyen and waved his hat over, his head. As- instantly | the woods beoanie alive with warriors, and "tho Indian war-hoops ringing from nearly a thousand throats, shook tli-e arches of the I forest wit-bits novel and appalling olamour. | In a few moments the enemy, under cover, IX)ured a furious fusillade into the redcoats, which offered such a conspicuous targetf but the British bullets in rejsl. " did little fflore than shiver,the bark from t trees and cut the saplingj"." Volleys of j grape attd canister from Guge's two guns ' at one time almost turned the tide in favour of the British, but Dumas, who had suc- , eeeded to the command—Do Beauje&n/ the I leader, had teen shot—assisted by a famous half-breed leader Langlade, rallied tlhs Indians, and showed how easy victory would be. Skirmishers woro thrown out upon the flanks of the British, and tho butchery commenced. Officer after officer tried to gather the men together "ajid lead tliem into tho toath of the storm, but they woro picked off with deadly accuracy, and their followers, bereft of leadershi were thrown back upon the slaughter -vm." Tho pandemonium lasted two lioure. "Braddock, hearse, hot, smoke-grimed,and stung with the bitterness of defeat, at lost gave the signal for retreat. Ho was riding his fifth horse, and at this moment fell from it with a ball in his lungs." Shortly afterwards he died, aJid Washington, whose clothes had been riddled, and who had had two horses shot from under him, read tho burial service over his grave. " Twenty years later, when tho wilderness had given way to civilisation, his 'tones, recognised by the airtidca buried with him, were accidentally unearthed by a farmer's spade, and found 'a strange and discreditable rcfiting-place in a glass ■ ease at a local museiuo." Out of 89 officers, 63 wove killed or wounded, and of the 1300 rank and file but 500 camo out unscathed. Many wore parried off to torture ana death by the Indians and the helpless wounded despatched with tomahawk and scalping knife. Tho number was newr known, but estimates run as high as 600 or 800. Everything was abandoned to the enemy—waggons, guns, horses, baggage, and £25,000 in specie. "The effect of this battle, which neither before nor since, has had any exact. i»nillel in British history, was prodigious. Shame and humiliation was felt in England, unbounded exultation in France, while the American colonists' faith in the invincibility of Brjfcish soldiers was permanently shaken." On the borders, the results were appalling. Tho Indians, hounded on by the French, and swarming in from the north anil west, threw ■ hemselves upon the almost defenceless frontier, about 400 miles long, and rolled it back amid an orgio of blood and fire and tea-re. "From North Carolina to Western New York men were--scalped and murdered by hundreds, and women anil children in still greater numbers cither treated in like fashion or driven into captivity behind (he Alleghanies." The frontier became depopulated. In three days, inMaryland, Washington oounted 300 waggons hurrying from the wasted settlement. "The terror lasted for nearly two yea-rs, during which tile destruction of life and property to awful, and the accompanying details "hastlv; but. when in later years French influence was dead, "and the Westorn Indians wore left- face to face with the sons and grandsons, and oven husbands and brothers, of the victims of 1755-6, a deadly reckoning was taken." Braddock's crushing defeat had several illeffects apart from those already mentioned. The capture of his papers revealed the plans of campaign to the enemy, and the French victory had a depressing; effect upon the two ot-hei - expeditions which were designed to act in Braddock's support by distracting tho Freucli forces at other points. 2. FORTS OSWEGO AND NIAGARA. In the same year, Governor Shirley, who became Commander-in-chief after Braddoek'6 death, reac-hod Oswego from Albany, via the, Hudson and its tributary, the o'awk, and Lake Oswego; but when he arrived there he received news ' that, the seei'ct plans had been discovered in Braddw'k'.s paiwrs, and that as a result Fort Frontennc— where Kingston now sla-nds — at the lower end of Ontario, had been reinforced with troops just arrived from France with Yandreuil, the Governor, succeeding Duquesne. Under these circumstances itwould have been ia*h to deplete Fort Oswego of its forces to attack Niagara, far Oswego would then have been attacked from the flank not 50 miles away, and the force going a-gainst Fort Niagara .would have been isolated. Leaving lyhat

oroes niul supplier lie could io hold )swcgo ho (ell back upon his base, and io.\t year sent up fresh tupplios, but could cave no more trcops. Colonel Mercer otuul himself in command when in 1856 io was attacked by Montcalm, who had omo across from Ticonderoga. Mercer lad dhout 1000 men of all sorts, armed with runs and tomahawk.?, but ho also had about •00 non-combatants, including women and children. One night Montcalm mounted 6 guns, and these, hurling grape and round |iol through flimsy defences made defence lopeless. Mercer had been shot. -"Tho clamoured loudly for surender, and the shrieks of the terrified I'onien, as tJio grape-shot from Montcalm's runs shivered tho wooden buildings and lefencos in all directions, emphasised the lemandt The (rightful yells of _ the ndians, too, outside tho walls was sigiiiioant- of the ghastly terrors of an assault, V oouncii of war was tailed, and it was Iccided to capitulate. The surrender was H'ticiieally unconditional. One thousand md forty .prisoners were taken in all, most >f whom wore forwarded to Canada. Six 'oiscl6 carrying 52 guns fell into Montaim's hands, with 200 barges, 113 cannon nd mortars, With large supplies of ammunition, pork, flour, spirits, silvor, and 818.000 ill cash. Five standards were nptured and hung as trophies upon the vails of Montreal Cathedral. The usual lifficully was experienced in restraining tho 'ndians from taking what, seemed to'them heir natural toll of blood, plunder, and calps,—• above all when liquor was plentiul, us on this occasion." It took Montalm all his time to prevent a bloody scene, nd it recorded that Montcalm had to spend . considerable sum in redeeming prisoners rom tho savages. "Montcalm now took steps to wipe out Jswcgo off the face of the earth. He Icstroved all the vessels and stores he ffluldj not carry awav, and levelled tho wildings and fortifications to the ground, taiong tho ruins and ashes his senior priest, ?i(iuet plaited a tail cross bearing the nscription, 'In hoc aigno vince3.' From i polo, near by were hung the arms of ?ratice, engraven with t.he words, 'Maniius dat lilia plenis.' The spot was then -bandoned Io the wolvos, and Montcalm, vith his army, his prisoners, and his rooty, sailed away eastward." Expeditions Nos. 3 and 4 will be described n tho next article.