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69 - Montcalm and Wolfe by Francis Parkman, Jr. · Montcalm and Wolfe

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  Speaker 1: Section sixty eight of Mont Carmen Wolf by Francis Parkman.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter thirty,
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  Speaker 1: Part one, seventeen sixty Fall of Canada. The retreat of
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  Speaker 1: Levis left Canada little hope, but in a speedy peace.
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  Speaker 1: This hope was strong, for a belief widely prevailed that
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  Speaker 1: even if the colony should be subdued, it would be
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  Speaker 1: restored to France by treaty. Its available force did not
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  Speaker 1: exceed eight or ten thousand men, as most of the
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  Speaker 1: Canadians below the District of Three Rivers had sworn allegiance
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  Speaker 1: to King George, and though many of them had disregarded
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  Speaker 1: the oath to join the standard of Levis, they could
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  Speaker 1: venture to do so no longer. The French had lost
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  Speaker 1: the best of their artillery, their gunpowder was falling short,
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  Speaker 1: their provisions would barely carry them to harvest time, and
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  Speaker 1: no more was to be hoped for. Since a convoy
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  Speaker 1: of ships which had sailed from France at the end
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  Speaker 1: of winter, laden with supplies of all kinds, had been
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  Speaker 1: captured by the English. The blockade of the Saint Lawrence
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  Speaker 1: was complete. The Western Indians would not fight, and even
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  Speaker 1: those of the mission villages were wavering and insolent. Yet
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  Speaker 1: voor d Roy and Levis exerted themselves for defense with
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  Speaker 1: an energy that does honor to them. Both, far from
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  Speaker 1: showing the least timidity, says the ever modest Governor, I
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  Speaker 1: have taken positions such as may hide our weakness from
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  Speaker 1: the enemy. He stationed rochebeaux Court with three hundred men
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  Speaker 1: at Point ou Trembles, Rompontini with two hundred at Jacques Cartier,
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  Speaker 1: and Dumas with twelve hundred at de Chambeau, to watch
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  Speaker 1: the Saint Lawrence and if possible, prevent Murray from moving
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  Speaker 1: up the river. Bougainville was stationed at el Aunois to
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  Speaker 1: buy the approach from Lake Champlain, and a force under
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  Speaker 1: La Corne was held ready to defend the rapids above
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  Speaker 1: Montreal should the English attempt that dangerous passage. Prisoners taken
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  Speaker 1: by war parties near Crown Point gave exaggerated reports of
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  Speaker 1: hostile preparation and doubled and trebled the forces that were
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  Speaker 1: mustering against Canada. These forces were nevertheless considerable. Amherst had
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  Speaker 1: resolved to enter the colony by all its three gates
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  Speaker 1: at once and advancing from east where and south unite
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  Speaker 1: at Montreal and crush it. As in the draws of
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  Speaker 1: a vice. Murray was to ascend the Saint Lawrence from Quebec,
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  Speaker 1: while Brigadier Haviland forced an entrance by way of Lake Champlain,
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  Speaker 1: and Amherst himself led the main army down the Saint
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  Speaker 1: Lawrence from Lake Ontario. This last route was long, circuitous, difficult,
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  Speaker 1: and full of danger from the rapids that obstructed the river.
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  Speaker 1: His choice of it for his chief line of operation
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  Speaker 1: instead of the shorter and easier way of Lake Champlain
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  Speaker 1: was meant, no doubt to prevent the French army from
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  Speaker 1: escaping up the lakes to Detroit and the other wilderness posts,
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  Speaker 1: where it might have protracted the war for an indefinite time.
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  Speaker 1: While the plan adopted, if successful, would make its capture certain.
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  Speaker 1: The plan was a critical one. Three armies advancing from
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  Speaker 1: three different points hundreds of miles apart by routes full
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  Speaker 1: of difficulty and with no possibility of intercommunication, were to
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  Speaker 1: meet at the same place at the same time, or
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  Speaker 1: failing to do so, run the risk of being destroyed.
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  Speaker 1: In detail, if the French troops could be kept together,
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  Speaker 1: and if the small army of Murray or of Haviland
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  Speaker 1: should reach Montreal a few days before the co operating
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  Speaker 1: force appeared, it might be separately attacked and overpowered. In
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  Speaker 1: this lay the hope of Vaudroy and Levis. After the
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  Speaker 1: siege of Quebec was raised, Murray had an effective force
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  Speaker 1: of about twenty five hundred rank and file. As the
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  Speaker 1: spring opened, the Invalids were encamped on the island of Orleans,
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  Speaker 1: where fresh air, fresh provisions, and the change from the
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  Speaker 1: pestiferous town hospitals wrought such wonders on the scorbutic patients
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  Speaker 1: that in a few weeks a considerable number of them
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  Speaker 1: were again fit for garrison duty, if not for the field.
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  Speaker 1: Thus it happened that on the second of July twenty
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  Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty men and officers received orders to
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  Speaker 1: embark for Montreal, and on the fifteenth they set sail
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  Speaker 1: in thirty two vessels with a number of boats and batteux.
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  Speaker 1: They were followed some time after by Lord Rollo with
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  Speaker 1: thirteen hundred additional men, just arrived from Louisbourg. The King
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  Speaker 1: having ordered that fortress to be abandoned and dismantled, They
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  Speaker 1: advanced slowly, landing from time to time skirmishing with detachments
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  Speaker 1: of the enemy who followed them along the shore, or
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  Speaker 1: more frequently trading with the farmers who brought them vegetables, poultry, eggs,
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  Speaker 1: and fresh meat. They passed the fortified hill of Jacques Cartier,
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  Speaker 1: whence they were saluted with shot and shell, stopped at
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  Speaker 1: various parishes. Disarmed, the inhabitants administered oaths of neutrality, which
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  Speaker 1: were taken without much apparent reluctance, and on the fourth
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  Speaker 1: of August came within sight of the three Rivers, then
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  Speaker 1: occupied by a body of troops, expecting an attack, But
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  Speaker 1: says Knox, a delay here would be absurd, as that
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  Speaker 1: wretched place must share the fate of Montreal. Our fleet
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  Speaker 1: sailed this morning. The French troops, apparently about two thousand,
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  Speaker 1: lined their different works, and were in general clothed as regulars,
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  Speaker 1: except to very few Canadians and about fifty naked picts
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  Speaker 1: or savages, their bodies being painted of a reddish color,
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  Speaker 1: and their faces of different colors, which I plainly discerned
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  Speaker 1: with my glass. Their light cavalry, who paraded along shore
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  Speaker 1: seemed to be well appointed, clothed in blue faced with scarlet,
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  Speaker 1: but their officers had white uniforms in fine their troops, batteries,
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  Speaker 1: fair looking houses, their situations on the banks of a
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  Speaker 1: delightful river, Our fleet sailing triumphantly before them, with our
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  Speaker 1: floating batteries drawn up in line of battle. The country
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  Speaker 1: on both sides, interspersed with neat settlements, together with the
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  Speaker 1: verdure of the fields and trees, and the clear, pleasant weather,
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  Speaker 1: afforded as agreeable a prospect as the most lively imagination
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  Speaker 1: can conceive. This excellent lover of the picturesque was still
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  Speaker 1: more delighted as the fleet sailed among the islands of
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  Speaker 1: Saint Peter. I think nothing could equal the beauties of
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  Speaker 1: our navigation this morning. The meandering course of the narrow channel,
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  Speaker 1: the awfulness and solemnity of the dark forests with which
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  Speaker 1: these islands are covered, the fragrancy of the spontaneous fruits,
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  Speaker 1: shrubs and flowers, the verdure of the water by the
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  Speaker 1: reflection of the neighboring woods, the wild chirping notes of
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  Speaker 1: the feathered inhabitants, the masts and sails of ships appearing
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  Speaker 1: as if among the trees, both ahead and astern, formed
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  Speaker 1: altogether an enchanting diversity. The evening recalled him from dreams
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  Speaker 1: to realities. For towards seven o'clock they reached the village
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  Speaker 1: of Sorel, where they found a large body of troops
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  Speaker 1: and militia intrenched along the strand. Borlamac was in command
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  Speaker 1: here with two or three thousand men, and Duma, with
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  Speaker 1: another body, was on the northern shore. Both had orders
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  Speaker 1: to keep abreast of the fleet as it advanced, and
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  Speaker 1: thus French and English alike drew slowly towards Montreal, where
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  Speaker 1: lay the main French force under Levis, ready to unite
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  Speaker 1: with Bolamac and Duma and fall upon Murray at the
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  Speaker 1: first opportunity. Montreal was now but a few leagues distant,
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  Speaker 1: and the situation was becoming delicate. Murray sent five rangers
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  Speaker 1: towards Lake Champlain to get news of Haviland, and took
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  Speaker 1: measures at the same time to cause the desertion of
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  Speaker 1: the Canadians, who formed the largest part of the opposing force.
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  Speaker 1: He sent a proclamation among the parishes, advising the inhabitants
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  Speaker 1: to remain peacefully at home, promising that those who did
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  Speaker 1: so should be safe in person and property, and threatening
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  Speaker 1: to burn every house from which the men of the
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  Speaker 1: family were absent. These were not idle words. A detachment
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  Speaker 1: sent for the purpose destroyed a settlement near Sorel, the
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  Speaker 1: owners of which were in arms under Bourlamac. I was
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  Speaker 1: under the cruel necessity of burning the greatest part of
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  Speaker 1: these poor, unhappy people's houses, wrote Murray. I pray God
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  Speaker 1: this example may suffice, for my nature revolts when this
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  Speaker 1: becomes a necessary part of my duty. On the other hand,
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  Speaker 1: he treated with great kindness all who left the army
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  Speaker 1: and returned to their families. The effect was soon felt.
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  Speaker 1: The Canadians came in by scores and by hundreds to
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  Speaker 1: give up their arms and take the oath of neutrality.
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  Speaker 1: Till before the end of August half Boorlomac's force had disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: Murray encamped on Eel Saint Terrees, just below Montreal, and
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  Speaker 1: watched and waited for Haviland and Amherst to appear. Voor Droy,
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  Speaker 1: on his part, was not idle. He sent a counter
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  Speaker 1: proclamation through the parishes as an antidote to that of Murray.
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  Speaker 1: I have been compelled, he writes to the minister, to
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  Speaker 1: decree the pain of death to the Canadians who are
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  Speaker 1: so dastardly as to desert or give up their arms
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  Speaker 1: to the enemy, and to order that the houses of
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  Speaker 1: those who do not join our army shall be burned.
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  Speaker 1: Execution was to be summary without court martial. Yet desertion
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  Speaker 1: increased daily. The Canadians felt themselves doubly ruined, for it
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  Speaker 1: became known that the court had refused to redeem the
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  Speaker 1: paper that formed the whole currency of the colony, and
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  Speaker 1: in their desperation they preferred to trust the tried clemency
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  Speaker 1: of the enemy rather than exasperate him by persisting in
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  Speaker 1: a vain defense. Voor Droy writes, in his usual strain,
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  Speaker 1: I am taking the most just measures to unite our forces,
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  Speaker 1: and if our situation permits fight a battle or several battles.
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  Speaker 1: It is to be feared that we shall go down
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  Speaker 1: before an enemy so numerous and strong. But whatever may
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  Speaker 1: be the event, we will save the honor of the
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  Speaker 1: King's arms. I have the honor to repeat to you, monseigneur,
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  Speaker 1: that if any resource were left to me, whatever the
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  Speaker 1: progress the English might make, I would maintain myself in
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  Speaker 1: some part of the colony with my remaining troops. After
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  Speaker 1: having fought with the greatest obstinacy, but I am absolutely
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  Speaker 1: without the least remnant of the necessary means. In these
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  Speaker 1: unhappy circumstances. I shall continue to use every maneuver and
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  Speaker 1: device to keep the enemy in check. But if we
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  Speaker 1: succumb in the battles we shall fight, I shall apply
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  Speaker 1: myself to obtaining a capitulation which may avert the total
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  Speaker 1: ruin of a people who will remain forever French, and
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  Speaker 1: who could not survive their misfortunes, but for the hope
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  Speaker 1: of being restored by the treaty of peace, to the
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  Speaker 1: rule of His most Christian Majesty. It is with this
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  Speaker 1: view that I shall remain in this town, the Chevalier
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  Speaker 1: de Levis having represented to me that it would be
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  Speaker 1: an evil to the colonists past remedy if any accident
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  Speaker 1: should happen to me. Levis was willing to go very
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  Speaker 1: far in soothing the susceptibilities of the governor. But it
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  Speaker 1: may be suspected this time that he thought him more
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  Speaker 1: useful within four walls than in the open field. There
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  Speaker 1: seemed good hope of stopping the advance of Haveland. To
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  Speaker 1: this end, voor Droy had stationed Bougainville at el Anois
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  Speaker 1: with seventeen hundred men, and Roquemar at Saint John a
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  Speaker 1: few miles distant, with twelve or fifteen hundred more, besides
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  Speaker 1: all the Indians. Haveland embarked at Crown Point with thirty
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  Speaker 1: four hundred regulars, provincials and Indians. Four days brought him
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  Speaker 1: to elon Nois. He landed, planted cannon in the swamp
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  Speaker 1: and opened fire. Major Darby with the light infantry and
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  Speaker 1: rogers with the rangers, dragged three light pieces through the
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  Speaker 1: forest and planted them on the river bank in the
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  Speaker 1: rear of Bougainville's position, where lay the French naval force,
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  Speaker 1: consisting of three armed vessels and several gunboats. The cannon
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  Speaker 1: were turned upon the principal ship, a shot cut her cable,
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  Speaker 1: and a strong west wind drove her ashore into the
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  Speaker 1: hands of her enemies. The other vessels and gunboats made
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  Speaker 1: all sail for Saint John, but stranded in a bend
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  Speaker 1: of the river, where the rangers, swimming out with their tomahawks,
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  Speaker 1: boarded and took one of them, and the rest soon surrendered.
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  Speaker 1: It was a fatal blow to Bougainville, whose communications with
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  Speaker 1: Saint John were now cut off. In accordance with instructions
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  Speaker 1: from voor Droy, he abandoned the island on the night
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  Speaker 1: of the twenty seventh of August, and, making his way
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  Speaker 1: with infinite difficulty through the dark forest, joined Rokemoor at
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  Speaker 1: Saint John twelve miles below. Haveland followed the rangers leading
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  Speaker 1: the way. Bougainville and Rokemore fell back, abandoned Saint John
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  Speaker 1: and Chamblis, and joined Bourlamac on the banks of the
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  Speaker 1: Saint Lawrence, where the United force at first outnumbered that
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  Speaker 1: of Haveland, though fast melted away by discouragement and desertion.
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  Speaker 1: Haveland opened communication with Murray, and they both looked daily
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  Speaker 1: for the arrival of Amherst, whose approach was rumored by
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  Speaker 1: prisoners and deserters. The army of Amherst had gathered at
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  Speaker 1: Oswego in July. On the tenth of August, it was
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  Speaker 1: all afloat on Lake Ontario to the number of ten thousand,
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  Speaker 1: one hundred forty two men, besides about seven hundred Indians
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  Speaker 1: under Sir William Johnson. Before the fifteenth the whole had
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  Speaker 1: reached La Presentation, otherwise called Oswegatchie or Lagalette, the seat
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  Speaker 1: of Father Piquet's mission. Nearby was a French armed brig
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  Speaker 1: the Ottawa, with ten cannon and one hundred men, threatening
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  Speaker 1: destruction to Amherst's batteux and whale boats. Five gunboats attacked
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  Speaker 1: and captured her. Then the army advanced again and were
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  Speaker 1: presently joined by two armed vessels of their own, which
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  Speaker 1: had lingered behind. Bewildered among the channels of the Thousand Islands.
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  Speaker 1: Near the head of the rapids, a little below Lagalette
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  Speaker 1: stood Fort Levis, built the year before on an islet
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  Speaker 1: in mid channel. Amherst might have passed its batteries with
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  Speaker 1: slight loss, continuing his voyage without paying it the honor
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  Speaker 1: of a siege, and this was what the French commanders
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  Speaker 1: feared that he would do. We shall be fortunate, Levis
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  Speaker 1: wrote to Bourlamac. If the enemy amuse themselves with capturing it,
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  Speaker 1: my chief anxiety is lest Amherst should reach Montreal so
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  Speaker 1: soon that we may not have time to unite our
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  Speaker 1: forces to attack Haviland or Murray. If he had better
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  Speaker 1: known the English commander, Levis would have seen that he
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  Speaker 1: was not the man to leave a post of the
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  Speaker 1: enemy in his rear under any circumstances, and Amherst had
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  Speaker 1: also another reason for wishing to get the garrison into
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  Speaker 1: his hands, for he expected to find among them the
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  Speaker 1: pilots whom he needed to guide his boats down the rapids.
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  Speaker 1: He therefore invested the fort, and on the twenty third
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  Speaker 1: cannonaded it from his vessels the mainland and the neighboring islands.
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  Speaker 1: It was commanded by Pouchet, the late commandant of Niagara,
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  Speaker 1: made prisoner in the last campaign, and since exchanged. As
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  Speaker 1: the rocky islet had but little earth. The defenses, though
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  Speaker 1: thick and strong, were chiefly of logs, which flew in
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  Speaker 1: splinters under the bombardment. The French, however, made a brave resistance.
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  Speaker 1: The firing lasted all day, was resumed in the morning,
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  Speaker 1: and continued two days more. When the Pouchet, whose works
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  Speaker 1: were in ruins, surrounded himself and his garrison. On this
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  Speaker 1: Johnson's Indians prepared to kill the prisoners, and, being compelled
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  Speaker 1: to desist, three fourths of them went home in a rage.
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  Speaker 1: Now began the critical part of the expedition, the descent
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  Speaker 1: of the rapids, the gallops, the rapid Platte, the long
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  Speaker 1: sout the cotou du Lac were passed in succession with
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  Speaker 1: little loss, till they reached the Cedars, the Boisson, and
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  Speaker 1: the cascades, where the reckless surges dashed and bounded in
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  Speaker 1: the sun, beautiful and terrible as young tigers at play.
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  Speaker 1: Boat after boat, borne on their foaming crests, rushed madly
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  Speaker 1: down the torrent. Forty six were totally wrecked, eighteen were damaged,
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  Speaker 1: and eighty four men were drowned. La Corne was watching
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  Speaker 1: the rapids with a considerable body of Canadians, and it
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  Speaker 1: is difficult to see why this bold and enterprising chief
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  Speaker 1: allowed the army to descend undisturbed through passages so dangerous.
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  Speaker 1: At length, the last rapid was left behind, and the flotilla,
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  Speaker 1: gliding in peace over the smooth breast of Lake Saint Louis,
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  Speaker 1: landed at Eel Perrault, a few leagues from Montreal. In
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  Speaker 1: the morning September sixth. The troops embarked again, landed unopposed
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  Speaker 1: at Lachine, nine miles from the city, marched on without delay,
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  Speaker 1: and encamped before its walls. End of Section sixty eight.