France and England in North America, Part VI : Montcalm and Wolfe

573

Procès de Bigot, Cadet, et autres, Mémoire pour François Bigot, 3me partie.

574

Order, War Office, 19 Dec. 1757.

575

Pitt to Abercromby, 27 Jan. 1758. Instructions for our Trusty and Well-beloved Jeffrey Amherst, Esq., Major-General of our Forces in North America, 3 March, 1758.

576

Entick, III. 56-60.

577

Louisbourg is described as I saw it ten days before writing the above, after an easterly gale.

578

Journal du Siége de Louisbourg. Twenty-nine hundred regulars were able to bear arms when the siege began. Houllière, Commandant des Troupes, au Ministre, 6 Août, 1758.

579

Le Prudent, 74 guns; Entreprenant, 74; Capricieux, 64; Célèbre, 64; Bienfaisant, 64; Apollon, 50; Chèvre, 22; Biche, 18; Fidèle, 22; Écho, 26; Aréthuse, 36; Comète, 30. The Bizarre, 64, sailed for France on the eighth of June, and was followed by the Comète.

580

État d'Artillerie, appended to the Journal of Drucour. There were also forty-four cannon in reserve.

581

Rapport de Grucour. Journal du Siége.

582

Of this force, according to Mante, only 9,900 were fit for duty. The table printed by Knox (I. 127) shows a total of 11,112, besides officers, artillery, and rangers. The Authentic Account of the Reduction of Louisbourg, by a Spectator, puts the force at 11,326 men, besides officers. Entick makes the whole 11,936.

583

Entick, III. 224.

584

Drucour reports 985 soldiers as stationed here under Saint-Julien; there were also some Indians. Freshwater Cove, otherwise Kennington Cove, was called La Cormorandière by the French.

585

Pichon, Mémoires du Cap-Breton, 284.

586

Journal of Amherst, in Mante, 117. Amherst to Pitt, 11 June, 1758. Authentic Account of the Reduction of Louisbourg, by a Spectator, 11. General Orders of Amherst, 3-7 June, 1759. Letter from an Officer, in Knox, I. 191; Entick, III. 225. The French accounts generally agree in essentials with the English. The English lost one hundred and nine, killed, wounded, and drowned.

587

Early in the siege Drucour wrote to Amherst asking that the hospitals should be exempt from fire. Amherst answered that shot and shell might fall on any part of so small a town, but promised to insure the sick and wounded from molestation if Drucour would send them either to the island at the mouth of the harbor, or to any of the ships, if anchored apart from the rest. The offer was declined, for reasons not stated. Drucour gives the correspondence in his Diary.

588

Mante and other English writers give the text of this reply.

589

Translated from the Journal of Drucour.

590

Authentic Account of the Siege of Louisbourg, by a Spectator.

591

Account of the Guns, Mortars, Shot, Shell, etc., found in the Town of Louisbourg upon its Surrender this day, signed Jeffrey Amherst, 27 July, 1758.

592

These particulars are from the provincial newspapers.

593

Cleaveland, Journal.

594

Knox, Historical Journal, I. 158.

595

Orders of Amherst to Wolfe, 15 Aug. 1758; Ibid. to Monckton, 24 Aug. 1758; Report of Monckton, 12 Nov. 1758.

596

Villejouin, commandant à l'Isle St.-Jean, au Ministre, 8 Sept. 1758.

597

"Les Anglais ont très-bien traités les prisonniers qu'ils ont faits dans cette partie" [Gaspé, etc]. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 4 Nov. 1758.

598

Pitt to the Colonial Governors, 30 Dec. 1757.

599

Bury, Exodus of the Western Nations, II., 250, 251.

600

Pownall to Pitt, 30 Sept. 1758 (Public Record Office, America and West Indies, LXXI.). "The province of Massachusetts Bay has exerted itself with great zeal and at vast expense for the public service." Registers of Privy Council, 26 July, 1757.

601

Bollan, Agent of Massachusetts, to Speaker of Assembly, 20 March, 1760. It was her share of £200,000 granted to all the colonies in the proportion of their respective efforts.

602

Address to His Majesty from the Governor, Council, and Assembly of New Hampshire, Jan. 1759.

603

Lévis au Ministre, 17 Juin, 1758. Doreil au Ministre, 16 Juin, 1758. Montcalm à sa Femme, 18 Avril, 1758.

604

Correspondance de Vaudreuil, 1758. Livre d'Ordres, Juin, 1758.

605

Bigot au Ministre, 21 Juillet, 1758.

606

N.Y. Col. Docs., X. 893. Lotbinière's relative, Vaudreuil, confirms the statement. Montcalm had not, as has been said, begun already to fall back.

607

Abercromby to Pitt, 12 July, 1758.

608

Great-uncle of the writer, and son of the Rev. Ebenezer Parkman, a graduate of Harvard, and minister of Westborough, Mass.

609

Chesterfield, Letters, IV. 260 (ed. Mahon).

610

Wolfe to his Father, 7 Aug. 1758, in Wright, 450.

611

Pitt to Grenville, 22 Aug. 1758, in Grenville Papers, I. 262.

612

Pouchot, Dernière Guerre de l'Amérique, I. 140.

613

Letter from Camp, 12 June, 1758, in Boston Evening Post. Another, in Boston News Letter, contains similar statements.

614

Mrs. Grant, Memoirs of an American Lady, 226 (ed. 1876).

615

Letter from Lake George, in Boston News Letter.

616

SeeAppendix G.

617

Letter from Lake George, in Boston News Letter. Even Rogers, the ranger, speaks of the beauty of the scene.

618

Between the old and new steamboat-landings, and parts adjacent.

619

Abercromby to Pitt, 12 July, 1758.

620

Pouchot, I. 145.

621

N. Y. Col. Docs., X. 708.

622

Abercromby to Barrington, 12 July, 1758. "At least eight feet high." Rogers, Journals, 116.

623

A Swiss officer of the Royal Americans, writing on the 14th, says that there were two, and in some parts three, rows of loopholes. See the letter in Pennsylvania Archives, III. 472.

624

Colonel Oliver Partridge to his Wife, 12 July, 1758.

625

A new line of works was begun four days after the battle, to replace the log breastwork. Malartic, Journal. Travaux faits à Carillon, 1758.

626

Doreil au Ministre, 28 Juillet, 1758. The Chevalier Johnstone thought that Montcalm was saved by Abercromby's ignorance of the ground. A Dialogue in Hades (Quebec Historical Society).

627

See the letter in Knox, I. 148.

628

Pouchot, I. 137.

629

Livre d'Ordres, Disposition de Défense des Retranchements, 8 Juillet, 1758.

630

Montcalm, Relation de la Victoire remportée à Carillon, 8 Juillet, 1758. Vaudreuil puts the number at 4,760, besides officers, which includes the garrison and laborers at the fort. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 28 Juillet, 1758.

631

Pouchot, I. 153. Both Niles and Entick mention the incident.

632

Letter from Saratoga, 12 July, 1758, in New Hampshire Gazette. Compare Pennsylvania Archives, III. 474.

633

Letter from Lake George, 26 July, 1758, in Boston Gazette. The story is given, without much variation, in several other letters.

634

Letter of Lieutenant William Grant, in Maclachlan's Highlands, II. 340 (ed. 1875).

635

Ibid., II. 339.

636

SeeAppendix G.

637

Lévis au Ministre, 13 Juillet, 1758

638

Along with the above paraphrase I may give that of Montcalm himself, which was also inscribed on the cross:—

"Chrétien! ce ne fut point Montcalm et la prudence,Ces arbres renversés, ces héros, leurs exploits,Qui des Anglais confus ont brisé l'espérance;C'est le bras de ton Dieu, vainqueur sur cette croix."

In the same letter in which Montcalm sent these lines to his mother he says: "Je vous envoie, pour vous amuser, deux chansons sur le combat du 8 Juillet, dont l'une est en style des poissardes de Paris." One of these songs, which were written by soldiers after the battle, begins,—

"Je chante des FrançoisLa valeur et la gloire,Qui toujours sur l'AngloisRemportent la victoire.Ce sont des héros,Tous nos généraux,Et Montcalm et Lévis,Et Bourlamaque aussi."Mars, qui les engendraPour l'honneur de la France,D'abord les animaDe sa haute vaillance,Et les transportaDans le Canada,Où l'on voit les FrançoisCulbuter les Anglois."

The other effusion of the military muse is in a different strain, "en style des poissardes de Paris." The following is a specimen, given literatim:—

"L'aumônier fit l'exhortation,Puis il donnit l'absolution;Aisément cela se peut croire.Enfants, dit-il, animez-vous!L'bon Dieu, sa mère, tout est pour vous.

S—é! j'sommes catholiques. Les Anglois sont des hérétiques.

"Ce sont des chiens; à coups d'pieds, a coups d'poings faut leur casser la gueule et la mâchoire."

"Soldats, officiers, généraux,Chacun en ce jour fut héros.Aisément cela se peut croire.Montcalm, comme défunt Annibal,S'montroit soldat et général.

S—é! sil y avoit quelqu'un qui ne l'aimit point!"

"Je veux être un chien; à coups d'pieds, a coups d'poings, j'lui cass'rai la gueule et la mâchoire."

This is an allusion to Vaudreuil. On the battle of Ticonderoga, seeAppendix G.

639

Cunningham, aide-de-camp of Abercromby, to Cummings, 8 July, 1758.

640

Trumbull, Hist. Connecticut, II. 392. "Nabby" (Abigail) was then a common female name in New England.

641

For the use of the Diary of Chaplain Cleaveland, as well as of his letters to his wife, I am indebted to the kindness of Miss Abby E. Cleaveland, his descendant.

642

Colonel William Williams to Colonel Israel Williams, 4 Sept. 1758.

643

Letter from the Camp at Lake George, 5 Sept. 1758, signed by Captains Maynard and Giddings, and printed in the Boston Weekly Advertiser. "Rogers deserves much to be commended." Abercromby to Pitt, 19 Aug. 1758.

644

Thomas Barnsley to Bouquet, 7 Sept. 1758.

645

Doreil au Ministre, 31 Août, 1757.

646

On Putnam's adventures, Humphreys, 57 (1818). He had the story from Putnam himself, and seems to give it with substantial correctness, though his account of the battle is at several points erroneous. The "Molang" of his account is Marin. On the battle, besides authorities already cited, Recollections of Thomson Maxwell, a soldier present (Essex Institute, VII. 97). Rogers, Journals, 117. Letter from camp in Boston Gazette, no. 117. Another in New Hampshire Gazette, no. 104. Gentleman's Magazine, 1758, p. 498. Malartic, Journal du Régiment de Béarn. Lévis, Journal de la Guerre en Canada. The French notices of the affair are few and brief. They admit a defeat, but exaggerate the force and the losses of the English, and underrate their own. Malartic, however, says that Marin set out with four hundred men, and was soon after joined by an additional number of Indians; which nearly answers to the best English accounts.

647

On the capture of Fort Frontenac, Bradstreet to Abercromby, 31 Aug. 1758. Impartial Account of Lieutenant-Colonel Bradstreet's Expedition, by a Volunteer in the Expedition (London, 1759). Letter from a New York officer to his colonel, in Boston Gazette, no. 182. Several letters from persons in the expedition, in Boston Evening Post, no. 1,203, New Hampshire Gazette, no. 104, and Boston News Letter, no. 2,932. Abercromby to Pitt, 25 Nov. 1758. Lieutenant Macauley to Horatio Gates, 30 Aug. 1758. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 30 Oct. 1758. Pouchot, I. 162. Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.

648

Correspondence of Forbes and Bouquet, July, August, 1758.

649

Forbes to Pitt, 6 Sept. 1758.

650

Besides the printed letters, there is an autograph collection of his correspondence with Bouquet in 1758 (forming vol. 21,641, Additional Manuscripts, British Museum). Copies of the whole are before me.

651

The above extracts are from the Bouquet and Haldimand Papers, British Museum.

652

Bouquet to Forbes, 3 June, 1758.

653

Journal of a Reconnoitring Party, Aug. 1758. The writer seems to have been Ensign Chew, of Washington's regiment.

654

Vaudreuil au Ministre, Juillet, Août, Octobre 1758.

655

Forbes to Bouquet, 18 Aug. 1758.

656

Of the Hurons of the mission of Lorette, Bougainville says: "Ils sont toujours sauvages autant que ceux qui sont les moins apprivoisés." And yet they had been converts under Jesuit control for more than four generations. The case was no better at the other missions; and at St. Francis it seems to have been worse.

657

Journal of Christian Frederic Post, July, August, September, 1758.

658

Minutes of Conferences at Easton, October, 1758.

659

Journal of Christian Frederic Post, October, November, 1758.

660

Grant to Forbes, no date. "Les rapports sur le nombre des Français varient de 3,000 à 1,200." Bouquet à Forbes, 17 Sept. 1758. Bigot says that 3,500 daily rations were delivered at Fort Duquesne throughout the summer. Bigot au Ministre, 22 Nov. 1758. In October the number had fallen to 1,180, which included Indians. Ligneris à Vaudreuil, 18 Oct. 1758.

661

On Grant's defeat, Grant to Forbes, no date, a long and minute report, written while a prisoner. Bouquet à Forbes, 17 Sept. 1758. Forbes to Pitt, 20 Oct. 1758. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 1 Nov. 1758. Letters from camp in Boston Evening Post, Boston Weekly Advertiser, Boston News Letter, and other provincial newspapers of the time. List of Killed, Wounded, and Missing in the Action of Sept. 14. Gentleman's Magazine, XXIX. 173. Hazard's Pennsylvania Register, VIII. 141. Olden Time, I. 179. Vaudreuil, with characteristic exaggeration, represents all Grant's party as killed or taken, except a few who died of starvation. The returns show that 540 came back safe, out of 813.

662

Forbes to Bouquet, 23 Sept. 1758.

663

Burd to Bouquet, 12 Oct. 1758. Bouquet à Forbes, 13 Oct. 1758. Forbes to Pitt, 20 Oct. 1758. Letter from Loyalhannon, 14 Oct., in Olden Time, I. 180. Letters from camp, in Boston News Letter. Ligneris à Vaudreuil, 18 Oct. 1758. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 20 Nov. 1758.

664

Forbes to Bouquet, 15 Oct. 1758. Ibid., 25 Oct. 1758. Forbes to Pitt, 20 Oct. 1758.

665

Letter from a British Officer in the Expedition, 25 Feb. 1759, Gentleman's Magazine, XXIX. 171.

666

Stanwix to Pitt, 20 Nov. 1759.

667

Galt, Life of Benjamin West, I. 64 (ed. 1820).

668

Bouquet to Chief Justice Allen, 25 Nov. 1758.

669

Forbes to Amherst, 26 Nov. 1758.

670

Halket to Bouquet, 28 Dec. 1758.

671

Vaudreuil au Ministre, 8 Août, 1758.

672

Much of the voluminous correspondence on these matters will be found in N. Y. Col. Docs., X.

673

Vaudreuil au Ministre, 8 Avril, 1759.

674

Ibid.

675

Vaudreuil à Montcalm, 1 Août, 1758.

676

Montcalm à Vaudreuil, 6 Août, 1758.

677

Ordres du Roy et Dépêches des Ministres, 1758, 1759.

678

The above extracts are from letters of 5 and 27 Nov. and 9 Dec. 1758, and 18 and 23 March, 1759.

679

Mémoire sur le moyen d'entretenir 10,000 Hommes de Troupes dans les Colonies, 1759.

680

Procès de Bigot, Cadet, et autres, Mémoire pour le Sieur de Boishébert.

681

Vaudreuil au Ministre, 10 Avril, 1759.

682

Doreil au Ministre, 31 Juillet, 1758. Ibid. 12 Août, 1758. Ibid. 31 Août, 1758. Ibid. 1 Sept. 1758.

683

Vaudreuil au Ministre de la Marine, 4 Nov. 1758.

684

Vaudreuil au Ministre de la Guerre, 11 Oct. 1758.

685

Vaudreuil au Ministre de la Marine, 3 Nov. 1758.

686

Ordres du Roy et Dépêches des Ministres, Janvier, Février, 1759.

687

Mémoire remis au Ministre par M. de Bougainville, Décembre, 1758.

688

Le Ministre à Montcalm, 3 Fév. 1759.

689

Ordres du Roy et Dépêches des Ministres, Février, 1759.

690

Montcalm à Madame de Saint-Véran, 24 Sept. 1758.

691

Lettres de Bougainville à Madame de Saint-Véran, 1758, 1759.

692

Belleisle à Montcalm, 19 Fév. 1759.

693

Vaudreuil au Ministre, 8 Avril, 1759. The Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760, says 15,229 effective men.

694

Mémoire sur le Canada remis au Ministre, 27 Déc. 1758.

695

Ordres du Roy et Dépêches des Ministres, Lettre à Vaudreuil, 3 Fév. 1759.

696

Vaudreuil au Ministre, 8 Avril, 1759.

697

Knox, Historical Journal, I. 228.

698

See Grenville Correspondence, I. 305.

699

Horace Walpole, Letters III. 207 (ed. Cunningham, 1857).

700

Ibid. George II., II. 345.

701

Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.

702

I am indebted for a copy of this mandate to the kindness of Abbé Bois. As printed by Knox, it is somewhat different, though the spirit is the same.

703

Vaudreuil au Ministre, 8 Mai, 1759.

704

Vaudreuil au Ministre, 20 [?] Mai, 1759.

705

Vaudreuil au Ministre, 28 Mai, 1759.

706

Journal du Siége de Québec déposé à la Bibliothêque de Hartwell, en Angleterre. (Printed at Quebec, 1836.)

707

Livre d'Ordres, Disposition pour s'opposer à la Descente.

708

This number was found after the siege. Knox, II. 151. Some French writers make it much greater.

709

SeeAppendix H.

710

Ibid.

711

Mémoires sur le Canada, 1749-1760.

712

Mémorial de Jean-Denis de Vitré au Très-honorable William Pitt.

713

Others, as well as the pilot, were astonished. "The enemy passed sixty ships of war where we hardly dared risk a vessel of a hundred tons." "Notwithstanding all our precautions, the English, without any accident, by night, as well as by day, passed through it [the Traverse] their ships of seventy and eighty guns, and even many of them together." Vaudreuil au Ministre, 22 Oct. 1759.

714

Foligny, Journal mémoratif. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 5 Oct. 1759. Journal du Siége (Bibliothêque de Hartwell).

715

Montcalm à Bourlamaque, 27 Juin, 1759. All these letters are before me.

716

Vaudreuil à Bourlamaque, 8 Juillet, 1759.