With Wolfe in Canada: The Winning of a Continent

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 17: Louisbourg And Ticonderoga.

  All eyes in the fleet were directed towards the rocky shore of GabarusBay, a flat indentation some three miles across, its eastern extremity,White Point, being a mile to the west of Louisbourg. The sea was rough,and the white masses of surf were thrown high up upon the face of therock, along the coast, as far as the eye could reach.

  A more difficult coast on which to effect a landing could not have beenselected. There were but three points where boats could, even in fineweather, get to shore--namely, White Point, Flat Point, and Fresh WaterCove. To cover these, the French had erected several batteries, and, assoon as the English fleet was in sight, they made vigorous preparationsto repel a landing.

  Boats were at once lowered, in order to make a reconnaissance of theshore. Generals Amherst, Lawrence, and Wolfe all took part in it, and anumber of naval officers, in their boats, daringly approached the shoreto almost within musket shot. When they returned, in the afternoon,they made their reports to the admiral, and these reports all agreedwith his own opinion--namely, that there was but little chance ofsuccess. One naval captain alone, an old officer named Fergusson,advised the admiral to hold no council of war, but to take theresponsibility on himself, and to make the attempt at all risks.

  "Why, admiral," he said, "the very children at home would laugh at us,if, for a second time, we sailed here with an army, and then sailedaway again without landing a man."

  "So they would, Fergusson, so they would," the admiral said. "If I haveto stop here till winter, I won't go till I have carried out my orders,and put the troops ashore."

  In addition to the three possible landing places already named, was oneto the east of the town named Lorambec, and it was determined to send aregiment to threaten a landing at this place, while the army, formedinto three divisions, were to threaten the other points, and effect alanding at one or all of them, if it should be found possible.

  On the next day, however, the 3rd of June, the surf was so high thatnothing could be attempted. On the 4th there was a thick fog and agale, and the frigate Trent struck on a rock, and some of thetransports were nearly blown on shore. The sea was very heavy, and thevessels rolled tremendously at their anchors. Most of the troopssuffered terribly from seasickness.

  The next day, the weather continued thick and stormy. On the 6th therewas fog, but towards noon the wind went down, whereupon the signal wasmade, the boats were lowered, and the troops took their places in them.Scarcely had they done so, when the wind rose again, and the sea got upso rapidly that the landing was postponed.

  The next day the fog and heavy surf continued, but in the evening thesea grew calmer, and orders were issued for the troops to take to theboats, at two o'clock next morning. This was done, and the frigates gotunder sail, and steered for the four points at which the real orpretended attacks were to be made, and, anchoring within easy range,opened fire soon after daylight; while the boats, in three divisions,rowed towards the shore.

  The division under Wolfe consisted of twelve companies of Grenadiers,with the Light infantry, Fraser's Highlanders, and the New EnglandRangers. Fresh Water Cove was a crescent-shaped beach a quarter of amile long, with rocks at each end. On the shore above lay 1000Frenchmen under Lieutenant Colonel de Saint Julien, with eight cannons,on swivels, planted to sweep every part of the beach. Theintrenchments, behind which the troops were lying, were covered infront by spruce and fir trees, felled and laid on the ground with thetops outward.

  Not a shot was fired until the English boats approached the beach,then, from behind the leafy screen, a deadly storm of grape andmusketry was poured upon them. It was clear at once that to advancewould be destruction, and Wolfe waved his hand as a signal to the boatsto sheer off.

  On the right of the line, and but little exposed to the fire, werethree boats of the Light Infantry under Lieutenants Hopkins and Brown,and Ensign Grant, who, mistaking the signal, or wilfullymisinterpreting it, dashed for the shore directly before them. It was ahundred yards or so east of the beach--a craggy coast, lashed by thebreakers, but sheltered from the cannon by a small projecting point.

  The three young officers leapt ashore, followed by their men. MajorScott, who commanded the Light Infantry and Rangers, was in the nextboat, and at once followed the others, putting his boat's head straightto the shore. The boat was crushed to pieces against the rocks. Some ofthe men were drowned, but the rest scrambled up the rocks, and joinedthose who had first landed. They were instantly attacked by the French,and half of the little party were killed or wounded before the rest ofthe division could come to their assistance.

  Some of the boats were upset, and others stove in, but most of the menscrambled ashore, and, as soon as he landed, Wolfe led them up therocks, where they formed in compact order and carried, with thebayonet, the nearest French battery.

  The other divisions, seeing that Wolfe had effected a landing, camerapidly up, and, as the French attention was now distracted by Wolfe'sattack on the left, Amherst and Lawrence were able to land at the otherend of the beach, and, with their divisions, attacked the French on theright.

  These, assaulted on both sides, and fearing to be cut off from thetown, abandoned their cannon and fled into the woods. Some seventy ofthem were taken prisoners, and fifty killed. The rest made their waythrough the woods and marshes to Louisbourg, and the French in theother batteries commanding the landing places, seeing that the Englishwere now firmly established on the shore, also abandoned the positions,and retreated to the town.

  General Amherst established the English camp just beyond the range ofthe cannon on the ramparts, and the fleet set to work to land guns andstores at Flat Point Cove. For some days this work went on; but soviolent was the surf, that more than a hundred boats were stove in inaccomplishing it, and none of the siege guns could be landed till the18th. While the sailors were so engaged, the troops were busy makingroads and throwing up redoubts to protect their position.

  Wolfe, with 1200 men, made his way right round the harbour, and tookpossession of the battery at Lighthouse Point which the French hadabandoned; planted guns and mortars there, and opened fire on thebattery on the islet which guarded the entrance to the harbour; whileother batteries were raised, at different points along the shore, andopened fire upon the French ships. These replied, and the artilleryduel went on night and day, until, on the 25th, the battery on theislet was silenced. Leaving a portion of his force in the batteries hehad erected, Wolfe returned to the main army in front of the town.

  In the meantime, Amherst had not been idle. Day and night a thousandmen had been employed, making a covered road across a swamp to ahillock less than half a mile from the ramparts. The labour wasimmense, and the troops worked knee deep in mud and water.

  When Wolfe had silenced the battery on the islet, the way was open forthe English fleet to enter and engage the ships and town from theharbour, but the French took advantage of a dark and foggy night, andsank six ships across the entrance.

  On the 25th, the troops had made the road to the hillock, and began tofortify themselves there, under a heavy fire from the French; while onthe left, towards the sea, about a third of a mile from the Princess'sBastion, Wolfe, with a strong detachment, began to throw up a redoubt.

  On the night of the 9th of July, 600 French troops sallied out andattacked this work. The English, though fighting desperately, were fora time driven back; but, being reinforced, they drove the French backinto the town.

  Each day the English lines drew closer to the town. The French frigateEcho, under cover of a fog, had been sent to Quebec for aid, but shewas chased and captured. The frigate Arethuse, on the night of the 14thof July, was towed through the obstructions at the mouth of theharbour, and, passing through the English ships in a fog, succeeded ingetting away. Only five vessels of the French fleet now remained in theharbour, and these were but feebly manned, as 2000 of the officers andseamen had landed, and were encamped in the town.

  On the afternoon of the 16th a party of English
, led by Wolfe, suddenlydashed forward, and, driving back a company of French, seized somerising ground within three hundred yards of the ramparts, and began tointrench themselves there. All night, the French kept up a furious fireat the spot, but, by morning, the English had completed theirintrenchment, and from this point pushed on, until they had reached thefoot of the glacis.

  On the 21st, the French man of war Celebre was set on fire by theexplosion of a shell. The wind blew the flames into the rigging of twoof her consorts, and these also caught fire, and the three ships burnedto the water's edge. Several fires were occasioned in the town, and theEnglish guns, of which a great number were now in position, kept up astorm of fire night and day.

  On the night of the 23rd, six hundred English sailors silently rowedinto the harbour, cut the cables of the two remaining French men ofwar, and tried to tow them out. One, however, was aground, for the tidewas low. The sailors therefore set her on fire, and then towed herconsort out of the harbour, amidst a storm of shot and shell from theFrench batteries.

  The French position was now desperate. Only four cannon, on the sidefacing the English batteries, were fit for service. The masonry of theramparts was shaken, and the breaches were almost complete. A fourth ofthe garrison were in hospital, and the rest were worn out by toil.Every house in the place was shattered by the English artillery, andthere was no shelter either for the troops or the inhabitants.

  On the 26th, the last French cannon was silenced, and a breach effectedin the wall; and the French, unable longer to resist, hung out thewhite flag. They attempted to obtain favourable conditions, butBoscawen and Amherst insisted upon absolute surrender, and the French,wholly unable to resist further, accepted the terms.

  Thus fell the great French stronghold on Cape Breton. The defence hadbeen a most gallant one; and Drucour, the governor, although he couldnot save the fortress, had yet delayed the English so long before thewalls, that it was too late in the season, now, to attempt an attack onCanada itself.

  Wolfe, indeed, urged that an expedition should at once be sent againstQuebec, but Boscawen was opposed to this, owing to the lateness of theseason, and Amherst was too slow and deliberate, by nature, todetermine suddenly on the enterprise. He, however, sailed with sixregiments for Boston, to reinforce Abercromby at Lake George.

  Wolfe carried out the orders of the general, to destroy the Frenchsettlements on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence--a task most repugnant to hishumane nature. After this had been accomplished, he sailed for England.

  When Amherst had sailed with his expedition to the attack ofLouisbourg, he had not left the colonists in so unprotected a state asthey had been in the preceding year. They, on their part, respondednobly to the call, from England, that a large force should be put inthe field. The home government had promised to supply arms, ammunition,tents, and provisions, and to make a grant towards the pay and clothingof the soldiers.

  Massachusetts, as usual, responded most freely and loyally to thedemand. She had already incurred a very heavy debt by her efforts inthe war, and had supplied 2500 men--a portion of whom had gone withAmherst--but she now raised 7000 more, whom she paid, maintained, andclothed out of her own resources, thus placing in the field one-fourthof her able-bodied men. Connecticut made equal sacrifices, althoughless exposed to danger of invasion; while New Hampshire sent outone-third of her able-bodied men.

  In June the combined British and provincial force, under Abercromby,gathered on the site of Fort William Henry. The force consisted of 6367officers and soldiers of the regular army, and 9054 colonial troops.

  Abercromby himself was an infirm and incapable man, who owed hisposition to political influence. The real command was in the hands ofBrigadier General Lord Howe--a most energetic and able officer, whohad, during the past year, thoroughly studied forest warfare, and hadmade several expeditions with the scouting parties of Rogers and otherfrontier leaders. He was a strict disciplinarian, but threw aside allthe trammels of the traditions of the service. He made both officersand men dress in accordance with the work they had before them. All hadto cut their hair close, to wear leggings to protect them from thebriars, and to carry in their knapsacks thirty pounds of meal, whicheach man had to cook for himself. The coats, of both the Regulars andProvincials, were cut short at the waist, and no officer or private wasallowed to carry more than one blanket and a bear skin.

  Howe himself lived as simply and roughly as his men. The soldiers weredevoted to their young commander, and were ready to follow him to thedeath.

  "That's something like a man for a general," Nat said enthusiastically,as he marched, with the Royal Scouts, past the spot where Lord Howe wassitting on the ground, eating his dinner with a pocket knife.

  "I have never had much hope of doing anything, before, with theregulars in the forest, but I do think, this time, we have got a chanceof licking the French. What do you say, captain?"

  "It looks more hopeful, Nat, certainly. Under Loudon and Webb thingsdid not look very bright, but this is a different sort of generalaltogether."

  On the evening of the 4th of July baggage, stores, and ammunition wereall on board the boats, and the whole army embarked at daybreak on the5th. It was indeed a magnificent sight, as the flotilla started. Itconsisted of 900 troop boats, 135 whale boats, and a large number ofheavy flatboats carrying the artillery. They were in three divisions,the regulars in the centre, the provincial troops on either flank.

  Each corps had its flags and its music, the day was fair and bright,and, as the flotilla swept on past the verdure-clad hills, with the sunshining brilliantly down on the bright uniforms and gay flags, on theflash of oars and the glitter of weapons, a fairer sight was seldomwitnessed.

  At five in the afternoon, they reached Sabbath Day Point, twenty-fivemiles down the lake, where they halted some time for the baggage andartillery. At eleven o'clock they started again, and by daybreak werenearing the outlet of the lake.

  An advanced party of the French were watching their movements, and adetachment was seen, near the shore, at the spot where the French hadembarked on the previous year. The companies of Rogers and JamesWalsham landed, and drove them off, and by noon the whole army was onshore.

  The troops started in four columns, but so dense was the forest, soobstructed with undergrowth, that they could scarcely make their way,and, after a time, even the guides became confused in the labyrinth oftrunks and boughs, and the four columns insensibly drew near to eachother.

  Curiously, the French advanced party, 350 strong, who had tried toretreat, also became lost in the wood, and, not knowing where theEnglish were, in their wanderings again approached them. As they did soLord Howe, who, with Major Putnam, and 200 rangers and scouts, was atthe head of the principal column, suddenly came upon them. A skirmishfollowed. Scarcely had it begun when Lord Howe dropped dead, shotthrough the breast. For a moment, something like a panic seized thearmy, who believed that they had fallen into an ambush, and thatMontcalm's whole force was upon them. The rangers, however, foughtsteadily, until Rogers' Rangers and the Royal Scouts, who were out infront, came back and took the French in the rear. Only about 50 ofthese escaped, 148 were captured, and the rest killed or drowned inendeavouring to cross the rapids.

  The loss of the English was small in numbers, but the death of Howeinflicted an irreparable blow upon the army. As Major Mante, who waspresent, wrote:

  "In Lord Howe, the soul of General Abercromby's army seemed to expire.From the unhappy moment that the general was deprived of his advice,neither order nor discipline was observed, and a strange kind ofinfatuation usurped the place of resolution."

  The loss of its gallant young general was, indeed, the destruction ofan army of 15,000 men. Abercromby seemed paralysed by the stroke, andcould do nothing, and the soldiers were needlessly kept under arms allnight in the forest, and, in the morning, were ordered back to thelanding place.

  At noon, however, Bradstreet was sent out to take possession of thesawmill, at the falls which Montcalm had abandoned the evening befor
e.Bradstreet rebuilt the two bridges, which had been destroyed by theenemy, and the army then advanced, and in the evening occupied thedeserted encampment of the French.

  Montcalm had, for some days, been indecisive as to his course. Hisforce was little more than a fourth of that of the advancing foe. Hehad, for some time, been aware of the storm which was preparing againsthim. Vaudreuil, the governor, had at first intended to send a body ofCanadians and Indians, under General Levis, down the valley of theMohawk to create a diversion, but this scheme had been abandoned, and,instead of sending Levis, with his command, to the assistance ofMontcalm, he had kept them doing nothing at Montreal.

  Just about the hour Lord Howe was killed, Montcalm fell back with hisforce from his position by the falls, and resolved to make a stand atthe base of the peninsula on which Ticonderoga stands. The outline ofthe works had already been traced, and the soldiers of the battalion ofBerry had made some progress in constructing them. At daybreak, just asAbercromby was drawing his troops back to the landing place, Montcalm'swhole army set to work. Thousands of trees were hewn down, and thetrunks piled one upon another, so as to form a massive breastwork. Theline followed the top of the ridge, with many zigzags, so that thewhole front could be swept by a fire of musketry and grape. The logwall was eight or nine feet high, and the upper tier was formed ofsingle logs, in which notches were cut to serve as loopholes. The wholespace in front was cleared of trees, for the distance of a musket shot,the trees being felled so that their tops turned outwards, forming analmost impenetrable obstacle, while, immediately in front of the logwall, the ground was covered with heavy boughs, overlapping andinterlaced, their points being sharpened. This position was, in fact,absolutely impregnable against an attack, in front, by infantry.

  It was true that Abercromby might have brought up his artillery, andbattered down the breastwork, or he might have planted a battery on theheights which commanded the position, or he might have marched aportion of his army through the woods, and placed them on the roadbetween Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and so have cut off the wholeFrench army, and forced them to surrender, for they had but eight days'provisions. But Howe was dead, there was no longer leading orgeneralship, and Abercromby, leaving his cannon behind him, marched hisarmy to make a direct attack on the French intrenchment.

  In the course of the night Levis, with 400 of his men, arrived, and theFrench were in readiness for the attack. The battalions of La Sarre andLanguedoc were posted on the left under Bourlamaque, Berry and RoyalRoussillon in the centre under Montcalm, La Reine, Beam, and Guienne onthe right under Levis. A detachment of volunteers occupied the lowground between the breastwork and the outlet of Lake George, while 450Canadian troops held an abattis on the side towards Lake Champlain,where they were covered by the guns of the fort.

  Until noon, the French worked unceasingly to strengthen their position,then a heavy fire broke out in front, as the rangers and light infantrydrove in their pickets. As soon as the English issued from the wood,they opened fire, and then the regulars, formed in columns of attack,pushed forward across the rough ground with its maze of fallen trees.They could see the top of the breastwork, but not the men behind it,and as soon as they were fairly entangled in the trees, a terrific fireopened upon them. The English pushed up close to the breastwork, butthey could not pass the bristling mass of sharpened branches, whichwere swept by a terrific crossfire from the intrenchment. Afterstriving for an hour, they fell back. Abercromby, who had remained atthe mill a mile and a half in the rear, sent orders for them to attackagain.

  Never did the English fight with greater bravery. Six times did theyadvance to the attack, but the task set them was impossible. At five inthe afternoon, two English columns made an assault on the extreme rightof the French, and, although Montcalm hastened to the spot with hisreserves, they nearly succeeded in breaking through, hewing their wayright to the very foot of the breastwork, and renewing the attack overand over again, the Highland regiment, which led the column, fightingwith desperate valour, and not retiring until its major and twenty-fiveof the officers were killed or wounded, and half the men had fallenunder the deadly fire.

  At six o'clock another desperate attempt was made, but in vain; thenthe regulars fell back in disorder, but, for an hour and a half, theprovincials and rangers kept up a fire, while their comrades removedthe wounded. Abercromby had lost in killed, wounded, and missing 1944officers and men, while the loss of the French was 377.

  Even now, Abercromby might have retrieved his repulse, for, with 13,000men still remaining, against 3300 unwounded Frenchmen, he could stillhave easily forced them to surrender, by planting cannons on theheights, or by cutting off their communication and food.

  He did neither, but, at daybreak, re-embarked his army, and retiredwith all speed down the lake. Montcalm soon received largereinforcements, and sent out scouting parties. One of these caught aparty commanded by Captain Rogers in an ambush, but were finally drivenback, with such heavy loss that, from that time, few scouting partieswere sent out from Ticonderoga.

  In October, Montcalm, with the main portion of his army, retired forthe winter to Montreal; while the English fell back to Albany.

  While Abercromby was lying inactive at the head of Lake George,Brigadier General Forbes had advanced from Virginia against FortDuquesne, and, after immense labour and hardships, succeeded inarriving at the fort, which the French evacuated at his approach,having burnt the barracks and storehouses, and blown up thefortifications. A stockade was formed, and a fort afterwards builtthere. This was called Fort Pitt, and the place itself, Pittsburg. Asmall garrison was left there, and the army, after having collected andburied the bones of Braddock's men, retired to Virginia. The general,who, though suffering terribly from disease, had steadfastly carriedout the enterprise in the face of enormous difficulties, died shortlyafter the force returned to the settlements.

  Another successful enterprise, during the autumn, had been the captureof Fort Frontenac, and the gaining of a foothold by the English on LakeOntario.

  Thus, the campaign of 1758 was, on the whole, disastrous to the French.They had held their own triumphantly at Ticonderoga, but they had losttheir great fortress of Louisbourg, their right had been forced back bythe capture of Fort Duquesne, and their line of communication cut bythe destruction of Fort Frontenac.