French and English: A Story of the Struggle in America

by Evelyn Everett-Green

  Chapter 2: Louisbourg.

  "Do not leave Gabarus Bay until I have effected a landing!"

  So spoke Admiral Boscawen; and when the word was known, a cheer ranthrough the squadron from end to end.

  Brigadier Wolfe had struggled up upon deck, looking white andghostlike, for he had suffered much during the voyage; but whenthat word reached him, the fire leaped into his eyes, and he turnedan exultant look upon his friends, and exclaimed:

  "That is an excellent good word; that is the spirit which inspiresvictory!"

  Yet it was no light thing which was to be attempted, as no one knewbetter than Wolfe himself; for he had been out in a boat upon theprevious day with Major General Amherst and his comrade BrigadierLawrence, reconnoitring the shore all along the bay, and they hadseen how strongly it was commanded by French batteries, and howdifficult it would be to land any body of troops there.

  To their right, as they looked shorewards, stood the town and grimfortress of Louisbourg, boldly and commandingly placed upon therocky promontory which protects one side of the harbour, runningout, as it were, to meet another promontory, the extremity of whichis called Lighthouse Point. These two promontories almost enclosethe harbour of Louisbourg; and midway between them is Goat Island,upon which, in the days of warfare of which we are telling, astrong battery was placed, so that no enemy's ship could enter theharbour without being subjected to a murderous crossfire, enough todisable and sink it.

  Within the harbour were a number of French ships, which, in spiteof a feeble attempt at blockade earlier in the year by some Englishand American vessels, had succeeded in making their way thitherwith an ample supply of provisions for the garrison.

  To force an entrance into the harbour was manifestly impossible atthe present juncture of affairs. The only hope lay in effecting alanding in the larger bay outside, where lay the English fleet; andthe shore had been reconnoitred the previous day with a view ofascertaining the chances of this.

  The report had not been encouraging. The French batteries were wellplaced, and were well furnished with cannon. It would be difficultenough to land. It would be yet more difficult to approach thecitadel itself; but the experienced eyes of Wolfe and others sawthat the only hope lay in an attack from the landward side. Thedangerous craggy shore was its best protection. On land there wereridges of high ground from which it might be stormed, if only gunscould be carried up. That would be a task of no small danger anddifficulty; but courage and resolution might win the day; andAmherst was a commander of a different stamp from the hesitatingAbercromby, who was at that very time mustering his troops with aview to the attack upon Ticonderoga.

  "It is a fine fortress," said Wolfe to Julian, as they stoodsurveying the place from the raised deck of the vessel. "You cannotsee much from here; the distance is too great. But they havebatteries well posted on every height all along the bay; and as forthe fortress and citadel, I have seldom seen such workmanship. Itsbastions, ramparts, and glacis are a marvel of engineering. It maywell be called the Dunkirk of the Western world. It will be a hardnut to crack; but I never believe there is a fortress which Englishvalour cannot suffice to take!"

  The resolution to land the troops once made, arrangements werespeedily set in order. There were three places along the bay whereit might he possible to effect a landing--White Point, Flat Point,and Freshwater Cove--all on the west of the town. To the east therewas an inlet where it might be possible to land troops, thoughperilously near the guns of the citadel. It was resolved to make afeint here, and to send parties to each of the three other points,so as to divide and distract the attention of the enemy. Wolfe wasto take command of the landing at Freshwater Cove, which was thespot where Amherst most desired to make his first stand, and herethe most determined attempt was to be made. The Commander came andconferred with his Brigadier as to the best method of procedure,and left him full powers of command when the moment should come.

  Julian and Humphrey were with Wolfe, and had been his companionsand best friends upon the voyage out. They had both obtainedcommissions, partly through the influence of the Brigadier; andwere eager to see warfare. Julian had been Wolfe's nurse andattendant during the voyage, and the bond which now united them wasa strong and tender one. Wolfe bad suffered both from seasicknessand from a renewal of the former strain, and looked even now butlittle fit for the enterprise upon which he was bound; but nophysical weakness had ever yet hindered him in the moment of perilfrom doing his duty, and his eyes flashed with the old fire, as hespoke of what was about to take place.

  "Let us but once gain possession of that battery," he cried,pointing to the guns frowning grimly over Freshwater Cove, "andturn the guns against their present masters, and we shall havetaken the first step. Once let us get foot upon this shore, and itwill take more than the cannonade of the Frenchmen to get us offagain."

  Eagerly did the fleet await the moment of attack; but theirpatience was rather severely tried. Gale first and then heavy fog,with a tremendous swell at sea, detained them long at theiranchorage, and one good ship struck upon a rock, and was inconsiderable danger for a while.

  Wolfe suffered much during those days; but his spirit was asunquenchable as ever, and as soon as the stormy sea had gone down alittle, was eager for the enterprise.

  "Let us but set foot ashore, and I shall be a new man!" he cried."I weary of the everlasting heaving of the sea; but upon shore,with my sword in my hand, there I am at home!"

  The sea grew calm. There was still a heavy swell, and the wavesbroke in snowy surf upon the beach; but the attempt had becomepracticable, and the word was given overnight for a start atdaybreak. The men were told off into light boats, such as could betaken close inshore; whilst the frigates were to approach thevarious points of real or feigned attack, and open a heavycannonade upon the French batteries.

  Julian and Humphrey found themselves in boats alongside each other.Humphrey was an Ensign, whilst Julian had been made a Lieutenant.They belonged to the flotilla commanded by Wolfe, and weredirecting some of the boats which were upon the right extremity ofthe little fleet.

  The hearts of the men were beating high with excitement and theanticipation of stern work before them. The guns looked grimlyforth from the heights above the shore. All was yet silent asdeath; still it was impossible to think that the French wereignorant of the concerted movement about to be made against them.

  A roar from the shore, behind and to their right, told them thatalready the battle had begun in other quarters. The sailors settheir teeth and rowed their hardest. The boats shot through thegreat green waves.

  Suddenly the smoke puffed out from the batteries in front. Therewas a flash of fire, and in a few seconds a dull roar, withstrange, screaming noises interspersed. The water became lashed bya storm of shot, and shrieks of human agony mingled with the noiseof the battle. It was a deadly fire which fell hot around thedevoted little fleet; but Humphrey and Julian, away to the right,were a little out of range, and slightly protected by a craggyridge. No man of their company had been killed; but they saw thatalong the line of boats terrible havoc was being wrought.

  They saw Wolfe's tall, thin figure standing up and making signs. Hewas waving his hand to them now, and Humphrey exclaimed in his keenexcitement:

  "We are to land behind the crag and rush the guns!"

  In a moment the half-dozen or more boats of this little detachmentwere making for the shore as hard as the rowers' arms could takethem. It was hard work to land amongst the breakers, which weredashing into snowy surf along the beach; but perhaps the surf hidthem from their enemies a little, for they were not hindered by anystorm of shot or shell. They landed on the beach, formed into acompact body, and headed by Major Scott and some bold Highlandsoldiers, they dashed up the slope towards the battery.

  But now they were in the midst of a hail of bullets. It seemed toHumphrey as though hell's mouth had opened. But there was nothought of fear in his heart. The battle fury had come upon him. Hesprang within the battery and flung himself upon th
e gunners.Others followed his example. There was a tremendous hand-to-handfight--French, Indians, English, Scotch, all in one strugglingmelee; and then above the tumult Wolfe's clarion voice ringing out,cheering on his men, uttering concise words of command; and then asense of release from the suffocating pressure, a consciousnessthat the enemy was giving way, was flying, was abandoning theposition; a loud English cheer, and a yell from the Highlanders,the sound of flying footsteps, pursuers and pursued; and Humphreyfound himself leaning against a gun, giddy and blind andbewildered, scarcely knowing whether he were alive or dead, till ahand was laid upon his shoulder, and a familiar voice said in hisear:

  "Well done, Ensign Angell. They tell me that we owe our victoriousrush today to your blunder!"

  "My blunder?"

  "Yes; you mistook my signal. I was ordering a retreat. It would nothave been possible to land the men under that deadly fire. I couldnot see, from my position, the little shelter of the crag. I hadsignalled to draw out of the range of the guns. But your mistakehas won us the day."

  Humphrey, half ashamed, half exultant, was too breathless to reply;Julian came hastening up; and Wolfe hurried away to see to thelanding of the guns and stores, now that the enemy had made a fullretreat upon the fortress.

  "You are not wounded, Humphrey?"

  "I think not. I have only had all the breath knocked out of me; andthe guns seem to stun one. Have they really left us in possessionof the battery? And does not Wolfe say that, when once we get afooting on the shore, we will not leave till Louisbourg is ours?"

  Triumph filled the hearts alike of soldiers and sailors. All daylong they worked waist deep in the surf, getting ashore such thingsas were most needed, intrenching themselves behind the battery,clearing the ground, making a road up from the beach, and pitchingtheir tents.

  At. night a cheer went up from their weary throats, for they sawred tongues of flame shooting up, and soon it was known beyond adoubt that the French had fired one of their batteries, which theyhad felt obliged to abandon; and this showed that they had nointention of attacking the bold storming party which hadestablished itself at the Cove.

  At sea the guns roared and flashed all day and all night. The airwas full of sounds of battle. But the wearied soldiers slept intheir tents, and by day worked might and main at the task of makinggood their position. They extended the line of their camp, theybuilt redoubts and blockhouses, they routed skirmishing parties ofIndians and Acadians hiding in the woods and spying upon them, andthey strengthened their position day by day, till it became toostrong a one for the enemy to dare to approach.

  Every day the men toiled at their task, cheered by items of newsfrom the shore. The battery on Goat Island was silenced, after manydays of hot fire from the English frigates. A French vessel hadfired in the harbour, and had been burned to the water's edge. Thegarrison had sent a frigate with dispatches pressing for aid totheir governor in Canada. The frigate and dispatches fell into thehands of the English, and much valuable information was gleanedtherefrom.

  And day by day the camp stretched out in a semicircle behind thetown. It was a difficult task to construct it; for a marsh laybefore them, and the road could only be made at the cost oftremendous labour, and often the fire of the enemy disturbed themen at their work.

  Wolfe was the life and soul of the camp all through this piece ofarduous work. If he could not handle pick and shovel like some, hisquick eye always saw the best course to pursue, and his keeninsight was invaluable in the direction of operations. Ill or well,he was with and amongst his men every day and all day long, thefriend of each and every one, noticing each man's work, givingpraise to industry and skill, cheering, encouraging, inspiring. Nota soldier but felt that the young officer was his personal friend;not a man but would most willingly and gladly have borne for himsome of that physical suffering which at times was written all tooclearly in his wasted face.

  "Nay, it is nothing," he would say to his companions, when theystrove to make him spare himself; "I am happier amongst you all. Ican always get through the day's work somehow. In my tent I broodand rebel against this crazy carcass of mine; but out here, in thestir and the strife, I can go nigh to forget it."

  But Wolfe was soon to have a task set him quite to his liking. Hecame to his quarters one day with eager, shining eyes; and so soonas he saw him, Julian knew that he had news to tell.

  "The batteries upon Lighthouse Point are next to be silenced. Wemust gain the command of the harbour for our ships. If we can oncedo that, the day will be ours. I am told off to this task, withtwelve hundred men. You and Humphrey are to go with me. We mustmarch right round the town, under cover of night, taking our gunswith us. By daybreak we will have them planted behind the Frenchbattery; by night, if all goes well, we shall have gainedpossession of it."

  The troops were all drawn up in order for the night march, full ofhopeful anticipation. They had that kind of confidence in Wolfewhich the commander inspires who is not made but born. Humphrey,whose skill in finding his way in the dark, and whose powers as aguide had been tested before now, was sent on in advance with ahandful of men, to give warning of any impending peril to be passedor encountered. He had the untiring energy of a son of the forest,and the instinct which told him of the proximity of the foe beforehe saw him.

  But the march was uneventful in that way. The French had fallenback upon the town. Their fears now were for the very fortressitself, that fortress which they had so proudly boasted wasimpregnable alike by land and sea! Before the dawn of the morningHumphrey came back to the main body, seeking speech with Wolfe.

  "They have abandoned their battery on Lighthouse Point. It is ourswithout striking a blow. They have spiked their guns and gone! Wehave only to take possession, mount our guns, and the command ofthe harbour is ours!"

  A shout of triumph went up from the men as this fact became known.Gaily did they push on over the broken country, doing what theycould in passing to level the way for the transport of the cannonin the rear. By dawn of day, they were full in sight of theirdestination, and saw indeed that it was deserted, and only awaitedtheir taking possession. With shouts and cheers they dragged uptheir guns and set them in position. They fired a salute to telltheir friends that all was well, and sent a few shots flyingamongst the French ships in the harbour, to the no smallconsternation of the town.

  But Wolfe could not be idle. The task set him had been accomplishedwithout his having to strike a blow.

  "We must unite our line, and silence some of those batteries thatprotect the town on the land side," he said to his men. "The gunsand the gunners, with a sufficient force for their protection, willremain here. We have sterner work to do elsewhere; and whilst weare pushing our lines nearer and nearer, I would I knew how theyare feeling within the walls of the town."

  "Let me be the one to find that out and report," said Julianeagerly.

  "You, man! and how?"

  "Let me try to make my way within the lines. We have Frenchprisoners; let me borrow the uniform of one. I can speak French aseasily as though it were my mother tongue, which, in sooth, perhapsit is; for I might as well call myself French as English, althoughI have always loved the English and cast in my lot with them. Nosentry can know the face of every soldier in the fortress. Let mesee if I cannot get within the walls, and bring you word again ofwhat is passing there!"

  Wolfe stroked his face thoughtfully.

  "It is a bold scheme, and I have a mind to take you at your word;but I would not have you run into too great peril."

  "I scarce think that I shall do so. I will have a care. In truth, Ishould well enough like to see within those solid walls. It is awonderful fortress this. It might be good for us to know itsstrength or its weakness, if weakness it has. I would but remain acouple of nights, and then return and bring you word again."

  "I should like to hear the report right well," answered Wolfe. "Ionly wish I could accompany you myself."

  "That would never do. Yours is too valuable a life to risk; mine isworth but litt
le to any man save myself."

  "I fear rather that I should be but a clog upon your movements,"answered Wolfe; "and no man would take me for a Frenchman, eventhough I can speak the tongue indifferently well. Nor would Amherstsuffer me to make the attempt. We are all under obedience to oursuperiors. But I will suffer you to go, if you think the risk nottoo great. But have a care of yourself, Julian, have a care. Youhave become a friend to me that I could ill spare. If aught of harmbefell you, the campaign would be clouded to me, even thoughcrowned with victory."

  Julian pressed the hand he held, and for a moment there was silencebetween the pair. Wolfe looked out before him, and said musingly:

  "Does it never seem strange to you, Julian, the thought that ourtrade is one which makes us look upon the slaughter of our foes asthe thing most to be desired, whilst we have that in our heartswhich causes us to hate the very thought of suffering and death,either for ourselves or for others; and when we see our foeswounded and left upon the field of battle, we give them the careand tending that we give our own men, and seek in every way toallay their pain and bring them help and comfort?"

  "Yes, truly; war is full of strange paradoxes," answered Julianthoughtfully. "Sometimes I think that war, like all other ills,comes to us as a part of the curse which sin has brought into theworld. We cannot get away from it yet. There be times when it isright to fight--when to sit with folded hands would be a grievousand a cowardly action on the part of a nation. Yet we know that itis God's will that we should love our brethren, and we know that Heloves all. So when we see them helpless and suffering, we know thatwe are right to tend and care for them, and that to do otherwisewould be a sin in His sight. And we know, too, that the day willcome when wars will cease, when Christ will come and take the powerand rule, and when we shall see Him in His glory, and the kingdomsof this world will become the kingdom of our God and of HisChrist."

  Deep silence fell upon them both, and then Wolfe spoke gently.

  "That would, indeed, be a glorious day! though I, a soldier trainedto arms, say it. But I fear me I shall never live to see it."

  Julian was silent awhile, and then said slowly:

  "We cannot tell. Of that day and hour knoweth no man. All we knowis that it will come, and will come suddenly. I have lived amongstthose who looked to see it from day to day. They had been waitingand watching for the Lord's coming through hard upon a century,they and their fathers before them. The hope was beginning to fadeand die out. Priests had come amongst them who bid them think ofother things, and look no farther than the sacrifice of the Mass,daily offered before their eyes. And yet I used to feel that theother was the fuller, more glorious hope. I think I shall cherishit always."

  "I would were I you," answered Wolfe in a low voice. "I think it isthat which has made you different from other men. I think that if Iwere to be dying, Julian, I should like to hold your hand in mineand feel that you were near."

  Then the two friends pressed each other by the hand, and walkedback to the camp. As Julian had said, there were many Frenchprisoners there, brought in from time to time after skirmishes.They were treated exactly the same as the English wounded, andWolfe made a point of visiting them daily, talking to them in theirown tongue, and promising them a speedy exchange when anynegotiation should be opened with the town. Julian, too, went muchamongst them, able to win their confidence very easily, since heseemed to them almost like a brother. It was quite an easy thingfor him to disguise himself in the white uniform of a Frenchsoldier, and to creep, under cover of the darkness, closer andcloser to the wall of the town.

  It so chanced that he could not have chosen a better night for hisenterprise. The booming of guns across the harbour and from thebatteries behind had now become constant, and attracted littlenotice from sentries or soldiers beyond range. But just as darknessbegan to fall, a shell from Wolfe's newly-planted battery fell uponone of the French ships in the harbour, and set her on fire. Theglare rose in the sky, and suddenly there was the sound of anexplosion, sparks rose in dense clouds into the air, and the shipplunged like a wild creature in terror, broke from her moorings,and drifted alongside a sister ship. The flames spread to herrigging, and in a few minutes both were ablaze; and before theaffrighted and bewildered crews could do anything to prevent it, athird vessel had become involved in the conflagration, and the townwas illumined by the pillars of flame which shot up from the stillwaters of the harbour.

  All was confusion and dismay, for the French had no ships to spare.Four had been deliberately sunk in the harbour's mouth to preventthe entrance of the English, and here were three all in a blaze.The soldiers and inhabitants rushed madly down to the water's edgeto seek to stay the conflagration, and Julian, seizing hisopportunity, rushed through the gateway with a small detachment ofmen from one of the outside batteries, and found himself within thetown without having been so much as challenged.

  Down to the water's edge with the rest he rushed, shouting andgesticulating with the best of them. His uniform prevented hisbeing even so much as looked at. To all appearance he was a Frenchsoldier. He did not hesitate to mingle in the crowd, or avoidconversation with any. Very soon he found he was working with therest in the hopeless endeavour to save the doomed vessels; and hewas helpful in getting off some of the half-stifled sailors,dashing upon deck quite a number of times, and bringing back in hisstrong arms the helpless men who had been overpowered by the flamesbefore they could make their escape.

  It was work which Julian loved; for saving life was more to histaste than killing. He toiled on, cheering up his comrades, tillall that could be saved were placed upon shore; and when he steppedat last upon the quay after the last voyage to the burning ships,he found himself confronted by a fine soldierly man, whose dressand manner bespoke him a personage of some importance.

  "Well done, my good fellow," he said approvingly; "I shall notforget your gallantry tonight. You doubtless belong to one of thevessels, since I have no knowledge of your face. You had bettercome up to the citadel, where you shall receive refreshment and aplace to rest in. We want all the soldiers we can get for thedefence of the town, since we are in evil case between foes on landand foes on the sea."

  Julian saluted, and spoke a few words of thanks, and the crowd borehim towards the citadel.

  "Who was it that spoke to me?" he asked of his next neighbour; andthe man replied with a laugh:

  "Why, Governor Drucour to be sure! Are you blind with the smoke, myfriend? A very gallant governor and soldier he is, as you shouldknow. And as for Madame, his wife--ah, well, you must see her tounderstand!"

  Nor was Julian long in understanding something of what was meant bythis unfinished sentence; for he and his companions had not beenlong seated at table, with a good meal before them, when the dooropened, and a tall, elegant lady entered the room, leaning on thearm of the Governor, and instantly the whole company rose, whilst ashout went up:

  "Long live the Governor! Long live Madame his wife! Long live theKing!"

  The lady came in, and motioned to the company to be seated. Shewalked up and down amongst them, speaking brave words of thanks andcheer; and halting beside Julian, she made him quite a littlespecial speech, telling him how she had heard that he had been theforemost of all in seeking to save the lives of those who mightotherwise have perished in the flames.

  No questions were asked of him, for the excitement was stillstrong, and it was taken for granted that he had come off one ofthe burning ships. The men were all talking together, with thevolubility of their race, and Julian took just enough share in theconversation to avoid suspicion.

  Besides, why should he be suspected? He looked in every respect aFrenchman. And had he not risked his life more than once that nightto save those left on board the vessels?

  The next morning he was able to take an excellent view of thecitadel and town. He was amazed at the strength of the place. Inone sense of the word it was well nigh impregnable. From the waterit could scarcely be touched; but the ridges above, now in thepossession of the
English, were a source of weakness and peril; andnow that the enemy was pushing nearer and nearer, under cover oftheir own guns, it was plain that the position was becoming one ofgrave peril. A very little more and the English would be able toshell the whole town and fortress from the land side; and thoughthe soldiers within the citadel were full of hope and confidence,the townsfolk were becoming more and more alarmed, and spoke openlytogether of the probable fall of the place.

  They told Julian much that he desired to know, as did also thesoldiers within the citadel. He was listening to them, when asudden cry reached them, and a cheer went up, mingled with cries of"Vive Madame! vive Madame le General!"

  Julian looked round, and saw that Madame Drucour had come out uponthe ramparts, and was preparing with her own hands to fire off oneof the great guns. This she did amid the applause of the soldiers,and the man standing beside Julian said with enthusiasm:

  "Madame comes here every day, no matter the weather or the firing,and walks round the ramparts, and fires off one or more of theguns, to keep us in heart. She is a brave lady. If all soldiers andtownsfolk had her spirit, there would be no talk of surrenderingLouisbourg."