Chap. L 



INDIAN AND COLONIAL WARS. 



13 



ABERCROMBIE DEFEATED. 



FORT DU QUESNE TAKEN. 



ward to the .attack in regular order and 

 with undaunted firmness. The French 

 opened upon them a well directed fire from 

 their artillery, notwithstanding which, the 

 English moved forward undismayed till 

 theyhecame entangled and stopped by the 

 timber wliich had been felled to impede 

 their approach . For four hours they strove 

 to cut, with their swords, their way to the 

 breast-work through the limbs and bush- 

 es, but without success. All this time 

 they were ex])osed to the deadly fire of 

 the enemy, who were completely shelter- 

 ed by their breast-work. Their numbers 

 continually diminishing and no prospect of 

 success apjiearing, Abercrombie thought 

 it expedient to retreat, and accordingly 

 led back his army to their former encamp- 

 ment without being pursued or molested 

 by the enemy. 



The English lost in this encounter 1800 

 men, killed and wounded, and 2500 stand 

 of arms. Every part of the army engaged 

 behaved with coolness and intrepidity, 

 but the loss fell heaviest on a highland 

 regiment, commanded by Lord Murray. 

 Of this regiment, one half of the privates 

 and 2.J oliicers were either slain on the 

 spot or severely wounded. So severe a 

 loss determined the commander-in-chief 

 to withdraw from this scene of carnage, 

 and he hastened back with his shattered 

 army to the encampment at lake George, 

 from whence he sent off all the wounded, 

 who could be safely removed, to fort Ed- 

 ward and Albany. 



How far the conduct of General Aber- 

 crombie is reprehensible in this unfortu- 

 nate affair, it is difficult now to determine. 

 The censure of mankind almost always 

 follows misfortune; and so it was in the 

 present case. The attempt to take the 

 fort by storm was considered a rash and 

 imprudent measure — and the retreat was 

 condemned as pusillanimous and unne- 

 cessary. And, indeed, with troops, who 

 had manifcsled sucii courage and intre- 

 pidity in the assault, it is very difHcult to 

 conceive what could have prevented the 

 commencement of a regular siege. 



Notwithstanding his defeat and morti- 

 fication, Abercrombie did not suffer his 

 army to remain inactive. He dispatched 

 General Stanwi.x to erect a fort at the 

 carrying place between the Mohawk and 

 Onondaga rivers ; and Col. Bradstreet, 

 with 3000 men, mostly provincials, was 

 ordered to proceed against fort Fronte- 

 nac, situated at the outlet of lake Ontario. 

 Bradstreet landed his men within one 

 mile of the fort, before the enemy had any 

 intelligence of his approach, and the gar- 

 rison, consisting of only 110 Frenchmen, 

 with a few Indians, could do no other than 



surrender at discretion. In the fort were 

 found 60 cannon, 16 mortars, and small 

 arms, military stores, merchandise and 

 provisions in large quantities. He also 

 captured all the enemj''s shipping on the 

 lake, consisting of nine armed vessels; 

 and having destroyed them and the fort 

 he returned to Oswego. 



While these things were transacting. 

 General Forbes was making his advances 

 towards fort Du Quesne, of wliich he got 

 possession on the 2.jth of November, tho 

 French having abandoned it and retreated 

 down the Ohio river. Having repaired 

 the works, he changed the name of -^he 

 fort to Pittsburgh, in honor of William 

 Pitt, the secretary of state who was then 

 at tlie head of American affairs. Such 

 were the events of the year 1758. The 

 British arms had every where been suc- 

 cessful, excepting in the attack upon Ti- 

 conderoga, and the hopes and confidence 

 of the public were every where revived. 

 General Amherst, having left a strong 

 garrison at Louisburg, returned to Bos- 

 ton. Thence he proceeded, about the 

 middle of September, to Albany with six 

 regiments, and the remainder of the fal! 

 and winter were there spent in concert- 

 ing measures and making preparations for 

 the campaign of the following year. 



Section VIII. 



French and English Colonies — Tr ansae- 

 actions of 1751J and 1760. Quebec ta- 

 ken — Ticonderoga, Crown Point and 

 JYiagara taken — Expedition against the 

 St. Francis Indians — Montreal and Can- 

 ada surrender. 



The advantages obtained over the 

 French in the preceding campaign gave 

 the British Minister reason to hope this 

 year to complete the conquest of Canada. 

 Three expeditions were therefore project- 

 ed — one against Quebec, under the com- 

 mand of Gen. Wolfe, one against the forts 

 on lake Champlain, under Gen. Amherst, 

 who was commander-in-chief of the Brit- 

 ish forces in America, and one against 

 the French fort at Niagara, to be conduct- 

 ed by Gen. Prideaux and Sir William 

 Johnson. It was believed that while these 

 generals were making their attacks on 

 different points, they would assist each 

 other, by dividing the forces and embar- 

 rassing the councils of the enemy. 



The conquest of Quebec was looked 

 upon as the most important and the most 

 difficult object of the campaign. The city 

 was strongly fortified by nature and art, 

 formidable on account of the number and 



