1764, June] DEPARTURE OF BRADSTREET. 163 



Several of the northern provinces furnished 

 troops for the expedition ; but these levies did not 

 arrive until after the appointed time ; and, as the 

 service promised neither honor nor advantage, they 

 were of very indifferent quality, looking, according 

 to an officer of the expedition, more like candidates 

 for a hospital than like men fit for the arduous duty 

 before them. The rendezvous of the troops was 

 at Albany, and thence they took their departure 

 about the end of June. Adopting the usual mili- 

 tary route to the westward, they passed up the 

 Mohawk, crossed the Oneida Lake, and descended 

 the Onondaga. The boats and bateaux, crowded 

 with men, passed between the war-worn defences 

 of Oswego, which guarded the mouth of the river 

 on either hand, and, issuing forth upon Lake Onta- 

 rio, steered in long procession over its restless 

 waters. A storm threw the flotilla into confusion ; 

 and several days elapsed before the ramparts of 

 Fort Niagara rose in sight, breaking the tedious 

 monotony of the forest-covered shores. The troops 

 landed beneath its walls. The surrounding plains 

 were soon dotted with the white tents of the little 

 army, whose strength, far inferior to the original 

 design*, did not exceed twelve hundred men. 



military character. His remarks, however, have reference solely to the 

 capture of Fort Frontenac ; and he seems to have derived his impressions 

 from the public prints, as he liad no personal knowledge of Bradstreet. 

 The view expressed above is derived from the letters of Bradstreet him- 

 self, from the correspondence of General Gage and Sir William Johnson, 

 and from a MS. paper containing numerous details of his conduct during 

 the campaign of 1764, and drawn up by the officers who served under 

 him. 



This paper is in the possession of Mrs. W. L. Stone. 



