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Toua lea autrea axemplairea originaux aont fiimAa en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impreaaion ou d'illuatratlon et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un dee aymbolea auivanta apparaftra aur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, seion le caa: le aymbole — ^> algnifie "A SUIV.1E", le aymboie ▼ algnifie "FIN". Lea cartea, planchee, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte i dee taux de rMuction diffArenta. Loraque le document eat trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un aeul clich«, il eat film« d partir de Tangle aup4rieur gauche, de gauche A drcite, et de haut en baa, en prenant le nombre d'Imagee nteeaaaire. Lee diagrammea auivanta illuatrent la mithode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^ THE CAMPAIGN OF 1760 IN CANADA. [The original of this manuscript is deposited in the French war arcbire*, in Paris : a copy was, with the leave of the French Government, taken by P. L. Morin,, Esq., Draughtsman to the Crown Lands Department of Ca- nada, about 1855, and deposited in the Library of the Legislative Assembly of Canada. The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, through the kmdness of Mr. Todd, the Librarian, was permitted to have communication thereof. This document is supposed to have been written some years aOer the return to France from Canada of the writer, the Chevalier Johnstone, a Scotch Jacobite, who had fled to France after the defeat at Culloden, and had obtained from the French monarch, with several other Scotchmen, commis- Bions in the French armies. In 1748, says Frandsque Michel,* he saUed from Rochefort as an Ensign with troops going to Cape Breton : he continued to serve in America until he returned to France, in December, 1760, having acted during the campaign of 1759, in Canada, as aide-de-camp to Chevalier de Levis. On De Levis being ordered to Montreal, Johnstone was detached and retained by General Montcalm on his staff, on account of his thorough knowledge of the environs of Quebec, and particularly of Beauport, where the principal works of defence stood, and where the whole army, some 11,000 men, were entrenched, leaving in Quebec merely a garrison of 1,500. The journal is written in English, and is not remarkable for orthography or purity of diction : either Johnstone had forgotten, or had never thoroughly known, the language. The style is prolix, sententious, abounding in quota- lions from old writers ;— one would be inclined to think, at times, that it had originally been written in French, and then literally translated into English. This document had first attracted the attention of one of the late historians of Canada, the abbe Feriand, who attached much importance to it, as cal- culated to supply matters of detail and incidents unrecorded elsewhere. M Margry, in charge of the French records, had permitted the venerable writer, then on a visit to Paris, to make extracts from it ; some of which extracts the abb6 published at the time of the laying of the St. Foy Monu- ment, in 1862. The Chevalier Johnstone differs in Mo from the opinions expressed by several French officers of regulars, respecting the conduct of the Canadian Militia, in 1769, ascribing to their valour, on the 13th of September, the salvation of a large portion of the French army.— J. M. LeMoine.] ;-^ ^ • Let BcoiMis en France, vol. ii., p. 449. t?«MM«l mdtt tSt muipka i^ tk« LUmt^ md Mistorkal AKtt^y tf QtMftw] THE CAMPAIGN OF 1760 IN CANADA. A SEQUEL, ^ Hops, that heavenly, healing balm, that gift from Providence, blended with persecutions to blunt the sharpness of their sting and hinder the unfortunate from being overwhelmed, and sink- ing under the load of their afflictions, never dies out ^never abandons the distressed. " We don't believe in dangers " says Machiavel, «* until they are over our heads ; but we entertain hopes of escaping them when at a great distance." Hope does not abandon the pale, dying man : in his agony he still feels life, and in his thoughts he does not detach himself from it. Death strikes, before his heart has realised that he could cease to live. Search in the prisons: hope dwells there with the wretch who next day is to undergo his sentence of death. Every time the bolts raitlle, he believes his deliverance entering with the jailer. Whole years of slavery have not been able to wear out this consoling senti- ment. These contradictions, — these differences of seeing, these returns, — this stormy flow and ebb, are so many eflfects of hope,which plays upon us and never ceases. It is inherent in human nature to hope in adversity for a favorable change of fate, however the appearances may be ill-grounded of an end to its pain aod suffering. The Canadians, without the least apparent reason, still flattered themselves to save their country, and did not lose the hope of retaking Quebec, though without artillery and warlike stores. All minds were occupied during the winter in forming projects of capturing that town, which were entirely chimerical, void of common sense, and nowise practicable. No country erer hatched a greater number-never projects more ridiculous and extravagant ; everybody meddled. The contagion spread even to my Lord Bisbdp and his seminary of priests, who gave their plan, whicii, like all the others, lacked only common sense and judgment. In short, a universal insanity prevailed at Montreal. Amongst thousands of the productions of these distempered brains, that of surprising Quebec by a forced march in winter and taking it by escalade,was the only one where there was the least chance of success. This project was for some time agitated so seriously, that workmen were employed in making wooden ladders ; but having always looked upon it as a wild and extravagant fancy of priests and old women, I constantly argued against it whenever they spoke of it, and it was continually the topic of conversation. The Upper Town of Quebec lies upon the top of a rock, about two hundred feet high, almost perperidicular in sorne parts of it, and everywhere extremely steep and inaccessible, excepting towards the Hauteurs d'AbraMm, which is a con- tinuation of the same hill, that begins at Quebec and ends at Cap Rouge, diminishing gradually in height in the space of these three leagues. The Lower Town is a narrow piece of ground, from a hundred to four or five paces* broad, between the foot of the rock and the St. Lawrence. There is a street which goes up to th3 Upper Town without a continuation of houses; it is impossible to climb up the rock from the Lower Town, as I was employed three weeks upon it with miners and other workmen, to render all the footpaths impracticable ; we finished only a few days before the arrival of the English fleet (in 1759). A town built upon a vast extent of ground, which would require an ariny to defend it, such as Ghent in Flanders, and v/hich might be approached on all sides at the same time, in order to divide ■"^e four or five paces of UeO, have now attained Beven or eight Il, Il, the troops of ihr garrison eqnaUy over all the town, may b« turprised and taken by (vscalade, and in our desperate situation might have been alfempled by risking all for all. A surprise in a dark night must naturally spread universal terror, disorder and panic amongst those who are taken unawares, and must soon be communicated through all the quarters of the town. The soldiers are so much the more terrified that they know Hot where they are most in danger ; not like during a siege, where the place for the assault is marked by the breach. Their heads turn, and, deprived of judgment, coolness and reflection, they think rather of escaping the slaughter that ensues when a town is being captured in this manner, than of defending the ramparts. But Quebec being accessible only on that side of it which faces the heights of Abraham, and having nothing to lear elsewhere, the moment an alarm is sounded, all the force ol the garrison must naturally be there. Thus the English having seven thousand men in the town— almost as many as our army proposed for the escalade to invest all that part of the town open to attack— it is likely that we should have lost the half of our army in the attempt, and at last, after a horrible slaughter of men, have been obliged to return ignominiously from whence we came. Besides, supposing that we had even taken the Lower Town by escalade, we would not have been further advanced. The English in half an hour afterwards, by burning.it, by throwing down from the Upper Town upon the roofs of the houses fire pots, shells and other combustible matter, could have soon chased us out of it, or buried us under its ruins. This project, after having furnished for a long time matter for the daily conversations of Montrealers, was at last considered by M. de Levis, and classed as it deserved, amongst the vagaries of bedlam ; he substituting a scheme in its place which was reasonable, well combined, dcing honor to his ability and talent. M. de Levis, in giving an account to the Court of the loss of all our artillery and stores at Quebec, gave likewise all possible assurances that he would re-take the town in the tfpi\ng and save the colony, provided they would send to him from Europe a ship loaded with field-pieces and ammunition, to set sail from Europe in the month of February, in t)rder to be in the St. Lawrence river before the arrival of the English, and near Quebec in the month of April. He collected our army as soon as the season permitted ; got together about twelve pieces of old cannon, which had been laid aside for many years, and with a small quantity of gun- powder and very few bullets, he set out from Montreal with his army towards the beginning of April, the snow being as yet upon the ground ; and he conducted his march so well that the army arrived at Cap Rouge, three leagues from Quebec, without the enemy having any information of their having left Montreal. He did not flatter himself to be able to take Quebec with such a despicable train of artillery, and his design was only to invest the town; to open the trenches before it ; to advance his approaches, and be in a position, the moment the ships he had asked from the Court should arrive, to land the cannon, placing them instantly upon the batteries ready to receive them, and without loss of time to batter the town immediately. Fortune favored him to the height of his wishes, and if the ships had arrived with the artillery he expected from France, that town could scarce have held out for four and twenty hours, by which means he would have had the glory of preserving to his country the colony of Canada, then reduced to its last gasp. The English got the news of our army's being at Cap Rouge by a most singular accident, which greatly manifests the predominant power of Fortune in military operations, and shows that the greatest general cannot guarantee success or put himself out of the reach of those events which human understanding- cannot foresee, whereby the best-combined and well-formed schemes are frustrated in their execution. In all appearance we would have taken Quebec by surprise had it not been for cne of Fortune's caprices, that have often as much share in the events of war aa the genius and talents of the greatest generals. \ The Athenians were not in the wrong to paint Timothetf« asleep, whilst Fortune, in another part of the picture, was spreading nets over towns to take them for him. An artillery boat having been overturned and sunk by the sheets of ice, which the current of the St. Lawrence brought down with great force, an artilleryman saved himself on a piece of ice that floated down the river with him upon it, without a possibility of his getting to land, when be was opposite to the city. The English, so soon as they perceived that poor distressed man — moved with humanity and compassion — sent out boats, who with difficulty saved him (the river being coyered with fields of ice), and brought him to town with scarce any sign of life. Having restored him with cordials, the moment he began to breathe and recover his senses, they asked him from whence he came, and who he was ? he answered, innocently, that he was a French cannonier from M. de Levis' army at Cap Rouge. At first they imagined he raved, and that bis sufferings upon the river had turned his head ; but, after exq^nining him more particularly and his answers being always the same, they were soon convinced of the truth of his assertions, and were not a little confounded to have the French army at three leagues from Quebec, without possessing the smallest information of the fact. All their care proved inelTee- tual for the preservation of life ; he expired the moment he had revealed this important secret. What a remarkable and visible instance of fortune fighting for the English — equal at least to the cloud of rain that saved General Wolf *s army the year preceding at his attack of 31st of July, at Montmorenci. Had it not been for this most unaccountable accident, to all appearance M. de Levis would have captured all the English advanced posts, which were said to amount to fifteen hundred men, who retired to the town immediately after setting fire to the magazine of powder in the church of St. Foy, which ammunition they had not the time to carry with them. Nor would it have been surprising if M. de Levis at the gates of Quebec with his army, without being discovered, had tnken it by surprise. It is certain that luck has more or less share in all the events of life, and this Is more particularly visible in the operations of war. Hazards may be constantly in the favor of a general blindly protected by that goddens, against an adversary with far superior talents. Everybody must acknowledge Prince Eugene's superiority of genius, when compared with the Duke of Marlborough ; but Marl- borough was always as fortunate in having continually unforeseen accidents in his favor, as Prince Eugene was unlucky to have them against him to thwart and cross the execution of the best-combined projects, which extorted admiration, and seemed to have only need of Fortune's stand- ing neuter to be successful. The fate of an army, — can it depend upon the personal good fortune of the General who commands it ? Cardinal Mazarin seemed to be of this opinion, since he never failed to ask: those who recommended persons to him to head expeditions, "is he lucky?" — est-il heureux ? Can it be surmised that fortune acts with her favorite sons at the head of armies, as she does at gambling tables ? However it may be, a great General will always watch vigilantly the chapter of accidents — seize rapidly that which is favorable to him, and, by his prudence, foresight and circumspection, will ward off and correct what is contrary to his interests. The smallest things are not unworthy of his attention ; they often produce the greatest events, and the neglecting what at first view might appear trivial, has often overturned the best-calculated schemes. The most trifling of our actions becomes often a first cause which produces an endless chain of effects — linked to each other^ — of the greatest importance. Tbe boat sunk by the ice, at Caip Rouge, W£w a first cause. The cannonier, by this accident, was upon a sheet of ice in the middle of the St. Lawrence, opposite to Quebec ; this inspired with pity the English to save his life. This humane action of the English in saving the unhappy cannonier, saved Quebec from being taken by surprise, which probably would have been the case without his informaUoo, that IVt de Levis' army was at C^j^ Kouge. '. ;■ If taken by M. de Levis, h ,vOuld liave deterred the English from any further attempt upon Canada, and peace would have soon ensued. But by the cannonier's declaration, it wa8 nol taken, and consequently the war was prolonged. Quebec in possession of the English rendered the conquest of Canada inevitable and sure. The possession of that vast country of Canada, after so much blood, and such immense expenses it had cost the English in these different expeditions, excited too much the cupidity of the English to consent to a peace upon reasonable conditions, and induced them to extend their conquest to other French colonies. The possession of so many French and Spanish colonies by the English brought about the shameful peace that France and Spain were obliged to receive at the hands of the English, upon the hardest terms, as laws of the conqueror. The boat upset and sunk at Cap Rouga was the primary cause and the first link of the chain which had the greatest influence over all the affairs of Europe. If M. de Levis had saved the cannonier at Cap Rouge, what a multitude of events would have be^n nipped in the bud ! Perhaps even Great Britain would have been {(fcced to receive the peace from France instead of granting it on her own conditions. There is scarcely any human action that is not the beginning of a chain of results. The French army took possession of the village of St. Foye the moment the English went out of it, retiring to Quebec, and passed there the nlglil between the 27th and 28th of April. Next morning, M. de Levis being informed that the English army was come out of the town, and that they were drawn up in battle upon the same ground that the French army had occu- pied the year before at the battle of the 13th September, he drew out his men and advanced in order of battle to meet the English army. Though fully persuaded that the English general would not risk a battle out of his town, where he had a great deal to lose in being beat, and could gain little by a victory, he was fully persuaded that he would return at the approach of the French army. B 10 General Murray, who Joes the greatest honor to his cou.trjr byhisgreac knowledge of the art of war, good sense and abillty,''had come out of the town in order 'o --'ha* P> » with a retrenchment, which was very evident froin the Zdigious quantity of working tools that were taken by the Celt; and the vast rapidity with which the F«ndi anny Lvanced in all appearance, deprived him of 'he poss.b.my of getting back into Quebec without leaving a part of them to be cut to pieces by the Canadians. The English arny had the advantage of posit on They were drawn up in battle upon rising ground, their front armed whh twentytwo bras, field-pieees-the Pal.ce battery which Ze Ramsay refused to send to M. de Montcalm The engage- mem began by the attack of a house (Dumont's) between the righ wing of the English army and the French left wing whi h wfs alternately attacked and defended by the Scotch Highlanders and by the French Grenadiers, ««'='' ol 'hm Wkln. it and losing it by turns. Worthy an'agon.sts l-the otn^ ers, withthi bayonets intheir hands, forced the High- lander, to go out of it by the windows ; and the Highlanders eeuing into it again by the door, immediately obliged the Grc adierstoevLaate'itby thesSme road, with theirdaggers. Bmh of them lost and retook the house* several times and the contest would have continued whilst there remained rHighlander and a Grenadier, if both generals had not n,ade them retire, leaving the house neuter ground. The Grena diers were reduced to fourteen men-a ;=.<«»P-7 f ""f 'j ^ doubt the Highlanders In-a in proportion. The left of the French army, which was in hollow ground, about forty paces f. m the E/Jlish, was crushed io pieces by the fire of t e.r artUleryloadedwithgrape-shot, M.de Levis, perceiving their bad position, sentM.de La Pause, Adjutant ofthcGu.enne Re Jment. with orders for the army to retire some steps behmd fhem Torder to occupy an eminence parallel to the rising grold occupied bythe Engl-h ; but whether this officer did Z comprehend M. de Levis' intentions, or whether he * Dumont's mill. 11 o e s ir ir \e id 'g id tie delivered ill the orders to the diflerent regiments, by his stupidity the battle was very near being lost irremediably. He ran along the line, ordering each regiment to the right about, and to retire, without any further explanation of M. de Levis' orders. Some of the left of the French army being so near as twenty paces to the enemy, the best-disciplined troops m that case can scarce be expected to be able to retire without the greatest disorder and confusion, or without exposing themselves evidently to be defeated and slaughtered. Upon this movement, the English, believing them in flight, quilted their advantage of the rising ground in order to pursue them, complete their disorder, and break them entirely. M. Dalquier, who commanded the Beam Regiment, with the troops of the' colony upon the left of the French army, a bold, intrepid old officer, turned about to his soldiers when La Pause gave him M. de Levis' order to retire, and told them, «Itis not time now, my boys, to retire when at twenty paces from the enemy ; with your bayonets upon your muskets, let us throw ourselves headlong amongst them-that is better." In an instant they fell upon the English impetuously— with thrusts of bayonets hand to hand, got possession, like lightning, of their guns; and a ball which went through Dalquier's body, which was already qui'.e covered with scars of old wounds, did not hinder him from continuing giving his orders. Poularies, who was upon the right flank of the army, with his regiment of Royal Roussiilon, and some of the Canadian militia, seeing Dalquier stand firm, and all the troops of the centre having retired in disorder, leaving a space between the two wings, he caused his regiment with the Canadians to wheel to the left, in order to fall upon the left flank of the English army, the French army extending further to their right beyond the English left wing. The enemy no sooner perceived Poularies' movement, than they immediately fled with precipitation and confusion, and were so panic-stricken that not an English soldier could be rallied by their officers, several of whom were taken prisoners. A ^,''^f°l,'>^°°P« ^'ho had retired advanced immediately and fl.ll the ITrap^U o...„„ J , , . _ »v,«iaiciy, ♦u rV " """-^ pursuud so hotly ihs English, that if the cry had not been raised to halt, it is very doubtful if they 12 would not have got into Quebec pell-mell with the fugitive$ being near the town-gates when this cry began. Thus Quebec would have been retaken in a most singular manner * unforeseen and unpremeditated. I know nothing worse than lU-disci plmed troops ; certainly a brave militia, with its Qu^bL^^j^MT''^'"^'^''*''^'**^^''" employed in skirmishing around Jrl' ?"! ^I'ff'" °^ ?' eighteenth of March, two hundred light infantry were detached irom the garrison of Quebec, with three days' provisions. and a company of grenadiers marched the next day to Lorette church bemg the place of rendezvous. The whole proceeded to Calvaire accompanied by a French deserter in a British uniform. In this route they Burpnsed an advanced post of the French and made the party prisoners, conszstmg of a corporal and nine privates ; having secured these, the; pushed torward with the greatest speed, fearing that a straggling peasant The light infantry having reached the wished-for object, which was a strong camp or entrenchment of logs and timber, with a house detached at a small distance from it they carried the dwelling-house with their accustomed bravery, billed lour and took the rest, being twenty in number, some of whom were wounded. The main body of the French by this time had nianned their works, which were breast high, and environed with an abattis of wood to the distance of about three hundred yards, whence they fired a few random shots and shouted as usual. Captain McDonald, who commanded tins detachment, seeing the French advantageously situated, and perceiving their officers very active in encouraging thel men! expected a warm dispute, and therefore made a disposition t^ attack them nTrm As soon, however, as the light infantry advanced to the charge, the French threw down their arms and took to flight, when near eighty of them were made prisoners. In the attack the English had only six wounded buUhe French ost five killed and thirteen wounded. Captain McDonald dest"*^ the post, three corn-mills, granaries, and other houses contiguous thZt^ The French prisoners were brought to Quebec, except the bounded, who were left in charge of the peasants, with lirections to conduct them to Jacques Cartier. x\ear one hundred soldiers of the English detachment were ^ost-bitten, and were brought back to the garrison on' leTghs Cap^ „ Si '""-r "^ ''"""■' ""^P^^' but his watch, hat:andfeler° fiUe de joie,' with a cask of wine and case of liqueurs, were tlken Ml?;?hhT"r 1^ n''' ^"''""^^ ''""^^> «^"^ ^^^ Town Major to th« Mother Abbess of the Convent of Hotel Dieu, to acquaint her with the reasons that induced him to destroy their mills Ind tenements at clai e namely, on account of her having transmitted intelligence to the Frencrof i: } A. i ^ I t 13 simple, ancient way of fighting, even no illed, is preferable to a force having a crude notion of g .cipline-a science entirely neglected in Canada amongst French regular troops • so that the French regiments there might be looked upon as differmg very little from the Canadian militia. The method of managing militia and well-disciplined regular troops ap- pears to be quite as different as they differ in nature. A cool phlegmatic, undaunted bravery is the fruit of an excellent disciphne, rendering the soldiers capable, when repulsed to return several times to the assault, and rally of their o'wn accord. But the strength and merit of the militia resembles a hot, ardent, raging fire, that must be suffered to blaze until It dies out of itself: it is a flash, an explosion, that often works prodigies, and which, when stifled, there is no possibility of preventing the immediate disorder that must ensue, nor any means of bringing it back a second time to face the enemy The French had about two thousand killed and woundedin this battle of the 27th (?28th) of April, of which number there was an hundred and ten officers of the regular troops, besides a great many officers of the Canadian militia : so they might say with Pyrrhus, the day of his victory over the RomanL Again such another victory, and I would be undone !» the last detachment's being orde'red to be in readiness to march out- for having actually carried on a correspondence with the French army in' the whole course of the winter, whereby they were informed of all movemen proceedings, and every other occurrence that happened within the wails • the Gover,ior also signified to her, that if either she or her sifters should presume to correspond in future with the French, either direcllv or indi rectly, or m any respect act contrary to good faith and the duty they owed to the King of Great Britain, they should, without further ceremony be banished from Quebec, and their convent be converted into a barrack for the troops. As Madame de St. Claude, who was sister to M. de Ramsay and Superior of the General Hospital, had always been inimical to thi English in propagating falsehoods, and in encouraging the Canadians to resist. General Murray sent the Brigade-Major to signify to this lady, that «he should desist from such conduct ; and that as sb. apj^ared to take a great interest in the affairs of this world, and seemed tired of her seclusion he would enlist her as a grenadier, which from her stature (full six feet) she was quahfled to be. and that, hp wmiM nr^rn-^t- h^r th~ fi— ^ ■ - presented itself."— (Smith.) ^ (( 14 M. de Levis opened the trenches the same night before Quebec, and they were carried on with such activity that his batteries were soon ready to receive the guns necessary lo make a breach. But the nnost considerable of his bad pieces was a twelve pounder, which he mounted upon batteries, firing at times with the greatest economy, as he had but a small store of gunpowder. There needed only the arrival of a ship from France with artillery and ammunition to crown M. de Levis with glory. The English in Quebec confessed that the first flag that would appear in the St. Lawrence would decide the question, if Canada should remain in possession of the English or return to the French. No ships arrived from France with artillery. The fate of Canada was at last settled by the appearance of three English men-of-war, on the 7th of May. They ascended immediately the St. Lawrence vi^ilhout stopping at Quebec. They attacked the small French frigates — at the Ance du Foulon, about a mile above the town — which had passed the winter in Canada; look some of them, burned others, and, in short, destroyed in an instant all the French marine. This unlooked-for arrival, instead of the vessel which M. de Levis expected from France, so astonished and terrified the French army, that they immediately raised the siege — and that without any necessity for it. They a^ain left as a present for the English their tents and their baggage, as they had done previously on retiring from Beauport, after the battle of the 13th September. Such was their consternation that, as if struck by a thunderbolt, they fled with the utmost precipitation, as if the English were pur- suing them after the loss oi a battle. De Vauquelin alone distinguished himself by a truly heroic bravery. He com- manded one of the small French frigates of about sixteen guns, and fought like a lion against an English man-of-war of forty guns, until he had no powder nor shot. He then sent all his crew ashore to M. de Levis, judging that they might be of use to him, and remained on board with the wounded, his colors always flying. 1 I T -^Va r 15 answered them fiereei; .ha. had he h» J^ ^ '^^ ^""''"'l'" would „„. have be™ ilent ' 'i^ Z^ZT'T,^'" '" '» lake him, ihey mieht en, rto, u J ^^^ '""' « ™ind hilheno his c„s.om was I0.I X " "? "'=™^''™'. - o.her. Ms country's e„e»il!:^"t 'ThrEr;':'.'" "'"'^ on board of his ship, and took h,™ ■' ^"^''^^ "'«" went »en, and iu consider^fol "f h /^'""'"' ""'"' *"' *""'"<'«'' cut down his flag-trlald hi ;•! 1™'"'''°"-'''^^ '■^^'"S can claim a. the LnTsoU^'^Z '"^"^ ^'"'"' ■»■""? already made himseFknown oTe f'Tu P^''^'"l"««n had courage at the siege of LoZbut H -^ ''' ■"'^ "^ ""<''""""» f English Admiral, "-aT XfrCfo^rt'^^f '^"^ how he could serve him H„ ,5^ j" '" '^" him freely what he wished for o ™i| ,^1?!""'"^."'" ^^'^"^^' " 'ha. permission .0 re.„r„7o f "e^,! ^J" ""c his liberty and a consideration for him tha. h^ J^^Admrn} had so great diately i!.,ed ou. ,0 caTry htl ,oEr ' 't"°' '° "« '■"">- cap.ain.oobey De Vauq^e^^naldte' "'^"""S'^^ English he might ask for, leaving htanh" '" ""^ *'«"°'> P"" French passengers wout. Ltlty him'";'^ ''°°- -''« generous behaviour of the EnTr^M u ™" '"''''« and Seo^tary o^he^roXi^iv^nnllt™ -"- '^^ anJt::txtro°:m: ""-'i ^^^ "--" p- '-<^y. whom .hephysici^'con „:«: oal' T"''" "' '^'''' '° hopes of his recovery bml . r ."'""'""^'^''•no.from his sufferings. In ha. ell *^ T'^ '°""' ">« "»'^nce of colony being a. i.s las. gasp ' 'nhabi.ams, the oXst'^:^i;r-Lrdfnra"rr ' ^"«- -•«" -n Q-e^cc, and to avoid an engagemont with .h^mr^rt J« 16 losing sight of them, This retarded their march^ and put off the evil hour as long as possible. He went with the rest of his army to Montreal. As there was no provision in that towU to be able to keep his army assembled, he was obliged to disperse them, sending them back to their winter quarters, where each inhabitant was obligrd to board a soldier at a very low rate, which was paid by the munitionary general. M. de Bougainville was sent in the spring toeommand at Isle aux Noix, with eleven hundred men, of which number were the Regiment of Guienne and Berry. This island is situated in the River Chambly (Richelieu), about eight leagues in a straight line from Montreal, and two miles distant from Lake Champlain. M. Bourlamarque, an officer of great knowledge in all the branches of his profession, decided upon that position for his retreat the year before, when he evacuated Ticonderoga, having been forced to abandon to the English that lake. He fortified this islaad as well as was possible in a sandy ground, in order to serve as a frontier on that side of Canada, and hinder the English from coming down by the River Richelieu into the River St. Lawrence, by which means in a very short time they might have been in possession of Montreal and Three Rivers,— a much easier way than by Lake Ontario, which is much longer and full of chicares (?) by the rapids in the St. Lawrence, and prolong their operations ;— a very great advantage in a country where there are violent frosts during seven months of the year. This island is about twelve hun- dred fathoms long, and from a hundred to two hundred broad. The entrenchments traced and conducted by M. Bourlamarque are regular, and a proof of his superior knowledge in fortifica- tions. He barred the two branches of the river which formed the island with staccados, or chains of big trees, linked to one another at their ends by strong rings and circles of iron. This prevented the English boats from Lake Champlain to pass the island in the night, to reach Montreal. But for the staccados the island must have been taken by them before they could proceed any further. ^J. • tSA _» 17 Panada with a very considerable army by the raDidTan^ •tier rih'ht'"' «?-' «"-y "^ -0- .ri":; ItMonir But ,r ^r '^?°'''"' ^"-^ J"" <^™- Amherst ai Montreal. But they had no knowledge of a third body o( troops, about four thousand men. that came by Lake Cha,^ platn ,„ the month of July, five ^eeks befL'.he a rivalrf the other two armies at Montreal, and besieged Isle aux Noi, CirpXr"^'^"^ "^'■' "' -"•"^. — , mortars! riyl^witnf ''r.''"'^"^' °f g°»^ on the south side of the stdeCL " "^'" "* "^ everywhere, back, face and kmelseyera lf'° °°T."' ""' "' '"« ^°""' "-^^do they Killed several of our soldiers by their musket shots. _ Ihe sandy ground protected us from the effect of their iayinlTo"!:^?"^^' 'V'"^^'"™' '^^'"e to us from Montreal, for hi! ;°Tf ''r"^ "■,«'"«'' "'^ ^°<"'«. ''i'l' ^ome Indians lor his guides, with two letters from De Bougainville one of il J!f' • ? "^ ''""•'^' oonjuncture, having only two arriva 'rr"^",^^ «""--■ -"-" "ad'sub.istfd unfil t^ river»l^ A ^'i.'*' "■'"'P' ''>" '"^^■>' of fishing-nets, that nver abounding with the most delicious fish, with seven o* ::^^^:^rM^.iss:~"r^^^^^^^^^ ,j ^^o iic vcf ineiess put to c IS a nonplus how to act from the contradictory orders he received^ In this dilemma he shewed me the letters, asking at the samef time my advice ; and my answer was : — "That in two days famine must oblige us to surrender to the enemy at discretion. That the reinforcements of a thousand men at Montreal might be of the greatest importance, and help to make a good countenance when the English army had advanced in the neighborhood of it. That it was M. de Vaudreuil who cora- manded-in -chief in Canada, and not M. de Levis; and that there was yet a possibility of retiring with the garrison towards the north side of the island, where the swampy ground upon the border of the river had hindered the English from establishing a post." De Bougainville immediately decided for a retreat, which was executed and combined with equa( justness ; and the success answered exactly to the prudence, wisdom and good conduct that De Bougainville exhibited m preparing for it. It was then about ten in the morning when Nogaire arrived with the Indians, who — not accustomed to- such a terrible fire as was 8t that moment poured forth by the English batteries, very different from their way of fighting, behind trees — were not at all at ease, and furiously impatient to get out of the island. The hour of retreat was settled for ten that night. The north shore of Isle aux Noix, on the opposite side of the river, was marshy to the distance of three hundred paces from the river, covered with small trees where there was a rising ground, and there was no English post nearer to it than at the Prairie de Boileau, distant half a mile down the river, so that the locality where the river was fordable was a little below the north staccados. De Bougainville adopted every pru- dent measure imaginable to achieve success. He ordered all the boats to be mended and put in condition to be used at a moment's warning. He also ordained that the boats, bark canoes, and punts hewn out of a large tree, be removed a certain distance from the river side, lest some soldier should desert and apprise the English of his design, such as had happened from the posts near Quebec. He commanded that /9t • I 10 ^. %n ihe garrison should be in order of battle at ten at night, all observing a profound silence, without the least clashing of arms or oiher noise, and be in readiness to march. He ordered M. le Borgne, an officer in the colonial troops, to remain on the island with a detachment of forty men, to keep up a smart fire from our battery, which consisted of seven or eight pieces of cannon, during the time we were employed in passing the river, in order to hinder the English from hearing U8 in our operations, and to continue firing whilst ammunition lasted, and to conceal our retreat as long as it was possible to do so. We began to cross the river in two lighters, with some small boats, about ten at night. They plied continually to and fro until midnight, when all had crossed the river without the enemy perceiving or even suspecting our operation, although so near to us were their posts on their left that we heard distinctly their voices. All was executed without the least no'se, disorder, or confusion — a rare occurrence on such an occasion. Le Borgne acted well, and at the same time economized his ammunition so well that he had wherewith to fire upon the English at intervals until one in the morning. Imagining us then to be near Montreal, he hoisted the white flag to capitulate, and the English, not having the smallest notion of our retreat, granted him immediately very honorable terms. We had eighty men killed or wounded during the siege — a very inconsiderable loss for a cannonade of sixteen days' duration, from five batteries, besides a bomb battery, without an instant's intermission. Had it been a stony instead of a sandy ground, we must have lost above one-half of the garrison, and could not have resisted so long. So soon as every one had passed the river, we set out for Montreal, crossing through the woods, which, in a straight line, is only eight leagues from Isle aux Noix, always half running one after the other, after having marched in this manner,from midnight until twelve at noon,over fens, swamps, mosses, and sinking often up to the waist in marshy ground, without reposing or halting one minute. Instead of being to near Montreal, as we imagined, we were thunderstruck on ^fading ourselves, by the fault of our guides, to be only at the distance of half a league from Isle aux Noix : our guide, not knowing the road through the woods, had caused us to turn round continually for twelve hours without advancing ! We were so near an English post at the Prairie de Boileau, ^hat a grenadier of the Regiment de Berry, seeing his com- mander, Cormier, sink down with latigue, and not in a condition to go any further, carried off' a horse from them which was upon the borders of the wood, and mounted his commander on it ; otherwise he would have been left aside and taken prisoner by the English, or scalped by the Indians. Having lost all hopes of going to Montreal through the woods, we took the road to Fort St. Jean, on the River Chambly, four leagues lower than Isle aux Noix, and five leagues by land to Montreal. My strength was so entirely spent, that it was with great difficulty I could draw one leg after the other. Nevertheless the fear of falling into the hands of the Indians, the idea of the horrible cruelties which they practice on their prisoners, which shock human nature, pre- vented me from sinking down with pain, and gave me strength to push on, Arrived at a settlement at four in the afternoon, about a Jeague and a half from St. John's Fort, where De Bougainville caused his detachment to halt and repose themselves for the first time since midnight, that they left Isle aux Noix. I perceived there a boat going off to St. Jean, and I had only strength enough remaining to throw myself into it. We lost in this march about eighty men : those who could not hold out were left behind, victims to the Indians. Arriving at St. John's Fort, the first person I saw there was Poularies, on the river side, who told me they had news of our retreat, and that he was sent with his regiraent to sustain us in case we had been pursued by the English. We were now shut up in the island of Montreal on all sides. The English were masters of the River Chambly by i f 4 i 1 4 ths possession of Isle aux Noix. General Amherst approached with his army from Lake Ontario ; and General Murray wai» in march, coming up from Quebec, with six thousand men that had passed through the winter there, and with some men-of-war, one of which of about forty guns, on its artival in sight of the town of Montreal, greatly astonished, and excited the admiration of, the inhabitants, who, from the ignoranc© and negligence of those persons charged with the sounding of the St. Lawrence, had never seen vessels arrive there of above sixty or seventy tons. General Murray conducted himself as an officer of great understanding, knowledge and capacity, and left nothing to do for General Amherst ; he employed five weeks in coming from Quebec to Montreal, which is only sixty leagues, and did us during his march more harm by bis policy than by his army. He stopped often in the villages ; spoke kindly to the inhabitants he found at home in their houses— whom hunger and famine had obliged to fly from our army at Montreal ; gave provisions to those unhappy creatures perishing for want of subsistence. He burned, in some cases, the houses of those who were absent from home and in the French army at Montreal, publishing everywhere an amnesty and good treat- ment to all Canadians who would return to their habitations and live there peaceably. In short— flattering some and frightening others— he succeeded so well, that at last there yras no more possibility of keeping them at Montreal. It is tme we had now only need of them to make a good coun- tenance. The three English armies amounting to above twenty thousand men, it was impossible to make any further resistance. Amherst's army appeared in sight from the town of Mon- treal, towards the gate of Lachine, on the 7th of September, about three in the afternoon. General Murray with his army, from Quebec, appeared two hours after at the opposite side of the town: thus a dark crisis was at hand for the fate of Canada. Montreal was nowise susceptible of defence. It was surrounded with stone walls, built in the beginning of n th%% colony, merely to preserve ihe inhabitants from the incu^ sione ol the Indians, few imagining at that time that it would become the theatre of a regular war, and that one day they would see formidable armies of regular, well-disciplined troops before its walls. "We were, however, all pent up in that miserable, bad place — without provisions, a thousand times worse off than an advantageous position in open fields — whose pitiful walls could not resist two hours' cannonade without being level with the ground, and where we would have been forced to surrender at discretion, if the English had insisted upon it. The night between the 7th and 8th September was passed ifi negotiating for the articles of capitulation. But in the morning all the difficulties were removed, and Qen. Amherst granted conditions infinitely more favourable than could be expected in our circumstances. Thus the Canadians, as brave as they are docile, and easy to be governed, became subjects of Great Britain ; and if Ihey can think themselves happy under that Government, by remembering their past vexations, they will do so. M. (Col.) Poularies and M. (Col.) Dalquier, who were generally distinguished in the French army by their high sense ot honor, probity, and their bravery, experience and knowledge in the art of war, were both of them, on their arrival in France, broken as commanders of a battalion — a grade which was abolished in the French service, in order to make the Major, as in the British service, command the regiment in absence of the Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel. Belcomb, Poularies' Adjt. of Royal Roussillon, and Montgnary, Captain in the Regiment of Beam which Dalquier com- manded — two very handsome men, capable to attract the attention of the ladies of any court in Europe — were made Colonels of Foot, without posvessing any remarkable military talent or capacity. Fortune maiiifested most « » ieiiy iier almighty power in the Kniliiary state, where justice, punishments and rewards alone I •>-• ■■-, • I •^- ought to be the base of it. Men conduct themaefves fratti the view either of honor or interest ; and there can be no' emulation in a service where mediocrity of talents, intrigued, favor, and credit, override ni rit. Greatness of soul, joined to superiority of talent, ignores ther art of cringing ; it is even impossible that merit can lead W fortune in a corrupted and venal country : on the contrary, it becomes a cause of exclusion. Virtue elevates the soul, and can neither fawn nor buy credit, nor flatter vice and inca- pficity. " If such is the military constitution of a State," say* M. Gaubert, in his Treatise of Tactics, " of which the Sove- reign (the King of Prussia) is one of the greatest men of the age, who instructs and commands his armies, and whose' armies form all the pomp of the court, what ought it to be ii» those States where the Sovereign is not at all a military matt; where he does not see his troops ; where he seems to disdaiit or be ignorant of all that regards them ; where the Court, who* always obey the impression of the Sovereign, is consequently not military ; where almost all the great rewards are obtained by surprise, by intrigue ; where the greater portion of favors are hereditary ; where merit languishes for want of a support ; where favor can advance without talent ; where to make a fortune no more implies acquiring a reputation, but merely to' heap up riches ; where men may be, at one and the same time, covered with orders and infamy — with grades^ and ignorance, serve ill the State, and occupy the best places ; be smeared with the censure of the public, and enjoy the Sovereign's good graces ? If, whilst all other sciences are becoming perfected, that of war remains in its infancy, it is the fault of the Governments, who do not attach to it sufficient importance ; who do not make it an object of public educa- tion ; who fail to direct men of genius to that profession ; who' suffer them to find more glory and advantages in sciences trifling or less useful ; who render the profession of arms an ungrateful employment, where talents are outstripped by intrigue, and the prizes distributed by Fortune." General Amherst, according to his statement in his letter fo Mr. Pitt, then Secretary of State, lost in coming down thA rapids — svithout meeting there any opposition from the French or Indians— by drowning, eighty-four men. Twenty more of the regiments' boats were dashed to pieces. Seven boats of the artillery, loaded with arms and ammunition, and one of his galleys, were also lost; If 900 Indians had been there, as they should have beeny scattered in the woods upon the borders of the river, with 1,200 Canadians, which they had solicited earnestly from M. de Vaudreuil, to defend those difficult passes of the Rapids, but which this officer obstinately refused, wiiat would have become of General Amherst ? How could he have got out of the scrape ? As it happened to Braddock, Amherst and his army must have perished there ; his expedition would have been fruitless, and Canada would have been yet saved lo' France : but heaven willed it otherwise. How long the English may preserve this conquest depends on their owar wise and prudent conduct. THX KNO;