A History of the United States. Charles Kendall Adams

attacked him vigorously, and after a brave struggle he surrendered honorably on July 4, 1754.

      Central North America

       at the Beginning of the French and Indian War, 1755

      110. The French and Indian War (1754–1763).—This was practically the beginning of what is generally called the French and Indian War, which nearly coincides with the Seven Years’ War in Europe. Both sides made extensive preparations, for the fate of a continent was now plainly seen to be in the balance. A congress of delegates from the colonies met at Albany to make a treaty with the Iroquois, and here (1754) Benjamin Franklin secured the adoption of a plan for a union of the colonies. The scheme was not approved, however, when submitted to the individual colonies, which were more or less jealous of their privileges. But if the colonists would not join to repel the foe, the English under Pitt were determined to do their best to drive out the French, not foreseeing that as a result the colonists, freed from danger at home, would be likely in a short time to form a union to secure independence. They sent out one of their ablest officers, Major General Edward Braddock, and an elaborate plan of campaign was determined on at a conference of the colonial governors assembled by him at Alexandria, Virginia. Four expeditions were to be made: one to be directed against Fort Crown Point in New York, and thence against Quebec; another, from New England, by water, against the French possessions in the northeast; the third, from Albany against Niagara; the fourth, from Fort Cumberland in Maryland against Fort Duquesne.

      General Montcalm.

      111. Braddock’s Defeat.—General Braddock decided to take charge of the last-named expedition. His European training had not qualified him to command in an unsettled country, and in spite of his personal efforts he found great difficulty in moving regular troops and artillery through the wilderness. He could hardly have moved at all if Franklin had not persuaded the Pennsylvania farmers to hire out their horses and wagons. In June, 1755, the army began to cut its way through the forest. All went well, though slowly, until the fort was nearly reached, when suddenly (July 9, 1755) the advanced guard came upon a large body of French and Indians. These wily foes immediately adopted border habits of warfare, and picked off their enemies from behind trees. Braddock, who had all an Englishman’s contempt for colonial ways, pronounced this method of fighting barbarous, and would not allow his men to imitate it. He insisted on using the same tactics in the backwoods of America that he had been accustomed to employ on the battlefields of Europe. There could be but one result. His men offered themselves as targets until so many were killed that a retreat had to be sounded. Even this would have been unavailing but for the fact that Washington, who was present as an aid-de-camp and had vigorously protested against his superior’s hard-headedness, used his Virginians, who had fought their enemies in backwoods fashion, to cover the retreat of the regulars. Washington performed many feats of valor throughout the day, and had several narrow escapes. Braddock, quite as brave, but entirely out of place in such a situation, was wounded just before the retreat, and died a few days later. Thus the most important of the four expeditions was a failure.

112. Acadia, Crown Point, and Niagara.—The second expedition succeeded in dispersing several thousands of the poor inhabitants of Acadia among the colonies;^[52] that against Crown Point resulted in a victory over the French on the shores of Lake George, but that against Niagara did not even reach its destination.

113. Effects of Pitt’s Policy.—Although there had been plenty of fighting along the American frontier, war was not formally declared between Great Britain and France until May, 1756. The French sent over a very able soldier, the Marquis of Montcalm,^[53] who was quite successful for about two years, and might have been altogether so but for the energy and foresight of that great English statesman, William Pitt.^[54] Pitt saw more clearly than any other man of his time how important her colonial empire was to Great Britain, and how it could best be maintained and extended. He supported Frederick the Great on the Continent, and caused renewed efforts to be made in America against the French. The fourfold attack of a few years before was again tried, with almost complete success. In 1758 Louisburg was forced to surrender; Washington captured Fort Duquesne (afterward Fort Pitt), and Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario was destroyed. Thus the Ohio region was cut off from Quebec; but by resisting an attack on Ticonderoga, Montcalm managed to keep the French forces wedged into New York.

      William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.^[55]

114. The Fall of Quebec.—The next year saw the practical conclusion of the struggle, in the fall of Quebec. This again was due indirectly to Pitt. He put James Wolfe^[56] in command of an expedition against Quebec, by way of the St. Lawrence. Wolfe landed with his troops below the city, which, rising from the summit of its precipitous hill, seemed to be impregnable. But the young general was dauntless. He performed the extraordinary feat of passing up the river under the guns of Montcalm, and landing his troops. During the night they climbed the cliffs, and by dawn were ready to offer battle on the Plains of Abraham (September 13, 1759). The conflict was hotly waged, the British eventually securing the victory, at the cost of their brave general, whose equally brave rival, Montcalm, was also killed. It would be hard to estimate the consequences of this battle.

      General Wolfe.

      115. The Treaty of Paris (1763).—The fall of Quebec had been preceded by the capture of the posts of Crown Point and Ticonderoga held by the French within New York. It was followed the next year by the taking of Montreal. This practically closed the war in America, but peace was not declared until 1763, when the Treaty of Paris was signed. By these victories and the peace which followed them, Great Britain obtained Canada and Cape Breton, nearly all the islands of the St. Lawrence, and all the territory east of a line running down the middle of the Mississippi River to a point just above New Orleans. Spain received all the French possessions west of this line, together with New Orleans. In return for Havana, which had been taken by the English, Spain gave up Florida to Great Britain.

      116. The New Provinces.—The newly acquired territory was divided into three provinces. Canada became the Province of Quebec, part of its southern boundary line limiting the present states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Florida was divided into two provinces, East and West Florida. A line was also drawn around the head waters of all the Atlantic-flowing rivers in the colonies, and the colonists were forbidden to settle in the reserved territory, which was set apart for the Indians. To defend these new provinces it was resolved to maintain within their borders a force of ten thousand men, who were to be supported partly by the Crown and partly by the colonies. That troops were needed was proved by the harassing though unsuccessful siege of Detroit by the Indians, led by Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas, in the spring and summer of 1763.

      References.—See Thwaites, The Colonies, chaps. xiii.–xiv. Add to preceding bibliography: A. V. G. Allen, Jonathan Edwards; C. C. Jones, History of Georgia (2 vols.); C. Gayarré, History of Louisiana (4 vols.); F. Parkman, Frontenac and New France, La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, A Half Century of Conflict, Montcalm and Wolfe; A. B. Hart, Formation of the Union, chaps. i.–ii. (“Epochs of American History”); W. M. Sloane, The French War and the Revolution, chaps. i.–ix. (“American History Series”); H. C. Lodge, George Washington, Vol. I., chaps. i.–iii. (“American Statesmen Series”); J. Winsor, The Mississippi Basin; B. A. Hinsdale, The Old Northwest; T. Roosevelt, The Winning of the West, Vol. I.; B. Franklin, Autobiography; J. F. Cooper, The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, and The Pathfinder; Parkman’s Conspiracy of Pontiac contains a résumé of the struggle for Canada.

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