CHAPTER XII.

General Braddock arrives in America....Convention of the governors, and plan of the campaign resolved on...French expelled from Nova Scotia, and the inhabitants transplanted....Expedition against fort du Quesne....Battle of Monongahela....Defeat and death of Braddock....Expedi tion against Crown Point....Dieskau defeated....Expedition against Niagara.....Frontiers distressed by incursions of the Indians....Meeting of the governors at New York.... Plan for the campaign of 1756....Command in America bestowed on lord Loudoun....Montcalm takes Oswego.... All offensive operations abandoned by lord Loudoun.... Small-pox breaks out in Albany Campaign closed....Campaign of 1757 opened....Admiral Holbourne arrives with a large armament at Halifax, where he is joined by the earl of Loudoun....Expedition against Louisbourg relinquished ....lord Loudoun returns to New York....Fort William Henry taken....Controversy between lord Loudoun and the assembly of Massachussetts.

THE rich and extensive country between the Alleghany mountains and the Mississippi being claimed both by France and England, each treated the endeavours of the other to take possession of it, as an invasion of its own dominions which was to be considered as an act of hostility, and to be repelled by force. Complaints of encroachment, therefore, were reciprocal; and each charged the other with being the aggressor. The establishment of the post on the Ohio, and the defeat of colonel Washington at the Little Meadows, were considered by the British government, as the commencement of war in America.

The

conduct observed by the cabinet of Versailles demonstrated that the subject contended for must be relinquished or maintained by the sword; and that of St. James' did not hesitate to choose the latter of these alternatives. The resolution to send a few regiments of British soldiers to America, for the purpose of maintaining the claims of their monarch, was immediately taken; and early in the year, (1755) general Braddock embarked at Cork, at the head of a respectable body of troops destined for this service.

About the same time, preparations to re-enforce the armies in Canada were making in the ports of France. Intelligence of these equipments being received in England, admiral Boscawen was ordered to the American station, for the purpose of intercepting the French fleet before it should enter the gulf of St. Lawrence.

An active offensive campaign in America was meditated. One of the first measures adopted by general Braddock, was a convention of the several governors, for the purpose of settling the plan of military operations. This was held in Virginia on the 14th of April, when three expeditions were resolved on.

The first, and the most interesting, was against fort du Quesne. This was to be undertaken by general Braddock in person; and the British troops, with such aids as could be drawn from Maryland and Virginia, were to be employed in it. The reduction of this fort, and the entire expulsion of the French from the Ohio and its waters, were anticipated as certain.

The second was designed against Niagara, and fort Frontignac. This was to be conducted by governor Shirley. The American regulars, consisting of Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, constituted the principal force relied on for the reduction of these places.

This

The third was against Crown Point. originated entirely with Massachussetts, and was to be executed altogether by colonial troops raised for the particular object by the provinces of New England, and of New York. The command of this expedition was given by the governors who furnished the men, to major general William Johnson, then one of the council of New York.a

While preparations were making for these several enterprises, an expedition, which had been previously concerted by the government of Massachussetts, was carried on against the posts occupied by the French in Nova Scotia.

It has already been stated that the limits of this province still remained unsettled. The English claim extended to the St. Lawrence, while the French insisted on restricting it to the peninsula of Acadié. While the commissioners of the two crowns were advancing, in fruitless memorials, the arguments in favour of the claims of their respective sovereigns, the French occupied the country in contest, and took measures for its defence. Against the forts they had constructed for the protection of the territory they claimed south

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of the St. Lawrence, an enterprise had been resolved on. Although the force to be employed was to be drawn almost entirely from Massachussetts, the command of the expedition was conferred on lieutenant colonel Monckton, a British officer, in whose military talents more confidence was placed, than in those of any provincial.

On the 20th of May the troops of Massachussetts, who were to serve for one year if required, together with Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, amounting in the whole to about three thousand men, embarked at Boston under the command of lieutenant colonel Winslow, who was a major general of the militia, and was an officer of great influence in the province. On the 28th they arrived in the basin of Annapolis Royal. From thence, they sailed in a fleet of forty-one vessels to Chignecto, and anchored about five miles from fort Lawrence. There they were joined by about three hundred British troops, with a small train of artillery; and having landed, immediately marched against Beau Sejour, the principal post held by the French in that country. On reaching the river Mussaguash, contended by the French to be the western limit of Nova Scotia, they found the enemy prepared to dispute its passage. A blockhouse, defended by a few pieces of small cannon, had been constructed on its western bank, and a breastwork had also been thrown up, behind which a few troops were posted. After a short conflict, the passage of the river was forced, with the loss of only one man; upon which the intrenchments were opened before Beau Sejour.

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On the fifth day the fort capitulated, and the rison, having stipulated not to bear arms for six months, was conveyed to Louisbourg, at the expense of the king of Great Britain. Fort Gaspereau soon afterwards surrendered on the same terms; and three twenty gun ships, with a snow, appearing in the river of St. Johns, the French set fire to their works at that place, and entirely evacuated the country. Thus in the course of the month of June, with the loss of only three men killed, the English found themselves in complete possession of the whole province of Nova Scotia, according to their own definition of its boundaries. This easy conquest elated the colonies generally, and, from this first success, the most sanguine anticipations were indulged of the result of the campaign.b

The recovery of this province was followed by one of those distressing measures which involve individuals in indiscriminate ruin, and add to the unavoidable calamities of war.

Nova Scotia having been originally settled by the French under the name of Acadié, its inhabitants were chiefly of that nation. When that province was surrendered to the English by the treaty of Utrecht, it was stipulated for the inhabitants, that they should be permitted to hold their lands, on condition of taking the oath of allegiance to their new sovereign. With this condition they refused to comply, unless they

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