The Exiles of Fort Cumberland. - Relief. — The Voyage to Louis- bourg. The British Fleet. -Expedition against Quebec. - French Preparation. · Muster of Forces. Gasconade of Vau- dreuil. Plan of Defence. - Strength of Montcalm. - Advance of Wolfe. British Sailors. - Landing of the English. Diffi- culties before them. Storm. Fireships. Confidence of French Commanders. - Wolfe occupies Point Levi.-A Futile Night Attack. - Quebec bombarded. - Wolfe at the Montmo- renci. Skirmishes. - Danger of the English Position. - Effects of the Bombardment. - Desertion of Canadians. - The English above Quebec. - Severities of Wolfe. Another Attempt to burn the Fleet. - Desperate Enterprise of Wolfe. — The Heights Amherst on Lake George.-Capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Delays of Amherst. -Niagara Expedition. — La Corne attacks Oswego. - His Repulse. - Niagara besieged. - Aubry comes to its Relief. - Battle. Rout of the French.-The Fort taken. Isle-aux-Noix. Amherst advances to attack it. Elation of the French. - Despondency of Wolfe. — The Parishes laid waste. Operations above Quebec. - Illness of Wolfe.- A New Plan of Attack. Faint Hope of Success. - Wolfe's Last Despatch. Confidence of Vaudreuil. - Last Letters of Mont- calm. French Vigilance. - British Squadron at Cap-Rouge. - Last Orders of Wolfe. · Embarkation. Descent of the dreuil. - Scene in the Redoubt. - Panic. - Movements of the Victors. Vaudreuil's Council of War. - Precipitate Retreat of the French Army. - Last Hours of Montcalm. His Death and Burial. Quebec abandoned to its Fate. - Despair of the Garrison.-Lévis joins the Army. - Attempts to relieve the Quebec after the Siege. Captain Knox and the Nuns. - Escape of French Ships. Winter at Quebec. - Threats of Lévis. - Attacks. Skirmishes. — Feat of the Rangers. - State of the Garrison. The French prepare to retake Quebec. Advance of Lévis.—The Alarm. - Sortie of the English. - Rash Deter- mination of Murray. - Battle of Ste.-Foy. - Retreat of the Eng- lish. — Lévis besieges Quebec. -Spirit of the Garrison. - Peril of their Situation. - Relief. Quebec saved. - Retreat of Lévis. 360 Exodus of Canadian Leaders. · Wreck of the "Auguste."-Trial of Bigot and his Confederates. - Frederic of Prussia. - His Tri- MONTCALM AND WOLFE. CHAPTER XVI. 1757, 1758. A WINTER OF DISCONTENT. BOASTS OF LOUDON. 1 -A MUTINOUS MILITIA. - PANIC. - ACCUSA TIONS OF VAUDREUIL. - HIS WEAKNESS. INDIAN BARBARITIES. - DESTRUCTION OF GERMAN FLATS. DISCONTENT OF MONTCALM. - FESTIVITIES ᎪᎢ MONTREAL. - MONTCALM'S RELATIONS WITH THE GOVERNOR. - FAMINE. - RIOTS. MUTINY. WINTER AT TICONDEROGA. A DESPERATE BUSH-FIGHT. DEFEAT OF THE RANGERS. ADVENTURES OF ROCHE AND PRINGLE. - LOUDON, on his way back from Halifax, was at sea off the coast of Nova Scotia when a despatchboat from Governor Pownall of Massachusetts startled him with news that Fort William Henry was attacked; and a few days after he learned by another boat that the fort was taken and the capitulation "inhumanly and villanously broken." On this he sent Webb orders to hold the enemy in check without risking a battle till he should himself arrive. "I am on the way," these were his words, "with a force sufficient to turn the scale, with God's assistance; and then I hope we shall teach the French to comply with the laws of nature and humanity. For although I abhor barbarity, the knowledge I have of Mr. Vaudreuil's behavior when in Louisiana, from his own letters in my possession, and the murders committed at Oswego and now at Fort William Henry, will oblige me to make those gentlemen sick of such inhuman villany whenever it is in my power." He reached New York on the last day of August, and heard that the French had withdrawn. He nevertheless sent his troops up the Hudson, thinking, he says, that he might still attack Ticonderoga ; a wild scheme, which he soon abandoned, if he ever seriously entertained it.1 Webb had remained at Fort Edward in mortal dread of attack. Johnson had joined him with a band of Mohawks; and on the day when Fort William Henry surrendered there had been some talk of attempting to throw succors into it by night. Then came the news of its capture; and now, when it was too late, tumultuous mobs of militia came pouring in from the neighboring provinces. In a few days thousands of them were bivouacked on the fields about Fort Edward, doing nothing, disgusted and mutinous, declaring that they were ready to fight, but not to lie still without tents, blankets, or kettles. Webb writes on the fourteenth that most of those from New York had deserted, threatening to kill their officers if 1 Loudon to Webb, 20 Aug. 1757. Loudon to Holdernesse, Oct. 1757. Loudon to Pownall, 16 [18] Aug. 1757. A passage in this last letter, in which Loudon says that he shall, if prevented by head-winds from getting into New York, disembark the troops on Long Island, is perverted by that ardent partisan, William Smith, the historian of New York, into the absurd declaration “that he should encamp on Long Island for the defence of the continent. |