"Had he attended to those precautions he would not have been thus ambuscaded; or had he wisely retreated from a concealed enemy, and scoured the thicket with his cannon, the melancholy catastrophe might have been avoided. But, obstinately riveted to the spot on which he was first attacked, he vainly continued his attempt to form his men in regular order, although, by this means, a surer prey to the enemy, until being himself wounded, he could no longer be accessary to the destruction of human life.

A remarkable fact in the history of this affair remains to be told. Gen. Braddock held the provincial troops in great contempt. Consequently, he kept the Virginians, and other provincials, who were in the action, in the rear. Yet, although equally exposed with the rest, far from being affected with the fears that disordered the regular troops, they stood firm and unbroken, and, under Colonel Washington, covered the retreat of the regulars, and saved them from total destruction.

The retreat of the army, after Braddock was wounded, was precipitate. No pause was made until the rear division was met. This division on its junction with the other, was seized with the same spirit of flight with the retreating, and both divisions proceeded to Fort Cumberland, a distance of nearly one hundred and twenty miles from the place of action.

Had the troops, even here, recovered their spirits and returned, success might still have crowned the expedition. At least, the army might have rendered the most important service to the cause, by preventing the devastations and inhuman murders, perpetrated by the French and Indians, during the summer, on the western borders of Virginia and Pennsylvania. But, instead of adopting a course so salutary and important, Col. Dunbar, leaving the sick and wounded at Cumberland, marched with his troops to Philadelphia.”*

SEC. XV. The expedition against Crown Point, commanded by general William Johnson, though unsuccessful in its main object,

* Goodrich.

Give some account of Braddock's defeat.

xv. What can you say of the expedition against Crown Point?

served in some measure to dispel the gloom, which followed the defeat of Braddock.

Johnson encamped, the latter part of August at the south end of Lake George, where he was informed, that a body of the enemy, two thousand in number, had landed at South bay under the command of Baron Dieskau, and were marching towards Fort Edward, for the purpose of destroying the provisions and military stores at that place. A party of twelve hundred men under Col. Williams were detached to intercept them, but were unfortunately surprised by Dieskau, who was lying in ambush, and, after a signal slaughter, were compelled to retreat. Col Williams, and Hendrick, a renowned Mohawk chief, with many other officers, were killed.

Dieskau, with his troops, soon appeared before the encampment of Johnson, and commenced a spirited attack. They were received with great intrepidity, and the cannon and musquetry did such execution among their ranks, that the enemy were forced to retire in confusion. Dieskau, after being severely wounded, fell into the hands of the English. The loss of the French was about eight hundred; that of the English did not exceed two hundred.

"At the time it was meditated to send a detachment under Col. Williams, to intercept Dieskau, the number of men proposed was mentioned to Hendrick, the Mohawk chief, and his opinion asked. He replied, "If they are to fight, they are too few. If they are to be killed, they

Give an account of the engagement with Dieskau.
What is related of Hendrick?

are too many." The number was accordingly increased. Gen. Johnson proposed also to divide the detachment into three parties. Upon this Hendrick took three sticks, and putting them together, said to him, "Put these together, and you cannot break them; take them one by one, and you will break them easily." The hint succeeded, and Hendrick's sticks saved many of the party, and probably the whole army from destruction.*

"Early in the action, Gen. Johnson was wounded, and Gen. Lyman succeeded to the command, which he held through the day. To this gentleman's gallant exertions, the success of the day, under Providence, was chiefly to be ascribed. Yet it is remarkable, that Gen. Johnson made no mention of Gen. Lyman in his official letter, announcing the intelligence of the victory. The ambition of Johnson was too great, and his avarice too greedy, to acknowledge the merits of a rival. Gen. Johnson was created a baronet, and parliament voted him five thousand pounds sterling, in consideration of his success. The reward of Gen. Lyman was the esteem and honor of the people among whom he lived.

Among the wounded of the French, as already stated, was the Baron Dieskau. He had received a ball through his leg, and being unable to follow his retreating army, was found by an English soldier, resting upon the stump of a tree, with scarcely an attendant. Dieskau, apprehensive for his safety, was feeling for his watch, in order to give it to the soldier, when the man, suspecting that he was feeling for a pistol, levelled his gun, and wounded him in the hips. He was carried to the camp, and treated with great kindness. From the camp he was taken to Albany and New York, whence, some time after, he sailed for England, where he died. He was a superior officer, possessed of honorable feelings, and adorned with highly polished manners. One stain, however, attaches to his character. Before his engagement with Col. Williams's corps, he gave orders to his troops neither to give nor take quarter."

* Dwight's Travels.

What is said of Gen. Johnson?— Of Lyman ?- -Of Dieskau ?

SEC. XVI. Governor Shirley of Massachusetts took the command of the expedition against Niagara. He advanced to Oswego, where, being poorly supplied with provisions, and the rainy season approaching, the expedition was abandoned, and the troops returned to Albany.

CHAP. IX.

CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR.

Formal declaration of war. Campaign of 1756, and capture of Oswego. Campaign of 1757, and capture of Fort William Henry. Expedition against Ticonderoga. Capture of Fort Frontenac. Campaign of 1759. Surrender of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Capture of Niagara. Wolfe's expedition against Quebec. War terminated in 1760 by the entire conquest of Canada.

SEC. I. 1756. Hostilities had thus far been prosecuted by the colonies without any formal declaration of war on the part of the mother country. On the 18th of May, the present year, war was formally declared by Great Britain, and this declaration soon after reciprocated by a similar declaration on the part of France.

XVI. What can you say of the expedition against Niagara ? 1. When was war formally declared?

In the plan of operations for the present year, Niagara and Crown Point, two strong holds of great importance, then in the possession of the enemy, were constituted the principal points of attack.

SEC. II. General Abercrombie was appointed to command, until the arrival of the earl of Loudon, who was to be commander in chief of all his majesty's forces in America. Owing to the improvidence of Abercrombie, nothing was effected by the English. The campaign was unfortunately signalized by the capture of Oswego, which was surrendered to the French in August.

The Marquis de Montcalm, commander of the French troops in Canada, collected a force of thirteen hundred regulars, seventeen hundred Canadians, with a considerable number of Indians, and proceeded from Fort Frontenac by the way of lake Ontario. On his arrival at Oswego, he stationed two large armed vessels to block up the place by water, and posted a strong body of Canadians and Indians to cut off all communication with Albany. Having brought up his artillery and stores, on the twelfth of August, he opened his trenches before Fort Ontario. The fortifications were in no condition to make a defence against artillery, or regular approaches; and on the fourteenth, Colonel Mercer having been killed by a cannon ball the day previous, the garrison proposed a capitulation.

By the terms of capitulation, they were to surrender prisoners of war, to be exempted from plunder, treated with humanity, and conducted to Montreal. These terms were however most shamefully violated by the French. Several of the British officers and soldiers were insulted, robbed, and massacred by the Indians. Most of the sick

What were the principal points of attack? 11. Who was appointed to the command?.

campaign the present year?

What is said of the

Give some account of the capture of Oswego.Of the cruelties committed.