An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America Part 22

Thus terminated the campaign of 1757 in America, undistinguished by any act which might compensate for the loss of territory or the sacrifice of lives. With an inferior force the French had been successful at every point, and besides having obtained complete control of Lakes George and Champlain, the destruction of Oswego gave the dominion of those lakes, which are connected with the St. Lawrence, to the Mississippi, thus opening a direct communication between Canada and the southwest.

Lord Loudon having been recalled, the command of the army again devolved on General James Abercromby. Determined to wipe off the disgrace of former campaigns, the new ministry, which had just come into power, fitted out, in 1758, a great naval and military force consisting of fifty-two thousand men. To the military staff were added Major-General Amherst, and Brigadier-General's Wolfe, Townsend and Murray. Three expeditions were proposed: the first to renew the attempt on Louisburg; the second directed against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the third against Fort du Quesne.

General Abercromby took command, in person, of the expedition against Ticonderoga, with a force of fifteen thousand three hundred and ninety men, of whom over six thousand were regulars, the rest being provincials, besides a train of artillery. Among the regulars must be reckoned the 42 Highlanders. Ticonderoga, situated on a point of land between Lake George and Lake Champlain is surrounded on three sides by water, and on one-half of the fourth by a mora.s.s. The remaining part of the fort was protected by high entrenchments, supported and flanked by three batteries, and the whole front of that which was accessible intersected by deep traverses, and blocked up with felled trees, with their branches turned outwards, and their points sharpened.

On July 5th the army struck their tents at daybreak, and in nine hundred small boats and one hundred and thirty-five whale-boats, with artillery mounted on rafts, embarked on Lake George. The fleet in stately procession, bright with banners and cheered by martial music, moved down the beautiful lake, beaming with hope and pride. The solemn forests were broken by the echoes of the happy soldiery. There was no one to molest them, and victory was their one desire. Over the broader expanse they pa.s.sed to the first narrows, witnessing the mountains rising from the water's edge, the dark forest, and the picturesque loveliness of the scene. Long afterwards General John Stark recounted that when they had halted at Sabbathday Point at twilight, lord Howe, reclining in his tent on a bearskin, and bent on winning a hero's name, questioned him closely as to the position of Ticonderoga and the fittest modes of attack.

After remaining five hours at their resting place, the army, an hour before midnight, moved once more down the lake, and by nine the next morning, disembarked on the west side, in a cove sheltered by a point which still keeps the name of Lord Howe. The troops were formed into two parallel columns and marched on the enemy's advanced posts, which were abandoned without a shot. The march was continued in the same order, but the guides proving ignorant, the columns came in contact, and were thrown into confusion. A detachment of the enemy which had also become bewildered in the woods, fell in with the right column, at the head of which was lord Howe, and during the skirmish which ensued, Howe was killed. Abercromby ordered the army to march back to the landing place.

Montcalm, ever alert, was ready to receive the English army. On July 6th he called in all his parties, and when united amounted to two thousand eight hundred French and four hundred and fifty Canadians. On the 7th the whole army toiled incredibly in strengthening their defenses. On the same evening De Levi returned from the projected expedition against the Mohawks, bringing with him four hundred chosen men. On the morning of the 8th, the drums of the French beat to arms, that the troops, now thirty-six hundred and fifty in number, might know their stations and resume their work.

The strongest regiment in the army of Abercrombie was the 42nd Highlanders, fully equipped, in their native dress. The officers wore a narrow gold braiding round their tunics, all other lace being laid aside to make them less conspicuous to the French and Canadian riflemen. The sergeants wore silver lace on their coats, and carried the Lochaber axe, the head of which was fitted for hewing, hooking or spearing an enemy, or such other work as might be found before the ramparts of Ticonderoga.

Many of the men had been out in the Rising of the Forty-five.

When Abercrombie received information from some prisoners that De Levi was about to reinforce Montcalm, he determined, if possible to strike a blow before a junction could be effected. Report also having reached him that the entrenchments were still unfinished, and might be a.s.saulted with prospects of success, he immediately made the necessary dispositions for attack. The British commander, remaining far behind during the action, put the army in motion, on the 8th, the regulars advancing through the openings of the provincials, and taking the lead.

The pickets were followed by the grenadiers, supported by the battalions and reserve, which last consisted of the Highlanders and 55th regiment, advanced with great alacrity towards the entrenchments, which they found much more formidable than they expected. As the British advanced, Montcalm, who stood just within the trenches, threw off his coat for the sunny work of the July afternoon, and forbade a musket to be fired until he had given the order. When the British drew very near, in three princ.i.p.al columns, to attack simultaneously the left, the center, and the right, they became entangled among the rubbish and broken into disorder by clambering over logs and projecting limbs. The quick eye of Montcalm saw the most effective moment had come, and giving the word of command, a sudden and incessant fire of swivels and small arms mowed down brave officers and men by hundreds. The intrepidity of the English made the carnage terrible. With the greatest vivacity the attacks were continued all the afternoon. Wherever the French appeared to be weak, Montcalm immediately strengthened them. Regiment after regiment was hurled against the besieged, only to be hurled back with the loss of half their number.

The Scottish Highlanders, held in the reserve, from the very first were impatient of the restraint; but when they saw the column fall back, unable longer to control themselves, and emulous of sharing the danger, broke away and pushed forward to the front, and with their broadswords and Lochaber axes endeavored to cut through the abattis and chevaux-de-frize. For three hours the Highlanders struggled without the least appearance of discouragement. After a long and deadly struggle they penetrated the exterior defences and reached the breastwork; having no scaling ladders, they attempted to gain the summit by mounting on each others shoulders and partly by fixing their feet in holes they made with their swords, axes and bayonets in the face of the work, but no sooner did a man appear on top than he was hurled down by the defending troops. Captain John Campbell, with a few men, at length forced their way over the breastwork, but were immediately dispatched with the bayonet.

While the Highlanders and grenadiers were fighting without faltering and without confusion on the French left, the columns which had attacked the center and right, at about five o'clock, concentrated themselves at a point between the two; but De Levi advanced from the right and Montcalm brought up the reserve. At six the two parties nearest the water turned desperately against the center, and being repulsed, made a last effort on the left, where, becoming bewildered, the English fired on an advanced party of their own, producing hopeless dejection.

The British general, during the confusion of battle cowered safely at the saw-mills, and when his presence was needed to rally the fugitives, was nowhere to be found. The second in command, unable to seize the opportunity, gave no commands. The Highlanders persevered in their undertaking and did not relinquish their labors until they received the third order to retreat, when they withdrew, unmolested, and carrying with them the whole of their wounded.

The loss sustained by the 42nd was as follows: eight officers, nine sergeants and two hundred and ninety-seven men killed; and seventeen officers, ten sergeants and three hundred and six soldiers wounded. The officers killed were Major Duncan Campbell of Inveraw, Captain John Campbell, Lieutenants George Farquharson, Hugh MacPherson, William Baillie, and John Sutherland; Ensigns Patrick Stewart of Bonskied and George Rattray. The wounded were Captains Gordon Graham, Thomas Graham of Duchray, John Campbell of Strachur, James Stewart of Urrad, James Murray; Lieutenants James Grant, Robert Gray, John Campbell of Melford, William Grant, John Graham, brother of Duchray, Alexander Campbell, Alexander Mackintosh, Archibald Campbell, David Miller, Patrick Balneaves; and Ensigns John Smith and Peter Grant.

The intrepid conduct of the Highlanders, in the storming of Ticonderoga, was made the topic of universal panegyric throughout the whole of Great Britain, the public prints teeming with honorable mention of, and testimonies to their bravery. Among these General Stewart copies[137]

the two following:

"With a mixture of esteem, grief and envy (says an officer of the 55th, lord Howe's regiment), I consider the great loss and immortal glory acquired by the Scots Highlanders in the late b.l.o.o.d.y affair.

Impatient for orders, they rushed forward to the entrenchments, which many of them actually mounted. They appeared like lions, breaking from their chains. Their intrepidity was rather animated than damped by seeing their comrades fall on every side. I have only to say of them, that they seemed more anxious to revenge the cause of their deceased friends, than careful to avoid the same fate. By their a.s.sistance, we expect soon to give a good account of the enemy and of ourselves. There is much harmony and friends.h.i.+p between us." "The attack (says Lieutenant William Grant of the 42nd) began a little past one in the afternoon, and, about two, the fire became general on both sides, which was exceedingly heavy, and without any intermission, insomuch that the oldest soldier present never saw so furious and incessant a fire. The affair at Fontenoy was nothing to it. I saw both. We labored under insurmountable difficulties. The enemy's breastwork was about nine or ten feet high, upon the top of which they had plenty of wall pieces fixed, and which was well lined in the inside with small arms. But the difficult access to their lines was what gave them the fatal advantage over us. They took care to cut down monstrous large oak trees, which covered all the ground from the foot of their breastwork about the distance of a cannon shot every way in their front. This not only broke our ranks, and made it impossible for us to keep our order, but put it entirely out of our power to advance till we cut our way through. I have seen men behave with courage and resolution before now, but so much determined bravery can hardly be equalled in any part of the history of ancient Rome. Even those that were mortally wounded cried aloud to their companions, not to mind or lose a thought upon them, but to follow their officers, and to mind the honor of their country. Nay, their ardor was such, that it was difficult to bring them off. They paid dearly for their intrepidity. The remains of the regiment had the honor to cover the retreat of the army, and brought off the wounded, as we did at Fontenoy. When shall we have so fine a regiment again? I hope we shall be allowed to recruit."

The English outnumbered the French four-fold, and with their artillery, which was near at hand, could have forced a pa.s.sage. "Had I to besiege Ticonderoga," said Montcalm, "I would ask for but six mortars and two pieces of artillery." But Abercrombie, that evening, hurried the army to the landing place, with such precipitancy, that but for the alertness of Colonel Bradstreet, it would at once have rushed in a ma.s.s into the boats. On the morning of the 9th the army embarked and Abercrombie did not rest until he had placed the lake between himself and Montcalm, and even then he sent the artillery and ammunition to Albany for safety.

The expedition against Louisburg, under Major-General Jeffrey Amherst, set sail from Halifax on May 28, 1758. It was joined by the fleet under Admiral Boscawen. The formidable armament consisted of twenty-five sail of the line, eighteen frigates, and a number of bomb and fire s.h.i.+ps, with the Royals, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 28th, 35th, 40th, 45th, 47th, 48th, 58th, the 2d and 3d battalions of the 60th, 78th Highlanders, and New England Rangers,--in all, thirteen thousand and nine men. On June 2nd the vessels anch.o.r.ed in Garbarus Bay, seven miles from Louisburg. The garrison, under the Chevalier Ducour, consisted of twenty-five hundred regulars, six hundred militia, and four hundred Canadians and Indians.

The harbor was protected by six s.h.i.+ps of the line and five frigates, three of the latter being sunk at its mouth. The English s.h.i.+ps were six days on the coast before a landing could be attempted, on account of a heavy surf continually rolling with such violence, that no boat could approach the sh.o.r.e. The violence of the surf having somewhat abated, a landing was effected on June 8th. The troops were disposed for landing in three divisions. That on the left, which was destined for the real attack, commanded by Brigadier General Wolfe, was composed of the grenadiers and light infantry, and the 78th, or Fraser's Highlanders.

While the boats containing this division were being rowed ash.o.r.e, the other two divisions on the right and center, commanded by Brigadier Generals Whitmore and Lawrence, made a show of landing, in order to divide and distract the enemy. The landing place was occupied by two thousand men entrenched behind a battery of eight pieces of cannon and swivels. The enemy wisely reserved their fire till the boats were close to the sh.o.r.e, and then directed their discharge of cannon and musketry with considerable execution. The surf aided the fire. Many of the boats were upset or dashed to pieces on the rocks, and numbers of the men were killed or drowned before land was reached. Captain Baillie and Lieutenant Cuthbert of the Highlanders, Lieutenant Nicholson of Amherts, and thirty-eight men were killed. Notwithstanding the great disadvantages, nothing could stop the troops when led by such a general as Wolfe. Some of the light infantry and Highlanders were first ash.o.r.e, and drove all before them. The rest followed, and soon pursued the enemy to a distance of two miles, when they were checked by the cannonading from the town.

In this engagement the French lost seventeen pieces of cannon, two mortars, and fourteen swivels, besides seventy-three prisoners. The cannonading from the town enabled Wolfe to prove the range of the enemy's guns, and to judge of the exact distance at which he might make his camp for investing the town. The regiments then took post at the positions a.s.signed them. For some days operations went on slowly. The sea was so rough that the landing of stores from the fleet was much r.e.t.a.r.ded; and it was not until the 11th that the six pounder field pieces were landed. Six days later a squadron was fairly blown out to sea by the tempest. By the 24th the chief engineer had thirteen twenty-four pounders in position against the place. The first operation was to secure a point called Lighthouse Battery, the guns from which could play upon the s.h.i.+ps and on the batteries on the opposite side of the harbor. On the 12th this point was captured by Wolfe at the head of his gallant Fraser's and flank companies, with but little loss. On the 25th, the fire from this post silenced the island battery immediately opposite. An incessant fire, however, was kept up from the other batteries and s.h.i.+pping of the enemy. On July 9th the enemy made a sortie on General Lawrence's brigade, but were quickly repulsed. In this affair, the earl of Dundonald was killed. There were twenty other casualities. The French captain who led the attack, with seventeen of his men, was also killed. On the 16th, Wolfe pushed forward some grenadiers and Highlanders, and took possession of the hills in front of the Lighthouse battery, where a lodgement was made under a fire from the town and the s.h.i.+ps. On the 21st one of the French s.h.i.+ps was set on fire by a bombsh.e.l.l and blew up, and the fire being communicated to two others, they were burned to the water's edge. The fate of the town was now almost decided, the enemy's fire nearly silenced and the fortifications shattered to the ground. All that now remained in the reduction was to get possession of the harbor, by taking or burning the two s.h.i.+ps of the line which remained. For this purpose the admiral, on the night of July 25th sent six hundred seamen in boats, with orders to take, or burn, the two s.h.i.+ps of the line that remained in the harbor, resolving if they succeeded to send in some of his larger vessels to bombard the town. This enterprise was successfully executed by the seamen under Captains Laforey and Balfour, in the face of a terrible fire of cannon and musketry. One of the s.h.i.+ps was set on fire and the other towed off. On the 26th the town surrendered; the garrison and seamen amounted to five thousand six hundred and thirty-seven, besides one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, eighteen mortars, seven thousand five hundred stand of arms, eleven colors, and eleven s.h.i.+ps of war. The total loss of the English army and fleet, during the siege amounted to five hundred and twenty-five. Besides Captain Baillie and Lieutenant Cuthbert the Highlanders lost Lieutenant J. Alexander Fraser and James Murray, killed; Captain Donald MacDonald, Lieutenant Alexander Campbell (Barcaldine) and John MacDonald, wounded; and sixty-seven rank and file killed and wounded.

The third expedition was against Fort du Quesne, undertaken by Brigadier General John Forbes. Although the point of attack was less formidable and the enemy inferior in numbers to those at either Ticonderoga or Louisburg, yet the difficulties were greater, owing to the great extent of country to be traversed, through woods without roads, over mountains and through almost impa.s.sable mora.s.ses. The army consisted of six thousand two hundred and thirty-eight men, composed of Montgomery's Highlanders, twelve hundred and eighty-four strong, five hundred and fifty-five of the Royal Americans, and four thousand four hundred provincials. Among the latter were the two Virginia regiments, nineteen hundred strong, under the command of Was.h.i.+ngton. Yet vast as were the preparations of the army, Forbes never would have seen the Ohio had it not been for the genius of Was.h.i.+ngton, although then but twenty-six years of age. The army took up its line of march from Philadelphia in July, and did not reach Raystown until the month of September, when they were still ninety miles distant from Fort du Quesne. It was Was.h.i.+ngton's earnest advice that the army should advance with celerity along Braddock's road; but other advice prevailed, and the army commemorated its march by moving slowly and constructing a new route to the Ohio.

Thus the summer was frittered away. While Was.h.i.+ngton's forces joined the main army, Boquet was detached with two thousand men to take post at Loyal Hanna, fifty miles in advance. Here intelligence was received that the French garrison consisted of but eight hundred men, of whom three hundred were Indians. The vainglory of Boquet, without the consent or knowledge of his superior officer urged him to send forward a party of four hundred Highlanders and a company of Virginians, under Major James Grant to reconnoitre. Major Grant divided his troops, and when near the fort, advanced with pipes playing and drums beating, as if he was on a visit to a friendly town. The enemy did not wait to be attacked, but instantly marched out of their works and invited the conflict. The Highlanders threw off their coats and charged sword in hand. At first the French gave way, but rallied and surrounded the detachment on all sides. Being concealed in the thick foliage, their heavy and destructive fire could not be returned with any effect. Major Grant was taken in an attempt to force into the woods, where he observed the thickest of the fire. On losing their commander, and so many officers killed and wounded, the Highlanders dispersed, and were only saved from utter ruin by the provincials. Only one hundred and fifty of the Highlanders succeeded in making their way back to Loyal Hanna.

In this battle, fought September 14, 1758, two hundred and thirty-one Highlander's were killed and wounded. The officers killed were Captain William Macdonald and George Munro; Lieutenants Alexander Mackenzie, William Mackenzie; Robert Mackenzie, Colin Campbell, and Alexander Macdonald; and the wounded were Captain Hugh Mackenzie, Lieutenants Alexander Macdonald, Archibald Robertson, Henry Munro, and Ensigns John Macdonald and Alexander Grant.

General Forbes did not reach Loyal Hanna until November 5th, and there a council of war determined that no farther advance should be made for that season. But Was.h.i.+ngton had plead that owing to his long intimacy with these woods, and his familiarity with the difficulties and all the pa.s.ses should be allowed the responsibility of commanding the first party. This having been denied him, he prevailed on the commander to be allowed to make a second advance. His brigade was of provincials, and they toiled cheerfully by his side, infusing his own spirit into the men he commanded. Over the hills white with snow, his troops poorly fed and poorly clothed toiled onward. His movements were rapid: on November 15th he was at Chestnut Ridge; and the 17th at Bushy Run. As he drew near Fort du Quesne, the disheartened garrison, about five hundred in number, set fire to the fort, and by the light of the conflagration, descended the Ohio. On the 25th Was.h.i.+ngton could point out to the army the junction of the rivers, and entering the fortress, they planted the British colors on the deserted ruins. As the banner of England floated over the Ohio, the place was with one voice named Pittsburg, in honor of the great English premier William Pitt.

The troops under Was.h.i.+ngton were accompanied by a body of Highlanders.

On the morning of November 25th, the army advanced with the provincials in the front. They entered upon an Indian path. "Upon each side of which a number of stakes, with the bark peeled off, were stuck into the earth, and upon each stake was fixed the head and kilt of a Highlander who had been killed or taken prisoner at Grant's defeat. The provincials, being front, obtained the first view of these horrible spectacles, which it may readily be believed, excited no kindly feelings in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

They pa.s.sed along, however, without any manifestation of their violent wrath. But as soon as the Highlanders came in sight of the remains of their countrymen, a slight buzz was heard in their ranks, which rapidly swelled and grew louder and louder. Exasperated not only by the barbarous outrages upon the persons of their unfortunate fellow soldiers who had fallen only a few days before, but maddened by the insult which was conveyed by the exhibition of their kilts, and which they well understood, as they had long been nicknamed the 'petticoat warriors' by the Indians, their wrath knew no bounds. Directly a rapid and violent tramping was heard, and immediately the whole corps of the Highlanders, with their muskets abandoned, and broad swords drawn, rushed by the provincials, foaming with rage, and resembling, as Captain Craighead coa.r.s.ely expressed it, 'mad boars engaged in battle,' swearing vengeance and extermination upon the French troops who had permitted such outrages. Their march was now hastened--the whole army moved forward after the Highlanders, and when they arrived somewhere about where the ca.n.a.l now pa.s.ses, the Fort was discovered to be in flames, and the last of the boats, with the flying Frenchmen, were seen pa.s.sing down the Ohio by Smoky Island. Great was the disappointment of the exasperated Highlanders at the escape of the French, and their wrath subsided into a sullen and relentless desire for vengeance."[138]

The Highlanders pa.s.sed the winter of 1758 in Pittsburg, and in May following marched to the a.s.sistance of General Amherst in his proceedings at Ticonderoga, Crown Point and the Lakes.

Before the heroic action of The Black Watch at Ticonderoga was known in England, a warrant was issued conferring upon the regiment the t.i.tle of Royal, so that it became known also by the name of 42d Royal Highland Regiment, and letters were issued to raise a second battalion. So successful were the recruiting officers that within three months, seven companies, each one hundred and twenty men strong were embodied at Perth in October 1758. Although Highlanders only were admitted, yet two officers, anxious to obtain commissions, enlisted eighteen Irishmen, several of whom were O'Donnels, O'Lachlans, O'Briens, &c. The O was changed to Mac, and the Milesians pa.s.sed muster as true Macdonels, Maclachlans, and Macbriars, without being questioned.

The second battalion immediately embarked at Greenock for the West Indies, under the convoy of the Ludlow Castle; and after the reduction of Guadaloupe, it was transferred to New York, and in July, 1759, was combined with the first battalion, in order to engage in the operations then projected against the French settlements in Canada. General Wolfe was to proceed up the St. Lawrence and besiege Quebec. General Amherst, who had succeeded Abercromby as commander-in-chief, was to attempt the reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and then effect a junction with General Wolfe before Quebec. Brigadier General John Prideaux was to proceed against the French fort near the falls of Niagara, the most important post of all French America.

The army first put in motion was that under Amherst, which a.s.sembled at Fort Edward on June 19th. It included the 42nd and Montgomery's Highlanders, and when afterwards joined by the second battalion of the 42nd, numbered fourteen thousand five hundred men. On the 21st, preceded by The Black Watch the army moved forward and encamped on Lake George, where, during the previous year, the army rested prior to the attack on Ticonderoga. Considerable time was spent in preparations for a.s.saulting this formidable post, but on seeing the preparations made by the English generals for a siege, the French set fire to the magazines and buildings, and retired to Crown Point.

The plan of campaign on the part of the French appeared to have been to embarra.s.s Amherst by r.e.t.a.r.ding the advance of his army, but not to hazard any considerable engagement, nor to allow themselves to be so completely invested as to cut off all retreat. The main object of their tactics was so to delay the advance of the English that the season for action on the Lakes would pa.s.s away without showing any decisive advantage on the part of the invaders, whilst their own forces could be gradually concentrated, and thus arrest the progress of Amherst down the St. Lawrence.

On taking possession of Ticonderoga, which effectually covered the frontiers of New York, General Amherst proceeded to repair the fortifications; and, while superintending this work, was indefatigable in preparing batteaux and other vessels for conveying his troops, and obtaining the superiority on the Lakes. Meanwhile the French abandoned Crown Point and retired to Isle aux Noix, on the northern extremity of Lake Champlain. General Amherst moved forward and took possession of the fort which the French had abandoned, and the second battalion of the 42nd was ordered up. Having gained a naval superiority on Lake Champlain the army went into winter quarters at Crown Point.

The main undertaking of the campaign was the reduction of Quebec, by far the most difficult operation, where General Wolfe was expected to perform an important part with not more than seven thousand effective men. The movement commenced at Sandy Hook, Tuesday May 8, 1759 when the expedition set sail for Louisburg, under convoy of the Nightingale, the fleet consisting of about twenty-eight sail, the greater part of which was to take in the troops from Nova Scotia, and the rest having on board Fraser's Highlanders. They arrived at Louisburg on the 17th. and there remained until June 4th, when the fleet again set sail, consisting of one hundred and fifty vessels, twenty-two of which were s.h.i.+ps of the line. They entered the St. Lawrence on the 13th, and on the 23rd anch.o.r.ed near Isle aux Coudres. On the 26th, the whole armament arrived off the Isle of Orleans, and the next day disembarked. Montcalm depended largely on the natural position of the city of Quebec for defence, although he neglected nothing for his security. Every landing-place was intrenched and protected. At midnight on the 28th a fleet of fires.h.i.+ps came down the tide, but was grappled by the British soldiers and towed them free of the s.h.i.+pping. Point Levi, on the night of the 29th was occupied, and batteries constructed, from which red-hot b.a.l.l.s were discharged, demolis.h.i.+ng the lower town of Quebec and injuring the upper.

But the citadel and every avenue from the river to the cliff were too strongly entrenched for an a.s.sault.

General Wolfe, enterprising, daring, was eager for battle. Perceiving that the eastern bank of the Montmorenci was higher than the position of Montcalm, on July 9th he crossed the north channel and encamped there; but not a spot on the line of the Montmorenci was left unprotected by the vigilant Montcalm. General Wolfe planned that two brigades should ford the Montmorenci at the proper time of the tide, while Monckton's regiments should cross the St. Lawrence in boats from Point Levi. The signal was given and the advance made in the face of shot and sh.e.l.l.

Those who got first on sh.o.r.e, not waiting for support, ran hastily towards the entrenchments, and were repulsed in such disorder that they could not again come into line. Wolfe was compelled to order a retreat.

Intrepidity and discipline could not overcome the heavy fire of a well protected enemy. In that a.s.sault, which occurred on July 31st, Wolfe lost four hundred in killed.

General Murray was next sent with twelve hundred men, above the town, to destroy the French s.h.i.+ps and open communication with General Amherst.

They learned that Niagara had surrendered and that Ticonderoga and Crown Point had been abandoned. But General Wolfe looked in vain for General Amherst. The commander-in-chief, opposed by no more than three thousand men, was loitering at Crown Point; nor was even a messenger received from him. The heroic Wolfe was left to struggle alone against odds and difficulties which every hour made more appalling. Everyone able to bear arms was in the field fighting for their homes, their language, and their religion. Old men of seventy and boys of fifteen fired at the English detachments from the edges of the woods.

The feeble frame of General Wolfe, disabled by fever, began to sink under the fearful strain. He laid before his chief officers three desperate methods of attacking Montcalm, all of which they opposed, but proposed to convey five thousand men above the town, and thus draw Montcalm from his intrenchments. General Wolfe acquiesced and prepared to carry it into effect. On the 5th and 6th of September he marched the army from Point Levi, and embarked in transports, resolving to land at the point that ever since has borne his name, and take the enemy by surprise. Every officer knew his appointed duty, when at one o'clock on the morning of the 13th, about half the army glided down with the tide.

When the cove was reached, General Wolfe and the troops with him leaped ash.o.r.e, and clambered up the steep hill, holding by the roots and boughs of the maple, spruce and ash trees, that covered the declivity, and with but little difficulty dispersed the picket which guarded the height. At daybreak General Wolfe, with his battalions, stood on the plains of Abraham. When the news was carried to Montcalm, he said, "They have at last got to the weak side of this miserable garrison; we must give battle, and crush them before mid-day." Before ten o'clock the two opposing armies were ranged in each other's presence. The English, five thousand strong, were all regulars, perfect in discipline, terrible in their fearless enthusiasm, and commanded by a man whom they obeyed with confidence and admiration. Montcalm had but five weak battalions of two thousand men, mingled with disorderly peasantry. The French with three and the English with two small pieces of artillery cannonaded each other for nearly an hour.

Montcalm led the French army impetuously to the attack. The ill-disciplined companies broke by their precipitation and the unevenness of the ground, fired by platoons without unity. The English received the shock with calmness, reserving their fire until the enemy were within forty yards, when they began a regular, rapid firing.

Montcalm was everywhere, braving dangers, though wounded, cheered others by his example. The Canadians flinching from the hot fire, gave way when General Wolfe placing himself at the head of two regiments, charged with bayonets. General Wolfe was wounded three times, the third time mortally. "Support me," he cried to an officer near him; "let not my brave fellows see me drop." He was carried to the rear. "They run, they run," cried the officer on whom he leaned. "Who run?" asked Wolfe, as his life was fast ebbing. "The French," replied the officer, "give way everywhere." "What," cried the dying hero, "do they run already? Go, one of you, to Colonel Burton; bid him march Webb's regiment with all speed to Charles River to cut off the fugitives." "Now, G.o.d be praised, I die happy," were the last words he uttered. The heroic Montcalm, struck by a musket ball, continued in the engagement, till attempting to rally a body of fugitive Canadians, was mortally wounded. On September 17th, the city surrendered.

The rapid sketch thus given does not represent the part taken by Fraser's Highlanders. Fortunately Lieutenant Malcolm Fraser kept a journal, and from it the following is gleaned: June 30th, the Highlanders with Kennedy's or the 43rd, crossed the river and joined the 15th, or Amhersts', with some Rangers, marched to Point Levi, having numerous skirmishes on the way. Captain Campbell posted his company in St. Joseph's church, and there fired a volley upon an a.s.saulting party.

On Sunday, July 1st, the regiment was cannonaded by some floating batteries, losing four killed and eight wounded. On the 9th, before daylight, the Highlanders struck tents at Point Levi, and marched out of sight of the town. On the 11th three men were wounded by the fire of the great guns from the city. On the 21st, it was reported that fourteen privates of Fraser's Highlanders were wounded by the Royal Americans, having, in the dark, mistaken them for the enemy. On the night of July 24th, Colonel Fraser, with a detachment of about three hundred and fifty men of his regiment, marched down the river, in order to take up such prisoners and cattle as might be found. Lieutenant Alexander Fraser, Jr., returned to the camp with the information that Colonel Fraser had been wounded by a shot from some Canadians in ambush; and the same shot wounded Captain MacPherson; both of whom returned that day to camp. On the 27th the detachment returned bringing three women and one man prisoners, and almost two hundred cattle. July 31st Fraser's and Amherst's regiments embarked in boats at Point Levi and landed on the Montmorenci, where, on that day, General Wolfe fought the battle of Beauport Flats, in which he lost seven hundred killed and wounded. His retreat was covered by the Highlanders, without receiving any hurt, although exposed to a battery of two cannons which kept a very brisk fire upon them. The regiment went to the island of Orleans, and on August 1st to Point Levi. On Wednesday, August 15th, Captain John MacDonell, seven subalterns, eight sergeants, eight corporals and one hundred and forty-four men of Fraser's regiment, crossed from Point Levi to the Island of Orleans and lodged in the church of St. Peter's, and the next day marched to the east end of the island, and on the 17th crossed to St. Joachim, where they met with slight resistance. They fortified the Priest's house, and were not reinforced until the 23rd, and then all marched to attack the village, which was captured, with "a few prisoners taken, all of whom the barbarous Captain Montgomery, who commanded us, ordered to be butchered in a most inhuman and cruel manner.... After this skirmish we set about burning the houses with great success, setting all in flames till we came to the church of St.

Anne's, where we put up for this night, and were joined by Captain Ross, with about one hundred and twenty men of his company." The work of devastation continued the following day, until the forces reached Ange Gardien. August 28, Captain MacDonell with Captain Ross took post at Chateau Richer. September 1st, Chateau Richer was burned, and the force marched to Montmorenci, burning all the houses on the way. On the 2nd the Highlanders returned to their camp at Point Levi. Captain Alexander Cameron of Dungallon died on the 3rd. On the 4th Captain Alexander Fraser of Culduth.e.l.l arrived with a fourteenth company to the regiment.

On the 6th a detachment of six hundred Highlanders with the 15th and 43rd regiments, marched five miles above Point Levi and then crossed the river in crowded vessels, but for several days remained mostly on board the s.h.i.+ps. On September 17th, the Highlanders landed at Wolfe's Cove, with the rest of the army, and were soon on the plains of Abraham. When the main body of the French commenced to retreat "our regiment were then ordered by Brigadier General Murray to draw their swords and pursue them; which I dare say increased their panic but saved many of their lives. * * * In advancing we pa.s.sed over a great many dead and wounded (French regulars mostly) lying in the front of our regiment, who,--I mean the Highlanders--to do them justice behaved extremely well all day, as did the whole of the army. After pursuing the French to the very gates of the town, our regiment was ordered to form fronting the town, on the ground whereon the French formed first. At this time the rest of the army came up in good order. General Murray having then put himself at the head of our regiment ordered them to face to the left and march thro' the bush of wood, towards the General Hospital, when they got a great gun or two to play upon us from the town, which however did no damage, but we had a few men killed and officers wounded by some skulking fellows, with small arms, from the bushes and behind the houses in the suburbs of St. Louis and St. John's. After marching a short way through the bush, Brigadier Murray thought proper to order us to return again to the high road leading from Porte St. Louis, to the heights of Abraham, where the battle was fought, and after marching till we got clear of the bushes, we were ordered to turn to the right, and go along the edge of them towards the bank at the descent between us and the General Hospital, under which we understood there was a body of the enemy who, no sooner saw us, than they began firing on us from the bushes and from the bank; we soon dispossessed them from the bushes, and from thence kept firing for about a quarter of an hour on those under cover of the bank; but, as they exceeded us greatly in numbers, they killed and wounded a great many of our men, and killed two officers, which obliged us to retire a little, and form again, when the 58th Regiment with the 2nd Battalion of Royal Americans having come up to our a.s.sistance, all three making about five hundred men, advanced against the enemy and drove them first down to the great meadow between the hospital and town and afterwards over the river St. Charles. It was at this time and while in the bushes that our regiment suffered most; Lieutenant Roderick, McNeill of Barra, and Alexander McDonell, and John McDonell, and John McPherson, volunteer, with many of our men, were killed before we were reinforced; and Captain Thomas Ross having gone down with about one hundred men of the 3rd Regiment to the meadow, after the enemy, when they were out of reach, ordered me up to desire those on the height would wait till he would come up and join them, which I did, but before Mr. Ross could get up, he unfortunately was mortally wounded.

* * * We had of our regiment three officers killed and ten wounded, one of whom Captain Simon Fraser, afterwards died. Lieutenant Archibald Campbell was thought to have been mortally wounded, but to the surprise of most people recovered, Captain John McDonell thro' both thighs; Lieut. Ronald McDonell thro' the knee; Lieutenant Alexander Campbell thro' the leg; Lieutenant Douglas thro' the arm, who died of this wound soon afterwards; Ensign Gregorson, Ensign McKenzie and Lieutenant Alexander Fraser, all slightly, I received a contusion in the right shoulder or rather breast, before the action become general, which pained me a good deal, but it did not disable me from my duty then, or afterwards.

The detachment of our regiment consisted, at our marching from Point Levi, of six hundred men, besides commissioned and non commissioned officers; but of these, two officers and about sixty men were left on board for want of boats, and an officer and about thirty men left at the landing place; besides a few left sick on board, so that we had about five hundred men in the action. We suffered in men and officers more than any three regiments in the field. We were commanded by Captain John Campbell; the Colonel and Captain McPherson having been unfortunately wounded on the 25th July, of which they were not yet fully recovered. We lay on our arms all the night of the 13th September."

On the 14th the Highlanders pitched their tents on the battlefield, within reach of the guns of the town. On the following; day they were ordered to camp near the wood, at a greater distance from the town.

Here, within five hundred yards of the town, they commenced to make redoubts. After the surrender of Quebec the Highlanders marched into the city and there took up their quarters. On February 13, 1760, in an engagement with the French at Point Levi, Lieutenant McNeil was killed, and some of the soldiers wounded. March 18th Captain Donald McDonald, with some detachments, in all five hundred men, attacked the French posts at St. Augustin, and without loss took eighty prisoners, and that night returned to Quebec.

Scurvy, occasioned by salt provisions and cold, made fierce work in the garrison, and in the army scarce a man was free from it. On April 30th a return of Fraser's Highlanders, in the garrison at Quebec, showed three hundred and fourteen fit for duty, five hundred and eighty sick, and one hundred and six dead since September 18, 1759.

April 27th, the French under De Levi, in strong force advanced against the English, the latter being forced to withdraw within the walls of Quebec. Fraser's Highlanders was one of the detachments sent to cover the retreat of the army, which was effected without loss. At half-past six, the next morning General Murray marched out and formed his army on the heights of Abraham. The left wing was under Colonel Simon Fraser composed of the Highlanders, the 43rd, and the 23rd Welsh Fusiliers. The Highlanders were exposed to a galling fire from the bushes in front and flank and were forced to fall back; and every regiment made the best of its way into the city. The British loss was two hundred and fifty-seven killed and seven hundred and sixty-one wounded.

The Highlanders had about four hundred men in the field, nearly one-half of whom had that day, of their own accord, come out of the hospital.

Among the killed were Captain Donald Macdonald, Lieutenant Cosmo Gordon and fifty-five non-commissioned officers, pipers and privates; their wounded were Colonel Fraser, Captains John Campbell of Dunoon, Alexander Fraser, Alexander MacLeod, Charles Macdonell; Lieutenants Archibald Campbell, son of Glenlyon, Charles Stewart, Hector Macdonald, John Macbean, Alexander Fraser, senior, Alexander Campbell, John Nairn, Arthur Rose, Alexander Fraser, junior, Simon Fraser, senior, Archibald McAlister, Alexander Fraser, John Chisholm, Simon Fraser, junior, Malcolm Fraser, and Donald McNeil; Ensigns Henry Munro, Robert Menzies, Duncan Cameron, of Fa.s.sifern, William Robertson, Alexander Gregorson and Malcolm Fraser, and one hundred and twenty-nine non-commissioned officers and privates.

Lieutenant Charles Stewart, engaged in the Rising of the Forty-Five, in Stewart of Appin's regiment, was severely wounded at Culloden. As he lay in his quarters after the battle on the heights of Abraham, speaking to some brother officers on the recent actions, he exclaimed, "From April battles, and Murray generals, good Lord deliver me!" alluding to his wound at Culloden, where the vanquished blamed lord George Murray for fighting on the best field in the country for regular troops, cavalry and artillery; and likewise alluding to his present wound, and to General Murray's conduct in marching out of a garrison to attack an enemy, more than treble his numbers, in an open field, where their whole strength could be brought to act. No time was lost in repeating to the general what the wounded officer had said; but Murray, who was a man of humor and of a generous mind, on the following morning called on his subordinate, and heartily wished him better deliverance in the next battle, when he hoped to give him occasion to pray in a different manner.

On the night of the battle De Levi opened trenches within six hundred yards of the walls of the city, and proceeded to besiege the city, while General Murray made preparations for defence. On May 1st the largest of the English blockhouses accidentally blew up, injuring Captain Cameron.