men under General Lyman; and General Amherst set out for Montreal in June, by the way of Oswego and Lake Ontario, with 10,000 troops, besides 1000 Indians under General Johnson. In vessels and batteaux, which had been prepared in good time, he transported them to Montreal by the St. Lawrence, captured Isle Royale, passed the dangerous rapids with the loss of 90 men, and was soon joined by General Haviland from Lake George and Lake Champlain, and General Murray, with the English fleet, and all the troops he could safely bring from Quebec. The Marquis de Vaudreuil despaired of resistance when he saw so powerful a force around him, and capitulated on the 8th of September, two days after the arrival of the enemy. The capitulation included all the country of Canada, and was founded on the principles of that of Quebec. It allowed the troops the honours of war, and the privilege of being transported to France, but under promise not to serve during the war. Property, safety, and their religion were secured to all the people.

After garrisoning the distant posts of Detroit and Michilimackinac, General Amherst took his army by the way it had come, with great risk and labour, but with great success. In the mean time, a small fleet, which had been sent from France in the spring, too late to relieve Quebec, had anchored in the Bay of Chaleur and landed the troops, hoping to re-enforce the army in Canada. They were captured in the summer by Lord Byron; and thus not a spot was left in possession of France in this part of the continent.

Thus terminated the long contest between Eng.

306

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES.

[1761. land and France for the supremacy in America. It had continued from the year 1608, when the first settlement was made at Quebec; and had caused many bloody wars, each of several years' duration, and greatly destructive of human life both by land and by sea. In several instances whole colonies were in danger of falling into the power of the French; and, had Providence permitted them to retain permanent possession of any part of our country, how different would have been the condition of the inhabitants !-far more backward than Lower Canada is now in intelligence and im. provement. When we consider the nature and effects of their religious and their political influence, we may presume that the population would have borne a strong resemblance to that of Spain and Italy. The colonies of England, as well as the government of Great Britain, gave public thanks to Almighty God for the conquest of the French possessions: for they regarded it as a most important event in favour of human liberty, civil, social, and religious.

A day of thanksgiving was observed in Connecticut on the 23d of November, 1760; and a letter of congratulation and thanks was addressed to the king by the Assembly, and another to General Amherst, for his wise conduct and the care he had taken of the provincial troops, especially those of Connecticut.

Mr. Pitt, in 1761, requested the General Assem. bly to raise two thirds of the number of troops furnished the last year, as a considerable army was to be employed in extending and strengthening the fortresses, that the country might be prepared for war if the French should again cross the At

lantic. Connecticut furnished 2300 men, in two regiments, under Major-general Lyman and Colonel Nathan Whiting, with clothes and victuals; and emitted £45,000 in bills. These, with other provincials and regular troops, spent a busy season in repairing and improving the fortifications at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, &c., and the visiter to those fortresses still sees evidences of the labours they bestowed on those interesting positions.

The Cherokee war, which had been excited by the injustice of the governor of South Carolina, and had proved exceedingly calamitous to that colony and its neighbours, as well as to the poor sav. ages, had now been terminated by humane measures; and Fort Du Quesne was strengthened, under the care of Colonel Stanwix.

CHAPTER XXXVII. 1762.

England at War with most of the European Powers.-A large Supply of Troops demanded of the Colonies.-Admiral Rodney's Expedition in the West Indies captures Martinique and the Caribbee Islands.-Admiral Pococke and Lord Albemarle, aided by Provincials, take Havana.-The Philippine Islands taken from Spain by Admiral Cornish.-Treaty of Peace at Fontainebleau gives Florida to England.-Indian War.-Several Fortresses surprised by them.-Much Blood shed on the Western Frontiers.-Major Putnam sent from Connecticut under Command of General Gage.--Treaty of Peace with many Western Tribes.-Settlement of the Susquehannah Country by a Colony from Connecticut.-Collision with Pennsylvania. The Question unsettled till after the Revolution. -Connecticut then received in exchange a part of Ohio.

THE year 1762 found England in a gloomy condition, for the previous campaign had left her

308

EXPEDITION AGAINST HAVANA.

[1762.

hands much weakened; and now Spain, as well as almost all the other powers of the Continent, were combined against her and Prussia. In case she should be much farther reduced, the Americans had nothing to expect but a speedy and powerful attempt by France to recover the recent conquests; and the colonies were called on to prepare for a desperate struggle. Urgent letters came from England for the raising of an army. General Am

herst offered a bounty of £5, with clothes, to soldiers enlisting into the king's army; and the Assembly added £5, and ordered that 375 men should be enlisted.

In the mean time, many of the troops in America, regular and provincial, had sailed for Martinique, to operate there against the enemy, in conjunction with an English fleet. This most powerful armament that had ever been sent thither, under Admiral Rodney and General Monckton, captured the island of Martinique on the 14th of February, 1762; and all the Caribbees were soon subject to Great Britain.

Another powerful expedition was sent out from England and the West Indies the same season, with 10,000 men, 37 ships of war, and nearly 150 transports, under Admiral Pococke and Lord Albemarle, and sailed through the Bahama Passage to Havana, against which it was designed. On the 17th of June the troops landed: but, being foiled in all their attempts against the fortresses, the climate destroyed about half their number in the short space of two months. Four thousand regulars arrived from New-York at a most gloomy crisis, with some hundreds of provincials; and the hopes

of the suffering army were encouraged to renewed exertions. On the 13th of August Havana surrendered; and, with it, the English obtained possession of the shipping, and a tract of country extending 180 miles west from the city.

Very few of the New England troops ever returned.

Providence, in mercy, soon brought about events which entirely changed the condition of England and her allies, and removed a dark cloud from the prospects of the colonies. The death of the Empress of Russia had removed a most powerful enemy of the King of Prussia; and the power of the former country was soon brought to the support of the latter. The, English fleet in the East Indies, under Admiral Cornish and General Draper, had been successful in the capture of Manilla and the Philippine Islands; and several other losses had inclined France and Spain to peace. The treaty of Fontainebleau was signed on the 10th of February, 1762, by which the King of France gave up for ever all claim to the northern parts of North America. In the southern part of it, the French territory was limited to Louisiana. At the same time, the King of Spain, in return for the Philippines, gave up Florida to the English, they, in turn, promising to allow the French and Spanish inhabitants of all those territories the free enjoyment of their religion.

But now, when the prospects for a long peace were the most favourable, new trouble was in preparation for the colonies. The Cherokee Indians, as well as the Five Nations, in consequence of suspicions and discontent, fomented, it was believed, by French emissaries, drew many other