The Seven Years' War Begins

On May 18, 1756, Britain finally declared war on France, beginning the Seven Years' War. The war had been raging for two years in the New World before the official beginning. A Virginia colonel named George Washington had fired on Ensign Jumonville at the Fork of the Ohio, and the French had sent him reeling back to Virginia after a battle at Fort Necessity. Regular troops from both countries were sent to bolster the colonies, but British Admiral Boscawen captured two French troopships, Alcide and Lys, bound for Canada. General Braddock had marched on Fort Dusquene--and met disaster. The French fort Beausejour in Acadia was captured by the British, while Boisehebert had led the Acadians against the British. Sir William Johnson defeated Baron von Dieskau's French/Canadian/Indian army along the Lake Champlain-Lake George corridor, and captured the Baron. Quite a set of battles and campaigns for a time of peace!

"General, war has been declared!" Photograph from the author's collection, using Frontline Figures for the soldiers, and a Colonial Williamsburg postcard for the background.

Perspective

In 1793, the French revolutionaries had taken control of all of life in France. Churchmen were licensed by the State, and men were required to join the army. Only the province of La Vendee stood against this tyranny. The men formed the Armee Catholique et Royal (Catholic and Royal Army) to fight the revolutionaries. Madame de la Rochejacquelein (sister-in-law to Henri de la Rochejacquelein) records one time when two Vendean soldiers got into a fight with each other. Her father put a stop to the quarrel by saying "Jesus Christ forgave his executioners, and a soldier of the Catholic Army wants to kill his friend!" "The man kissed the other on the spot," records Madame.

Flora MacDonald

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy--Matthew 5:13

Miss Flora MacDonald (1722-1790) ferried "Bonnie Prince Charlie" to the Isle of Skye. After the Battle of Culloden, Prince Charles fled through Scotland. He was on the west coast of Scotland, and the British were hunting for him. Captain O'Neil, one of Charles's companions, enlisted the help of Flora MacDonald to sail the Prince from the mainland to Skye. Flora disguised the Prince as her maid, Betty Burke, and sailed for the island. Prince Charles reached Skye, and with the help of French ships, regained the Continent. Flora MacDonald was arrested, but not punished. She later married, emigrated to the British colonies, and encouraged the 84th Royal Highland Emigrants during the American War for Independence. She died in 1790, and has been highly praised by many.

"Miss Flora is about twenty four years of age, of a middle stature, well shaped, a very pretty agreeable person, of great Sprightliness in her Looks, and abounds with good Sense, Modesty, Good-nature, and Humanity."--John Burton, contemporary of Flora MacDonald

Three Lessons from the Fort William-Henry Massacre

In 1757, as the Seven Years' War raged, French General Montcalm in Canada attacked the British fort named Fort William-Henry. With his cannons, he blew the walls to pieces until Lieutenant-Colonel Monro surrendered. Montcalm had all the British soldiers give a "parole", their word of honor that they would not fight again for a specified time, here 18 months. Private possessions were kept by the British, and the stores in the fort became French property. On August 9, the British set off on their march to nearby Fort George. The French-allied Indians ambushed and attacked them. After an hour, Montcalm and his officers were able to put a stop to the massacre. Most of the British returned to Fort George, but two hundred were not recovered, either killed or captured.

1. Treating Enemies Honorably

When Colonel Monro surrendered, Montcalm let him keep one brass six-pounder cannon (a cannon that threw a six-pound ball), his flags, and all private effects. This was a high mark of honor to a surrendering 18th Century commander.

2. Risking Life for Enemies

When the massacre began, Montcalm and his officers were in among the Indians, rescuing prisoners by force. Montcalm himself laid his chest bare and said to the Indians, "Kill your father, but spare the English who are under his protection!" Some French officers were wounded in their efforts to protect the English.

3. Noble Savages?

Fort William-Henry illustrates, perhaps better than any other battle of the French and Indian War, that, without the light of Christ's Gospel, men are savages. There was nothing noble about the Indians "in a state of nature" who massacred their surrendered enemies. There was no difference between the Indians and Montcalm's French regular soldiers, except that the Frenchmen came from a culture that was, however imperfectly, steeped in Christianity.

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough

"Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land"-Proverbs 31:23

"She (that is, Sarah Churchill) on her part was equally attached to him (her husband, the Duke of Marlborough), but much as she strove to add to his power and to forward his plans, her haughty and violent temper was the main cause of the unmerited disgrace into which he fell with his royal mistress (Queen Anne I), who owed so much to him personally, and whose reign he did so much to render a brilliant and successful one."--pg. 44, The Cornet of Horse by G. A. Henty.

Sarah Churchill--as Henty said--made her husband's career and broke it. It was her influence with Queen Anne I (Sarah was Lady of the Bedchamber to the Queen) that appointed the Duke of Marlborough as British commander in Flanders during the War of the Spanish Succession. He was a great general, and it was no fault of his that his family lost their government positions.

The Marlborough family. From left to right: the Duke, Elizabeth, Mary, the Duchess, Henrietta, Anne (their daughter, not the queen), and John

(picture from www.britishbattles.com)

The Battle of the Plains of Abraham

My favorite painting of the Plains of Abraham, showing a young drummer watching as the Royal-Roussillon regiment breaks. (www.oldgloryprints.com/A%20Drummers%20Fear.htm)

I wrote this for the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (September 13, 1759-September 13,2009) but rewrote it here. Find the original article at http://www.faithful-legacy.blogspot.com/. The changes here have (mostly) shifted the blame traditionally put on Montcalm to Vaudreil and Ramezay, because I believe that Montcalm did all he could at the Plains and afterward.

Today is the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham! The battle was relatively short, lasting only one hour (in fact, the combat was decided by one volley) but it sealed the fate of New France (Canada). God's Providential hand was clearly watching over the British, especially in the perilous climb up the cliffs to the Plains. Historian William Potter chose this battle as one of his topics in "Providential Battles: Twenty Battles that Changed the World" (available at http://www.visionforum.com/).

The French cause in the New World was waning. Forts Duquesne, Carillon (renamed Ticonderoga), Louisbourg, and other French possessions had fallen into British hands. Only Quebec and Montreal were left in French hands. Montreal was not a defensible city, but Quebec was a veritable fortress. It sat on top of high cliffs. The British had to take Quebec to break French power completely, and they appointed Major General James Wolfe as commander of the expedition.

The British army sailed down the Saint Lawrence River and set up camp at Pointe Levis. Wolfe bombarded the city with cannons, but he could not stop the barges with food coming from Montreal. On July 31, Wolfe attempted to attack the French lines near Montmorency Falls, but the French, under Major-General Marquis de Montcalm beat them off. 500 British were killed, and 60 French. Montcalm's troops were jubilant. They expected that this was the end of the campaign. But Montcalm himself believed that the British would not be baffled so easily.

Finally, the British set aside the idea of another attack at Montmorency Falls for a landing at St. Anse de Foulon, an opening in the cliffs. A road led from the Foulon up to the Plains of Abraham, and the landward side of Quebec. The Foulon was defended by about 100 Canadian militiamen under the worthless veteran, Captain de Vergor. Montcalm said that one hundred men would hold off any attack until help came, and he was probably right. But the hundred were off to their farms, with permission from their commander--if they would help him harvest too.

Montcalm had reconnoitered the cliffs, and, just to be safe, posted the Guyenne Regiment on the Plains of Abraham. But his rival, Governor Vaudreil, ordered them off the plains. "I'll see about the Foulon myself, to-morrow," the Governor promised. Thus, when the British landed, they had no enemies on the plains except the militia under Vergor.

That night, a suspicious French sentry challenged the boats, but Captain Donald MacDonald (for Captain MacDonald see Reid, Quebec 1759, pg. 64) of the 78th Highlanders answered him in French, dismissing any suspicion. The French were expecting a convoy of provisions from Montreal, but it was cancelled. Vergor, however, was not told of the change in plans.

Twenty-four of William Howe's light infantry climbed up the cliffs and onto the road, where they scattered and captured Vergor's militia. With the road in their hands, the British moved their regiments onto the Plains of Abraham, ready for battle.

It was only on the morning of the 13th that Montcalm learned the truth: the British were on the Plains of Abraham. He had to attack, for "If we give him (the enemy) time to establish himself, we shall never be able to attack him with the troops we have." Montcalm feared that the British would besiege the town from the landward side. He marched from Beauport and interposed his army between the city and the British. Montcalm sent requests to the Governor of Quebec, M. Ramezay, begging for the garrison of Quebec (about 2,200 regulars, militia, and sailors) to join him, together with 25 cannons. Ramezay sent 5 cannons and no troops.

The Canadians were skirmishing with the British light infantry, but the regulars waited. Montcalm ordered his men forward. They fired, then advanced to close quarters with the British. The British waited until the French were within thirty yards, and fired a volley. The French columns crumbled and fled for the Saint Charles bridge. But for the Canadians covering the retreat, the French army might have been destroyed completely.

The Royal-Roussillon Regiment prepares for one last shot as the La Sarre Regiment runs (photograph from the author's collection)

General Wolfe, who was with the front lines of the British, was shot three times, the last wound being mortal. As he lay on the ground, a soldier called "See them run!"

"Who?" asked General Wolfe.

"The French."

"Now, God be praised, I will die in peace," said Wolfe, and died shortly thereafter. When he died, George Townshend took command of the army.

Just as Montcalm's army was fleeing for dear life across the Saint Charles, Colonel Bougainville and his 2,000 men arrived on the battlefield. The Corps de Cavallrie skirmished with the British until Bougainville withdrew, to fight again another day.

Like his adversary, Montcalm was wounded, but he lingered until the 14th. After he died, Vaudreil and most of the troops fled, where they joined Montcalm's second-in-command, the Chevalier de Levis. The French moved back toward Quebec, only to find that Ramezay had surrendered. The French army sheltered in Montreal until Levis fought the British at Sainte-Foy, April 28, 1760.

God's Providential hand is clearly evident. Why should the provision convoy have been cancelled and Vergor not warned? Why should the French have had such a worthless man in command at such a critical post? God was aiding the British to take Quebec, and ultimately Canada.

Madeleine de Vercheres

Engraving by C. W. Jefferys, found at Canadian Military History Gateway

"That thy beloved may be saved: save with thy right hand, and hear me"--Psalm 60:12

"I went up onto the bastion where the sentry was...I then transfomed myself, putting the soldier's hat on my head, and with some small guestures tried to make it seem that there were many people, although there was only this soldier."--Madeleine de Vercheres

Marie-Madeleine de Vercheres was born in Canada in 1678 and died in 1747. When she was twelve (1689), the Nine Years' War broke out in Europe. France and the Irish fought the League of Augsburg (Austria, Holland, Savoy, and England). The conflict spread to the colonies, where the English-allied Iroquois attacked the family settlement, Fort Vercheres. Madeleine's mother with four or five men repelled them. Young Madeleine would use the lesson in two years.

In 1692, Monsieur and Madame de Vercheres travelled to Montreal, leaving Madeleine at the settlement, with only one soldier. The Indians struck, and captured twenty settlers working outside the walls. Madeleine herself was outside the wall and her neckerchief was seized by an Indian. She loosed it and outran the Indians into the fort, where she quickly shut the gates.

There was a cannon, and Madeleine fired it to warn all the other settlements of an Indian attack. Madeleine donned the soldier's hat and gestured, to deceive the Indians into thinking that the stockade was well guarded.
The Indians were disappointed at not being able to catch the settlement unawares, and retreated. Canadian troops and their Indian allies arrived at the fort in six days, relieving fifteen-year-old Madeleine.