A particular history of the five years French and Indian war in New England and parts adjacent, from its declaration by the King of France, March 15, 1744, to the treaty with the eastern Indians, Oct. 16, 1749, sometimes called Gov. Shirley's war. With a memoir of Major-General Shirley, accompanied by his portrait and other engravings

Front matter

Class .

Book.

A

Chapter I. Preliminary

PREVIOUS to the separation of New from Old England, what were since "The Provinces," that part of the continent (from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Penobscot) was more valued than almost any other part of North America. It was thought, both here and in England, that Nova Scotia and the circumjacent lands and seas could not be over estimated. But after the separation, New England took but little interest in that part of the world, as it was possessed by bitter political enemies, exiled there because they had espoused and adhered to the cause of the British government. Consequently the intercourse between the sections at once nearly ceased. Hence our writers make small account of the history of the Provinces after their separation. But it is time to consider that the old political barrier has much decayed, and that in no great length of time it will entirely disappear; that the Provinces

6 Particular History of the

will become states, part and parcel of the great Union of States. When that day shall arrive the particular history of the early events of all that sedtion will be sought after with as much zeal as any other. Those Provinces will one day become populous and wealthy ; the great "tidal wave" of population now setting westward with such vast volume, will overwhelm the prairies, the valleys and mountains, till they can hold no more. Then the tide must turn, and the negleded coasts of Acadia, Cape Breton, and even Newfoundland, will be crowded with inhabitants in their turn.

This the reader may look upon as visionary, and too far in the distant future to be taken into consideration in scanning the history of New England; yet, with a convidion that such a result is sure, the writer has not negleiSted the Provinces altogether in the present compilation.

It was found impraifticable to attempt a connetSted narrative of the body of the work; our obje6t being a detail of events in the order of time — the events themselves having no connection — hence that part of the work is denominated a Diary of Depredations. This plan has been chosen as best calculated to embody the greatest amount of information naturally looked for in a work of this kind.

In former ages people were apparently satisfied with general history, and that of a kingdom or empire usually occupied far less space than that of a small town in the present age. Even up to the time within the memory of the writer, little else but general history found readers, and hence the age of particular history may be said to be of recent origin. The a<fts of individuals without titles seemed to have been considered of no interest, while those of kings and their courtiers were regarded little short of inspiration.

French and Indian War. 7

The great body of the people all over the world were ignorant, and hence easily made to believe that they had little else to do but to obey tyrannical rulers, and laud their adions ; but a change has been going on, and as people became enlightened they naturally inquired of what account would kings and nobles be but for them — the People? Hence follow the other enquiries — what have been the a£ts of individuals in every great undertaking? who in reality have deserved the honor? And whether their privations and sufferings are not as much to be the obje<Ss of regard and commemoration as though they had by accident, and for no merit of their own, been invested with regal honors?

The following history has been undertaken specially to place upon its pages as many of the names of those who participated in the war, as well those who suffered by its ravages, as those who bore arms in it. Hence the work has been entitled a Particular History. And while we regret that our information is not so full, in some respects, as we desire, it is much further in advance, in the great objefts of particulars aimed at, than anything hitherto published on the same period. Great pains have been taken to find out the names, both given and acquired, that is, christian and surnames of all parties, and generally with more success than was at first expe(£l:ed. Much time has been spent in endeavors to make the work as perfeifi: in this respeit as possible ; because, in our view of history, that history is of value only in proportion as it makes prominent the real a£lors and sufferers in such history. Of what importance is it to a reader to learn that a certain officer, with a certain number of followers, on a certain time, attacked a defenceless village on a certain river, burnt the houses and carried off the inhabitants into captivity? Here is sound

8 Materials for the Work.

without sense, unless we know when and where the event took place, the names of the captives, the names of the principal depredators, as well as the incidents of the transailion. It is well known to every reader of our histories, from first to last, how lamentably deficient they are in the particulars here referred to.

It was quite a memorable saying of one of the ancient historians, that geography and chronology were the two eyes of history. That historian, or the author of that saying, ought to have added a third indispensable, and told us what the soul of history is. The reader of this preface will not require to be told what the writer considers the soul of history.

Many who have written histories of the period included in this work, scarcely notice above two events in it, and those in the most general terms. They tell us of the capture of Louisbourg and the sacking of Fort Massachusetts ! And yet it was a war of about five years' duration — the entire English frontier, from Nova Scotia to the mouth of the Monongahela, was laid waste by fire and sword! At least a thousand people were killed and carried into captivity, exclusive of the losses of soldiers. The greatest sufferers were those who from necessity were obliged to make their homes in the wilderness border, and thus met the brunt of savage cruelties. To those our attention has been specially direfted.

Within the last few years a very important source of information has been laid open, by the publication of documents from the French archives. The state of New York has caused to be copied from those archives whatever related to her borders, and printed them in an economical manner; thus rendering them accessible to everybody. These documents consist of minute particulars of all transactions in Canada

J

Materials for the Work.

during the French rule in that country; the French intercourse with and management of the Indian nations; how the Indians were employed by them in wars, and what was efFeded by them thus employed. All these documents were transmitted to France, have been well preserved, and through the liberality of the French government are now open for exammation. The importance of those bearing on the period of th.s history will be observable by the reader in its perusal

It appears from an examination of the transcripts taken from the French war office, that there was scarcely an expedition, of however small a number of men it consisted, but what was authorized by the government of Canada, and a record made of its setting out, of its return, and the success or 111 success it met with. All these we now have, which is some advantage over those who have written without them

Materials of our own are very fragmentary all along during the existence of the colonies. These had no common head and each operated, in war and peace, on its own account. Hence there was no central point to which all matters of consequence might otherwise have been deposited, and thus have afforded the historian the means for composing a history of any particular period. Newspapers, now the great history of the world of everybody and everything, were very i^^ a hundred and fifty years ago, and even one hundred years ago, and those i^^ had often slender means to arrive at the truth. Fadls had to travel a great distance generally to get into type, and then it was old news, and if incorrecft was not found out in time to make the necessary correction of any value to those immediately interested. However, notwithstanding these considerations, fads are contained in the newspapers of the times, highly valuable and indispensable, especially as they often come in as

B lo Benjamin Dooltttle.

vouchers of other accounts, affording comparisons by which unmistakable truths are arrived at. There were fewer magazines than newspapers, and the accounts in these were generally copied from the former, which circumstance renders them of less historical value.

Of all the authorities useful to the historian, contemporaneous narratives are the most valuable ; but these, upon the period under consideration, are very few, and some of these few are of such extreme rarity that they were unknown to most writers of history in a few years after they were published. The compiler of the ensuing work has been fortunate in his acquaintance with, and in having the use of several of this description of materials. To the author of one of these he has been much indebted ; an author deserving the most honorable mention, yet almost entirely unknown, even in the seflion of country to which his work particularly relates; and the time has not yet arrived among the people there, in which a sense of their obligations has manifested itself, in any way, of which the writer is aware, beyond a head and foot stone in a cemetery at Northfield, with a commonplace inscription upon the former.

This neglefted author was the Reverend Benjamin Doo- LiTTLE, of whom the following particulars have been obtained. He was born in Wallingford, Connedticut, July loth, 1695; was son of John Doolittle of the same town, and grandson of Abraham Doolittle, the emigrant ancestor, who is found in New Haven about 1640. Benjamin was by a second marriage of John with Grace Blakesley, of whose early education and life no fadts have been met with. It is only known that he was a graduate of Yale College in 17 16, at the age of

Benjamin Doolittk. 1 1

twenty-one years.* It is not material to know with whom he studied theology, but it is known that he was settled in the ministry at Northfield in 1718, in which office he continued about thirty years. His death was very sudden, occasioned, no doubt, by what in these days is termed the heart disease. A sermon was preached at his funeral by the Rev. Jonathan Ashley, of Deerfield, from the texts of Mark xiii, 37, and Rev. iii, 3, from which it appears that he died "January 9th, I748,t in the 54th year of his age, and 30th of his ministry." The sermon was printed in Boston in 1749, making an oftavo of twenty-six pages, but, as is usual with such performances, contains little information respedting the subjeft of it, beyond its title page. Besides the date of his death, and age, there are the following lines to his memory, upon the stone marking the place of his burial :

Blessed with good intelleftual parts, Well skilled in two important arts, Nobly he filled the double station Both of a preacher and physician.

To cure men's sicknesses and sins, He took unwearied care and pains j And strove to make his patient whole Throughout, in body and soul.

He lov'd his God, lov'd to io good, To all his friends vast kindness showM ; Nor could his enemies exclaim, And say he was not kind to them.

His labors met a sudden close, Now he enjoys a sweet repose ; And when the just to lite shall rise.

Among the first he'll mount the skies. J

* For these few genealogical items we f This date is old style, of course,

are indebted to the Hon. Mark Doolittle, J Copied in Barber's Historical Collec-

late of Belchertown, a very distant con- tions of Massacfiuietts^ 268. It seems not

nedlion of Benjamin, and a gentleman of to have come to the knowledge of Bridg-

high standing in Hampshire county. man, who coUeiSed and published what

12 Benjamin Doo/ittle.

There was also published in a Boston newspaper this brief notice of Mr. Doolittle's death: "We are informed that on the 9th instant, the Rev. Mr. Doolittle, pastor of the church in Northfield, was suddenly seized with a pain in his breast, as he was mending a fence in his yard, and died in a few minute's time, to the inexpressible grief of the town in general, as well as his own family in particular." *

Had not Mr. Doolittle been so suddenly taken away it is presumed he would have perfefled and published his history of this war himself; for it is one of the most important and valuable records of it, so far as his plan extended, that can be found of any similar period in our history. His location gave him the best means of ascertaining the truth of the transadtions, all of which he appears to have narrated with singular impartiality. It was doubtless well known to many that he kept a record of the events of the war, as not long after his death his manuscript was obtained and printed ; but who superintended the printing, and made "the small additions to render it more perfeiSt," no intimation is given in the work. Its title is as follows: "A short Narrative of the Mischief done by the French and Indian Enemy, on the western Frontiers of the Province of Massachusetts Bay ; from the Beginning of the French War, proclaimed by the King of France, March 15th, 1743-4; and by the King of Great Britain, March 29th, 1744, to August 2d, 1748. Drawn up by the Rev. Mr. Doolittle, of Northfield, in the County of Hampshire ; and found among his Manuscripts after his Death. And at the Desire -of some, is now published, with some small Additions, to render it

he calls the Inscripiions in the Graiie honored with Brief Annah of North-

yards in Nortliampton and of other Toivns amptofi .

in the Valley of the ConneBicut, 1850. * Boston Gazette and Weekly Journal,

This work the venerable Dr. Wm. Allen January 24th, 1749.

French and Indian War. 1 3

more perfedt. Boston : Printed and sold by S. Kneeland, in Queen Street, MDCCL." It is a small oitavo pamphlet of 24 pages only.*

There is another work by the same author, but upon a different subjeft, which is probably the only one he ever published, and known only to the writer from an advertisement. Its title is — -"An Enquiry into Enthusiasm, being an Account of what it is, the Original, Progress and EfFe£t of it," 1743. Perhaps written on the occasion of the Whitefield excitement.

It was the original intention of the writer to publish a history of all the French and Indian wars, from the first settlement of the country to the final destruction of the French power on this continent ; the number of volumes to equal the number of those wars, and he has during many years past made large collections, and extensive notes for that purpose. This volume not being in the order of time, that is, not the first in the series of those wars, but is made the first of the series, because the materials for it seemed more complete than any other; and here it may be well to give the reader an idea of the war periods to which reference is made :

The first was the Ten Years War, which followed the revolution in favor of William III, Prince of Orange, 1688 to 1698, during the administrations of Governors Phips and Stoughton, and sometimes called King William's war. Of this war Dr. Cotton Mather has given a history under the partial title of Decennium Lufluosum.

The second was during the governorship of Joseph Dudley, Esq., 1703 to 1713, alfo a Decennium Lu£iuosu7n; and called Governor Dudley's Indian War.

* See Appendix, A.

H

French and Indian War.

The third was in the term of Lieutenant-Governor Dummer's chief magistracy of Massachusetts, 1722 to 1725, and called Governor Dummer's Indian War.

The fourth was during a period of Governor Shirley's administration, 1744 to 1749, the period covered by the present volume.

The fifth extends from 1754 to the fall of Quebec, and final reduction of Canada. All of which comprehends a period of about seventy-two years, for nearly the whole of which time the entire frontiers of the English colonies were harassed by war, in the manner described in the ensuing pages ; and whether other volumes will be published of the other war periods, depends on several contingencies not necessary to be mentioned.

pmmme^ms-- i«J9-i

Chapter II. Notice Of Governor Shirley

Being a Review of a Portion of his Administration, in which an Attempt is made to correft Misstatements concerning it.

THE biography of Governor Shirley has been unreasonably, and, it I) may be said, unaccountably negledted by all the biographers and historians of ^Gji New England ; while there have been few men of the eighteenth century who have belonged to New England, who have filled so important a place, and performed such signal services as he. The reason for this negledl and injustice will be shown in the course of this notice.

The biography of Gov. Shirley here proposed is intended only as introductory to the history of the part of his administration including the Five Years Indian and French War embraced in the present work. His life is yet to be written, and will form a volume of the history of New England, if in skillful hands, inferior in interest to none, saving, perhaps, that of the Pilgrims. Therefore, in the present chapter it is only intended to review some erroneous statements which have hitherto passed for history.

Some untoward circumstances in the later war conspired to render Mr. Shirley's plans abortive. This is no uncommon fortune, and such have often happened to men of the greatest and best abilities. Whenever a man attains a position in any great undertaking, sappers and miners set busily at work to destroy his reputation. They often succeed, and pass off the stage of life undetected, except by their own consciences. They could not but know that history would expose them at some period in the future.

There does not appear the slightest grounds for questioning the patriotism of Governor Shirley. He made great sacrifices, and by his watchfulness, energy, and perseverance, the enemy were baffled in their hopes of subjecSling this country and bringing it under Catholic domination. The danger was imminent when this war commenced, and Governor Shirley exerted himself to the utmost to avert such an event. No patriot of the Revolution of 1775 could have done more in asserting the rights of America than he did to avert the impending danger of falling under the rule of France. Some modern historians seem to have had no appreciation of his services, owing to a very superficial knowledge of the history of the times of which they were treating. They even bring the charge against him, that of "restoring British authority in the country ! " A most extraordinary charge, considering that there was no other legal authority in the country.* Perhaps the laws may not have been so well executed before Mr. Shirley's accession as they were afterwards. If this was "restoring British authority," every good citizen had reason to rejoice. Surely nobody thought, at that early day, of independence of England, for without her aid New England would indubitably have become a province of France. Governors were not appointed to subvert the authority of the crown, but to see that the laws of the realm were faithfully

* See Bancroft, His{ory of the United severe, for we have been intimate fritnds States. I hope he will not think me very hard upon forty years.

executed. Mr. Shirley did this to the entire acceptance of the country.

A contemporary historian,* an adopted citizen of Boston, generally opposed the measures of Mr. Shirley. His opposition, so far as can now be judged, arose from a fault-finding disposition, as he brings forward nothing against him except his acquiescence in the issue of paper money; but for which, as everybody knows, the Louisbourg expedition could not have been carried on. All issues of paper money are evils, and can only be warranted to prevent much greater evils. Could the Rebellion of 1861 have been put down without the aid of paper money? It was a gigantic evil, but what adjeftive have we that can express the magnitude of the evil if the Rebellion had not been put down.?

Governor Shirley had his enemies. They are the consequence of success. To judge correftly of a man's charafter we must take the evidence of his cotemporaries, those known for their integrity, whose utterances have come down to us unimpeached, and whose lives are without reproach. Governor Hutchinson has spoken as highly of Mr. Shirley as one contemporary can be required to speak of another, and as his evidence must be familiar to all readers of New England history, it need not be repeated here ; but we will take that of one of equally high standing, though less known, from the fadt that his evidence appeared without his name, for prudential reasons. This was the Honorable William Livingston, author of the Revieiu of the Military Operations.,^ etc., 1753 to 1756, with a full and accurate knowledge of all transaftions in which Governor Shirley was engaged, thus speaks of him :

« Dr. William Douglass. published in London, 1757. 410, and re-

f Sec Sedgwick's Life of Livingston, printed in Boston immediately after, in page 114. That able work was first the same form.

c i8 Governor Shirley.

"Of all our plantation Governors, Mr. Shirley is most distinguished for his singular abilities. He was born in England, and bred up to the law at one of the inns of court. In that profession he afterwards pradticed, for several years, in the Massachusetts Bay, and, in 1741, was advanced by his majesty to the supreme command of the colony. He is a gentleman of great political sagacity, deep penetration, and indefatigable industry. With respeft to the wisdom and equity of his administration, he can boast ot the universal suffrage ot a wise, free, jealous and moral people."

Against this chara6ter of Gov. Shirley, drawn by an impartial and truthful contemporary, assertions to the contrary, by any at this distance of time, will hardly seduce those wishing to be well informed, into a belief of charges of the nature alluded to. " Ambitious and needy," says a modern historian. As to the first of these crimes, perhaps he (the accuser) may have no anihition ; but the value of a man without that quality, to our apprehension, would be too small tor estimation ; and as to the charge of being needy, that was a consequence, as well as an evidence, of his integrity and honesty. This latter charge has rarely been made against public officers. Hence his enemies have never charged him with enriching himself at the expense of the province.

Another sin is also laid to the governor's charge — he upheld the Episcopal church ! Was it not a requisite that all officers of the crown should be Protestants of that denomination? Did he ever interfere with other sefts? Not at all. No such charge was ever brought against him, that has come within our knowledge. He was ambitious that all should have their rights, and in his account of the taking of Louisbourg, which he sent to the Duke of Newcastle,* and in his letters afterwards to men in power, he was aml/itious that New England should not be robbed of its honors in that important service, and eventually was a principal means of obtaining for the country reimbursement for its expenses and sacrifices in that great undertaking, so long withheld through the misrepresentations of its enemies.

His letter to the Duke of Newcastle was accompanied by a journal of what transpired from the commencement of the expedition to the capture of Louisbourg. Both are written with admirable clearness, and at once discover superior literary ability, impartiality to all parties concerned, and a truthfulness unsurpassed by any writer of the time.

By the following adtion of the representatives of the colony, the estimation in which Governor Shirley's services were held is a noble acknowledgment of their appreciation, happily expressed, in these words: "It is with great pleasure we observe that you have once and again been the instrument in the hands of Divine Providence, of preserving the garrison of Annapolis, a province of Nova Scotia, from the French, more especially in the year 1744, when, by the forces vour excellency sent from this province, it was snatched out of their hands, then just in possession of the fort ; and again in the year 1745, when they were broken up in their siege of it by your surprising and successful attempt on Cape Breton ; and now, again, when there was such a number of Canadians and others going against it by land and sea.

" But these things, although they have the efFedts of great wisdom, care, and application in your excellency, for which

* And *■ published by authority," by The same was afterwards reprinted here E. Owen, Warwicic Lane, 1746, Svo. in Boston, by Order of" the General Court.

20 Govertior Shirley.

every good Englishman rejoices and is thankful, yet they have been performed at a great expense, more especially to this province, and therefore we cannot but be much concerned at the frequent return of this danger; not only because of the great difficulties in removing it from time to time, but also by reason of the doubt, whether by some surprise, impossible to be foreseen, this barrier of his majesty's dominions, of such mighty consequence, may not some time or other be lost, if it continues in its present exposed condition."

They go on and express a hope that his excellency may be able to suggest some remedy against the traitorous praftices of those French subjects of Nova Scotia who, though proteiSed by the British government, were using all means to destroy it.

After the patched up peace between England and France, in 1748, commissioners of the two governments met in Paris in 1750, to settle the boundary line between the two countries in America. The able memorial of this negotiation was written by Gov. Shirley, in which he showed that all the land between the St. Lawrence and Penobscot rivers belonged to England.* In 1753 he returned to his government in Massachusetts. The next year he explored the Kennebec river, and caused the ere£tion of Fort Halifax and Fort Western.

While in France he married a second wife, privately it is said, at which many took umbrage, insinuating that he had taken a lady below him in social standing, and a Catholic besides ; but as nothing is met with to the contrary, it is presumed that whatever of misfortune, if any, accrued from this marriage, proceeded from a spirit of detraction which soon died away.

* Jeremiah Dummer had many Years The Imfortanct of Cape Breton, page 13. previous asserted the same claim. See London, 1746-

In the war made memorable by its bringing George Washington into notice, and the defeat and death of General Braddock, Mr. Shirley was appointed a major-general in the British army, and he set vigorously to work to complete the conquest of Canada, fully convinced that there could be no safety for New England so long as it was under the dominion of the French. For this great object his plans were unquestionably well laid, and failed only through the inability or treachery, or both, of those on whom he was compelled to depend, to perform their parts in the undertaking. But as this cannot be discussed in a manner at all satisfaftory, and does not belong to our present work, it is only necessary to remind the reader that a vindication of Maj.-Gen. Shirley has long since been triumphantly performed.*

It is a necessity in all wars to displace commanders if they do not happen to be successful in some important acftion, even if a misfortune happened entirely outside of their control. This was Gen. Shirley's situation, and it was enough for his enemies to seize upon, and through it ruined his prospects of future usefulness. But he lived to see a turn in that sort of tidal wave which rises far higher than it is able to maintain itself. Although for a time he was coolly treated, and met with some delay in getting his accounts through the hands of certain public officials, yet he was far from having been treated with obloquy, as some have insinuated.

Much injustice has been done Mr. Shirley by superficial writers who have not taken the pains to go to the sources of information ; had they done so they would not have found him

* See the able and conclusive work London, 1758, 8vo. A\sOj A Review af entitled The ConJuSl of Major-General the Alilitary Operations in North America. Shirley in North America, briefly stated. 410, London, 1757, before cited.

claiming any honors not belonging to him, or shuffling oft responsibility while an issue was doubtful, or claiming credit when such issue was to shed honors on those engaged in it.*

His extreme watchfulness while danger seemed imminent from a vast French fleet hovering on the coast during the summer of 1746, is strikingly apparent in many instances which cannot be detailed here, while they fall within the province of the historian of New England.