A pictorial history of the wars of the United States: comprising a complete history of all the wars of the country, from its earliest settlement to the present time ...

Front matter

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IL^f)Oo

PICTORIA.I.

Preface

|IIE importance of military organization for the preservation of national independence and the defence of the soU, is a sufficient reason for detaching this portion of the history of our country from its political and social annals.

In detailing the principal incidents in our military history, the chief objects are to show the necessity of discipline, courage, and patriotism, to preserve the national spirit, to excite emulation among those upon whom the public defence will hereafter devolve, and to exhibit the necessity of military preparation in times of peace.

In recording the great events which mark our national progress, care has been exercised to intersi^erse suitable biographical sketches of the men who have acted a noble part in the great drama; and the varied and romantic fortunes that have attended them, together with the \acissitudes of our patriot armies, and the sudden rise of the nation to one of the first powers of the earth, cannot faU to impress the reader with the distinguished marks of Divine favor that have ever attended the defenders of our liberty.

It is only within a recent period that the warlike resources and power of the United States have been justly appreciated.

4 PREFACE.

The late contest with Mexico has called the attention of our own people, and of foreign nations, more particularly to that branch of our history ; and inquiring minds are directing their thoughts to the military career of a people who have conducted a war for the most part in a foreign territory, and by forces mainly composed of raw troops, — a war in which every battle was fought against superior numbers, and in which every battle was a victory, — a war in which the American troops were successful in every department of warlike enterpi-ise — in scientific as well as in physical movements — in that which depends on military genius and attainment, as well as in that where personal courage is more especially demanded.

The authorities which have been consulted are chiefly those contemporary with the several events, and many of the accounts are given in the words of eye-witnesses. The engravings have been collected with great care, and nothing has been left undone to render the volume worthy of the American people.

JOHN L. DENISON.

-~7".~^^^

CHAPTER I. French and Indian Wars

HE first discoverers of the American continent found it inhabited by a distinct variety of the human race hitherto unknoA^Ti to Europe, and as tlie new regions ^^ were supposed to belong to the East Indies, the natives were called Indians. Excepting some of the central tribes, they all were probably uncivilized, and although divided into petty communities, were linked together into confederacies. Codes of laws and courts

6 INDIAN DIFFICULTIES.

of justice were unknown among them, and nothing but the blood of the aggressor could give satisfaction.

Their mode of warfare was peculiar to themselves, and to surprise their foes, to create and take advantage of a sudden alarm, were the principal points of their tactics. Their warfare was carried on mostly in small parties, as they feared a fair and open contest. Without literature of any kind, their only education was derived from observation, and so attentive were they to every mark and track, that they were able to trace the footsteps of their enemies with accuracy, tell their numbers, the time when they passed, and to what nation they belonged. Their captives were either adopted into the tribes of their captors or put to death with all the tortures that savage ingenuity could invent, or human fortitude endure. How often did

TBO0BLES OF THE EARLY SETTLEBS.

the settler return from the field to see his house in flames, and his wife and little ones falling victims to the barbarous scalping-knife or the hoi'rid tomahawk ! For them to be annoyed by such an enemy would seem to unite them for their common

CAUSES OF FRENOn WAR.

defence. But so far from tliis, considering themselves the representatives of two rival nations, they contended for the ascendency.

The French foi-med close alliances with the Indians, and with these auxiliaries, often carried fire and sword into the

TRADING WITH THE INDIANS.

English colonies. This imminent danger roused them from tlieir inactivity, and the assistance of the parent country was sought in securing to themselves immunity from such foes.

8 BREAKING OUT OF WAR.

And so from petty differences of local interest the contest arose to one of national importance, and the bi'each between the two nations widened rapidly.

The English claimed the entire seacoast from Nova Scotia to Florida, and many of their grants of land, before the French settled in the Valley of the Mississippi, extended westward to the Pacific Ocean. The French founded their claim upon their exploration and actual occupation of the country. They had settled Canada and Acadia, had long occupied Detroit, had fixed themselves at Kaskaskia and Viucennes, and along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

But a royal grant, conferring upon an association called the Ohio Company six hundred thousand acres of land near the river Ohio, led the Governor of Canada to suspect that the English intended to deprive the French of the trade with the Twightees, and cut off their communication between Canada and Louisiana. His letters to the goveraors of New York and Pennsylvania claimed that English traders had encroached upon the French territory by trading with their Indians, and threatened to seize them if they did not desist. While the Oliio Company were surveying their grant, a French party seized three traders, and carried them to a strong fort at Presque Isle, on Lake Erie. To retaliate this violence done to their allies, the indignant Twightees scoured the woods, and finding three French traders, sent them to Pennsylvania. The alleged intrusion of the Ohio Company was the immediate cause of the renewal of hostilities between France and England. The French built a fort upon a branch of the Ohio, and anther at its junction with the Wabash — thus comj)leting the longdesired communication between the St. Lawrence and tlie moiith of the Mississippi.

The Ohio Company complaining loudly of these aggressions upon a tract granted to them as a part of Virginia, the governor of that colony, Robert Din^dddie, felt called upon to demand of the French commander of the western posts a vnthdrawal of his troojis. To conduct this embassy to the French officer was, however, a difficult and dangerous service, as the

WASHINGTON" AND ST. PIERRE, season was unusually severe, and as half of the route, or two hundred miles, lay through a region inhabited by savages unfriendly to the English. Nothing daunted, however, by the gloomy prospect, George Washington undertook the delicate and perilous mission. Unattended save by a single person, he set out from Williamsburgh on the 31st of October, and on the 12th of December arrived at a strong fort, the head-quarters of the commandant on the Ohio, M. Dagardier De St. Pierre,

Washington's interview with st. fiebbe.

who received him politely, and to whom he delivered the letter of Governor Dinwiddle. The officers retirmg for consultation, the sagacious Washington seized the opportunity of taking the dimensions and observing the condition of the fort. On his way back, he narrowly escaped fi-om a party of Indians, one of whom, at a short distance, fired upon him, but fortunately missed him. While crossing a river, he was thrown from a raft by the ice, and barely escaped from being drowned. On his arrival at Williamsburgh, the letter of St. Pierre was

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR, oj^ened. He refused to withdraw the troops, asserting that he acted by orders from the Governor-general of Canada.

This reply being unsatisfactory, preparations were made in Virginia to enforce the claims of the British crown. The Oliio Company sent thirty men to build a fort at the junction of the Alleghany with the Monongahela, and early in the spring a regiment under Washington advanced into the disputed territory. The men of the Ohio Company had just commenced their fort, when they were driven off by tlie French, who completed the works, and called the place Fort Du Quesne. Having defeated rUROWING UP FOKT NECESSITY.

a party of French on his route, and built a small fort, which he called Fort Necessity, Wasliiugton, ■\\ith four hundred men, proceeded towards Fort Du Quesne, but hearing that De Villiers was advancing from tliat point witli nine hundred men to attack him, he returned to Fort Necessity, where he was soon beseiged by nearly fifteen hundred of the enemy. After an obstinate defence of ten hours, he was offered the most honorable terms of capitulation, which he accepted, and, with his gallant little band, returned unmolested to Virginia.

On the very day of the surrender, a convention sitting at Albany adopted a plan of Dr. Franklin for a union of the colo-

PEEPARATIOFS FOR WAR. 11

nies for the general defence. The general government was to be administered by a governor-general of royal appointment, and a council of delegates from the colonial assemblies. The covernor-areneral had a negative on the acts of the council, and all laws were to be submitted to the king for his ratification. The plan was rejected both by the colonial legislatures and by the parliament, and it was determined to carry on the war with British troops, and such as might be furnished by the colonial assemblies.

Early in 1755, General Braddock, a brave and deserving officer, with two regiments, arrived from Ireland, as commander-in-chief of the British and provincial forces. In April, he met in convention the colonial governors, assembled at his request in Virginia, to confer upon the plan of the ensuing campaign. Three expeditions were resolved on — one against Fort Du Quesne, under Braddock himself; one against forts Niagara and Frontignac, under Governor Shirley; and one against Crown Point, under General Johnson.

During the preparations for these expeditions, another, previously concerted, was carried on against the forts in Nova Scotia, these being considered as encroachments upon the English territory. Two thoiisand militia, under Colonel Monckton, embarked at Boston, and, joined on their passage by three hundred regulars, reached in April the place of their destination. In a short time, and with the loss of but three men, the English gained possession of the province, according to their own definitions of its boundaries.

On the 10th of June, General Braddock set out from Fort Cumberland with a force of British regulars and provincials amounting to a little more than two thousand. Fearing a reinforcement at Fort Du Quesne, he hastened on with tAvelve hundred chosen men, while Colonel Dunbar followed slowly in the rear with the main body and the heavy baggage.

On the morning of the 9th of July, when the army was in the vicinity of Fort Du Quesne, the provincial scouts discovered a large party of French and Indians in ambush. Washington, now acting as aid to General Braddock, modestly suggested

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR, the danger to be apprehended from their mode of warfare, and begged for permission to place himself at the head of the Virginia riflemen, and fight them in their own way. Braddock had always manifested supreme contempt for the provincials, oflicers as well as soldiers. "High times! high times!" he exclaims, " when a young buckskin teaches a British general how to fight."*

The troops were ordered to advance in columns through the woods, and in a little time the ruin foretold by Washington ensued. Their front was suddenly fired on by an unseen foe, and, unused to Indian warfare, was thrown into confusion. After this the commander of the enemy fell, and a cessation of the fire led General Braddock to suppose that their foes had fled. Delusive hope !

Soon from behind trees, logs, and rocks was poured the incessant, deadly storm. The soldiers fell in heaps on every side, nor could the survivors tell Adhere to direct their aim to revenge the deaths of their comrades, or prevent their own.

Their general was brave and obstinate, and instead of retreating a little and forming anew, persisted in his vain attempts to rally his men on the very spot where they were first attacked, until three horses were killed under him. Every mounted oflicer fell except Washington, and Braddock himself was mortally wounded, when the rout of his troops became laniversal. Nearly half of the privates, and about three-fourths of the officers, were either killed or wounded. Though the despised provmcials had been placed in the

* Gallup.

INDIAN ■WARr.iaR.

EXPEDITION AGAINST CROWN POINT.

rear, they alone, led on by Washington, advanced against the Indians, covered the retreat, and saved the army from total destruction. The flying troops met those of Dunbar forty

QKNEBAX BBADDOCK'9 RETREAT, miles in the rear, and so great was the panic of the latter, that they never halted until safe within the walls of Fort Cumberland.

The expedition against Crown Point had been intrusted to General Johnson, afterwards Sir William Johnson. In the summer, about six thousand men, under General Lyman, assembled at the carrying place between Lake George and the Hudson, and built and named Fort Lyman, afterwards called Fort Edward. In the latter part of August, Johnson arrived, assumed the command, and proceeded to the head of Lake George, where he learned that nearly two thousand French and Indians were marchmg from Crown Point to attack Fort Edward. But when near the fort, their commander, Baron Dieskau, at the request of the Indians, who greatly dreaded the English cannon, changed his route, intending to attack the

FALL OF COL. WILLIAMS.

cainp of Johnson. Meanwhile Jolinson had sent out a thousand provincials under Colonel Williams, and two hundred Indians under the great and wise Hendricks, a chief of the Mohawks, to intercept the enemy on their return from Fort Edward. The English, drawn into ambush, were overpowered by numbers, and driven back with great loss. Williams and Hendricks were killed. The firing was heard in Johnson's camp, and warned by its near approach of the defeat of Williams, he threw up a breastwork of trees, and mounted some

FALL OF COLONEL WILLIAMS, cannon which he had two days before received fi'om Fort Edward. Scarcely had the fugitives arrived in the camp, when the enemy appeared, and commenced a brisk attack ; but their unexpected reception by the English cannon soon lowered their spirit : the militia and Indians fled, and the regulars were ordered to retreat. Wounded and alone, Dieskau was found leaning upon the stump of a tree. While feeling for his watch,

WAR DECLARED. 15

for the purpose of surrendering it, an Englishman, thinking that he Avas seeking for a pistol, fired upon him, inflicting a mortal wound. This victory raised the spirits of the colonists from the depression occasioned by the defeat of General Braddock ; but the advantage was not improved according to their expectation. At his place of encampment, Johnson built a fort, which he called Fort William Henry. It was deemed advisable not to advance further. Commissioners from Massachusetts and Connecticut met with the Governor of New York, and it was unanimously agreed that Johnson's army should be discharged, excepting six hundred men to garrison Fort Edward and Fort "William Henry. Thus ended the campaign of 1755, Great preparations had been made, but not one of the objects of the three expeditions had been accomplished.

The plan for the campaign of 1756 was concerted by a council of war assembled by General Shirley, successor to General Braddock as commander-in-chief of all the forces. Like that of the preceding year, it contemplated the reduction of Fort Du Quesne, Crown Point, and Niagara. Lord Loudon, appointed by the king to the supreme command of his forces in America, not being able to leave immediately. General Abercrombie, a distinguished oflficer, was sent before him to command the troops till his arrival. In May and June following, war was formally declared — first by Gi-eat Britain, and afterwards by France.

Much delay was experienced, and even after the arrival of Loudon, no step of importance was taken. While the English were adjusting difierences, and debating whether to attack one fort or another, Montcalm, the successor of Dieskau as commander-in-chief of the French, marched against Oswego with five thousand men — French, Canadians, and Indians. With more than thirty pieces of cannon, he laid siege to Fort Ontario, on the east side of the Oswego River. A vigorous but short defence ensued ; the fort was abandoned, the garrison retiring to the old fort on the west side. It numbered about fifteen hundred men, who soon surrendered themselves prisoners of Avar. Vessels, provisions, and miUtary stores, including one hundred

16 FKENOH WAR.

and thirty-four pieces of cannon, fell into the hands of the enemy. The fort had been an object of jealousy to the Five Nations, and Montcalm wisely demolished it in their presence.

Encouraged by the defeat of Braddock, and incited by the French, the Indians on the western frontier killed or carried into capti\*ity great numbers of the inhabitants. Colonel Armstrong, with nearly three hundred men, marched upon Kittaning, their chief town on the Alleghany. Though surprised, the Indians, refusing quarter, fought with great bravery. The principal chiefs were slain, the town was destroyed, and eleven captives were recovered. The remainder of the year passed away, and none of the great objects of the campaign were accomplished.

Rejecting the complex plans of former campaigns, Loudon resolved to employ all his forces in the reduction of Louisburg, With this view, he sailed from New York with six thousand regulars for Halifax, where he was joined by a powerful fleet under Admiral Holbourn, and a land force of five thousand men from England. He was soon informed, however, of the preparations made by the French for the defence of Louisburg, and perceiving it useless to contend against such a force, returned to New York.

During these transactions, Montcalm, collecting his forces at Ticonderoga, advanced with nine thousand men, of whom two thousand were Indians, and laid siege to Fort William Henry. The garrison at this place, under Colonel Monro, consisted of more than two thousand regulars. The works were strong, and for further security. General Webb was stationed at Fort Edward, fifteen miles distant, Avith four thousand men. The brave garrison held out for six days, anxiously waiting for reinforcement from Fort Edward, until informed that no reUef would be attempted, and their ammunition began to fail, when they were obliged to surrender by capitulation. For their bravery they were to be allowed the honors of war, and an escort until wdthin the reach of Fort Edward. But the next morning many of the Indians admitted within the lines began to plunder, and meeting no resistance, fell upon the sick and

MASSACRE AT FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 17

wounded, whom they immediately massacred. Their appetite for carnage tlius aroused, they attacked the defenceless troops Avith the fury of fiends. Monro iu vain implored Montcalm to furnish the stipulated guard, and the massacre proceeded in all its turbulence and horror, savages everywhere butchering and scalping their victims. Their hideous yells, mingled with the groans of the dying, and the shrieks of men shrinking from the upraised tomahawk, were heard by the French unmoved, and fifteen hundred were killed or carried into captivity. Such is

MASSACRE AT FORT WILLIAM HENRY.

the common version of this affair; but some writers, with greater pi'obability, believe that Montcalm and his officers used every means, except that of firing upon the Indians, to arrest the massacre.

The next year was not destined, like its predecessors, to pass away without important results in favor of the English. A new administration was formed, and Mr. Pitt, afterwards Lord Chatham, was placed at its head. To raise men and provide transports, great and successful exertions were made in America. Nor was the mother country less active. She dispatched Admiral Boseawen to Halifax with a formidable squadron, and

SURRENDER OF LOUISBURGH.

a force of twelve tliousand men. Three expeditions wei-e planned : one against Louisburgh, one against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and one against Fort Da Quesne. On tlie first of these, Admiral Boscawen sailed from Halifax, with thirty-eight vessels, and fourteen thousand men under General Amherst, and on the 2d of June arrived before Louisburgh.

SURRENDER OF LOUISBURGH.

Having effected a landing, General Wolfe was sent to seize a post of the enemy at Lighthouse Point, whence their ships and fortifications might be greatly annoyed. On the approach of Wolfe, the post was abandoned by the enemy, and batteries

CROSSING LAKE GEORGE.

were erected by their opponents. Approaches were made on the opposite side of the town, and the siege pressed with vigor, though with great caution. A very heavy cannonade being kept up against the town and shipping in the harbor, a bomb at length blew up one of the largest ships, and the flames were communicated to two others, which were also destroyed. Boscawen now sent six hundred men in boats to make attempts upon two ships of the line, one of which being aground was destroyed, and the other towed off in triumph. This truly gallant exploit gave possession of the harbor, and the governor offered to capitulate. The French were compelled to surrender the city. Island Royal, and St. John's, and themselves as prisoners of war. Two hundred and twenty-one cannon, and eighteen mortars, with other military stores, were found by the conquerors.

In the mean time. General Abercrombie, successor to Lord Loudon, was advancing upon Ticonderoga. Embarking on Lake George, with more than fifteen thousand men and a for-

DEATH OF LORD HOWE.

mid able train of artillery, he landed on the borders of a cove in the northwestern portion of the lake, whence he marched upon the advanced guard of the French, consisting of a single battalion posted in a camp ol logs, destroying what he could, and making a hasty retreat. While marching in the "woods towards Ticonderoga, the columns became confused and entangled with each other. At this critical juncture, Lord Howe, at the head of the right center column, met a part of the advanced guard of the enemy, which had been lost in the wood while retreating from Lake George, attacked it immediately, but was himself killed at the first fire. The enemy were routed.

DEATH OF LORD HOWE.

but the victory was dearly bought by the loss of that muchadmired and valuable ofiicer, Avho has been well called " the soul of the expedition."

Learning from his prisoners the strength of the fort at Ticonderoga, and assured by his chief engineer that the intreuchments were unfinished, Abercrombie again advanced to attack the place. The troops having been ordered to march up

FORT FRONTIGNAO TAKEI^. 21

briskly, rushed upon the enemy's fire, and reservhig their own till they had passed a breastwork, moved to the assault with great intrepidity. But an unlooked-for obstacle was encountered. In front of the breastwork, trees had been felled with their branches outward, many of them sharpened to a point. The assailants were retarded, entangled in the branches, and exposed to a most galling fire. After a contest of nearly four hours, a retreat was ordered, the English leaving nearly two thousand killed or wounded upon the field of battle.

This failure was followed by a new and highly successful expedition against Fort Frontignac, which was proposed by Colonel Bradstreet. The fort in question, situated on the north side of the St. Lawrence, just where it issues from Lake Ontario, was the key to the communication between Canada and Louisiana, and the general depot ot stores for the enemy's western and southern posts. Late in the evening of the 25th of August, Colonel Bradstreet, having been dispatched by Abercrombie with three thousand men, landed within a mile of the fort. An attack at this point had not been anticipated. The garrison of one hundred and ten men, with a few Indians, could not hold out long. Bradstreet posted his mortars so near the fort that every shell told, and the commander was> soon forced to surrender at discretion. Sixty pieces of cannon, and other military stores, provisions,^and nine armed vessels, were among the fruits of this victory.

The expedition against Fort Da Quesne, under General Forbes, was greatly delayed. Early in July he set out from Philadelphia with nine thousand men. It was September before Washington, with the Virginia troops, was ordered to join the main body at Ray's Town. An advanced party, commanded by Major Grant, was attacked near the fort, and defeated with a loss of three hundred men. As the main body advanced, the French, deserted by the Indians, escaped down the Ohio the evening before the arrival of the English. The latter took possession of the* fort, and in honor of Mr. Pitt, changed its name to Pittsburgh. The western Indians soon afterwards concluded a peace with the English. The inhabit-

22 PROJECT OF PITT.

ants of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania were thus released from the terrors of the torch, the tomahawk, and the scalping-knife. The results of the campaign were important, and honorable alike to England and her colonies. Its success was principally owing to the talents of Mr. Pitt, and to the confidence reposed in them both in England and America. The governors of the Northern colonies so promptly obeyed the requisitions of his circular letter in 1757, that by May of the following year, Massachusetts had seven thousand, New Hampshire three thousand, and Connecticut five thousand men ready to take the field. This campaign, though successful and glorious, exhausted the strength of the American provinces, and when a circular from Mr. Pitt to the governors led the colonies to resolve upon the most vigorous preparations for the next, they found their resources by no means commensurate Avith their zeal.

In spite of this difficulty, it was resolved to carry out the magnificent project of Pitt for the complete conquest of Canada in a single campaign. The plan was, that three powerful ai-mies should enter the French territories by three different routes, and attack their strongholds nearly at the same time. Brigadier-general Wolfe, a young officer who had distinguished himself at Louisburgh, was to ascend the St, Lawrence and lay siege to Quebec, escorted by a powerful fleet to co-operate with his troops. The central and main army of British and provincials was to march upon Ticonderoga and Crown Point, under General Amherst, now commander-in-chief, who had acquired a very high reputation in the siege of Louisburgh. This able officer, after becoming master of these places, was to proceed over Lake Champlain, and by way of the Richelieu River, to the St. Lawrence, and deseending the latter, unite with General Wolfe before the walls of Quebec. A third army, chiefly of provincials, aided by a strong Indian force, was to be led by General Prideaux against Niagara, and after reducing that place, to proceed down the lake and river against Montreal.

Early in the winter. General Amherst began to prepare for his part of the enterprise, but it was almost summer before his

RUINS OF TICONDEROGA.

troops assembled at Albany, and as late as the 22d of July when he arrived, with more than eleven thousand men, before Ticonderoga. As France had been prevented by the naval superiority of Great Britain from sending out reinforcements, none of the posts in this section could ^dthstand so great a force as that of General Amherst. While he was preparing for the attack, the French abandoned their lines, and retired to

KUINS OF TICONDEKOGA.

the fort. This also they soon abandoned, and retired to Crown Point. General Amherst advanced upon this post, and tlie garrison retired to Isle aux Noix, in the river Sorel. After constructing vessels to acquire a naval superiority on the lake, the army embarked in pursuit of the enemy, but adverse storms compelled them to return and go into winter-quarters at Crown Point ; otherwise they would probably have effected the proposed junction with Wolfe at Quebec.

24 EEDUOTION OF NIAGARA.

General Prideaux, intrusted with the enterprise against Niagara, proceeding by the way of Schenectady and Oswego, embarked on Lake Ontario, and on the 6th of July landed without opposition about three miles from the fort. While directing the siege, the general, through the carelessness of a gunner, was killed by the bursting of a cohorn, and the command devolved upon Sir William Johnson. This officer pursued the plan of his predecessor, and urged the attack with an energy which soon brought the besiegers within a hundred yards of the covered way. Meanwhile the French, alarmed at the prospect of losing a post so important, had collected a large force from Detroit and other places, and were resolved to raise the siege. Informed of their intention to risk a battle, Johnson ordered his light-infantry, with some grenadiers and regular foot, to take post between the cataract of Niagara and the fortress, placed his Indian auxiliaries on his flanks, and took measures to secure his lines, and bridle the garrison. On the 24th of July, at nine o'clock in the morning, the enemy appeared, and the territfc warwhoop of their Indians was the signal for battle. Although the French, as usual, charged with impetuosity, they were received with firmness, and in less than an hour were completely routed. The garrison next morning, despairing of assistance, submitted to terms of capitulation.

The reduction of Niagara cut off the French communication between Canada and Louisiana. But of all the expeditions, that against Quebec was the most daring, as it was also the most important. Strong by nature and still stronger by art, it merited its appellation of the Gibraltar of America. More than this, it was now commanded by that consummate general and ever successful commander, the great Marquis de Montcalm. To any one but Pitt, its reduction must have seemed chimerical. But he knew that the boldest enterprises are often the most successful, when intrusted to ardent minds full of enthusiasm and panting for glory. Such a mind he had discovered in young Wolfe, whose conduct at Louisburgh had attracted his attention. He appointed him to conduct this ex-