The increasing complaints of the merchants, and the loud clamours of the nation, at length forced the minister to abandon his pacific system; and war was declared against Spain. A squadron commanded by admiral Vernon was detached to the West Indies, with instructions to act offensively; and general Oglethorpe was ordered to annoy the settlements in Florida. He planned an expedition against St. Augustine, and requested the assistance of South Carolina. That colony, ardently desiring the expulsion of neighbours alike feared and hated, entered zealously into the views of the general, and agreed to furnish the men and money he requested. A regiment, commanded by colonel Vanderdussen, was immediately raised in Virginia and the two Carolinas. A body of Indians was also engaged, and captain Price, who commanded the small fleet on that station, promised his co-operation. These arrangements being made, and the mouth of St. John's river, on the coast of Florida, being appointed as the place, of rendezvous general Oglethorpe hastened to Georgia, to prepare his regiment for the expedition.

Those unexpected impediments, which always embarrass military movements conducted by men without experience, having delayed the arrival of his northern troops, Oglethorpe entered Florida at the head of his own regiment, aided by a party of Indians; and invested Diego, a small fort about twenty-five miles from St. Augustine, which capitulated after a short resistance. He then returned to the place of rendezvous, where he was joined by colonel Vanderdussen, and by a company of Highlanders under the command of captain M'Intosh; a few days after which, he marched with his whole force, consisting of about two thousand men, to fort Moosa, in the neighbourhood of St. Augustine, which was evacuated on his approach. The general now perceived that the enterprise would be attended with more difficulty than had been anticipated. In the time which intervened between his entering Florida and appearing before the town, supplies of provisions had been received from the country, and six Spanish half gallies carrying long brass nine pounders, and two sloops laden with provisions, had entered the harbour. Finding the place better fortified than had been expected, he determined to invest it completely, and to advance by regular approaches. In execution of this plan, colonel Palmer, with ninety-five Highlanders, and forty-two Indians, remained at fort Moosa, while the army took different positions near the town, and began an ineffectual bombardment from the island of Anastasia. The general was deliberating on a plan for forcing the harbour and taking a nearer position, when colonel Palmer was surprised, and his detachment cut to pieces. At the same time some small vessels from the Havanna, with a reinforcement of men and supply of provisions, entered the harbour through the narrow channel of the Matanzas.

The army began to despair of success; and the provincials, enfeebled by the heat, dispirited by sickness, and fatigued by fruitless efforts, marched away in large bodies. The navy being ill supplied with provisions, and the season for hurricanes approaching, captain Price was unwilling to hazard his majesty's ships on that coast. The general, labouring under a fever, finding his regiment, as well as himself, worn out with fatigue, and rendered unfit for action by disease; reluctantly abandoned the enterprise, and returned to Frederica.

The colonists, disappointed and chagrined by the failure of the expedition, attributed this misfortune entirely to the incapacity of the general, who was not less dissatisfied with them. Whatever may have been the true causes of the failure, it produced a mutual and injurious distrust between the general and the colonists.[134]

The events of the war soon disclosed the dangers resulting from this want of confidence in general Oglethorpe, and, still more, from the want of power to produce a co-operation of the common force for the common defence.

Spain had ever considered the settlement of Georgia as an encroachment on her territory, and had cherished the intention to seize every proper occasion to dislodge the English by force. With this view, an armament consisting of two thousand men, commanded by Don Antonio di Ridondo, embarked at the Havanna, under convoy of a strong squadron, and arrived at St. Augustine in May. The fleet having been seen on its passage, notice of its approach was given to general Oglethorpe, who communicated the intelligence to governor Glenn of South Carolina, and urged the necessity of sending the troops of that province to his assistance.

Georgia being a barrier for South Carolina, the policy of meeting an invading army on the frontiers of the former, especially one containing several companies composed of negroes who had fled from the latter, was too obvious not to be perceived: yet either from prejudice against Oglethorpe, or the disposition inherent in separate governments to preserve their own force for their own defence, Carolina refused to give that general any assistance. Its attention was directed entirely to the defence of Charleston; and the inhabitants of its southern frontier, instead of marching to the camp of Oglethorpe, fled to that city for safety. In the mean time, the general collected a few Highlanders, and rangers of Georgia, together with as many Indian warriors as would join him, and determined to defend Frederica.

Late in June, the Spanish fleet, consisting of thirty-two sail, carrying above three thousand men, crossed Simon's bar into Jekyl sound, and passing Simon's fort, then occupied by general Oglethorpe, proceeded up the Alatamaha, out of the reach of his guns; after which, the troops landed on the island, and erected a battery of twenty eighteen pounders.

Fort Simon's being indefensible, Oglethorpe retreated to Frederica. His whole force, exclusive of Indians, amounted to little more than seven hundred men, a force which could only enable him to act on the defensive until the arrival of reinforcements which he still expected from South Carolina. The face of the country was peculiarly favorable to this system of operations. Its thick woods and deep morasses opposed great obstacles to the advance of an invading enemy, not well acquainted with the paths which passed through them. Oglethorpe turned these advantages to the best account. In an attempt made by the Spanish general to pierce these woods in order to reach Frederica, several sharp rencounters took place; in one of which he lost a captain and two lieutenants killed, and above one hundred privates taken prisoners. He then changed his plan of operations; and, abandoning his intention of forcing his way to Frederica by land, called in his parties, kept his men under cover of his cannon, and detached some vessels up the river, with a body of troops on board, to reconnoitre the fort, and draw the attention of the English to that quarter.

About this time, an English prisoner escaped from the Spaniards, and informed general Oglethorpe that a difference existed between the troops from Cuba, and those from St. Augustine, which had been carried so far that they encamped in separate places. This intelligence suggested the idea of attacking them while divided; and his perfect knowledge of the woods favoured the hope of surprising one of their encampments. In execution of this design, he drew out the flower of his army, and marched in the night, unobserved, within two miles of the Spanish camp. There, his troops halted, and he advanced, himself, at the head of a select corps, to reconnoitre the situation of the enemy. While he was using the utmost circumspection to obtain the necessary information without being discovered, a French soldier of his party discharged his musket, and ran into the Spanish lines. Discovery defeating every hope of success, the general retreated to Frederica.

Oglethorpe, confident that the deserter would disclose his weakness, devised an expedient which turned the event to advantage. He wrote to the deserter as if in concert with him, directing him to give the Spanish general such information as might induce him to attack Frederica; hinting also at an attempt meditated by admiral Vernon on St. Augustine, and at late advices from Carolina, giving assurances of a reinforcement of two thousand men. He then tampered with one of the Spanish prisoners, who, for a small bribe, promised to deliver this letter to the deserter, after which, he was permitted to escape. The prisoner, as was foreseen delivered the letter to his general, who ordered the deserter to be put in irons; and, was, in no small degree, embarrassed to determine whether the letter ought to be considered as a stratagem to save Frederica, and induce the abandonment of the enterprise; or as real instructions to direct the conduct of a spy. While hesitating on the course to be pursued, his doubts were removed by one of those incidents, which have so much influence on human affairs.

The assembly of South Carolina had voted a supply of money to general Oglethorpe; and the governor had ordered some ships of force to his aid. These appeared off the coast while the principal officers of the Spanish army were yet deliberating on the letter. They deliberated no longer. Spanish army re-embarks in confusion.The whole army was seized with a panic; and, after setting fire to the fort, embarked in great hurry and confusion, leaving behind several pieces of heavy artillery, and a large quantity of provisions and military stores.

Thus was Georgia delivered from an invasion which threatened the total subjugation of the province.

The ill success of these reciprocal attempts at conquest, seems to have discouraged both parties; and the Spanish and English colonies, in the neighbourhood of each other, contented themselves, for the residue of the war, with guarding their own frontiers.

The connexion between the branches of the house of Bourbon was too intimate for the preservation of peace with France, during the prosecution of war against Spain. Both nations expected and prepared for hostilities. War had commenced in fact, though not in form, on the continent of Europe; but as they carried on their military operations as auxiliaries, in support of the contending claims of the elector of Bavaria, and the queen of Hungary, to the imperial throne, they preserved in America a suspicious and jealous suspension of hostility, rather than a real peace.

This state of things was interrupted by a sudden incursion of the French into Nova Scotia.

The governor of Cape Breton having received information that France and Great Britain had become principals in the war, took possession of de Canseau with a small military and naval force, and made the garrison, and inhabitants prisoners of war. This enterprise was followed by an attempt on Annapolis, which was defeated by the timely arrival of a reinforcement from Massachusetts. These offensive operations stimulated the English colonists to additional efforts to expel such dangerous neighbors, and to unite the whole northern continent bordering on the Atlantic, under one common sovereign.

The island of Cape Breton, so denominated from one of its capes, lies between the 45th and 47th degree of north latitude, at the distance of fifteen leagues from Cape Ray, the south western extremity of Newfoundland. Its position rendered the possession of it very material to the commerce of France; and the facility with which the fisheries might be annoyed from its ports, gave it an importance to which it could not otherwise have been entitled. Thirty millions of livres,[135] and the labour of twenty-five years, had been employed on its fortifications. From its strength, and still more from the numerous privateers that issued from its ports, it had been termed the Dunkirk[136] of America. On this place, governor Shirley meditated an attack.

The prisoners taken at Canseau, and others who had been captured at sea and carried to Louisbourg, were sent to Boston. The information they gave, if it did not originally suggest this enterprise, contributed greatly to its adoption. They said that Duvivier had gone to France to solicit assistance for the conquest of Nova Scotia, in the course of the ensuing campaign; and that the store ships from France for Cape Breton, not having arrived on the coast until it was blocked up with ice, had retired to the West Indies.

In several letters addressed to administration, governor Shirley represented the danger to which Nova Scotia was exposed, and pressed for naval assistance. These letters were sent by captain Ryal, an officer of the garrison which had been taken at Canseau, whose knowledge of Louisbourg, of Cape Breton, and of Nova Scotia, enabled him to make such representations to the lords of the admiralty, as were calculated to promote the views of the northern colonies.

The governor was not disappointed. Orders were dispatched to commodore Warren, then in the West Indies, to proceed towards the north, early in the spring; and to employ such a force as might be necessary to protect the northern colonies in their trade and fisheries, as well as to distress the enemy. On these subjects, he was instructed to consult with Shirley, to whom orders of the same date were written, directing him to assist the King's ships with transports, men, and provisions.

Such deep impression had the design of taking Louisbourg made on the mind of Shirley, that he did not wait for intelligence of the reception given to his application for naval assistance. He was induced to decide on engaging in the enterprise, even without such assistance, by the representations of Mr. Vaughan, son of the lieutenant governor of New Hampshire, a man of a sanguine and ardent temper, who could think nothing impracticable which he wished to achieve. Mr. Vaughan had never been at Louisbourg, but had learned something of the strength of the place, from fishermen and others; and the bold turn of his mind suggested the idea of surprising it. There is something infectious in enthusiasm, whatever be its object; and Vaughan soon communicated his own convictions to Shirley.[137]

The governor informed the general court that he had a proposition of great importance to communicate, and requested that the members would take an oath of secrecy, previous to his laying it before them. This novel request being complied with, he submitted his plan for attacking Louisbourg. It was referred to a committee of both houses; the arguments for and against the enterprise were temperately considered; and the part suggested by prudence prevailed. The expedition was thought too great, too hazardous, and too expensive.

The report of the committee was approved by the house of representatives, and the expedition was supposed to be abandoned; but, notwithstanding the precaution taken to secure secrecy, the subject which had occupied the legislature was divulged,[138] and the people took a deep interest in it. Numerous petitions were presented, praying the general court to re-consider its vote, and to adopt the proposition of the governor. Among the several arguments urged in its favour, that which the petitioners pressed most earnestly, was the necessity of acquiring Louisbourg, to save the fisheries from ruin.

The subject being re-considered, a resolution in favour of the enterprise was carried by a single voice, in the absence of several members known to be against it. Yet all parties manifested equal zeal for its success. A general embargo was laid, and messengers were despatched to the several governments as far south as Pennsylvania, soliciting their aid. These solicitations succeeded only in the northern provinces. There being at that time no person in New England who had acquired any military reputation, the chief command was conferred on colonel Pepperel, a merchant, who was also a large land holder, and was highly respected throughout Massachusetts.[139]

All ranks of men combined to facilitate the enterprise, and those circumstances which are beyond human control, also concurred to favour the general wish.

The governors of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, whose orders forbade their assent to a farther emission of bills of credit, departed from their instructions to promote this favourite project; the people submitted to impressments of their property; and a mild winter gave no interruption to their warlike preparations.

The troops of Massachusetts,[140] New Hampshire, and Connecticut, amounting to rather more than four thousand men, assembled at Canseau about the middle of April; soon after which, to the great joy of the colonial troops, admiral Warren arrived, with a considerable part of his fleet. The army then embarked for Chapeau-rouge bay, and the fleet cruised off Louisbourg.

After repulsing a small detachment of French troops, the landing was effected; and, in the course of the night, a body of about four hundred men led by Vaughan, marched round to the north east part of the harbour, and set fire to a number of warehouses containing spirituous liquors and naval stores. The smoke being driven by the wind into the grand battery, caused such darkness that the men placed in it were unable to distinguish objects; and, being apprehensive of an attack from the whole English army, abandoned the fort and fled into the town.

The next morning, as Vaughan was returning to camp with only thirteen men, he ascended the hill which overlooked the battery, and observing that the chimneys in the barracks were without smoke, and the staff without its flag, he hired an Indian, with a bottle of rum, to crawl through an embrasure, and open the gate. Vaughan entered with his men and defended the battery against a party then landing to regain possession until the arrival of a reinforcement.

For fourteen nights successively, the troops were employed in dragging cannon from the landing place to the encampment, a distance of near two miles, through a deep morass. The army, being totally unacquainted with the art of conducting sieges, made its approaches irregularly, and sustained some loss on this account.

While these approaches were making by land, the ships of war which continued to cruise off the harbour, fell in with and captured the Vigilant, a French man of war of sixty-four guns, having on board a reinforcement of five hundred and sixty men, and a large quantity of stores for the garrison. Soon after this, an unsuccessful, and, perhaps, a rash attempt was made on the island battery by four hundred men; of whom sixty were killed, and one hundred and sixteen taken prisoners. All these prisoners, as if by previous concert, exaggerated the numbers of the besieging army, a deception which was favoured by the unevenness of the ground, and the dispersed state of the troops; and which probably contributed to the surrender of the place. The provincial army did indeed present a formidable front, but, in the rear, all was frolic and confusion.

The Vigilant had been anxiously expected by the garrison, and the information of her capture excited a considerable degree of perturbation. This event, with the erection of some works on the high cliff at the light house, by which the island battery was much annoyed, and the preparations evidently making for a general assault, determined Duchambon, the governor of Louisbourg, to surrender; and, in a few days, he capitulated.

Upon entering the fortress, and viewing its strength, and its means of defence, all perceived how impracticable it would have been to carry it by assault.[141]

The joy excited in the British colonies by the success of the expedition against Louisbourg was unbounded. Even those who had refused to participate in its hazards and expense, were sensible of its advantages, and of the lustre it shed on the American arms. Although some disposition was manifested in England, to ascribe the whole merit of the conquest to the navy, colonel Pepperel received, with the title of baronet, the more substantial reward of a regiment in the British service, to be raised in America; and the same mark of royal favour was bestowed on governor Shirley. Reimbursements too were made by parliament for the expenses of the expedition. It was the only decisive advantage obtained by the English during the war.

The capture of Louisbourg, most probably, preserved Nova Scotia. Duvivier, who had embarked for France to solicit an armament for the conquest of that province, sailed, in July, 1745, with seven ships of war, and a body of land forces. He was ordered to stop at Louisbourg, and thence to proceed in the execution of his plan. Hearing, at sea, of the fall of that place, and that a British squadron was stationed at it, he relinquished the expedition against Nova Scotia, and returned to Europe.

The British empire on the American continent consisted, originally, of two feeble settlements unconnected with, and almost unknown to each other. For a long time the southern colonies, separated from those of New England by an immense wilderness, and by the possessions of other European powers, had no intercourse with them, except what was produced by the small trading vessels of the north, which occasionally entered the rivers of the south. Neither participated in the wars or pursuits of the other; nor were they, in any respect, actuated by common views, or united by common interest. The conquest of the country between Connecticut and Maryland, laid a foundation, which the settlement of the middle colonies completed, for connecting these disjoined members, and forming one consolidated whole, capable of moving, and acting in concert. This gradual change, unobserved in its commencement, had now become too perceptible to be longer overlooked; and, henceforward, the efforts of the colonies, were in a great measure combined, and directed to a common object.

France, as well as England, had extended her views with her settlements; and, after the fall of Louisbourg, the governments of both nations meditated important operations for the ensuing campaign in America.

France contemplated, not only the recovery of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia, but the total devastation of the sea coast, if not the entire conquest of New England.

Britain, on her part, calculated on the reduction of Canada, and the entire expulsion of the French from the American continent.

Shirley repaired to Louisbourg, after its surrender, where he held a consultation with Warren and Pepperel on the favourite subject of future and more extensive operations against the neighbouring possessions of France. 1746From that place he wrote pressingly to administration, for reinforcements of men and ships to enable him to execute his plans. The capture of Louisbourg gave such weight to his solicitations that, in the following spring, the duke of New Castle, then secretary of state, addressed a circular letter to the governors of the provinces as far south as Virginia, requiring them to raise as many men as they could spare, and hold them in readiness to act according to the orders that should be received. Before this letter was written, an extensive plan of operations had been digested in the British cabinet. It was proposed to detach a military and naval armament which should, early in the season, join the troops to be raised in New England, at Louisbourg; whence they were to proceed up the St. Lawrence to Quebec. The troops from New York, and from the more southern provinces, were to be collected at Albany, and to march against Crown Point, and Montreal.

This plan, so far as it depended on the colonies, was executed with promptness and alacrity. The men were raised, and waited with impatience for employment; but neither troops, nor orders, arrived from England. The fleet destined for this service, sailed seven times from Spithead; and was compelled as often, by contrary winds, to return.

Late in the season, the military commanders in America, despairing of the succours promised by England, determined to assemble a body of provincials at Albany, and make an attempt on Crown Point. While preparing for the execution of this plan, they received accounts stating that Annapolis was in danger from a body of French and Indians assembled at Minas; upon which, orders were issued for the troops of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, to embark for Nova Scotia. Before these orders could be executed, intelligence was received which directed their attention to their own defence.

It was reported that a large fleet and army, under the command of the duke D'Anville, had arrived in Nova Scotia, and the views of conquest, which had been formed by the northern colonies, were converted into fears for their own safety. For six weeks, continual apprehensions of invasion were entertained; and the most vigorous measures were taken to repel it. From this state of anxious solicitude, they were at length relieved by the arrival of some prisoners set at liberty by the French, who communicated the extreme distress of the fleet.

This formidable armament consisted of near forty ships of war, seven of which were of the line; of two artillery ships; and of fifty-six transports laden with provisions and military stores, carrying three thousand five hundred land forces, and forty thousand stand of small arms, for the use of the Canadians and Indians. The French fleet dispersed by a storm.The fleet sailed in June, but was attacked by such furious and repeated storms, that many of the ships were wrecked, and others dispersed. In addition to this disaster, the troops were infected with a disease which carried them off in great numbers. While lying in Chebucto, under these circumstances, a vessel which had been dispatched by governor Shirley to admiral Townshend at Louisbourg, with a letter stating his expectation that a British fleet would follow that of France to America, was intercepted by a cruiser, and brought in to the admiral. These dispatches were opened in a council of war, which was considerably divided respecting their future conduct. This circumstance, added to the calamities already sustained, so affected the commander in chief, that he died suddenly. The vice-admiral fell by his own hand; and the command devolved on Monsieur le Jonguiere, governor of Canada, who had been declared chef d'escadre after the fleet sailed.

The design of invading New England was relinquished, and it was resolved to make an attempt on Annapolis. With this view the fleet sailed from Chebucto, but was again overtaken by a violent tempest which scattered the vessels composing it. Those which escaped shipwreck returned singly to France.[142]

"Never," says Mr. Belknap, "was the hand of divine providence more visible than on this occasion. Never was a disappointment more severe on the part of the enemy, nor a deliverance more complete, without human help, in favour of this country."

As soon as the fears excited by this armament were dissipated, the project of dislodging the French and Indians, who had invaded Nova Scotia, was resumed. Governor Shirley detached a part of the troops of Massachusetts on this service; and pressed the governors of Rhode Island and New Hampshire, to co-operate with him. The quotas furnished by these colonies were prevented by several accidents from joining that of Massachusetts, which was inferior to the enemy in numbers. The French and Indians, under cover of a snow storm, surprised the English at Minas; who, after an obstinate resistance, in which they lost upwards of one hundred men, were compelled to capitulate, and to engage not to bear arms against his Most Christian Majesty, in Nova Scotia for one year. De Ramsay, who commanded the French, returned soon afterwards to Canada.

No farther transactions of importance took place in America during the war, which was terminated by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle. By this treaty, it was stipulated that all conquests made during the war should be restored; and the colonists had the mortification to see the French re-possess themselves of Cape Breton.

The heavy expenses which had been incurred by the New England colonies, and especially by Massachusetts, had occasioned large emissions of paper money, and an unavoidable depreciation. Instead of availing themselves of peace, to discharge the debts contracted during war, they eagerly desired to satisfy every demand on the public treasury, by farther emissions of bills of credit, redeemable at future and distant periods. Every inconvenience under which commerce was supposed to labour, every difficulty encountered in the interior economy of the province, was attributed to a scarcity of money; and this scarcity was to be removed, not by increased industry, but by putting an additional sum in circulation. The rate of exchange, and the price of all commodities, soon disclosed the political truth that, however the quantity of the circulating medium may be augmented, its aggregate value cannot be arbitrarily increased; and that the effect of such a depreciating currency must necessarily be, to discourage the payment of debts, by holding out the hope of discharging contracts with less real value than that for which they were made; and to substitute cunning and speculation, for honest and regular industry. Yet the majority had persevered in this demoralising system. The depreciation had reached eleven for one; and the evil was almost deemed incurable, when the fortunate circumstance of a reimbursement in specie, made by parliament for colonial expenditures on account of the expeditions against Louisbourg and Canada, suggested to Mr. Hutchinson, speaker of the house of representatives in Massachusetts, the idea of redeeming the paper money in circulation, at its then real value.

This scheme, at first deemed Utopian, was opposed by many well meaning men who feared that its effect would be to give a shock to the trade and domestic industry of the province; and who thought that, as the depreciation had been gradual, justice required that the appreciation should be gradual also.

With great difficulty, the measure was carried; and the bills of credit in circulation, were redeemed at fifty shillings the ounce. The evils which had been apprehended were soon found to be imaginary. Specie immediately took the place of paper. Trade, so far from sustaining a shock, nourished more than before this change in the domestic economy of the colony; and the commerce of Massachusetts immediately received an impulse, which enabled it to surpass that of her neighbours who retained their paper medium.[143]

The treaty of Aix la Chapelle did not remove the previously existing controversies between the colonies of France and England respecting boundary. These controversies, originating in the manner in which their settlements had been made, and at first of small consequence, were now assuming a serious aspect. America was becoming an object of greater attention; and, as her importance increased, the question concerning limits became important also.

In settling this continent, the powers of Europe, estimating the right of the natives at nothing, adopted, for their own government, the principle, that those who first discovered and took possession of any particular territory, became its rightful proprietors. But as only a small portion of it could then be reduced to actual occupation, the extent of country thus acquired was not well ascertained. Contests respecting prior discovery, and extent of possession, arose among all the first settlers. England terminated her controversy with Sweden and with Holland, by the early conquest of their territories; but her conflicting claims with France and with Spain, remained unadjusted.

On the south, Spain had pretensions to the whole province of Georgia, while England had granted the country as far as the river St. Matheo, in Florida.

On the north, the right of France to Canada was undisputed; but the country between the St. Lawrence and New England had been claimed by both nations, and granted by both. The first settlement appears to have been made by the French; but its principal town, called Port Royal, or Annapolis, had been repeatedly taken by the English; and, by the treaty of Utrecht, the whole province, by the name of Nova Scotia, or AcadiÉ, according to its ancient limits had been ceded to them.

But the boundaries of Nova Scotia, or AcadiÉ, had never been ascertained. Though the treaty of Utrecht had provided that commissioners should be appointed by the two crowns, to adjust the limits of their respective colonies, the adjustment had never been made. France claimed to the Kennebec; and insisted "that only the peninsula which is formed by the bay of Fundy, the Atlantic ocean, and the gulf of St. Lawrence," was included in the cession of "Nova Scotia, or AcadiÉ, according to its ancient limits." England, on the other hand, claimed all the country on the main land south of the river St. Lawrence. Under the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, commissioners were again appointed to settle these differences, who maintained the rights of their respective sovereigns with great ability, and laborious research; but their zeal produced a degree of asperity unfavourable to accommodation.

While this contest for the cold and uninviting country of Nova Scotia was carried on with equal acrimony and talents, a controversy arose for richer and more extensive regions in the south and west.

So early as the year 1660, information was received, in Canada, from the Indians, that, west of that colony, was a great river, flowing neither to the north, nor to the east. The government, conjecturing that it must empty itself either into the gulf of Mexico or the south sea, committed the care of ascertaining the fact to Joliet, an inhabitant of Quebec, and to the Jesuit Marquette. These men proceeded from lake Michigan up the river of the Foxes, almost to its source, whence they travelled westward to the Ouisconsing, which they pursued to its confluence with the Mississippi. They sailed down this river to the 33d degree of north latitude, and returned by land, through the country of the Illinois, to Canada.

The mouth of the Mississippi was afterwards discovered by la Salle, an enterprising Norman, who, immediately after his return to Quebec, embarked for France, in the hope of inducing the cabinet of Versailles to patronise a scheme for proceeding by sea to the mouth of that river and settling a colony on its banks.

Having succeeded in this application, he sailed for the gulf of Mexico, with a few colonists; but, steering too far westward, he arrived at the bay of St. Bernard, about one hundred leagues from the mouth of the Mississippi. In consequence of a quarrel between him and Beaulieu, who commanded the fleet, the colonists were landed at this place. La Salle was, soon afterwards, assassinated by his own men; and his followers were murdered or dispersed by the Spaniards and the Indians.

Several other attempts were made by the French to settle the country; but, by some unaccountable fatality, instead of seating themselves on the fertile borders of the Mississippi, they continually landed about the barren sands of Biloxi, and the bay of Mobile. It was not until the year 1722, that the miserable remnant of those who had been carried thither at various times, was transplanted to New Orleans; nor until the year 1731, that the colony began to flourish.

It had received the name of Louisiana, and soon extended itself by detached settlements, up the Mississippi and its waters, towards the great lakes.[144] As it advanced northward, the vast and interesting plan was formed of connecting it with Canada by a chain of forts.

The fine climate and fertile soil of upper Louisiana enabling it to produce and maintain an immense population, rendered it an object which promised complete gratification to the views of France; while the extent given to it by that nation, excited the most serious alarm among the colonies of Britain.

The charters granted by the crown of England to the first adventurers, having extended from the Atlantic to the South Sea, their settlements had regularly advanced westward, in the belief that their title to the country in that direction, could not be controverted. The settlements of the French, stretching from north to south, necessarily interfered with those of the English. Their plan, if executed, would completely environ the English. Canada and Louisiana united, as has been aptly said, would form a bow, of which the English colonies would constitute the chord.

While Great Britain claimed, indefinitely, to the west, as appertaining to her possession of the sea coast; France insisted on confining her to the eastern side of the Apalachian, or Alleghany, mountains; and claimed the whole country drained by the Mississippi, in virtue of her right as the first discoverer of that river. The delightful region which forms the magnificent vale of the Mississippi was the object for which these two powerful nations contended; and it soon became apparent that the sword must decide the contest.

The white population of the English colonies was supposed to exceed one million of souls, while that of the French was estimated at only fifty-two thousand.[145]

This disparity of numbers did not intimidate the governor of New France—a title comprehending both Canada and Louisiana; nor deter him from proceeding in the execution of his favourite plan. The French possessed advantages which, he persuaded himself, would counterbalance the superior numbers of the English. Their whole power was united under one governor, who could give it such a direction as his judgment should dictate. The genius of the people and of the government was military; and the inhabitants could readily be called into the field, when their service should be required. Great reliance too was placed on the Indians. These savages, with the exception of the Five Nations, were generally attached to France, and were well trained to war. To these advantages was added a perfect knowledge of the country about to become the theatre of action.

The British colonies, on the other hand, were divided into distinct governments, unaccustomed, except those of New England, to act in concert; were jealous of the power of the crown; and were spread over a large extent of territory, the soil of which, in all the middle colonies, was cultivated by men unused to arms.

The governors of Canada, who were generally military men, had, for several preceding years, judiciously selected and fortified such situations as would give them most influence over the Indians, and facilitate incursions into the northern provinces. The command of Lake Champlain had been acquired by the erection of a strong fort at Crown Point; and a connected chain of posts was maintained from Quebec, up the St. Lawrence, and along the great lakes. It was intended to unite these posts with the Mississippi by taking positions which would favour the design of circumscribing and annoying the frontier settlements of the English.

Great Meadows

Great Meadows and the Site of Fort Necessity

The execution of this plan was, probably, accelerated by an act of the British government. The year after the conclusion of the war, several individuals both in England and Virginia who were associated under the name of the Ohio company, obtained from the crown a grant of six hundred thousand acres of land, lying in the country claimed by both nations. The objects of this company being commercial as well as territorial, measures were taken to derive all the advantages expected from their grant, in both these respects, by establishing trading houses, and by employing persons to survey the country.

The governor of Canada, who obtained early information of this intrusion, as he deemed it, into the dominions of his most christian majesty, wrote to the governors of New York and Pennsylvania, informing them that the English traders had encroached on the French territory by trading with their Indians; and giving notice that, if they did not desist, he should be under the necessity of seizing them wherever they should be found. At the same time the jealousy of the Indians was excited by impressing them with fears that the English were about to deprive them of their country.

His threat having been disregarded, the governor of Canada put it in execution by seizing the British traders among the Twightwees, and carrying them prisoners to Presque-isle, on Lake Erie; where he was erecting a strong fort. About the same time, a communication was opened from Presque-isle, down French creek, and the Alleghany river, to the Ohio. This communication was kept up by detachments of troops, posted at proper distances from each other, in works capable of covering them from an attack made only with small arms.[146]

This territory having been granted as part of Virginia, to the Ohio company, who complained loudly of these aggressions, Dinwiddie, the lieutenant governor of that province, laid the subject before the assembly, and dispatched MAJOR WASHINGTON, the gentleman who afterwards led his countrymen to independence, with a letter to the commandant of the French forces on the Ohio; requiring him to withdraw from the dominions of his Britannic majesty.

This letter was delivered at a fort on the river Le Boeuf, the western branch of French creek, to Monsieur le Guarduer de St. Pierre, the commanding officer on the Ohio, who replied that he had taken possession of the country by the directions of his general, then in Canada, to whom he would transmit the letter of the lieutenant governor, and whose orders he should implicitly obey.

Preparations were immediately made, in Virginia, to assert the rights of the British crown; and a regiment was raised for the protection of the frontiers. Early in the spring, Major Washington had advanced with a small detachment from this regiment into the country to be contended for, where he fell in with and defeated a party of French and Indians who were approaching him in a manner indicating hostile designs. On being joined by the residue of his regiment, the command of which had devolved on him, he made great exertions to pre-occupy the post at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers; but, on his march thither, was met by a much superior body of French and Indians, Defeat at the Little Meadows.who attacked him in a small stockade hastily erected at the Little Meadows, and compelled him, after a gallant defence to capitulate. The French had already taken possession of the ground to which Washington was proceeding, and, having driven off some militia, and workmen sent thither by the Ohio company, had erected thereon a strong fortification called fort Du QuÊsne.

The earl of Holderness, secretary of state, perceiving war to be inevitable, and aware of the advantages of union, and of securing the friendship of the Five Nations, had written to the governors of the respective colonies recommending these essential objects; and, at the same time, ordering them to repel force by force; and to take effectual measures to dislodge the French from their posts on the Ohio.

At the suggestion of the commissioners for the plantations, a convention of delegates from the several colonies met at Albany, to hold a conference with the Five Nations on the subject of French encroachments, and to secure their friendship in the approaching war. Availing himself of this circumstance governor Shirley had recommended to the other governors to instruct their commissioners on the subject of union. Ample powers for this object were given to the delegates of Massachusetts; and those of Maryland were instructed to observe what others should propose respecting it. But no direct authority for concerting any system to call out and employ the strength of the colonies, was given by any other of the governments.

The congress, consisting of delegates from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, with the lieutenant governor and council of New York, after endeavouring to secure the friendship of the Five Nations by large presents, directed a committee, consisting of one member for each colony, to draw and report a plan of union.

A plan[147] was reported which was approved on the 4th of July. Its essential principles were, that application be made for an act of parliament authorising the formation of a grand council to consist of delegates from the several legislatures, and a president general, to be appointed by the crown, and to be invested with a negative power. This council was to enact laws of general import; to apportion their quotas of men and money on the several colonies; to determine on the building of forts; to regulate the operations of armies; and to concert all measures for the common protection and safety.

The delegates of Connecticut alone dissented from this plan. That cautious people feared that the powers vested in the president general might prove dangerous to their welfare.

In England, the objections were of a different character. The colonies had, in several instances, manifested a temper less submissive than was required; and it was apprehended that this union might be the foundation of a concert of measures opposing the pretensions of supremacy maintained by the mother country.

This confederation, therefore, notwithstanding the pressure of external danger, did not prevail. It was not supported in America, because it was supposed to place too much power in the hands of the King; and it was rejected in England from the apprehension that the colonial assemblies would be rendered still more formidable by being accustomed to co-operate with each other.

In its stead, the minister proposed that the governors, with one or two members of the councils of the respective provinces, should assemble to consult, and resolve on measures necessary for the common defence, and should draw on the British treasury for the sums to be expended, which sums should be afterwards raised by a general tax, to be imposed by parliament on the colonies.

This proposition being entirely subversive of all the opinions which prevailed in America, was not pressed for the present; and no satisfactory plan for calling out the strength of the colonies being devised, it was determined to carry on the war with British troops, aided by such reinforcements as the several provincial assemblies would voluntarily afford.[148]