In March, 1756, as a preliminary step, the Governor of Canada sent M. de Lery with three hundred men to attack Fort Bull, where the English kept large supplies of provisions for Oswego. This party crossing the St. Lawrence on skates, and marching one hundred and twenty leagues through the forest on snow-shoes, suddenly appeared before Fort Bull with a summons to surrender. They were answered by a brisk fire of musketry. M. de Lery then forced the gate and took the fort by storm, put many of the garrison to death, and burned or destroyed a very large amount of provisions and ammunition. ai d

As the spring opened, in April, M. de Vaudreuil sent a force of four or five hundred men to hang about Oswego, in order still farther to cut the communication between that fort and its entrepots. The whole Colony of New York was thrown into agitation by the intelligence of these movements. From that moment mixed parties of Canadians and Indians were constantly hovering about Oswego, and in the forests along the river. In May, M. de Villiers, a Canadian officer with some thousand men, landed at Hungry Bay, Niaourè, as the French named it, and took up a permanent position there, some fifteen leagues from Oswego. Although France and England had been virtually in a state of warfare on the high seas and in the colonies during the last two years, yet it was only now that a formal declaration of war took place in Europe. In June and July there were.frequent skirmishes on shore, and constant cruisings on the lake.

The French naval force varied. Their two largest vessels were the Marquise de Vaudreuil carrying eight 8-pounders, 8 sixes, and 8 swivels, and the Huron, with 8 sixes, 4 fours, and 8 swivels. They had also a schooner with 6 fours and 4 swivels, and several smaller craft.

The English vessels at the same period were the Ontario, the Oswego, the London, a brigantine, the Vigilant, a barque, and other smaller craft. A naval incident which occurred in June, threatened a battle; two English vessels, the On

tario and the Oswego, with a small schooner were out on a cruise, when they were met by four French vessels of greater force. The English made sail for Oswego, the enemy gave chase but without other success than taking the small schooner. The French report of this affair is amusing. "Our little fleet on Lake Ontario, in number about five vessels, having met the English fleet amounting to ten, gave them battle. We have taken the English Admiral, put the other to flight, and obliged two to run ashore with all sails set, near Fort Oswego."

On the 3d of July, Colonel Bradstreet with two hundred batteaux, and three hundred boatmen, were attacked some miles above Oswego by a Canadian and Indian force, variously stated by the French themselves as numbering from four hundred to nine hundred men, M. de Vaudreuil giving the latter number. The defense was a gallant one, and very creditable to the boatmen. Colonel Bradstreet took possession of a small island where he defended himself against three separate attacks, and subsequently drove the French from a swamp where they had posted themselves, routed and dispersed them. The English lost forty men killed and wounded. The loss of the French was probably larger. Such was the report of Colonel Bradstreet, which would seem to have been essentially correct.

For the amusement of the reader we give the other side of the picture, which taken in all its details makes a very entertaining little bit of history:

"M. de Villiers, who did not lose any opportunity to annoy the enemy, having learned from his scouts that the Choueguen River was covered with batteaux, designed to await the enemy at a portage, but a party of Indians did not give him time to do so. They fired, when the Canadians were ordered to fire also. The enemy threw themselves with their batteaux on the opposite side of the river. So great was the impetuosity of the Indians that eleven flung themselves in, swimming. They were on the island surrounded by the English. M. de Villiers waded across with

fifty men, and some officers, and released the Indians. We sent word to the English to surrender, they preferred to throw themselves into their batteaux. Our Indians and Frenchmen rushed into the water, and each made many prisoners. The loss of the enemy from data in our possession amounts to twenty-six scalps, and thirty prisoners. Deserters report our having put more than four hundred of their men hors du combat. This may allow of a margin. Their detachment consisted of twelve or thirteen hundred men returning from victualling Choueguen. Our detachment amounted to four hundred, including Canadians and Indians."

Another variation follows: "Sieur de Villiers, being on the 2d of July at the head of four hundred Frenchmen and some Indians, fell in with about five hundred batteaux and thirteen hundred English, whom he attacked so vigorously that he left four hundred and fifty of them dead, and took forty prisoners. The remainder threw themselves on the opposite side of the river, and abandoned their batteaux, which were burnt. We have lost six men, and two wounded in this affair."

A third bulletin to the Ministry at Versailles is in the same strain: "This detachment has had occasion to harass the enemy, who, at the close of June, were attacked on their way by water, though numbering nearly two thousand. They lost four hundred men, and we not more than four or five."

The veracious report of an Abbé, a private letter, must conclude these variations upon History: "In the beginning of July, while M. de Villiers, a Canadian Captain, was lying in ambush, in the river Choueguen, with a detachment of eight hundred men, our Indians fired too soon. The enemy amounted to fifteen hundred, whom we have defeated; eight hundred were killed, about five hundred batteaux and provisions were taken and burned. We lost ten men."

Let us now resume a grave face, and return to the actual

siege of Oswego, which fortunately for our task has been recorded with much more accuracy than the reports of the prowess of M. de Villiers, in his encounter with Colonel Bradstreet.

Regiments had been sent forward from Quebec early in the summer. One of the French officers recently arrived in America, declares himself charmed with the beauty of the country on the banks of the St. Lawrence. The mosquitoes were not so much to his taste; his regiment had several men in the hospital in consequence of the bites of those insects, and three or four officers were suffering severely from tumors caused in the same way. Montreal delighted him; it was a large town; but appeared to him in great danger of being destroyed by fire," as all the houses are of wood."

In July the whole French force was moving nearer to the threatened fort at Choueguen. On the 29th of July M. de Montcalm arrived at Frontenac. On the 6th of August, he crossed the lake to Niouarè or Sandy Creek. The force under his command was about three thousand men. Among his artillery were guns taken from General Braddock, and a portion of the cannon balls were marked with the broad arrow of England.

On the 10th of August, the vanguard advanced to a cove within a mile or two of Oswego. The next day Fort Ontario on the eastern bank was invested by a force of Canadians and Indians. On the 12th the military works of the enemy were carried on vigorously; batteries were erected; a park of artillery was placed in position; and the trenches were begun. The fire of the English was very brisk. The English cruisers were hovering about the mouth of the river. Suddenly about midnight, the fire from Fort Ontario ceased- the garrison stationed there was ordered, by a signal from Colonel Mercer, to abandon the fort and move across the river to Fort Oswego. The movement was successfully performed, although it became necessary to abandon the guns. b

The French immediately took pos

session of this eastern fort, and turned, their whole force against Forts Oswego and George on the western bank. A large battery was built for the purpose of attacking Fort Oswego in the rear; to complete this work twenty pieces of cannon were transported to this battery during the night by the strong arms of the men, the whole army excepting those in the trenches being engaged in this severe task. At daylight on the 14th, M. de Montcalm ordered the Canadians and Indians to ford the river and harass the enemy from the surrounding woods. Accordingly with M. de Rigaud at their head, they waded across, raising frightful yells, which the Indians called Salaquois; probably the death-whoop, said by those who have heard it in our own day to be the most fearful sound ever uttered by human beings. The fire of the English was briskly kept up until ten o'clock. At this hour they unexpectedly hoisted the white flag, and 'sent two officers to offer capitulation.

The French were surprised by this early surrender after a fire so brisk on the part of the besieged. But the death of Colonel Mercer, the brave commander, appears to have been the principal cause of the step — which could not under the circumstances have been long delayed. The great rapidity of the French movements in opening the trenches, on ground so difficult to work, and in moving their artillery without horses, with the skillful manoeuvres of M. de Montcalm, seems to have produced the impression in the fort, that the besieging army was much larger than their real number. A French account declared that "Choueguen has fallen, or rather surrendered to the yells of the Canadians and Indians." "It is to be concluded," says M. de Montcalm, "that the English when transported, are no longer brave."

This was a very important success for Canada. The French appear to have lost about eighty killed and wounded. M. de Vaudreuil, however, in his official despatches to France, says, "three killed, and two by accident!" The English lost one hundred and fifty killed; prisoners, sixteen hundred and forty, among whom were eighty military men,