XXIII. CHAP. lowed by the ships designed to cover their landing, if necessary. As they passed, a French sentinel hailed them with 1759. the inquiry, "Who goes there?" "La France," answered a captain. “What regiment ?" "The Queen's "—that being one of the regiments up the river with Bougainville. The sentinel was deceived. They passed on to the Cove, and quietly landing began to grope their way up the cliff, clinging to the shrubs and rocks for support. In the morning the entire army was on the Heights of Abraham, ready for battle. Sept 3. Montcalm was thunderstruck, when he heard the news. "It must surely be," said he, "a small party come to pillage, and then retire." More correct information revealed to him the whole truth. There was no time to be lost. He sent immediately for the detachment of Bougainville, which was fifteen miles up the river. The Indians and Canadians advanced first, and subjected the English to an irregular, and galling fire. Wolfe ordered his men to reserve their fire for the French regulars, who were rapidly approaching. When they were within forty yards, the English poured upon them a stream of musketry, aided by grape-shot from a few guns dragged up the cliff by the sailors. It was a fierce conflict. The respective commanders were opposite to each other. Wolfe, although wounded twice, continued to give his orders with clearness; but as he advanced with the grenadiers, who were to make their final charge with the bayonet, he received a ball in the breast. He knew the wound was mortal, and when falling said to the officer nearest to him : "Let not my brave fellows see me fall." He was carried to the rear; when asked if he would have a surgeon, he answered: "It is needless; it is all over with me." As his life was fast ebbing, the cry was raised— See, they run! they run!" "Who run!" asked the dying man. "The enemy, sir," was the answer. "Dc they run already?" he asked with evident surprise. Sum 66 WOLFE AND MONTCALM. 265 XXIII. Sept. 13. moning his failing energies, "Go one of you, to Colonel CHAP Burton," said he; "tell him to march Webb's regiment with all speed down to Charles river, to cut off the retreat 1759. by the bridge." Then turning upon his side, he murmured, "Now God be praised, I die happy." These were the last words of the young hero, in whom were centred the hopes of his soldiers and of his country. Monckton was severely wounded, and the command devolved upon Townshend, who, content with being master of the field, called the troops from the pursuit. Just at the close of the battle Bougainville appeared with his division; but the contest was declined. There is a peculiar interest attached to the name and character of Wolfe. A mind sensitive in its emotions and vigorous in its thoughts, animated his feeble body. He maintained a love for the quieter paths of literature, even amid the excitements of the camp. On the clear starlight night preceding the battle, as the boat in which he was seated with his officers was silently floating down the St. Lawrence, he recited to them that classic poem, Gray's "Elegy in a Country Church-yard;" then just published. Death seems to have already cast his dark shadow upon him, and doubtless many of the finer passages of the poem were in accordance with his subdued and melancholy emotions. Then for a time the aspirations of the man of feeling and poetic taste triumphed over the sterner ambition of the warrior, and at its close he exclaimed: "I would rather be the author of that poem than to take Quebec to-morrow." The brave and generous Montcalm was mortally wounded near the close of the battle. When carried into the city, the surgeon informed him that he could survive only a few hours. "So much the better," he calmly replied, "I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." When asked his advice about defending the city, he an XXIII. CHAP swered: "To your keeping I commend the honor of France. I will neither give orders nor interfere any fur1759. ther; I have business of greater moment to attend to; my time is short; I shall pass this night with God, and prepare myself for death." He then wrote a letter to the English commander, commending to his favor the French prisoners. The next morning he died. That generation passed away, and with it the animosity which existed between the conquerors and the conquered. The united people of another generation erected a granite monument, on which they inscribed the names of Montcalm and Wolfe. 1827. Sept. 18. Five days after the battle Quebec surrendered. There were great rejoicings both in America and England. Praises were lavished upon Pitt. He in Parliament replied, “ I will aim to serve my country, but the more a man is versed in business, the more he finds the hand of Providence everywhere." The next year an attempt was made by the French to recover Quebec, but it failed. An overwhelming force was brought against Montreal. Resistance was vain, and Vaudreuil, the governor, surrendered all the French stations on the Lakes. The troops. were to be sent home, and the Canadians, protected in their property, were to enjoy their religious privileges. Thus passed away the French power in Canada. Dependents upon the mother country, the inhabitants had never exercised the right of self-government; they lacked the energy essential to success as an independent people. They have assimilated but little with their conquerors. They still preserve that gay simplicity of manners, so characteristic of their nation, and an ardent attachment to the church of their fathers. Meantime disturbances had occurred on the southwest. The Cherokees had always been the friends of the English, and had undertaken to protect the frontiers south of the Potomac, yet for this their warriors, when about to WAR WITH THE CHEROKEES. 267 XXIII. return home, received no reward from the government- CHAP. not even supplies of food for their journey. What the State failed to do was done by Washington and his offi- 1758. cers, who supplied their wants. The next year more Cherokees joined the expedition under Forbes against Fort Du Quesne. As they were returning home along the western borders of Virginia, to avoid starvation they helped themselves to what they wanted. This led to quarrels with the backwoodsmen, who killed and scalped some of their number. When this was told in the land of the Cherokees, it caused sorrow, indignation, and alarm ; the women, relatives of those who were slain, poured forth deep and bitter wailings for the dead; the young warriors, indignant, armed themselves for revenge; the old men cautioned and counselled, and did all in their power to prevent war, but in vain ; two white men fell victims to the rage of the young warriors. Tiftoe and five other chieftains went to Charleston to beg for peace, and to heal differThe governor, the haughty and arbitrary Lyttleton, demanded that the young men who, according to the Oct. ideas of the sons of the forest, had vindicated the honor of their nation, "should be delivered up or put to death in their own land." This, the Cherokees thought, would only add fuel to the flame already kindled. The legislature decided unanimously that there was no cause for war. News came from the frontier that all was peaceful; "there were no bad talks." The obstinate governor persisted in his demand, and created more disturbance. Then he told the chiefs who wished for peace to come to him and hold a talk, and promised them safe conduct to and from Charleston. Trusting to his word, the great warrior Oconostata came with thirty others. But Lyttleton must obtain for himself the glory of a successful expedition against the Cherokees. He called out the militia in spite of the remonstrances of the people, of the legislature, and of his own council, and basely retained as prisoners, those ences. 1759. XXIII. CHAP. who had trusted his word. He marched into the country of the Cherokees, forced a treaty from a feeble old chief, 1759. who had no authority to make one, and then returned in fancied triumph. Oconostata and a few others were liberated. The remainder Lyttleton ordered to be kept prisoners at Fort Prince George till twenty-four warriors should be given up to him. Oconostata made an attempt to liberate his friends. In this effort a white man was killed; then, in revenge, the garrison murdered the prisoners. Now the rage of the Cherokees knew no bounds. They exclaimed: "The spirits of our murdered brothers are flying around us screaming for vengeance." The legislature strongly condemned the perfidious conduct of Lyttleton, and asserted their "birth-rights as British subjects," and affirmed that he had "violated their undoubted privileges." Yet this very man received the highest commendations from the "Board of Trade." The Cherokees, driven to desperation by such treatment, called to their aid the Muscogees, and sent to Louisiana for military supplies. The Carolinians applied to General Amherst, who sent them twelve hundred 1760. men, principally Highlanders, under General Montgomery. They, with the Carolinians, pressed forward, by forced marches, into the land of the Cherokees. Why give the details of desolated settlements? Village after village was destroyed, and fertile valleys laid waste. On the upper Savannah was the beautiful vale of Keowee, "the delight of the Cherokees." They had become so far civilized as to build comfortable houses, and to surround them with cultivated fields. Suddenly appeared the invaders. The great majority of the Indians, after an attempt at defence, fled, and from the distant mountain-tops saw the enemy burning their houses and destroying their crops. "I cannot help pitying them a little," writes Colonel Grant; "their villages are agreeably situated, their houses July. |