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1759]

CAPTURE OF QUEBEC.

179

next morning, after hav

ing written to the English commander, to solicit his clemency towards the French prisoners. A monument raised by the English, and generously inscribed with the names of both leaders, marks the scene of this great battle.

255. Montcalm, in his last hours, suggested to his successor the concen

[graphic][subsumed]

tration of the French forces, and a vigorous attack on the English before they should intrench themselves. But he left behind him no one able or willing to make the attempt. On the 17th of September, Quebec surrendered. The news was received with exultation throughout England and America. The remains of the French army assembled at Montreal. Early in the following year, they attempted to recapture Quebec; but, after gaining some advantages, they were obliged to retire before a British fleet sent by Pitt to the relief of the city.

256. On the 7th of September, 1760, Amherst, having united his forces to complete the reduction of New France, appeared before Montreal. The officer in command immediately surrendered not only the city itself, but the whole of Canada, together with Detroit and Mackinaw.

257. Meanwhile, difficulties had arisen in the south with the Cherokees [see Map, p. 10]. They had been faithful friends and allies of the English, and would have so continued had it not been for the course of Governor Lyttleton of South the scene of this great battle? 255. What suggestion was made by Montcalm to his successor? Why was it not acted on? When did Quebec surrender? How was the news received in England and America? Where did the remains of the French army assemble? What did they attempt, the next year? With what success did they meet? 256. What movement was made by Amherst in the fall of 1760 257. Meanwhile, where had difficulties arisen? [See Map, p. 10.-Where did the Cherokees live ?] How were these troubles occasioned? What was

Carolina. By unjustly imprisoning some of their chiefs, who had come at his own invitation to explain misunderstandings and ratify a firmer friendship, he excited the indignation of the outraged Red Men, and brought on an Indian war with all its horrors.

In April, 1760, Colonel Montgomery, with 1,900 men, among whom were those gallant sons of Carolina, Moultrie [mole'-tre] and Mar'-i-on, was sent against the Cherokees. After pillaging and burning a number of their villages, Montgomery was led into an ambuscade, by which twenty of his men were cut off, and he himself was so alarmed that he beat a precipitate retreat. Fort Loudoun, a frontier stronghold, which was besieged by the Indians but had held out in the hope of relief from Montgomery, soon capitulated. Twenty-three privates and four officers were killed, in retaliation for a similar number of murders by the English; and the rest, nearly two hundred in number, were distributed as slaves among the various tribes.

An anecdote illustrating the strength of Indian friendship is worthy of relation here. Among the prisoners taken at Fort Loudoun, was a trader named Stuart, to whom a chief called Little Carpenter was strongly attached. After giving all he possessed to ransom his friend, and finding there was still danger, the faithful Cherokee took Stuart into the woods as if for the purpose of hunting, and led him for nine days through mountain forests till he found Englishmen to whom he could deliver him in safety.

Montgomery had seen enough of Indian warfare; and, despite the remonstrances of the Carolinians, he set sail for the north, and thence for England. He afterwards had a seat in Parliament, where he showed himself an enemy to both liberty and America.

done in April, 1760? Give an account of Montgomery's expedition. What was the fate of Fort Loudoun and its garrison? What story is told, to illustrate the strength of Indian friendship? What was Montgomery's next movement? In what body did he afterwards appear?

1763]

PONTIAC'S WAR.

181

CHAPTER XXXIV.

PONTIAC'S WAR.

258. ENGLAND and France, having exhausted their resources, concluded a peace at Paris, February 10th, 1763. England had lost thousands of brave men, and added £50,000,000 to her national debt; but she had gained much in the new world. Nearly the whole of North America was now in her possession. Her sway extended from the frozen north to Florida, and from ocean to ocean.

up

their victories

259. When the English began to follow in Canada by taking possession of the French posts in the west, the Indians regarded them with aversion and alarm. These feelings were heightened by the injustice and contempt with which they were too often treated. At last Pontiac, a bold and eloquent Ottawa, who, with his northern braves, had contributed to the defeat of Braddock, effected in 1763 a union between his own people, the Chippeways, Miamis, Shawnees, Delawares, and other tribes, for the extermination of the English throughout the whole western country. The plot was kept secret, and no suspicion of danger was entertained. Trader, farmer, and soldier, had alike laid aside their arms, in the fond belief that war had ceased. Their security proved fatal. Prowling savages gathered round the forts and settlements. A simultaneous attack was made, and nine British garrisons were surprised in a single day. More than a hundred traders were massacred, and 20,000 persons in western Virginia were driven from their homes by fear of the scalping-knife.

260. At Mackinaw, a number of warriors united in an exciting game of ball, while the garrison lounged about wit

258. Where and when was peace made between England and France? What had England lost and gained by the war? 259. How did the western Indians feel towards the English? How was their dislike heightened? Who formed a combination for exterminating the English? In what year? Who was Pontiac ? [See Map, p. 10.-Where did the Ottawas live?] What was the state of things at the English posts? Give an account of the massacre. What took place in western Virginia? 260. What took place at Mackinaw? What, at Pittsburg? 261.

nessing the sport. Suddenly the commander was seized; a rush was made for the fort, where hatchets and other weapons had been concealed by treacherous squaws, and in an instant seventeen persons were cut down. The rest were made prisoners. The French traders alone escaped. Pittsburg was besieged, but saved by the timely arrival of aid.

261. Pontiac undertook the capture of Detroit in person. At this spot a flourishing settlement had grown up, consisting chiefly of French families, occupied in tilling the ground and trading with the surrounding Indians. To obtain entrance into the fort for himself and his warriors, the Ottawa chief suggested a council for "brightening the chain of friendship". Unsuspicious of treason, Major Gladwin, the commandant, agreed to his proposal. At a given signal the chiefs were to fall on him and his attendants, while a general attack was to be made by their confederates on such of the towns-people as might resist. Fortunately, the night before the intended massacre, an Indian woman brought Gladwin a pair of elk-skin moccasins, which she had made for him. Pleased with their appearance, the major ordered another pair; but the woman was unwilling to deceive him by prom*ising what she supposed could not be performed. Her hesitation attracted attention, and, on being questioned, she disclosed the plot. Accordingly, at the council Gladwin and his men were on their guard. Pontiac saw that his intended treachery was known, and durst not give the signal. He was allowed to depart with an indignant rebuke from the commander; and, the next day but one (May 9th, 1763), he returned the favor by laying siege to the fort.

For months the garrison suffered. Their provisions ran out, and their sentinels were in constant danger of being cut off by Indian cunning. It is said that the savages boiled and ate some of their victims. No quarter was shown on either side. But the Indians were unused to the

What place did Pontiac undertake to capture in person? What is said of Detroit? How did Pontiac obtain entrance into the fort? What treacherous plot had he laid? How was it defeated? What took place at the council? What was done May 9th, 1763? Give an account of the siege. Towards the close of

1763]

PROPOSALS OF PEACE ACCEPTED.

183

labor involved in a siege, and before the close of the summer Pontiac found his forces diminishing. Jealousies broke out among the different nations, and finally the desertion of all but his own tribe compelled the great emperor of the west to give up the undertaking. He had shown extraordinary ability in the management of the war, and had even established a bank, the first known among the aborigines. His notes, which were always punctually paid, consisted of pieces of bark containing the figure of what he wanted to buy, and the picture of an otter, which he had adopted as his hieroglyphic signature. No chief before him had possessed such influence with the western tribes, or succeeded so well in securing their united action.

262. The Indians were now for the most part tired of war, and willingly listened to the proposals of General Bradstreet, who had been sent to the west with 1,100 men, to attack them or treat with them, as might be required. In June, 1764, he made a treaty with twenty-two tribes at Niagara. The following August he reached Detroit, and concluded a peace with all the hostile nations except the Delawares and Shawnees. Pontiac, to avoid signing the treaty, retired to the hunting-grounds of the Illinois. There he attempted to raise another confederacy for the same purpose as before. He was at last stabbed at a council, amid a crowd of chieftains whom he was trying to excite to war, by a Peoria Indian in the interest of the English.

the summer, what did Pontiac find? What obliged him to raise the siege? How had it been conducted? Give an account of Pontiac's bank. 262. In 1764, who was sent to the west? For what purpose? How did the Indians feel? What was done at Niagara? What, at Detroit? How did Pontiac avoid signing the treaty? What became of him?

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