Loudon went to join admiral Holborn, who arrived in July, with a squadron of ships to attack Lewisburg, which had been restored to France by the peace of 1748. This plan also was defeated by the previous arrival of a strong squadron of French ships and a large land force. Lord London departed, and in the winter following, went to England; and the English fleet, after being shattered by a violent tempest in September, returned to England. In the mean time the French general, Montcalm, laid seige to fort Wil liam Henry on Lake George, and after a brave defense, without any prospect of relief, General Webb, the commanding officer surrendered. Thus the campaign of 1757 ended with disgrace to the British arms; while the French were gaining strength and multiplying their forts on the back of the colonies. These misfortunes were owing to bad management in the British councils, and the want of concert in the colonies, which were governed by different legisla tures, and could not be brought to act with union or energy.

390. Conquest of Cape Breton in 1758. In 1758, great efforts were made to subdue the French in America. Three armies were employed; one commanded by General Amherst, destined to take Lewisburg; one under General Abercrombie, to act against Crown Point; and a third under General Forbes, to drive the French from the Obio. A fleet under Admiral Boscawen, and twelve thousand men, under General Amherst, laid seige to Lewisburg; which after a vigorous resistance, surrendered. Three French

ships of the line were set on fire by bombs. and burnt in the harbor. Two others were boarded and taken, and forty cannon out of fifty two in the principal bas tions, were dismounted, before the besieged consented to capitulate. The inhabitants of the isle were sent to France, and the prisoners to England. Col. Rolls was then dispatched, with a body of troops, to St. Johns, which isle submitted to the arms of Eng,

land. After the conquest of Canada, in 1760, the fortifications of Lewisburg were utterly demolished and reduced to a heap of rubbish.

391. Defeat of General Aberbrombie. The French had erected a Fort at Ticonderoga, at the point of communication between Lake George, South Bay and Lake Champlain. To dispossess them of this important place and of Crown Point, was the object of General Abercrombie, with the main division of the forces, amounting to seven thousand British regulars, and ten thousand colonial troops. This army arrived near Ticonderoga, in July. After disembark ing from the batteaus, the troops had to march through woods, and the center column under Lord Howe, a young officer of great worth, met and defeated a detachment of the French forces, retreating from an out post; but this advantage was purchased by the loss of Lord Howe. The main body advanced and attacked the fort, but the French were so well protected by abbattis and a breast work eight feet high, that the British troops could not carry the works. After an action of four hours, during which the troops were exposed to a terrible fire, the general ordered a retreat, having lost eighteen hundred men, and returned to the camp at Lake George.

3.2. The taking of Fort Frontenac and Pittsburg. The il success at Ticonderoga was in part counter balanced, by the taking of fort Frontenac on the St. Lawrence, near lake Ontario, by a party of colonial troops under Col. Bradstreet. This fort was garrisoned by a hundred and ten men only; but contained a great number of cannon, mortars, military stores, provisions and goods. Nine armed vessels were also taken. The whole was effected without bloodshed, and the fort demolished. During these transactions General Forbes marched from Philadelphia, with a considerable body of troops, to attack the French fort, Duquesne. After passing the mountains, he detached Col. Bouquet, with two thousand men, to a posi

tion fifty miles in advance. This officer sent Major Grant forward with eight hundred men to reconnoiter the fort and country. The detachment met a superior French force, and was defeated with the loss of Major Grant, and three hundred men. But the French not willing to risk a seige, abandoned the fort, and retired down the Ohio. General Forbes took pos session and gave it the naine of Pittsburg, which the town since bilt continues to bear.

393. Operations of General Amherst. In 1759, the efforts of the British and Americans to reduce the French were more successful. General Amherst with the main army, crossed lake George, to lay seige to Ticonderoga; but the French abandoned that post and Crown Point. General Amherst took possession, repaired the fort at Ticonderoga, and leaving a strong garrison in it, proceeded to Crown Point, where he raised a new fort. Here he bilt a sloop of sixteen guns and a large boat for six guns, with a brig. With these and his bateaus he embarked to proceed down the lake, but he was baffled by tempestuous weather. The land forces were compelled to return, but the armed vessels proceeded and drove ashore three of the French vessels. General Amherst spent the winter in completing the fortifications at Crown Point, and in opening roads to the colonies.

394. Reduction of Niagara. During these transactions, general Prideanx laid seige to the French fort at Niagara, in the prosecution of which he was killed, and the command devolved on Sir William Johnson. This officer urged the seige, and defeated a party of troops, coming from Detroit to Venango, to the relief of the place. This success hastened the surrender of the fort, which capitulated the last week in July. This was a valuable acquisition, as well as the possession of Crown Point and Ticonderoga.

395. Victory of General Wolfe, and surrender of Quebec. The forces destined against Quebec were intrusted to General Wolfe, a young officer, who had

distinguished himself, the preceding year, at the seige of Lewisburg. The army, amounting to eight thousand men, landed on the isle of Orleans, below Quebec, in June. Quebec stands on a rock, at the confluence of Charles River and the St. Lawrence; it is naturally strong, and was well fortified and defended by a superior force under General Montcalm. General Wolfe had to contend with immense difficulties, and a detachment of his troops attacking the French entrenchments at the falls of Montmorenci, was repulsed with the loss of five hundred men. At length the British troops landed in the night and ascended a steep, craggy cliff, to an elevated place which commanded the town. This compelled the French to hazard a battle, which was fought on the 13th of September; in which General Wolfe was killed, and the French General, Montcalm, mortally wounded; but the French were defeated; and in a few days the town was surrendered to General Townsend upon capitulation.

396. Operations at Quebec in 1760. General Mur ray, with six thousand troops, was left to garrison Quebec. By means of the rigors of the climate, and a want of fresh provisions, one thousand of these men died, before spring, with the scurvy and two thousand were disabled from duty. Near the close of April, the French troops, which had been collected during the winter, to the number of ten thousand, attacked General Murray, and defeated his small army, with considerable loss. But General Murray retreated to the town, which he bravely defended, against superi· or numbers, until the arrival of a squadron of ships, and the destruction of the French ships in the river, induced the French commander, Vaudreuil, to aban don the seige.

397. Final reduction of Canada. Early in the sum mer of 1760, General Amherst put in motion his troops, with a view to attack Montreal, the last fortress of consequence retaining in the hands of the French. Advancing from Albany to the lake, he took the French fort at Isle Royal, and proceeded down the St. Lawrence to Montreal, where he was joined by General Murray from Quebec. While preparing to lay seige to the place, Vaudreuil, made offers of capitulation, which were accepted, and the town was surrendered on the 7th of September. A small French squadron, sent with provisions and stores to relieve the troops at Montreal, was destroyed by Captain Byron in the bay of Chaleurs. The inhab itants of Canada submitted and took the oath of allegiance to the British crown. Thus, after a century of wars, massacres, and destruction, committed by the savages, the colonies were secured from ferocious invaders, and Canada, with a valuable trade in furs, came under the British dominion.

398. Expedition of Col. Montgomery. While the troops were conquering Canada, the Cherokees, a powerful tribe of savages, were committing outrages on the frontiers of Virginia and Carolina. Governor