"As when the sun prepared for restHath gained the precincts of the West,Though his departing radiance failTo illuminate the hollow vale,A lingering light he fondly throwsOn the fair hills, where first he rose."
"As when the sun prepared for restHath gained the precincts of the West,Though his departing radiance failTo illuminate the hollow vale,A lingering light he fondly throwsOn the fair hills, where first he rose."
The shore is strangely silent; one hears only the occasional puffing of the white whale or the sad cry of the loon.
A thrilling diversion is that of running the rapids in the Murray River. The canoe is sent up bycharetteand after luncheon it is a walk or drive of eight or nine miles up the river to the starting point—a deep, dark-brown pool, which soon narrows into a swift rapid, the worst in all the stretches to the river's mouth. Formerly a procession of half a dozen canoes would go through the rapid with light hearts, but, long ago, when the river was very high, a canoe upset here and one of its occupants was never seen alive again. As one paddles out into the pool and is drawn into the dark current moving silently and swiftly to the rapid the heart certainly beats a little faster. The water's surface is an inclined plane as it flows over the ledge of rock. Straight ahead the current breaks on a huge black rock in a cloud ofwhite foam. One must sweep off to the right, with the great volume of the water, and need catch only a little spray in swinging safely past the danger point. Then, in the waves caused by the current, before the canoe is quite turned "head-on" a wave may curl over the bow and leave the occupants kneeling in half an inch of water. In such a case it is wise to land and empty the canoe. In the next rapid, a tangled maze, the water is shallow and skill is required to wind in and out among the rocks and find water enough to keep afloat. Then the canoe slips over a ledge with plenty of water and the only care is to curve sharply to the left with the current before it strikes the bank straight ahead. The whole trip down the river occupies two glorious hours. There are short stretches of smooth and deep water; then the river contracts and pours with impetuous swiftness down a rocky slope. Sometimes trees stand close to the river; then there are bare grey banks of clay; then smiling fields sloping gently up to the high land; at times the canoe is in shade, then in the flashing sunlight. The river grows milder as it nears its mouth but the excitement does not end until we float under the bridge at Malbaie village and lift the canoe over the boom fastened there to catch logs in their descent. To paddle home in calm water across the bay seems tame after dancing for two hours on that tossing current.
Of course there are many walks and drives—on the whole the most delightful of Malbaie's diversions. The favourite walk is to "Beulah." A generation that does not read its Bible as it should may need to be told that Beulah is the name of the land no more desolate in which the Lord delighteth; some Bible reader so named a spot on the mountain where one looks out far, far, afield in every direction for immense distances. It may be reached by a forest path straight up the mountain side from Pointe au Pic. We go through spruce and birch woods till we reach an opening where we look out northward on rounded mountain tops blue, silent, immeasurable, spreading away, one might almost fancy to the North Pole itself, so endless seems their mass. On beautiful turf through woods, then by a cow path across a bog, the path leads until a bare hill top lies full in view. This is Beulah. Standing there one seems to have the whole world at one's feet. When Petrarch had climbed Mount Ventoux, near Avignon, the first man for half a century to do so, the scene overwhelmed him; thoughts of the deeper meaning of life rose before his mind; he drew from his pocket St. Augustine and read: "Men go about to wonder at the height of the mountains and the mighty waves of the sea, and the wide sweep of rivers and the circuit of the ocean and the revolution of the stars, but themselves they consider not." I never stand on"Beulah" without thinking of this passage. Far away to the distant south shore, and up and down the river we can survey a stretch of eighty or ninety miles. We stand in the midst of a sea of mountains and look landward across deep valleys in all directions with the ranges rising tier on tier beyond.
The Golf Links at Murray BayThe Golf Links at Murray Bay
Among diversions for men golf, in spite of a certain reaction, has still the chief place. The club house is on the west shore of the bay. One plays out northward. The players zigzag here and there among curious earth mounds formed by the eddying swirl of water when the river's current held high carnival over these level stretches. Then the course leads up to the higher slope and mounts steadily, until, at the farthest hole, a considerable height has been reached. As one turns back towards the river he faces a wonder scene of changing grey and blue and green and white. The smoke of passing steamers floats lazily in the air; they take the deep channel by the south shore and are a dozen miles away. It is usually a silent world that one looks out upon; but when there is a north-east wind great green waves come rolling in upon the sandy shore of the bay and fill the air with their undertone.
Even the rainy days have their own pleasures. One is glad of its excuse to sit before a crackling fire of birch wood and read. When the rain has ceased and the sun comes out, looking across toCap à l'Aigle and up the river valley one sees new beauties. The mist disperses slowly. First it leaves bare the rounded mountain tops; they stand out dark, massive, with bases shrouded still in fleecy white. When the sun grows strong, river and valley are soon clear again, though the outlines are still a little softened. Up over the sand and boulders of the bay comes the rising tide changing sombre brown to shining blue. It rushes noisily across the bar at the bay's mouth a few hundred yards away.
The visitors to this beautiful scene gather year by year from places widely separated and form in this remote village a society singularly cosmopolitan. English, French, Americans, Canadians, all mingle here with leisure to meet and play together. For a time far away seems the hard world of competition. Rarely do newspapers arrive until at least the day after publication; the telegraph is used only under urgent necessity; as far as possible business is excluded. The cottages are spacious enough but quite simple, with rooms usually divided off only by boards of pine or spruce. Very little decoration makes them pretty. Gardening has a good many devotees; the long day of sunshine and in some seasons the abundant rain of this northern region help to make vegetation luxurious. If one drives he may take aplanche—the convenient serviceable "buck-board,"—still unsurpassed for a countryof hills and rough roads. But to me at least thecalècheis the more enjoyable. It comes here from old France, a two-wheeled vehicle, with the seat hung on stout leather straps reaching from front to back on each side of the wooden frame. It is not a vehicle for those sensitive to slight jars. The driver sits in a tiny seat in front and one is amazed at the agility with which even old men spring from this perch to walk up and down the steep hills. Their ponies are beautiful little animals, specially fitted by a long development for work in this hilly country. So well do they mount its heights that travellers repeat an unconfirmed tradition of their having been known to climb trees!
It is not strange that in our happy summer days we acquire a deep affection for this northern region, its brilliant colouring, its crisp air. Not its least charm is in the cheerful and kindly people. One would not have them speak any other tongue than their French, preserving here archaic usages, with new words for new things, influenced of course by English, but still the beautiful language of an older France than the France of to-day. The people have their own tragedies. One sees pale women, over-worked. The physician's skill is too little sought; the country ranges are very remote; it is difficult and expensive to get medical aid; and there are deformed cripples who might have been made whole by skill applied in time.Consumption too is here a dread scourge, though against it a strenuous campaign has now begun. Many children are born but too many die. Still, most of the people live in comfort and they enjoy life—enjoy it probably much more than would an Anglo-Saxon community of the same type.
We who are among them in the summer are citizens of another and an unknown world. New York and Chicago, Boston and Washington, Toronto and Montreal are to us realities with one or other of which, in some way, each of us is linked. To this simple people they are all merely that outer world whence come their fleeting visitors of summer, as out of the unknown come the migrant birds to pause and rest awhile. We bring with us substantial material benefits; but it is not clear that our moral influence is good. Leaving his farm the habitant brings to the village his horse and calèche to become a hiredcharretier. He often gets good fares but there is much idle waiting. Bad habits are formed and regular industry is discouraged. The curé finds Malbaie a difficult sphere. We alone get unmixed benefit from this fair scene, its days of glad serenity, and of almost solemn stillness, when even a bird's note is heard but rarely.
Because all that concerns it interests us I have tried to put together from scattered fragments the story long forgotten of the past of Malbaie. In it there is abundance of the tragedy neverremote from man's life: if the telling of the tale has been a pleasure it has proved not less a sad pleasure. But the story adds only a deeper meaning to our beautiful playground. After all it is man and his activities which give to nature's scenes their deepest interest; Quebec's chief charm is due to Wolfe and Montcalm, St. Helena's to Napoleon. The shaggy mountain crests which we view from our valley, the glistening blue river, the strong north-east wind which clouds the sky, turns the river to grey, and sprinkles its surface with white caps,—all are full for us of joyous beauty. But how much less of interest would there be did the white spire of the village church not peep out above the green trees up the bay to tell of man's weakness and his hopes! The story of the brave old soldier who peopled this valley, the pathetic tragedy of his successor's fate, add something here to the bloom of nature. It may be that the chief service of the chequered and half-forgotten past when it speaks is to show how vain and transient is all we think and plan,—"what shadows we are and what shadows we pursue." But be it so. One would not miss from life this last joy of knowing what it really means.
Chapter I.—For Jacques Cartier see his Voyages of 1535-36, in French (Ed. D'Avezac) Paris, 1863, translated into English (Ed. Baxter), New York, 1906. For Champlain see his Œuvres (Ed. Laverdière) Quebec, 1870. Bourdon's Act of Faith and Homage is in Canadian Archives, Series M., Vol. I, p. 387. M. B. Sulte gives an account of the Carignan Regiment in the Proc. and Trans. of the Royal Society of Canada for 1902. The account of the Sieur de Comporté in France is in Canadian Archives Series B., F., 213, p. 46; that of the auction sale of his property is in a MS. preserved at Murray Bay, while a record of the sale of Malbaie to the government is in Canadian Archives, Series M., Vol. LXV, p. 75. "The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents" (Ed. Thwaites) (Cleveland, 1900), Vol. LXIX., pp. 80sqq.contains the account of Malbaie in 1750. The authority for the burning of Malbaie in 1759 is Sir James M. Le Moine, "The Explorations of Jonathan Oldbuck," Quebec, 1889, based upon documents printed by "T.C." inL'Abeille, Nov. and Dec., 1859. Standard histories of the time such as Parkman's "Montcalm and Wolfe" give references to authorities for the events of the Seven Years' War.
Chapter II.—The "Dictionary of National Biography" contains good articles on Lord Lovat, General Murray, &c., with references to authorities. Alexander Mackenzie's "History of the Frasers of Lovat" (Inverness, 1896) is the most recent detailed history of the family. MacLean, "An Historical Account of the Settlement of Scotch Highlanders in America," (Cleveland, 1900), contains valuable information. The portion of the chapter relating to Malbaie is based upon MSS. preserved there in the Murray Bay Manor House.
Chapter III.—MS. material preserved at Murray Bay.
Chapter IV.—Much original material relating to the Siege of Quebec in 1775-76 has been published by the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. To be specially noted are the two volumes of documents on the "Blockade of Quebec in 1775-76 by the American Revolutionists, (Les Bostonnais)" Edited by F.C. Würtele (Quebec, 1905 and 1906). Two or three works have been written recently on the episode from the American point of view: Codman, "Arnold's Expedition to Quebec" (New York, 1901); Justin H. Smith, "Arnold's March from Cambridge to Quebec, a critical study, together with a reprint of Arnold's Journal," (New York, 1903); Justin H. Smith, "Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony," 2 Vols. (New York, 1907). The story of Nairne's part in the war is based chiefly upon MS. material preserved at Murray Bay. The incident of the escaped prisoners is told in Nairne's reports; to Captain Matthews, Secretary to Haldimand, on the 14th of May, 1780, and to Major Le Maistre, on the 5th of June. These are at Murray Bay. A further report to Matthews on the 3rd of June is preserved at Ottawa; Canadian Archives, Series B, Vol. 73, p. 130. Mr. James Thompson was in charge of the building of the houses for the prisoners and tells of their escape in his MS. Diary.
Chapter V.andChapter VI.are based upon MSS. at Murray Bay.
Chapter VII.—M. Léon Gérin has given an exhaustive analysis of the life of the habitant in "L'Habitant de Saint Justin," published in the Proc. and Trans, of the Royal Society of Canada for 1898 (Ottawa, 1898). M. J.-E. Roy's "Histoire de la Seigneurie de Lauzon," of which five volumes have been published (the last, Levis, Quebec, 1904) is the most detailed and authoritative account of a Canadian Seigniory. Vol. IV deals especially with the life of thehabitants. Philippe Aubert de Gaspé's "Les anciens Canadiens," (Quebec, 1863), and his "Mémoires" (Ottawa, 1866), contain much that is interesting on the life of a Canadian manor. So also do H.R. Casgrain's "Une Paroisse Canadienne au XVIIe Siècle," Œuvres Completes, Vol. I (Montreal, 1884), and Parkman's "The Old Régime in Canada," (Boston, 1893). W. Bennett Munro's "The Seigniorial System in Canada," (New York, 1907), and his "Documents relating to Seigniorial Tenure in Canada," (Toronto, 1908), cover adequately the whole subject, and contain, in addition, abundant references to further authorities. The "Mandements des Evêques de Québec," (Ed. Têtu and Gagnon), in six volumes, the first published in 1887, contain much of interest in regard to the attitude of the Church to the people. The Second Part of "The Report of the Commission charged with revising and consolidating the General Statutes of the Province of Quebec," (Quebec, 1907), outlines the legal aspects of the school and Church systems. M. André Seigfried's "Le Canada, Les Deux Races," (Paris, 1906), translated into English under the title of "The Race Question in Canada," (London, 1907), is a passionless analysis of religious and political thought in the Province of Quebec.
Chapter VIII.—The account of fishing at Murray Bay in 1830 is by Walter Henry; "Events of a Military Life," 2 Vols. (London, 1843). The chapter is based chiefly upon personal observation.
Malcolm Fraser was a young man of about twenty-six when he kept his diary of Wolfe's campaign against Quebec. It shows that already he had considerable powers of observation and very definite opinions. No doubt Fraser preserved a record of events in the campaign earlier than those of 1759; and it seems likely that the habit of recording his experiences would also have been kept up in later life. When, some time before 1860, were made the extracts from Fraser's Journal upon which the present notes are based, the original remained in the possession of his son the Hon. John Malcolm Fraser. The extracts were published by the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec in 1868 and have been used by Parkman and other historians, who usually, however, confuse Fraser with his commanding officer Colonel Simon Fraser. The extracts have long been out of print. I have not been able to trace the original MS. or any other Journal of Fraser, except a brief and quite valueless one preserved at Mount Murray. In one of his later letters, written fifty years after this Journal, Fraser speaks of his reluctance to handle the pen. But this did not keep him from writing in a beautiful round hand many long letters and making also copies for his own use.
Early in the spring of 1859 a great British fleet had arrived in America from England and a squadron under Admiral Holmes had gone to New York to embark the Highlanders and other regiments wintering there to proceed to Quebec. The place of rendezvous was Louisbourg. Fraser's Journal begins on May 8th, 1759, with the departure of the regiments from Sandy Hook, the fleet consisting of about twenty-eight sail. The Highlanders had taken part in the siege and capture of Louisbourg in the previous year but had gone to New York for the winter. On May 17th the fleet sailed into Louisbourg Harbour after "a very agreeable and quick passage" of nine days. Patches of snow lay still on the ground and on the 29th of May Louisbourg Harbour was so full of ice that boats could not pass from the ships to shore. "I suppose," says Fraser, "the ice comes from the Gulf and river of St. Lawrence," regions he was in time to be very familiar with. He hears that a Lieutenant has shot himself on one of the men of war "for fear I suppose the French should do it. If he was wearied of life, he might soon get out of it in a more honourable way."
On Monday, June 4th, after much bustle of preparation, the fleet set sail for Quebec. "I take it to consist of about 150 sail," says Fraser; so great was the array that to count the ships was almost impossible. They numbered in fact nearly 300, a huge force. On June 13th the fleet anchored at Bic in the St. Lawrence River. As they came up the river Fraser noted that the north shore was but little inhabited, a defect which, within a few years, he was himself to try to remedy in part. On June 23rd a whole division of the fleet anchored near Isle aux Coudres as Jacques Cartier had done more than two hundred years earlier.
Arrived before Quebec the Highlanders were sent to Point Levi where, on July 1st, they pitched their tents. The next day Fraser's company established itself in the Church of St. Joseph there. The Canadians were carrying on guerilla warfare, firing on the British from the woods and Fraser was shocked at the horrid practise of scalping. He writes on July 2nd:
"While we were out, I observed several dead bodies on the road, not far from our Camp; they were all scalped and mangled in a shocking manner. I dare say no human creature but an Indian or Canadian could be guilty of such inhumanity as to insult a dead body."
He was to see worse atrocities committed on his own side. On July 10th, still at Point Levi, he writes of the doings of a company of the colonial scouting force, the Rangers, commanded by Captain Gorham, who soon after desolated Malbaie.
"A party of our Rangers having been sent out on this side of the river (the south), on the 9th they took one man prisoner and two boys (his children) having followed him a little way, making a great noise, were in a most inhuman manner murdered by those worse than savage Rangers, for fear, as they pretend, they should be discovered by the noise of the children. I wish this story was not fact, but I'm afraid there is little reason to doubt it:—the wretches having boasted of it on their return, tho' they now pretend to vindicate themselves by the necessity they were under; but, I believe, this barbarous action proceeded from that cowardice and barbarity which seems so natural to a native of America, whether of Indian or European extraction. In other instances, those Rangers have hitherto been of some use, and showed in general a better spirit than usual. They are for the most part raised in New England."
On Friday, July 13th, the scene changed. Wolfe was planning an attack on Montcalm's camp and Fraser writes: "I was sent orderly officer to the Camp, at Montmorency, where I had an opportunity of seeing our own, and the French posts nigh the Fall. The river is fordable below the Fall at low water." On July 24th, 350 of the Highlanders under Col. Simon Fraser were sent down the river to bring in prisoners and cattle. The Highland leader metwith misfortune. On July 26th Fraser writes: "Lieut. Alexander Fraser, Junior, returned to camp from the detachment which marched with the Col. on the 24th. He brings news of the Colonel's having been wounded in the thigh, by an unlucky shot from a small party of Canadians who lay in ambush and fired on the detachment out of a bush, and then retired. In the evening, the Col. came to camp with Capt. McPherson, who was wounded by the same shot, and the ball lodged in his thigh; but it is thought neither of their wounds are (sic) dangerous. There was not another man of the detachment touched." Next day the rest of the detachment "returned with three women and one man prisoners, and above two hundred head of cattle."
On the following night July 28th, the French tried to destroy the British fleet by a fire ship. "This night the French sent down a large fire raft which they did not set fire to till they were fired on by some of the boats who are every night on the watch for them above the shipping. Our boats immediately grappled it, and tho' it burnt with great violence, they towed it past all the shipping without any damage." We know from other sources that one of the sailors engaged in dragging away the fireship likened it to having "hell-fire in tow."
Fraser records on Tuesday, July 31st, the disastrous attempt by the British to carry by a frontal attack Montcalm's entrenchments along the Beauport shore. The attack failed partly through the rashness of the Grenadiers who dashed forward prematurely. For this Wolfe rebuked them but he commended the cool steadiness of the Highlanders. Some 700 British casualties were the results of the attack. When the British drew off they left many of their men fallen on the shore. Fraser says: "I observed some men coming down from the trenches where some of our people lay killed; we imagined they were Indians who were sent to scalp them, after the whole had retreated."
At once after the disaster, the Highlanders were moved back to their old camp at Point Levi. Some idle days followed. But, on August 15th, a detachment which included Fraser was sent to the Island of Orleans. It was bent on the work of desolating the Canadian parishes, the people of which still persisted in warring on the British. On Thursday, August 16th, the detachment, consisting of about 170 officers and men, marched the length of the Island of Orleans and on the 17th it crossed to St. Joachim—the fertile flats lying almost under the shadow of Cap Tourmente: Fraser was drawing near to the Malbaie country. He writes: "Friday, 17th August.—Crossed from the Isle of Orleans to St. Joachim. Before we landed we observed some men walking along the fences, as if they intended to oppose us and on our march up to the Church of St. Joachim, we were fired on by some party's of the Enemy from behind the houses and fences, but upon our advancing they betook themselves to the woods, from whence they continued popping at us, till towards evening, when they thought proper to retire, and we kept possession of the Priest's house, which we set about fortifying in the best manner we could." They remained quietly at St. Joachim for some days. But they were getting ready for the grim task of desolating the parishes lying between St. Joachim and Montmorency. Fraser tells the story with soldier-like brevity, but obviously he hated the work.
"Thursday, 23rd.—We were reinforced by a party of about one hundred and forty Light Infantry, and a Company of Rangers, under the command of Captain Montgomery of Kennedy's or forty-third Regiment, who likewise took the command of our detachment, and we all marched to attack the village to the west of St. Joachim, which was occupied by a party of the enemy to the number of about two hundred, as we supposed, Canadians and Indians. When we came pretty near the village, they firedon us from the houses pretty smartly; we were ordered to lie behind the fences till the Rangers, who were detached to attack the Enemy from the woods, began firing on their left flank, when we advanc^d briskly without great order; and the French abandoned the houses and endeavoured to get into the woods, our men pursuing close at their heels. There were several of the enemy killed, and wounded, and a few prisoners taken, all of whom the barbarous Captain Montgomery, who commanded us, ordered to be butchered in a most inhuman and cruel manner; particularly two, who I sent prisoners by a sergeant, after giving them quarter, and engaging that they should not be killed, were one shot, and the other knocked down with a Tomahawk (a little hatchet) and both scalped in my absence, by the rascally sergeant neglecting to acquaint Montgomery that I wanted them saved, as he, Montgomery, pretended when I questioned him about it; but even that was no excuse for such an unparalleled piece of barbarity. However, as the affair could not be remedied, I was obliged to let it drop. After this skirmish we set about burning the houses with great success, setting all in flames till we came to the church of St. Anne's, [the now famous shrine of St. Anne de Beaupré], where we put up for this night, and were joined by Captain Ross, with about one hundred and twenty men of his company.
"Friday, 24th August.—Began to march and burn as yesterday, till we came to Ange Gardien where our detachment and Captain Ross, who had been posted for some days at Chateau Richer, joined Colonel Murray with the three companies of Grenadiers of the 22nd, 40th and 45th Regiments, where we are posted in four houses which we have fortified so as to be able, we hope, to stand any attack which we can expect with small arms.
"Saturday, 25th.—Busy felling the fruit trees, and cutting the wheat to clear round us.
"Sunday, 26th.—The same.
"Monday, 27th August.—I hear Brigadier Murray has returned with his detachment, having had all the success expected of the detachment. We received orders to march to-morrow to Chateau Richer. Some men were observed skulking in the corn, round the houses we possessed; upon which, some of our people fired from one of the houses, when the whole took the alarm and continued firing from the windows and loopholes for about ten minutes. For my own part I can't say I could observe any of the Enemy, but as we had one man killed, and most of the men affirmed they saw men in the Corn, I can't doubt but there were a few of the Enemy near us."
So the record goes on. On August 30th the detachment was busy fortifying itself in the Church at Château Richer near Quebec. On the next day orders came to burn the houses there but not the church and return at once to Montmorency. At Ange Gardien, on the way, General Murray, after whom Murray Bay is named, joined them with his detachment. As they marched along the force burned all the houses and was soon back in camp at Montmorency. They had left a trail black with desolation between that point and Cap Tourmente. Captain Gorham completed the tale of woe by destroying Baie St. Paul and Malbaie. Hardly a house was left between Montmorency and the Saguenay.
But all this was only side-play. The crisis of the campaign was now near. On September 3rd Wolfe abandoned the camp at Montmorency. Fraser writes: "The Army at Montmorency decamped this day, and crossed to the Island of Orleans, and from thence to Point Levy, without molestation from the French, tho' they must have known some time ago that we intended to abandon that post."
Wolfe was now massing as many troops as possible above Quebec on the south side of the river. On September 6th, 600 of the Highlanders, together with the 15th and the 43rd, marched six miles above Point Levi and there embarked on board the ships. Fraser says: "We are much crowded; the ship I am in has about six hundred on board, being only about two hundred and fifty tons." On the 7th and 8th it rained and the men must have been very uncomfortable in their narrow quarters. For some days still they remained in this condition. Meanwhile were issued to the men careful instructions as to what they should do. The army was to drop down the river in small boats, and to attempt to make a landing on the north shore.
On the evening of September 12th came the final effort so carefully planned. "About nine o'clock, the night of the 12th, we went into the Boats as ordered." Fraser says that a shore battery began to fire on the British boats about 4.0 A.M. before they landed and that the landing at the Foulon to climb to the Heights was made at daybreak.
"Thursday, 13th September, 1759.—The Light Infantry under the command of Colonel Howe, immediately landed and mounted the hill. We were fired on in the Boats by the Enemy who killed and wounded a few. In a short time, the whole army was landed at a place called 'Le Foulon,' (now Wolfe's Cove) about a mile and a half above the Town of Quebec, and immediately followed the Light Infantry up the hill. There was a few tents and a Picket of the French on the top of the hill whom the Light Infantry engaged, and took some of their Officers and men prisoners. The main body of our Army soon got to the upper ground after climbing a hill or rather a precipice, of about three hundred yards, very steep and covered with wood and brush. We had several skirmishes with theCanadians and Savages, till about ten o'clock, when the army was formed in line of battle, having the great River St. Lawrence on the right with the precipice which we mounted in the morning; on the left, a few houses, and at some distance the low ground and wood above the General Hospital with the River St. Charles; in front, the Town of Quebec, about a mile distant; in the rear, a wood occupied by the Light Infantry ... and the third Battalion of the Royal Americans.... The Army was ordered to march on slowly in line of battle, and halt several times, till about half an hour after ten, when the French began to appear in great numbers on the rising ground between us and the Town, and [they] having advanced several parties to skirmish with us, we did the like. They then got two Iron field pieces to play against our line. Before eleven o'clock, we got one brass field piece up the Hill, which being placed in the proper interval began to play very smartly on the Enemy while forming on the little eminence. Their advanced parties continued to annoy us and wounded a great many men. About this time, we observed the Enemy formed, having a bush of short brush wood on their right, which straitened them in room, and obliged them to form in columns. About eleven o'clock, the French Army advanced in columns till they had got past the bush of wood into the plain, when they endeavoured to form in line of Battle, but being much galled by our Artillery, which consisted of only one field piece, very well served, we observed them in some confusion. However they advanced at a brisk pace till within about thirty or forty yards of our front, when they gave us their first fire, which did little execution. We returned it, and continued firing very hot for about six, or (as some say) eight minutes, when the fire slackening, and the smoke of the powder vanishing, we observed the main body of the Enemy retreating in great confusion towards the Town, and the rest towardsthe River St. Charles. Our Regiment were then ordered by Brigadier General Murray to draw their swords and pursue them, which I dare say increased their panic but saved many of their lives, whereas if the artillery had been allowed to play, and the army advanced regularly there would have been many more of the Enemy killed and wounded, as we never came up with the main body. In advancing, we passed over a great many dead and wounded, (french regulars mostly) lying in the front of our Regiment, who,—I mean the Highlanders,—to do them justice, behaved extremely well all day, as did the whole of the army. After pursuing the French to the very gates of the Town, our Regiment was ordered to form fronting the Town, on the ground whereon the French formed first. At this time the rest of the Army came up in good order. General Murray having then put himself at the head of our Regiment, ordered them to face to the left and march thro' the bush of wood, towards the General Hospital, when they got a great gun or two to play upon us from the Town, which however did no damage, but we had a few men killed and Officers wounded by some skulking fellows with small arms, from the bushes and behind the houses in the suburbs of St. Louis and St. John's. After marching a short way through the bush, Brigadier Murray thought proper to order us to return again to the high road leading from Porte St. Louis, to the heights of Abraham, where the battle was fought, and after marching till we got clear of the bushes, we were ordered to turn to the right, and go along the edge of them towards the bank, at the descent between us and the General Hospital, under which we understood there was a body of the Enemy who no sooner saw us than they began firing on us from the bushes and from the bank; we soon dispossessed them from the bushes and from thence kept firing for about a quarter of an hour on those under cover of the bank; but as they exceeded us greatly in numbers, they killed and wounded a great many of our men, and killed two Officers, which obliged us to retire a little, and form again, when the 58th Regiment with the 2nd Battalion of Royal Americans having come up to our assistance, all three making about five hundred men, advanced against the Enemy and drove them first down to the great meadow between the Hospital and town and afterwards over the River St. Charles. It was at this time and while in the bushes that our Regiment suffered most: Lieutenant Roderick, Mr. Neill of Bana, and Alexander McDonell, and John McDonell, and John McPherson, volunteer, with many of our men, were killed before we were reinforced; and Captain Thomas Ross having gone down with about one hundred men of the 3rd Regiment to the meadow, after the Enemy, when they were out of reach, ordered me up to desire those on the height would wait till he would come up and join them, which I did, but before Mr. Ross could get up, he unfortunately was mortally wounded in the body, by a cannon ball from the hulks, in the mouth of the River St. Charles, of which he died in great torment, but with great resolution, in about two hours thereafter.
"In the afternoon, Mons. Bougainville, with the French Grenadiers and some Canadians, to the number of two thousand who had been detached to oppose our landing at Cap Rouge, appeared between our rear and the village St. Foy, formed in a line as if he intended to attack us; but the 48th Regiment with the Light Infantry and 3rd Battalion Royal Americans being ordered against him, with some field pieces, they fired a few cannon shot at him when he thought proper to retire.
"Thus ended the battle of Quebec, the first regular engagement that we ... fought in North America, which has made the king of Great Britain master of the capital of Canada, and it is hoped ere long will be the means of subjecting the whole country to the British Dominion; and if so, this has been a greater acquisition to the British Empire than all that England has acquired by Conquest since it was a nation, if I may except the conquest of Ireland, in the reign of Henry the 2nd.
"The Enemy's numbers I have never been able to get an exact account of. We imagined them seven or eight thousand: this has been disputed since. However, I am certain they were greatly superior to us in numbers, as their line was equal to ours in length, tho' they were in some places nine deep, whereas ours was no more than three deep. Add to this, their advanced parties and those in the bushes, on all hands, I think they must exceed five thousand.
"Our strength at the utmost did not exceed the thousand men in the line, exclusive of the 15th Regiment and 2nd Battalion Royal Americans, who were drawn up on our left, fronting the River St. Charles, with the 3rd Battalion Royal Americans and Light Infantry in the rear, and the 48th Regiment, who were drawn up between our main body and the Light Infantry as a Corps of Reserve. So that I am pretty certain our numbers did not exceed four thousand men, the Regiments being very weak, most of them under three hundred men each.
"We had only about five hundred men of our Army killed and wounded, but we suffered an irreparable loss in the death of our commander the brave Major General James Wolfe, who was killed in the beginning of the general action; we had the good fortune not to hear of it till all was over.
"The French were supposed to have about one thousand men killed and wounded, of whom five hundred killed during the whole day, and amongst these Monsieur le Lieutenant Général Montcalm, the commander in chief of the French Army in Canada, one Brigadier General, one Colonel and several other Officers. I imagined there hadbeen many more killed and wounded on both sides, as there was a heavy fire for some minutes, especially from us.
"We had of our Regiment three officers killed and ten wounded, one of whom Captain Simon Fraser, afterwards died. Lieutenant Archibald Campbell was thought to have been mortally wounded, but to the surprise of most people recovered; Captain John McDonell thro' both thighs; Lieut. Ronald McDonell thro' the knee; Lieutenant Alexander Campbell thro' the leg; Lieutenant Douglas thro' the arm, who died of this wound soon afterwards; Ensign Gregorson, Ensign McKenzie and Lieutenant Alexander Fraser, all slightly. I received a contusion in the right shoulder or rather breast, before the action became general, which pained me a good deal, but it did not disable me from my duty then, or afterwards.
"The detachment of our Regiment consisted, at our marching from Point Levi, of six hundred men, besides commissioned and non-commissioned Officers; but of these, two Officers and about sixty men were left on board for want of boats, and an Officer and about thirty men left at the landing place; besides a few left sick on board, so that we had about five hundred men in the action. We suffered in men and Officers more than any three Regiments in the field. We were commanded by Captain John Campbell; the Colonel and Captain McPherson having been unfortunately wounded on the 25th July, of which they were not yet fully recovered.
"We lay on our Arms all the night of the 13th September.
"Friday, 14th September.—We got ashore our tents and encamped our Regiment on the ground where they fought the battle yesterday. He[re] we are within reach of the guns of the town.
"Saturday, 15th September.—We were ordered to move our Camp nigh the wood, at a greater distance from the Town. We are making advanced redoubts within five hundred yards of the town."
Such is Fraser's account of the struggle on the Plains of Abraham and of the conduct of the Highlanders in their first pitched battle in North America. The resolute preparations to attack Quebec produced their effect. On September 18th the fortress surrendered. A little later the army broke up the camp outside the walls and marched into the town. The outlook was certainly not cheerful: "Most of the houses are destroyed and we have but a very dismal prospect for seven or eight months, as fresh provisions are very scarce, and every other thing exorbitantly dear." A little later the fleet sailed away and General Murray with a small force was left in a hostile country to hold Quebec through a long and bitterly cold winter. He established two out-posts, one at Ste. Foy, the other at Lorette, and then the army bent all its energies to meet the foes, cold, disease and the French. Fighting the cold was terrible work. Fraser writes:
"December 1st.—The Governor ordered two weeks wood to be issued to the Garrison. It is thought we shall have a great deal of difficulty in supplying ourselves with fuel this winter. The winter is now very severe.
"December 20th.—The winter is become almost insupportably cold. The men are notwithstanding obliged to drag all the wood used in the Garrison on sledges from St. Foy, about four miles distance. This is a very severe duty; the poor fellows do it however with great spirit, tho' several of them have already lost the use of their fingers and toes by the incredible severity of the frost, and the country people tell us it is not yet at the worst. Some men on sentry have been deprived of speech and sensation in a few minutes, but hitherto, no person has lost his life, ascare is taken to relieve them every half hour or oftener when the weather is very severe. The Garrison in general are but indifferently cloathed, but our regiment in particular is in a pitiful situation having no breeches, and the Philibeg is not all calculated for this terrible climate. Colonel Fraser is doing all in his power to provide trowsers for them, and we hope soon to be on a footing with other Regiments in that respect.
"January, 1760.—Nothing remarkable during this month. The duty is very severe on the poor men; we mount every day a guard of about one hundred men, and the whole off duty with a subaltern officer from each Regiment are employed in dragging fire wood; tho' the weather is such that they are obliged to have all covered but their eyes, and nothing but the last necessity obliged any men to go out of doors."
Early in February the St. Lawrence froze over. On February 13th the British established a force in the Church at St. Joseph at Point Levi but it was attacked by the French and then, on February 24th, Murray sent a rescue party. The Highlanders and the 28th went across on the ice and nearly intercepted the retreat of the French force, which was driven off. The kilted Highlanders marching on the ice in the bitter winter weather make an interesting picture. But by this time, no doubt, they were not bare-legged!
Towards the end of March there was much illness and Fraser writes: "The Scurvy, occasioned by salt provisions and cold, has begun to make fierce havock in the garrison, and it becomes every day more general. In short, I believe there is scarce a man of the Army entirely free from it." On the 24th of April he writes again: "Great havock amongst the Garrison occasioned by the Scurvy, &c.; this is the more alarming, as the General seems certain that the French are preparing to come and attack the place, and will he says, be here in a very few days."
Of the garrison of 5653 no less than 2312 were on the sick list, when, on the 26th, came the great crisis of the defence of Quebec:
"On the night of the 26th April, a man of the French army who, with some others had been cast away in a boat that night, came down the river on a piece of ice, and being taken up next morning at the Town, gave the General information that the chevalier de Levi [Lévis] was within twenty miles of us, with an army of about twelve thousand men, made up of regulars, Canadians and savages.
"27th April, 1760.—The Governor marched out, with the Grenadiers and Piquets of the garrison, to support the Light Infantry which had taken post some days before near Cap Rouge. By the time he got out, the vanguard of the French army appeared; upon which, he thought it adviseable to withdraw the Light Infantry, and all the other outposts, and retire to Town; and for that purpose he sent orders to the 28th, 47th and 58th and Colonel Fraser's Regiment to march out to St. Foy and cover his retreat; the 35th Regiment, 2nd Battalion Royal Americans having been detached in the morning to prevent the enemy, in case they attempted to land at Sillery or any other place near the Town. The retreat was accordingly effected without any loss, tho' the enemy were so nigh as to skirmish with our rear till we got within half a league of the Ramparts.
"On the 28th April, 1760, about eight o'clock in the morning, the whole Garrison, exclusive of the Guards, was drawn up on the parade, and about nine o'clock we marched out of Town with twenty pieces of Field Artillery, that is, two to each Regiment. The men were likewise ordered to carry a pick axe or spade each. When we had marched a little way out of Town, we saw the advanced parties of the Enemy nigh the woods, about half a league distant from us. When we were about three-quarters of a mile out of Town,the General ordered the whole to draw up in line of Battle, two deep, and take up as much room as possible. Soon thereafter, he ordered the men to throw down the intrenching tools, and the whole Army to advance slowly, dressing by the right, having drawn up the 35th Regiment and 3rd Battalion Royal Americans in our rear as a corps of reserve, with one hundred men (in a redoubt which was begun by us a few days preceding) to cover our retreat in case of necessity. In this order, we advanced, about one hundred paces, when the canonading began on our side, and we observed the French advanced parties retiring, and their main body forming in order of Battle at the edge of the wood, about three hundred paces distant we continued canonading and advancing for some minutes. The enemy, on their side, played against the left of our army, where our Regiment happened to be, with two pieces of cannon and killed and wounded us some men. The affair begun now to turn serious, when the General ordered the Light Infantry, who were posted on the right of our army, to attack five companies of French Grenadiers who they obliged to retire, but they being supported by a large column of the enemy, the Light Infantry were in their turn obliged to give way, which they doing along the front of our line on the right (as I am told) hindered our men on the right from firing for some minutes which gave the enemy full time to form. On the left, matters were in a worse situation. The company of Volunteers of the garrison, commanded by Captain Donald McDonald of our Regiment, and Captain Hazen's company of Rangers who covered the left flank of our army having been almost entirely destroyed, were obliged to give way; by this means the left of the 28th Regiment was exposed, and this obliged them to give ground after an obstinate resistance; Colonel Fraser's Regiment was next them to the right, and being in danger of being surrounded, and at the same time extremely galled by a fire from the Bushes in front and flank, were under a necessity of falling back instantly, when Colonel Fraser who commanded the Left Brigade consisting of the 28th, 47th and his own Regiment, sent orders to the 47th to retire; they were drawn up with a small rising ground in their front, which till then covered them pretty much from the enemy's fire, but as most of the Regiment to the right, as well as the two Regiments to the left of them, had by this time retired, it was absolutely necessary for the 47th to quit that ground, otherwise they must inevitably have been surrounded in a few minutes. Most of the Regiments attempted to carry off their artillery, but the ground was so bad with wreaths of snow in the hollows, that they were obliged to abandon them, after nailing them up, as well as the intrenching tools. Every Regiment made the best of their way to Town, but retired however in such a manner that the enemy did not think proper to pursue very briskly, otherwise they must have killed or made prisoners many more than they did. Our loss was about three hundred killed, and about seven hundred wounded, and a few Officers and men made prisoners. We had about three thousand in the field, one-third of whom had that very day, come voluntarily out of the Hospitals; of these, about five hundred were employed in dragging the cannon, and five hundred more in reserve, so that we could have no more than two thousand in the line of battle, whereas the enemy must have had at least four times as many, beside a large body in reserve, and notwithstanding their great superiority we suffered very little in the retreat; some Regiments attempted to rally, but it was impossible to form in any sort of order with the whole, till we got within the walls.
"Our Regiment had about four hundred men in the field near one half of whom had that day come out of the Hospital, out of their own accord. We had about sixty killedand forty wounded, and of thirty-nine officers, Captain Donald McDonald who commanded the volunteer company of the army, and Lieutenant Cosmo Gordon who commanded the Light Infantry company of our Regiment, were both killed in the field; Lieutenant Hector McDonald and Ensign Malcolm Fraser died of their wounds, all very much regretted by every one who knew them. We had twenty-three more Officers wounded; of this number was Colonel [Simon] Fraser, who commanded the left wing of the army, and it was with great pleasure we observed his behaviour during the action, when he gave his orders with great coolness and deliberation. He was touched at two different times; the first took him in the right breast but having his cartouche box slung, it luckily struck against the star of it and did not penetrate tho', otherways, must infallibly have done his business. The second, he got in the retreat, but striking against the cue of his hair, he received no other damage than a stiffness in his neck for some days. [Fraser then adds this tribute to Lord Lovat's son:] Here I cannot help observing that if any unlucky accident had befallen our Colonel, not only his Regiment must have suffered an irreparable loss, but I think I can, without any partiality say, it would be a loss to his Country. His behaviour this winter in particular to his Regiment has been such, as to make him not only esteemed by them, but by the Garrison in general. Captain Alexander Fraser of our Regiment, was wounded in the right temple, and thought very dangerous, the rest are mostly flesh wounds. I received a musket ball in the right groin, which was thought dangerous for three or four days, as the ball was supposed to be lodged, but whether it has wrought out in walking into Town, or did not penetrate far enough at first to lodge, or is still in, I cannot say, but in twenty days I was entirely cured, and the wound which was at first but small was entirely closed up.
"When we marched out, we thought the General did not intend to give the French battle; and as he ordered the Army to carry out intrenching tools, we thought he meant to throw up works on the rising ground, before the Town, if the Enemy should not choose to attack him that day; but, it seems he changed his mind on seeing their situation, which gave him all the advantage he could desire with such an inferior Army and where, if the Enemy ventured to attack him, he could use his Artillery, on which was his chief dependence, to the best purpose: having a rising ground, whereon he might form his Army and plant his Cannon, so as to play on the Enemy as they advanced for about four hundred or five hundred yards, with round shot, and when they came within a proper distance the grape shot must have cut them to pieces. However, it seems he observed the enemy, some formed at the edge of the wood, some forming, and the rest marching from St. Foy. The bait was too tempting, and his passion for glory getting the better of his reason he ordered the Army to march and attack the enemy, as he thought, before they could form, in a situation the most desired by them and ought to be avoided by us, as the Canadians and Savages could be used against us to the greatest advantage in their beloved (if I may say element) woods. It would give me great pleasure to relate something more to the advantage of this gentleman who is, in many respects, possessed of several virtues, and particularly all the military ones, except prudence, and entirely free of all mercenary principles; but, as his conduct on this occasion is universally condemned by all those who are not immediately dependent on him, truth obliges me to state matters as I believe, they really stood; more especially as it is not said he advised with any of those who had a right to be consulted before such a step should be taken. Nay, it is said: that the preceding night, at a meeting with the different Commandants of the Corps, he declared his intention of fortifying himself on the heights and not to attack the Enemy, unless he should be forced to it, which we were persuaded of by his orders to carry out intrenching tools. We had very little chance of beating an Army four times our number [an exaggeration: they were not twice as numerous] in a situation where we could scarce act; and if the Enemy had made a proper use of their advantage, the consequences must have proved fatal to us, as they might have got betwixt us and the Town, cut off our retreat, and by that means ruined us to all intents." [It will hardly be denied that the young officer is rather severe upon his future friend and patron, General Murray.]
"Our situation became now extremely critical: we were beat in the field, by an army greatly superior in numbers, and obliged to rely on what defence we could make within the walls of Quebec, which were hitherto reckoned of very little consequence against a superior army.
"The French that very night after the Battle opened trenches within six hundred yards of the walls, and went on next, 29th April, with their works pretty briskly. For the first two days after the battle there was very little done by us; and on the 1st of May, the largest of our block houses (small square redoubts of Logs musquet proof) was blown up by accident, and Captain Cameron of our Regiment and a subaltern of the 48th with several men, dangerously burnt and bruised. On the 3rd day after the battle, the General set about to strengthen or (I may say) fortify the Town, and the men worked with the greatest alacrity. In a few days there were about one hundred additional guns mounted, with which our people kept an incessant fire on the enemy, and retarded their works very much.
"On the 9th May, the Leostaff Frigate, Captain Dean, arrived from England, and brought us news from thence,and informed us that there was a squadron in the River, which might be expected every tide to our assistance. This added greatly to the spirits of the Garrison, and our works were carried on briskly. The General seemed resolved from the first to defend the place to the last. This, nobody doubted, and every one seemed to forget their late misfortune, and to place entire confidence in the General's conduct, which all must acknowledge very resolute, when reduced almost to an extremity.
"On the 11th May, the French opened two Batteries mounting thirteen guns, and one or two mortars. Their heavy metal consisted of one twenty-four and two eighteen pounders, the rest were all light. They did not seem to confine their fire entirely to any particular part of the Walls, otherwise I believe they might in time have made a breach, and their fire was not very smart. We were masters of a much superior fire, and annoyed the besiegers at their batteries very much. Their fire became every day more and more faint, and it was generally believed they intended to raise the seige.
"On the 16th May, in the evening the Vanguard, commodore Swanton, and Diana Frigate, Captain Schomberg, arrived from England, and next morning, 17th May, 1760, they and the Leostaff attacked the two French Frigates that lay at anchor in the Bay, above Cape Diamond; which when they first observed, they made as if they intended to engage, but on our ships approaching nearer, they set sail up the river; but one of them ran ashore immediately, and our Frigates soon got up with theirs, and obliged them also to run aground and thereafter destroyed them. One ship however escaped out of their reach, and unluckily, the Leostaff, after all was over, ran on a rock, sunk and was entirely lost.
"That very night several deserters came into the Town, and informed that most part of the French army hadmarched, the Trenches being guarded by their Grenadiers only. About twelve o'clock at night, the General sent out a party who found the Trenches entirely abandoned and next morning, 18th May, 1760, we found ourselves entirely freed of very disagreeable neighbours, having left behind all their artillery, with a great part of their ammunition, Camp equipage and baggage. What made them retreat with such precipitation we could not guess; but, it seems they were seized with a panic. It appears they allowed the savages to scalp all the killed and most part of the wounded, as we found a great many scalps on the bushes.
"I have been since informed by Lieutenant McGregor, of our Regiment, who was left on the field wounded, and narrowly escaped being killed, having received two stabs of a bayonet from two French Regulars, that he saw the savages murdering the wounded and scalping them on all sides, and expected every moment to share the same fate, but was saved by a French Officer, who luckily spoke a little English."
Thus ends Fraser's narrative of the two sieges of Quebec. He served in the third siege, that of 1775-76, and was still alive in 1812-15 to give counsel when Quebec was again menaced by the Americans.
By the Honourable James Murray, Esquire, Governor of Quebec, &c.
Whereas it is a national advantage and tends to promote the cultivation of lands within the province to encourage His Majesty's natural-born subjects settling within the same:
For these purposes, and in consideration of the faithful services rendered by John Nairne, Esquire, Captain in the 78th Regiment of Foot, unto His Majesty, I do hereby give, grant, and concede unto the said Captain John Nairne, his heirs, executors, and administrators for ever, all that extent of land lying on the north side of the river St. Lawrence from the Cap aux Oyes, limit of the parish of Eboulemens, to the south side of the river of Malbaie, and for three leagues back, to be known hereafter, at the special request of said John Nairne, by the name of Murray's Bay; firmly to hold the same to himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators for ever, or until His Majesty's pleasure is further known, for and in consideration of the possessor's paying liege homage to His Majesty, his heirs and successors, at his castle of St. Lewis in Quebec on each mutation of property, and, by way of acknowledgment, a piece of gold of the value of ten shillings, with one year's rent of the domain reserved, as customary in this country, together with the woods and rivers, or other appurtenances within the said extent, right of fishing or fowling on the same therein included without hindrance or molestation; all kind of traffic with the Indians of the back country hereby specially excepted.
Given under my hand and seal at Quebec, this 27th day of April, 1762.
(Signed)Jas. Murray.
Quebec, 14th May, 1776.
The New England rebels were very successful on their first arrival in this Province having got most of the Canadians in their interest. They took the two Regiments (which were all the regular troops in the Province) prisoners, made themselves masters of the Town of Montreal and all the Forts and the whole open country. Flushed with this success they came before our Capital (Quebec) where their main army was joined by a reinforcement of six hundred men who had marched straight through the Woods from Boston where scarcely any body had ever passed before and thought utterly impracticable for a body of men. The suburbs about Quebec which were extensive (now in ruins) were not all destroyed at the first arrival of the enemy so that in two places they annoyed us with their Riflemen though they only killed a very few. They also (though in the Winter) got a Battery of five guns against the Town but [it] was silenced by a superior fire from our Ramparts. They also bombarded the Town in the night with small shell till the 31st December when about two hours before day they made a general attack with their whole force upon the Ramparts, their two principal attacks being against the two extremitys of the low Town. Their General (Montgomery) an Irish gentleman who had been a Captain in our army possessing extraordinary qualifications fitting him for such a Command led the attack against a very strong post in the low town. Our Cannon (six pieces) loaded with grape shot, did not begin to fire till the enemy was within the distance of twenty yards, which with the musketry of the guard at the same time made terrible havoc. Their General withfour of his officers lay slain in one heap within twenty and others within ten yards of our fortifications by which that attack was wholly frustrated and all that part of their army retired in confusion. The attack upon the other extremity of the low Town was made with six hundred men. At first they had success though that turned out at last to their ruin. They forced our advanced post where we had four pieces of cannon, afterward got possession of another barrier and forced their way through a narrow street to the last barrier, which if they had gained they would have been in the low Town. At the same time the Governor ordered a sally out at a Gate they had passed to follow their track in the snow (that was then deep) and fall upon them behind. That we should open a Gate and attack them when attacked ourselves was a thing very unexpected so that finding they were stopped at the last barrier and thus attacked behind they were obliged to take shelter in the houses of the narrow street and at last gave themselves up prisoners to the number of about four hundred and fifty amongst whom were thirty-two officers of all ranks from Colonels to Ensigns. The morning of the attack I happened to have the Piquet and guessing by the flashes in the air (in the dark) that it was musketry at the other side of the town, tho' we heard no report, had the Piquet drawn out upon the Ramparts at our alarm post, before the firing came round that length, which it soon did and we fired away upon these people as they passed along that way, which they were obliged to do to get to the low Town. About break of day Major Caldwell came round with some men, and took me with part of the Piquet along with him to the low Town. When we got there the enemy had got on as far as the inner Barrier and [had] a Ladder on both sides of it. There the Battle raged till the Enemy falling back got into Houses. Some time after the Sorti coming behind them put an end to the affair.It was the first time I ever happened to be so closely engaged as we were obliged to push our bayonets. It is certainly a disagreeable necessity to be obliged to put one another to death especially those speaking the same language and dressed in the same manner with ourselves. Only these mad people had a large piece of white linen or paper upon their foreheads with the words "Liberty or Death" wrote upon it. The Garrison in general behaved remarkably well consisting in all of about 1400 men, mostly the town Militia and sailors with 200 of Maclean's corps which were only raised last summer. They certainly did their duty with much patience during a severe winter of six months. In the day time we wrought a great deal at the fortifications and shovelling the snow and in the night even those not upon duty durst not sleep but with Clothes and accoutrements on and by whole Companys in one House to be the more ready, for, upon our vigilance, everything depended. For the last month the Enemy had two Batterys of four Guns each, playing on the Town with red hot Balls, in hope to set it on fire but luckily did very little harm. They also made use of a fire ship in order to burn our shipping in the Harbour, which would have communicated the flames to the Town, at the same time intending to escalade the Walls, for which purpose they laid numbers of ladders all round in our sight which had the effect to keep us more upon our Guard. This fire ship got very near the Harbour but a Cannon being fired that was well directed the men that were in her left her a little too soon so that the tide carried her clear past the town without doing the least harm and disappointed them of their attack for which their whole army was prepared. Thus from the 14th of November last we passed one dreary night after another either watching or making Rounds and Patrole upon an extent of works of upwards of three miles round, till the 6th of May when we had the agreeablesight of Commodore Douglass with a Ship of War and two Frigates arriving in the Bason with part of the 29th Regiment on board. And the same day with only the reinforcement of about 300 Regular Troops the Gates were thrown open and the whole garrison (except those on Guard) poured out, drove off the Enemy's advanced Guards and marched forward near two miles clear out upon the plain (our former field of Battles last war) with three pieces of cannon in our front that fired away at some partys of men at a distance. This Sally, so unexpected and the two Frigates [being] under sail at the same time up the River; [and the enemy] being ignorant of our numbers and suspecting probably that there was a force on board the Frigates which might by taking possession of a strong post above cut off their retreat, their whole army took to their heels (it is said about 3000 men) leaving all their Artillery stores, baggage and provisions which fell into our hands. I suppose they will retreat to Montreal where they expect strong reinforcements from New England. We will probably soon follow them though our Corps may possibly be left to garrison Quebec. General Carleton has gained honour by his behaviour this winter. He showed himself a brave steady officer careful not to expose rashly the lives of his men, in short a chief whom we esteem and cheerfully obey. Lieut. Colonel Maclean has likewise great merit in having contributed much to the preservation of this place by his forwarding the reparations of the fortifications and his indefatigable care and trouble in the directing the duty of the Garrison, together with his management in every shape as a good officer. He was here the second in Command and seemed the fittest man in the world for the place he occupied. There were also several old Officers who happened to be here and were of great service as Major Caldwell who distinguished himself very much, Major Cox, two Captain Frasers and several others.
Mr. Wauchope who you will wish to hear of is very well. He has done Lieutenant's duty this winter in Maclean's Regiment, is a good officer and went through some severe Duty with great perseverance.
Yours, &c., &c.,
J.N.