Effect of the Seven Years' The opening of the Seven Years' War gave the English and French colonists a further opportunity of fighting. In 1756 an English force, under General Braddock, advanced against Fort Duquesne, but was beaten. The general was killed, and only the bravery of George colonial policy. Washington, a young colonial officer, saved the army from complete destruction. War on our The same year the French stirred up Surajah Dowlah, Nabob of Bengal, to attack Calcutta, which he did so successfully that the greater part of the traders were forced to fly, and the rest, who fell into his hands, were cruelly thrown into the Black Hole of Calcutta, where most of them perished miserably for want of air. Clive was despatched from Madras to retake Calcutta, which he did in 1757. The same year he utterly routed Surajah Dowlah at the battle of Plassey, in which a thousand English and four thousand Sepoys beat fifty thousand Hindoos. of Plassey made the English masters of the rich plain of Bengal, and has always been regarded as the decisive battle in the history of the English in India. Battle of The battle Loss of Minorca. Meanwhile in Europe the war had been going badly for England. In 1756 the French attacked Minorca, which the English had taken from Spain in 1708. Admiral Byng, son of the victor of Cape Passaro, was sent to relieve it. With more discretion than zeal, he refused to engage a French fleet of superior numbers, and Minorca was consequently lost. Byng had shown no want of personal courage, but the country was furious at the disaster, and insisted on his being tried by court-martial. This was done. He was found guilty and condemned to death, and the government dare not risk their popularity by pardoning him. He was, accordingly, shot. The witty Frenchman, Voltaire, said of his execution, "In England they kill one admiral to encourage the rest." Byng sentenced to death. The ministry which failed to save Byng was not, however, responsible for the disaster. On the loss of Minorca, Newcastle had resigned, and his place was taken by the Duke of Devonshire, who made Pitt Secretary of State. Pitt's first act was to pass a bill reorganizing the national militia. He hoped to give England a sufficient reserve of The Newcastle and Pitt ministry. soldiers to dispense with the hiring of Hanoverians and Hessians -a course which Pitt had always opposed. This view, however, found no favour with George, and Pitt was dismissed in April, 1757. Devonshire, of course, resigned; Newcastle was unable to form a ministry without Pitt; and after almost three months' hesitation the king agreed to receive a government of which Newcastle was to be the nominal head, but Pitt the guiding spirit. Newcastle's Parliamentary influence made the government safe, so Pitt was able to give his whole attention to the war. country." Pitt had great confidence in himself. When he took the reins into his hands the country was dispirited by the loss of Minorca, and Pitt "saves the had lost confidence in its rulers. "I can save the country," said Pitt, "and I know that no one else can." He at once diffused his own energy into every department. His clear sight showed him that now was the chance for England to put an end to the rivalry of the French in the colonies, and that the way to do so was to keep the French employed in Europe, while our fleet swept the sea and our soldiers attacked the French possessions in every quarter of the globe. He was only just in time. During the change of government, the Duke of Cumberland had gone out as general to Hanover, and had been defeated at Hastenbeck and forced to surrender at Klosterseven. Pitt at once put the British forces under Ferdinand of Brunswick, one of Frederick's best generals, and helped the brave King of Prussia to hold the French in check by persuading Parliament to vote him a subsidy of £670,000 a year. Meanwhile the English fleet beat the Toulon fleet off Carthagena, and the Brest fleet in Basque roads, so that help could be sent to the colonists, while the French troops in America and India were left without aid. The American In 1758 Pitt's plan for an American campaign was quite successful. Louisburg and Cape Breton were again taken; Fort Duquesne surrendered to a mixed force of English and colonists, campaign. and its name was changed to Pittsburg; and within a year of Pitt's return to power the whole appearance of the war had changed. The year 1759 was even more successful. Rodney bombarded Havre at the mouth of the Seine, while Guadaloupe, a rich sugar island in the West Indies, was captured; Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated the French in the great battle of Minden; French fleets were destroyed at Lagos and off Quiberon Bay; while, to crown all, Canada was captured. Capture of Quebec. The capture of Louisburg and Cape Breton had opened to the British the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and Pitt followed up his success by ordering General Wolfe to go on and attack Quebec, the capital of Canada, which stands on the river St. Lawrence, in the angle formed by its junction with the Charles river. Quebec was well fortified, and a strong French army was posted below the town, between the rivers Charles and Montmorency, in a strongly entrenched camp. This camp Wolfe found impregnable, so re-embarking his men he took them up the St. Lawrence, and, taking advantage of a dark night, landed them above Quebec. There they found themselves at the foot of the table-land on which Quebec stands. With great difficulty they made their way to the top, up an incline so steep that trees could hardly grow on it, and when morning broke, Montcalm, the French commander, saw the British drawn up on the heights of Abraham close to Quebec. This disconcerted all his plans. In haste he led his forces across the Charles river, formed them with their backs to Quebec, and attacked the British army. The British won. Wolfe was killed in the fight, but before he died he knew that his men were victorious. Montcalm was mortally wounded during the retreat, and died the day after the battle. This victory laid Canada at the feet of England, completely destroyed the French power in North America, and gave the future of that continent into the hands of the English colonists. Battle of Within a year a similar victory destroyed the French hopes in India. In 1760 Colonel Eyre Coote, commanding a British force, beat a French army at the battle of Wandewash, near Wandewash. Madras. In this battle no Sepoys were engaged, but only European troops. Hitherto the natives had thought the French to be better soldiers than the British, but the battle of Wandewash changed their opinion, and inclined them to favour the British as the winning side. These two battles, Quebec and Wandewash, may be regarded as having decided the long rivalry between the British and French in America and Asia respectively, and mark an epoch of the very first importance in the growth of the English empire. Death of George II. In the midst of these victories old George II. died suddenly, in his seventy-seventh year, and was succeeded by his grandson, George III. Several good sayings of George II. are remembered. When some one told him that Wolfe was mad, he replied, "I wish he would bite some of the other generals." CHIEF GENERAL EVENTS OF THE TIME OF |