NIAGARA REDUCED.

During this whole summer he received not the least intelligence of Mr. Wolfe’s operations, except a few hints in some letters relating to the exchange of prisoners, that came from the French general Montcalm, who gave him to understand that Mr. Wolfe had landed in the neighbourhood of Quebec, and seemed determined to undertake the siege of that city; that he had honoured him (the French general) with several notes, sometimes couched in a soothing strain, sometimes filled with threats; that the French army intended to give him battle, and a few days would determine the fate of Quebec. Though Mr. Amherst was ignorant of the proceedings of the Quebec squadron, his communication continued open with the forces which undertook the siege of Niagara; and he received an account of their success before he had quitted the lines of Ticonderoga. General Prideaux, with his body of troops, reinforced by the Indian auxiliaries under sir William Johnston, advanced to the cataract of Niagara, without being exposed to the least inconvenience on his march; and investing the French fortress about the middle of July, carried on his approaches with great vigour till the twentieth day of that month, when, visiting the trenches, he was unfortunately slain by the bursting of a cohorn. Mr. Amherst was no sooner informed of his disaster, than he detached brigadier-general Gage from Ticonderoga, to assume the command of that army. In the meantime it devolved on sir William Johnston, who happily prosecuted the plan of his predecessor with all the success that could have been desired. The enemy, alarmed with the apprehension of losing a place of such importance, resolved to exert their endeavours for its relief. They assembled a body of regular troops, amounting to twelve hundred men, drawn from Detroit, Venango, and Presque Isle; and these, with a number of Indian auxiliaries, were detached under the command of monsieur d’Aubry, on an attempt to reinforce the garrison of Niagara. Sir William Johnston having received intelligence of their design, made a disposition to intercept them in their march. In the evening he ordered the light infantry and picquets to post themselves to the left, on the road leading from Niagara Falls to the fortress; these were reinforced in the morning with the grenadiers and part of the forty-sixth regiment, commanded by lieutenant-colonel Massey; and another regiment, under lieutenant-colonel Farquhar, was posted at the tail of the works, in order to support the guard of the trenches. About eight in the morning, the enemy being in sight, the Indians in the English army advanced to speak with their countrymen who served under the French banners; but this conference was declined by the enemy. Then the French Indians having uttered the horrible scream called the war-whoop, which by this time had lost its effect among the British forces, the enemy began the action with impetuosity; but they met with such a hot reception in front, while the Indian auxiliaries fell upon their flanks, that in a little more than half an hour their whole army was routed, their general, with all his officers, taken, and the pursuit continued through the woods for several miles with considerable slaughter. This battle, which happened on the twenty-fourth day of July, having been fought in sight of the French garrison at Niagara, sir William Johnston sent major Harvey with a trumpet to the commanding officer, to present him with a list of seventeen officers taken in the engagement, and to exhort him to surrender before more blood was shed, while he had it in his power to restrain the Indians. The commandant, having certified himself of the truth, by sending an officer to visit the prisoners, agreed to treat, and in a few hours the capitulation was ratified. The garrison, consisting of six hundred and seven effective men, marched out with the honours of war, in order to be embarked in vessels on the lake, and conveyed in the most expeditious manner to New-York. They laid down their arms when they embarked; but were permitted to keep their baggage, and by proper escort protected from the savage insolence and rapacity of the Indians. All the women were conducted, at their own request, to Montreal; and the sick and wounded, who could not bear the fatigue of travelling, were treated with humanity. This was the second complete victory obtained on the continent of North America, in the course of the same war, by sir William Johnston, who, without the help of a military education, succeeded so signally in the field by dint of innate courage and natural sagacity. What remarkably characterizes these battles, is the circumstance of his having taken, in both, the commanders of the enemy. Indeed, the war in general may be distinguished by the singular success of this gentleman and the celebrated lord Clive, two self-taught generals; who, by a series of shining actions, have demonstrated that uninstructed genius can, by its own internal light and efficacy, rival, if not eclipse, the acquired art of discipline and experience. Sir William Johnston was not more serviceable to his country by his valour and conduct in the field, than by the influence and authority which his justice, benevolence, and integrity, had acquired among the Indian tribes of the Six Nations, whom he not only assembled at Niagara to the number of eleven hundred, but also restrained within the bounds of good order and moderation.