George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 4, 15th edition.

[323] shore, nearly opposite the landing-place of Abercrom-

chap. XIV.} 1759.

bie; and that night, after a skirmish of the advanced guard, they lay under arms at the saw-mills. The next day, the French army under Bourlamarque, leaving a garrison of but four hundred in Fort Carillon, deserted their lines, of which possession was immediately taken.

Conscious of their inability to resist the British artillery and army, the French, on the twenty-sixth, abandoned Ticonderoga, and, five days afterwards, retreated from Crown Point to intrench themselves on Isle-aux-Noix. The whole mass of the people of Canada had been called to arms; the noblesse piqued themselves much on the antiquity of their families, their own military glory and that of their ancestors;¹ nor had the world known greater courage and loyalty than they displayed. So general had been the levy, that there were not men enough left to reap the fields round Montreal; and, to prevent starvation, women, old men, and children were ordered to gather in the harvest alike for rich and poor. Yet, as the chief force was with Montcalm near Quebec, as the Indians no longer thronged to the camp of the French, the army that opposed Amherst had but one-fourth of his numbers, and could not be recruited. An immediate descent on Montreal was universally expected. In a fortnight, Crown Point was occupied, without opposition. Amherst must advance, or Wolfe may perish. But, after repairing Ticonderoga, he wasted labor in building fortifications at Crown Point, which the conquest of Canada would render useless. Thus he let all August, all September, and ten days of October