This booklet helps students to learn about the French and the Indian war, Chabert's legacy, map wars, and the appropriate attire required.
1. NO. 21 THE C LE MENTS LI BRARY ASS OC IATE S SPRING-SUMMER 2004 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR eorge Washi ngton composed In other words. as Washington faced War II did for Am eric ans in the late one of the odder letters in his his greates t cris is ye t as co mm ander-in- I950s or early ' 60s . Th e cen tra l pub lic voluminou s co rrespo nde nce on chief of the Continental Arm y. it was event of Washington 's life to date, as Jul y 20, 1776, as he and his men less the futu re of the United States for his gene ration, had been the destru c- prepared to defend New York aga inst than his personal hi story that was on tio n of New France. the stunning vic to- the invasion that Ge nera l \Villi am Howe his mind. Th e specific experie nces ry that had mad e Britain the grea test was abo ut to unlea sh. Hundreds of were a pair of spec tacular defeats that imperi al po we r of the day. Yet victory Royal Navy ships had somehow also cre - rode at anchor in ate d the con ditions that the harbo r, and had plunged the British thousands of Br itish Emp ire into civil war, and Hessian troops just a little mor e than were encamped on 12 years after the Staten Island whe n Peace of Paris. the co mmande r-in- Tod ay, 250 years chief wro te the afte r the Seven Years' following words War be gan in Ameri ca. to his old comra de- we have almost forgot- in-arms . Adam ten the eve nts that Stephen : loomed so large for "I did not let Washin gton in 1776. the Anniversary of Chi efam ong the rea - the 3d or 9th of this so ns for this co llec tive Instj an]t [mo nth] amne sia is the succes s pass of[ f] without of the American a gr ateful rem em- Sea power was critical to victory' in America. B.1/ /758 the Royal Navy dominated Revo lution itself. "It brance of the the At lanti c and could launch amphibious operations against the fort ress port of is," Francis Parkman escape we had at Lauisbourg on Cape Brehm Island. A French squadron was trapped ill the ha rbor. ob served in the intro - the Meadows and This 1771 pr int, from a scene by Richard Pato n. celebrates a British raid on the ducti on to Montca lm on the Ban ks of the night of luly 26 that captu red Bienfaisant (64 Ijll ll S) lind burned Prudent (74). and ~V<) lfe . "the nature Monon gahela. [T jhe of great events to sa me Pro vedence that protected us both he and Stephen had survive d: the obsc ure the great events that came upon those occasion s will, I hope, Battle of Fort Necess ity, Ju ly 3, 1754 , before them." Th e Seven Years ' War co ntinue his Mercies, and make us and the de structi on of General Edward had , as a result. been " half lost to sigh t happy In struments in resto ring Peace Braddock 's army at the Battle of the beh ind the storm -clo ud of the War o f & liberty to this once favour' d, but Monon gahel a on J uly 9, 175 5. Indepe ndence ." Yet it is important for now distressed Cou ntry: ' (Emm et Whi le it may puzzle us that us today to understan d the significance Coll ec tion, The New York Publi c Washington pa used at the very moment of that con flict and the ro le that Library ) of the Rep ubli c 's birt h to make "gr ate- Washington - a young man hungry for Wh at makes this passage all the ful remem bra nce" of the twi n di sa sters glory and eager to extend the authority more curio us is that on J uly 9th, the that began his military ca ree r, it made o f hi s king into the interi or of No rth day he com me morated his "escape ... perfect sense for him to do so. For Am erica- played in it, if only on the Banks of the Monongahela ," Washington, as for many oth er middle- beca use there is no clearer reminder Washington had also ord ered his aged Am eri can s in 1776, the Sev en in A merican history of the iron ies of officers to re ad the newly-arrived Years ' War- wh at they called "the late imperial victory and the un intended Declaration of Independence at the head Frenc h War" and later wo uld name the co nsequences of war. of each regiment. Yet nowh ere in his French and Indian War-carri ed the Nor is there any be tter place lett er did he mention the Declarat ion. same kind of significa nce that World in the United States to inve stigate - - - - -i}f-- - -
2. vival had depended upon it. These new, indis- criminate attitudes, soon to be reinforced by the bitter experience of the War of Independence on the northern and western frontiers, helped create the foundations of an American cultural and political identity separate from the older British one. even as they promoted and justi- fied the annihilation of whole Indian peoples in the name of freedom. civi lization, and peace. In that sense, the story of the Seven Years' War is much more than a phase in the early military career of George w ashington and more than a prelude to the American Revolution with which we are familiar- the struggle for liberty against oppression, rights against power, independence against subjuga- tion. It is also a darker story, one in which the very realization of imperial ambitions produces European milita ryforces encountered Native Americans as both allie s und enemies. A cartouche unpredictable results: in which victory breeds itlustration. fr om Thomas Hutchins 's map of the Ohio CO U Ilt1)~ depicts CJ /764 council between Colonel disaster for the victor; in which the evidently Henry Bouquet and local Indians. Additional details include a rare image of a Scottish soldier (left) benign growth of a population of peaceable and a milita ry encampm ent. farmers leads to the wholesale destruction of native peoples. Those are as much a part of the historical experience. and even the look. Years' War undermined, and ultimately American history as the brighter. more familiar, of the Seven Years' War than the Clements destroyed, the ability of native peoples to resist more comfortable story of rights defended and Library. Benjamin West' s 'T he Death of the expansion of Anglo-American settlement. liberty maintained. The fact that both stories General Wolfe" -his third rendition of the The war 's violence and brutality, moreover, meet in the person of George Washington is scene. completed in I776--hangs over the engendered attitudes and patterns of behavior worth thinking about as we seek to understand elegant Main Room in solemn glory. It is on the frontier that encouraged whites to hate the causes. character. and consequences of a only the most visible treasure in an unmatched Indians as they had never been able to do in war that no one wanted but which transformed collection of books , maps. images, and manu- the pre-war world. In that earlier time of com- their world forever. scripts relating to the war in America. petition between empires. colonists had been - Fred Anderson Engravings. like a colored mezzotint from required to make distinctions between friendly Prof essor of History 1771 depicting the capture of the French and hostile groups, if only because their sur- University of Colorado, Boulder line-of-battle ship Hienfaisant at the siege of Louisbourg in July 1758, capture the drama Drawings by mili tary and naval officers were the basis fo r the plates q{ Sccnographia Americana, of military events. Other prints-notably publish ed ill / 768. MallY combin e wartime events with dramatic scenery. This is Cap Rouge on the twenty-eight plates of the Sceno graphia the St. Lawrence River, nine miles above Quebec. drawn by Captain Hervey Smyth. Americana: Or, a Collection of Vie ws in North America and th e West Ind ies . . . From Dra wings taken on the Spot, by Several Officers of the British Navy and Army- show contemporary views of cities and forts, seascape s and landscapes, and communicate the fascination of British subjects with the exotic locales in which the war was fought. If these images hint at the exultation of the British in the greatest military victory of their history, thc Gage Papers and other manuscripts. including the diaries of common soldiers, speak with equal power of the grind- ing daily realities of the war experie nce and the terrors of battle. What remains largely unseen in the images of the war, although not in the grittier world depicted in the manuscripts and maps, are those aspects of the conflict and its mean- ing that modern Americans might most prof- itably contemplate on the 250th anniversary of its beginning. In bringing to an end the French empire in North America, the Seven PAGE 2 THE Q1/ARTO
3. A CON FLICT DOCUMENTED red Anderson , who powder train for war, and the Lib rary has the Lower levels of command may be provides the introdu c- letterbook s and pap ers of William Mildmay, glimpsed in the Browne Brothers Papers, tion to thi s issue of the one of the British commissi oners appointed to the corre sponde nce of lieutenants Richard Quarto, is the author of determine the bound aries of Ac adia. A recent and Franci s Browne , who describe, respective- Crucible of War: The Seven acquis ition also relates to the begi nning of the ly, eve nts in Germany and in No va Scoti a. the Years' War and the Fate of Emp ire in British conflict. Sometime in 1757 an American West Indi es, and Cuba. The sinews of the war North America, /754-/766 (New York, 2( 00). colonis t, prob abl y Virginia provincial officer are reveal ed in the James Furnis Letterbook of His comprehensive study is one of the mo st William Trent, drew on his own experienc es to 1755-58 containing the writings of an officer recent of many works to draw on the rich prepare a ten-page cri tiq ue of a French account who served as commissary of stores and pay - resources of the Clement s Library documentin g of the earl y eve nts of the war in western master in Albany and later comptroller of ord- the contl ict most America ns still think of as the Pennsylvan ia . He discu sses the French seizure nance in North Am eri ca. The Miscellaneous French and Indian War. Primary source mat eri- al for the Seven Years' War in Am erica may be found throughout the collec tions. Thi s reflects the focus of William L. Clements, amon g whose many interests was the era of the American Revolution and the eve nts that led to it. An early strength of the Library, the period of the Seven Years' War rem ain s a collecting priority as we reach the 250th anniversary of the beginning of fighting in the for ests of western Penn sylvania. The holdin gs of the Clements Library are typicall y diver se on this period of Ameri can history. Our Book Di vision ha s copies of Ameri can and Briti sh political imprints of the time, magazines, sermons relating to the war, narratives justifying territorial claims of the John HI: Oglelthorpe served on the successjitl/758 expedition agains t Fort D uquesne. Upon his return, comp eting po wers, military texts, historie s in January 1 759, he descr ibed his experiences to Samuel \1}'ly and included a sketch of the ruins of the writt en soo n after the war, and much more French fort. Hy ly fo r..... arded the letter to South Carolina Govern or William Henry Lyttelton, in whose printed materi al. The Map Division hold s h un- papers it surv ives. dreds of printed maps illuminating the military or politi cal situation. There are dozens of man - of the Forks of the Ohio and the defeat of Collec tion contains a variety of letters and uscript map s and plans and hundreds more rep- Geor ge Washington at Fort Neces sity. Anoth er docu ment s relating to the war, including corre- resented by facsimiles of originals from other manu script narrative, Jean Chaton's "Hisroire spondence of Sir William John son , William collections. The Graphics Di vision contains abregee de la co nquctc du Canada," pro vides Eyre, Thomas Po wnall, and others. Additional portr ait prin ts of participants, cartoons, and an accoun t of the Brit ish conquest of the miscellaneous letters relating to the co urse of engra vings of even ts, topography, and cities colony. the war are in the Howe Brothers Papers and produced from dra wings sent back to Europe Th e perspective of a senior Briti sh those of Charles Townshend. by participant s in the war. officer is represented in the papers of Thomas World War: Other Clements Library The Manuscript s Division is Gage, who fought as a regi mental com mander collections contain corres ponde nce and docu- particularly rich in unique colle ctions that and brigadi er. His papers are most useful for ments concerning the war at sea and in Europe. document the confl ict at man y different levels. his comm and at Albany and Oswego in 1759, The Ligonier Letterbook of 1758-60 has m uch Description s of these collections are accessible the conques t and occupation of New France on army affair s in the co rrespo ndence of through the Clements Libr ary web site in 1760-63, and the progress of Pon tiac 's War Lord John Ligonier, commander-in-chi ef (www.clements.umic h.edu). but a revie w in 1763-64. Complementing Gage 's paper s are und er Prim e Mini ste r William Pitt . Politics of them will give some idea of thei r scope some of Jeffery A mh e rst's, who commanded and early military actions are dis cussed in 62 and perhaps whe t the ap petite of scholars who in Americ a from 175 8 to 1763. These contain letters in the George Grenville Papers. Further wish to cons ult them durin g the co ming years. some deta ils on the French and Indian War and corres ponde nce concerning the pro gre ss of the Th e collections have been gro uped into rough much on the sub sequent Indian uprising . The war occurs in the George Germain and Earl of categories, though most are likel y to contain Library is also fortunate to ha ve the papers and Shelburne Pape rs. The Shelburne Papers also documentation on a variety of subjects . lette rboo ks of William Henry Lyttelton, gover- contained man usc ript maps from both the Italics indica te the nam es under which nor of South Carolina from 1755-60 and American and European theaters. collections will be found on the web site. Jamaica from 1760-66. Th ese are excepti onal- Although the papers of Henry Clinton The War in America: Festering North ly rich in inter-colonial correspondence and are known for their extensive documentation American boundary disputes helped lay the southern Indi an affairs, of the American Revoluti on , a par t of them THE Q1JARTO PAGE 3
4. pertains to his service in as a provincial chaplain Europe as aide-de-camp at Fort Edward in 1756 to Lord Ligonier and the and Havana in 1762. Duke of Brunswick. The Jona than French was Frederick Mackenzie another Massachusetts Papers also focus on the soldie r at Fort Edward Amer ican Revolution. in 1757. Samu el M orris but one volume has his served in the disastrous compilation of articles of campaign against capitulation for fortre sses Ticonderoga in 1758 surrendered in Ameri ca and the victorious sweep and other parts of the down Lake Champlain world during the Seven the following year. Years' \Var. At sea. the Provincial soldier J am es Do uglas Pap ers Seth Tinckham also relate to a naval officer marched against who participated in the Ticonderoga in 1758 Rochefort expedition and spent the following of 1757 and served at year on garrison duty in Quebec in 1759 and in George waslungton commanded the Virginia Regiment f rom 1754 10 1758. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He signed this troop rerum (l! Fort Ligonier (Loyal Hannon) if! October 1758. the West Indies in 1762. to release regular tfOO P S Native Americans: for the attack on Quebec. The role of Native Americans was so Georg e Clinton , royal governor of New His volume includes orderly books as central to the French and Indian War York, has usefu l material on colonial well as his diaries. Nat haniel Fuller that virtually every collection includes relations with Native American s at the participated in the 1760 campaign in something, and in the cases of Gage, beginning of the war. The papers of Canada. The Massachu setts ship car- Amherst, and Lyttelton the information William Knox , a colonial official and penter spent his time constructing boats is extensive. The correspondence of agent for Geo rgia. include corres pon- and naval vessels on Lake Ontario, an dence about his management of the essential task on the waters of North Part of the formal artid es of capitulation Indian trade. James St erlin g 's letter- America. Lieutenant Jehu Hay also for Niagara , signed J uly 25, 1759, as book reveals the workings of an Indian kept a diary on the Great Lakes. recorded in the papers of Frederick trader in Detro it in the years around although his describes Detroit during Mackenzie. Pontiac's siege of 1763. The Na tive Pontiac's siege of 1763. • • ..... .. ,. -,",", .-Ii. ~ Americlln Histo ry Collection includes People: A few co llections relate 2.~·-:'/.7 y>'Jj' separately acqu ired documents, some more to specifi c individuals than to the of which relate to the French and Indian war itself. The Robert lind Elizabe th War, most notably a letterbook of the Rogers Pa p ers is a small but important commissioners of Indian affairs at collection of personal letters of one of Albany from 1753-55. the best-known figures of the war. It Orderly Books: Orderly books includes a few written during the war present the dry bones of army life in and others from the 1760s as he tried their records of orders, regulations. to capitalize on his reputation. Even and punishments meted out to offend- the Af rican A merican Co llec tion casts ers. The Library holds two for this some light on at least one individual period in the Orderly Boo k Collection, who fought in this world war, It most significantly that for Colonel includes a pension request by Scipio Henry Bouquet's expedition against the Wood. an African American sailor Ohio Indians in 1764. Sergeant John impressed at New York for service Frizell kept the other in Halifax, Nova in the Royal Navy. Scotia, during 176 I. Frizell's book con- These are the main co llections of tinues with a post-war topic-his person- the Clements Library that document the al account of the settlements of Dedham French and Indian War. As we refl ect and Annapolis Royal in 1762-63. on the events that sparked a worldwide Diaries and Journ als: If orderly conflict 250 years ago this spring, it is books record what was to have hap- a pleasure to invite scholars to utilize pened, diaries and journals give voice these resources to broade n their kno wl- to the actual experiences and opinions edge of a critical period in the shaping of common soldiers. The Library has of America. a cross section of examples. In the - John C. Harriman Graham Famil y Pap ers are the diaries Assistant Editor of Reverend John Graham, who served PAG E 4 THE Q1JARTO
5. FORTIFIED PLACES he North American lions, road s.ao wns, and the infra struc- The French post of Niagara, conflict that came ture of eightee nth-century Europe. which guarded the porta ge around to be known to Natura l waterways provided the only Niagara Falls and barred the British Americans as the efficient means of transportation. from the upper Great Lakes, illustrates French and Indian War Rough roads or tracks along rivers this metamorphosis. In 1754 the fortifi- was played out acros s the and through the mount ains were a poor cations compri sed a rickety stockade northe astern mainlan d in the years second choice. Critical routes required enclosing a stone house and about an between 1754 and 1763. Thi s con- protection, and the needs of defense acre of ground, The threat of a British frontat ion between France and Britain. grew more complicated after the out- attack from Oswego in 1755 moti vated their respective American colonists, and break of fighting in 1754. At the com- the French to expand the area of Fort their Native American allies began in mencement of the war, fortifications Niagara tenfold and transform its the disputed wilderness of the upper Ohio Valley and concluded a decade ...\ Tr,'\QUf..S later with a struggle between British dc.~ J,;Wt.f military forces and the Indians of the or. same region . Despite the fact that both Britain and France comm itted large numbers of trained, regular soldiers to the fighting- and victory or defeat ulti- mately hinged on the success of those troop s-it was the horrors of battle in the dark and untamed forests that cap- tured popular fancy then as it has ever since. The very name of the conflic t suggests warfare in the wilderness. Later historicaL literary, and dramatic treatments of the conflict, such as James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans and its many film adapta- tions, reinforce that image to this day. It is more than a little ironic that events of Cooper's quintessential tale of the American wilderness revolve around a very European militar y activity-the siege of Fort William Henry in August 1757. The fort had been designed according to European principle s and was besieged and defended using methods that would have been as appropriate in Flanders, Portugal, or Spain as on the wooded The complex geometry of siege operations can he seen in a plan of the French conquest shores of Lake George. Fort William of Oswego in 1756. This German engraving. compiled by Lieutenant Therbu. was Henry was, in the militar y parlan ce of published in 1792. the mid-eighteenth century, a "place," defined in technica l dictionari es simply were most likely to be stockades defenses with earthen ramparts and as "a fortified town, a fortress." Fortress constructed of wooden pickets that ditches. The strength of the new fortifi - cities dominated the military landscape were perfectly defensible against cations forced the British to undertake a of Europe, and places in America Native American or colonial raiders 19-day siege in 1759 . Thi s expenditure serve d much the same purpose as their who lacked cannon or the means to of the besiegers' time, a critical com- more sophisticated counterparts across drag them through the wilderness. modity in a harshl y seasonal climate, the Atlantic. They guarded important By the end of the conflict, the larger fulfilled another important role of the passes, held territory, provided secure fortification s were strongly constructed fortified place- to delay an enemy. depots for supplies. and offered bases of earth, reinforc ed by logs and even Other strategic French positions were and safe havens for military forces. stone or brick, to better resist artillery similarly strengthened, while the British Fortified places were particularly and the methods of sicgec raft that could constructed massive fortifications to import ant in the interior of North be brought against them by trained hold territory at places like Fort Pitt, America, which lacked large popula- engmeers. Crow n Point , and Oswego. THE Q1JARTO PAGE 5
6. '.:. -...,-~- .;-'-.~ : "<\ }" .po- '; :..:. -~;- - "" ~~ ' . ~- ~ ' .~ ~ '- '"- - -1.. / 011 July 8, / 758. British troops hurled themselves against prepared French defenses outside Fort Carillon (Ticonde roga) without conduct- ing a siege. Their f urile attempt cost nearly 2,000 casualties. French office r M ichel Charlier de Lotbiniire recorded the Cl'e1l1. This map was originally among the papers of General Jeffery Amherst. Campaigns of the French atte mpts to seize places. The opp ortu- Fort Duquesne ended in the destruction and Indian War became largely plac e- nity to maneuver and defea t armi es in of Braddock 's army. Th e Niagara oriented as British armies atte mpted the field. like the cam paigns of the expedition was abandoned for logistica l to fight their way into Canada along America n Revoluti on, War of 1812, reasons. French and Indian forces the few practic able routes. while the Mexican War, and Civil War, did not attacked the fortified camp of Sir French labored to forestall their efforts often occur. William Johnson 's provincial army by neutralizing forward bases. Although The central role of fortified at Lake George and. tho ugh repulsed. ope n-field encou nters between armies places in the annual ca mpaigns of the halted the British adva nce on Crown did occur. as at Quebec in 1759 and French and Indian War can be illustrated Point. Only the attempt o n Fort 1760 and near Niagara in 1759. these by the events of 1755. the first year Beausej our climaxed in a succ essful were fight s that came about in response when significant num bers of Europe an two-week siege against a small but to efforts to take fort ified places. Even regu lar troop s were deployed by both well-fortified position. Subseq uent the best known of all French and Indian sides. Th e British planned four widely- campaigns centered aro und sieges or War battles. the defeat of General separated blows against New France: attacks on fortified places at Oswego Edward Braddock's army in the forests from Virginia against Fort Duquesne in (1756). Fort William Henry (1757). along the Monon gahela in 1755. was the Ohio country; from Oswego against Louisbourg, Ticonderoga. Fort initiated by the French to preempt a Niagara ; from Albany against Cro wn Fro ntenac. Fort Duq uesne (1758). Briti sh attack on nearby Fort Duque sne. Point on Lake Cham plain; and from Niagara. Quebec, Ticond eroga Milit ary actions of the French and Nova Scoti a against Fort Beausejour ( 1759 ). Quebec. Fort Levis, and Indian War seem to be divided between in what is today New Brunswick. Isle aux No ix (1760). the raids and ambu shes associate d with Success would open the way to The fortification. attack. and wilderness combat and large-scale further advances. The attempt on defense of places req uired constant PAG E 6 THE Q1JARTO
7. activity on the part of military engi- a visual impression of America and the of capitulation were drawn up, honors neers. These officers, versed in the war to the eyes of an intere sted public . of war were granted the defeated garri- techniques of fortifi cation and siege- The conventions and technique s son, and the French marched from their craft. were essentia l to the succes s of of warfare against fortifie d places fortre ss with drum s beating and colors armies , and there were never enough of introduced European formalities that flying. A far cry from the usual image them. New France had severa l colonial few today woul d associate with fightin g of the war fought by Natty Bumpo or engineer s at the outbreak of hostilities. in the wilderness of North America . real-life frontier partisans such as They had directed the construction Brigadier John Prideaux 's army included Robert Rogers and his Canadi an and of colonial fortifications for decades, 900 Iroquoi s warrio rs when it set Native Ameri can adversarie s. and one even desi gned the new fort at out from Oswego to besiege Niagara The campaigns of the French and Ticonderoga in 1755. Their experience in July 1759. His force penetrat ed deep Indian War were set in an environment with siege warfare was limited, howev- into the wilderness of Lake Ontario . very different from that of eighteenth- er, and engineers from France held their But , when confronted with the French century Europe. But the leaders of both abilities in contempt. Regula r engineers defenses , Prideaux adopted the same sides understood well the maxim of the were sent to Ameri ca with the first method s that would have been utilized seventeenth-century French engineer French contingent in 1755 , but all to besiege a fortress in the Netherland s. Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban that were lost when the British navy cap- The French commandant was polit ely "only siegecraft offers the means of tured their transport . Experienced summoned to surre nder his post-and conquering and holding territory ." infantry officers were pressed into just as politely refused. Siege lines and Vauban would have agreed that, in service, notabl y Captain Pierre Pouchot, batteries were established, and artillery the vast spaces of North America , a who rebuilt Niagara and undertook roared from each side as the fortress co nqueror could not "become master numerous other projects before the was graduall y pounded to rubble . of an entire area if he does not take lost engin eers were repla ced in 1756 British regulars defe ated a relief the fortre sses." and 1757, attempt , with the belated support of - Brian Leigh Dunnigan Regular engine ers also came the Iroquois. The French were again Curator of Maps and Head to America with Briti sh troop s after politely invited to surrender, and this of Research & Publications 1755. Men such as Jam es and John time the offer was accepted after a Mon tresor, William Eyre, Harry night of negoti ation . Formal articles Gordon, and Thomas Sowers performed tasks ranging from fortification design Fort Brewerton was one ofa string of small posts built in 1759 to guard comm unications to map -making and siegecraft. Th e for British forces operating on Lake Ontario. It stood at the western end of Oneida Lake British also drew heavily on another and was mapp ed by Ensign Charles Rivez of the Royal American Regiment. source of talent-non-British officers who had served in the armies of vari- ous European powers. When the Royal American Regiment was raised in 1756, many of its officers were men of engineering experience, and man y of them-including Franci s Pfister, George Demler, Bernard Ratzer, and Charles Rivez- spent most of the war on det ached service as engineers. The creati ve output of these officers was enormou s, not only in term s of fortif ication s and buildings constructed but also of topographical map s, plans, and views produc ed to document their efforts and illuminate superior officers. Manus cript exam- ples of forti fication plan s and battle maps in the Clements Library collec- tions includ e pieces that were associat- ed with the papers of generals such as Jeffery Amh erst and Th oma s Gage or have been acquired individuall y to enhan ce the map collection. Many officers were competent topographical artists who sometimes saw their sketches, waterco lors, and maps pub- lished in Europe, where they brought THE QlJARTO PAGE 7
8. APPROPRIATE ATTIRE REQ1JIRED he single most recog- he wa s " Histori cal Pain ter to the King wa s groun ded in ancie nt mythology and nizable item from the of Eng land" when history painting cla ssical ico nogra phy and structured to Clements Library's col- wa s co nsidered to be the pin nacle of serve the agen da of the contemporary lections is also the mo st art forms and American artists were em pires that steadily sponsored artists. recognizable image of the sti ll subject to condesce nsion from The king was natur ally interested in rench and Indi an War-a massive the English art establishment. West images of virtue that would reinforce o il painting by Benjamin West. "The ex pressed support for American inde- the glory and position of his emp ire. Death of Ge neral Wolfe. " depicting penden ce yet enjoye d the patronage Wolfe's death was seen as an the climactic batt le at Quebe c in 1759 of King Ge orge III. inspiring sacr ifice for the greater good and celebra ting the British co nquest View points and preju dices about and worthy of the "gran? style." It was of New France. Hangin g high on the past are always more visible than not con sidere d incongruous to memori- the north wa ll of the Main Room. those abo ut the present. Today's society alize cont em porary nation al heroes in "The Death of General Wolfe" refl ects ex pects illustration s of historic even ts to the neocla ssical style. Incorpo ratin g the Library 's holdings on the French be journali stic reports of what actually robes and postures based on Greek and and Ind ian War and the Ameri can hap pened . In the ca se of "The Death Ro man statuary imp lied a con nection Revo lution . Th is paintin g's value goes of General Wolfe." other accoun ts with lofty past ideal s and timeless glory . beyond illustrat ion of a histori c event. reveal significant discre pancies in this The composition of neoclassical paint- It also symbolizes the popu lar sen timent regard. despite West's assert ion that ings freque ntly followed the designs of for Wolfe. patriotic fee ling in Britain "the same truth which gi ves law to clas sical frieze statuary, with a horizon- at the beginning of the Revolution. and the historian sho uld rule the painter." tal array of figu res arranged in harmony the peak of British imperial po wer in Thi s by no means indica tes a failure before a deep space. In successful No rth America. on West' s part. He work ed at a time exam ples. all the clements co ntribute Born in rura l Pennsylvania. when the purpo se of art and the record- to .t he d idactic purpose of the whole. Benjamin West, a precocious artist, ing of history had different objectives. West ce rtain ly supported these ideals. studied briefly at the College of The modern concept of journali stic or but with "The Death of General Wolfe" Philadelphia and then made a pilgrim- historic al truth would have been an he wo uld begin the dissolution of the age to Italy to study Renaissance mas- unwe lco me vulgariza tion, obscuring formula by using modern attire in place terwo rks. West permane ntly settled in West's visualizat ion of a higher truth. of cla ssical dress. London in 1763 and quickly estab lished In the eighteenth century, succ ess- Details of West' s painting are a himself as a leadi ng academi c portrait ful acade mic history paint ings wer e jo y to examine. The caref ully ob ser ved and history paint er. He became pre si- ex pected to address moral, spiritual, and and rend ered clothing indicates that he den t of the Royal Acad emy and taught nation ally uplifting themes. Subject worked fro m props that were represen- many of England's and Ame rica's finest matter was generally limited to Bib lical tative of the variety of uniform s worn portr ait art ists, including Charle s episode s and events fro m classical by British troops at Quebec . Man y Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas antiqu ity. Known as the "grand style" items of dress of the Native American Sully. and John Trumbull. Known in or "true style," the predominan t neo - and the light infantryman we re painted London as "the Ame rican Raphael," cla ssicism of the eighteenth ce ntury from examp les ga thered in America by PAG E 8 THE QJ)A RTO
9. Indian Superintendent Sir William occasion a revolution in art ." While to Ick work House, Suffolk. West's Joh nso n, and som e of them still exist on display at the Royal Acade my sons sold the fifth canvas in 1826 to in British co llections. Although many exh ibit ion of 177 1, the painting the descendants of Brigadier General of the indi viduals represented in the excited widespread patriotic feeling Robert Monckton, who appea rs in the pain tin g are identifiable, most were for the hero Wolfe and was purcha sed by painting. not at the immediate scene of Wolfe' s Richard , Lord Grosvenor. Recogni zing The Gro svenor version, the first demise. Their portraits were pa inted that "The Death of Genera l Wolfe" had to be painted, was inherited by the sec- at sittings in Lo ndon after the event. been accepted as the defin ing image of ond Duke of Westminster, who donat ed Wolfe's image is ba sed on a portrait the event , George III ordered a cop y to it to the people of Canada as a tribute provided by his family. be painted [or the Cro wn. Price: 315 to their country 's contribution to World The background is filled with Engl ish po unds . War I. The George III version remains careful, minimali stic strokes that The third order came fro m in posse ssion of the Crown. T he third beautifu lly describe the epic battl e as Friedrich, Prince of Waldec k. The pur- painti ng hung at Ca stle Waldeck for it sweeps from right to left behind the cha se price upon delivery in 1776 was over 150 years until New York art deal - central group. In the distance, Wolfe's adversary, Montcalm, is depicted at the moment of bein g mortally wo unded. Up c lose, these individual elements have the completeness of small pai nt- ing s within the pai ntin g. West' s mas- tery shows in his complete co mma nd of detail. without sacrificing the unit y and po wer of the whole co mposition. Every element ha s a pmpose and is in its prop er place. The co mmission from George III to produce a history painting glorifying Ge neral Wolfe was an oppo rtunit y for West to test his progressive ide as about the evolution of the "grand style." As an American, West had strong feeling s about the subject, and, as an artist, his skills were idea l for the project. He was established, yet just begin ning to enjoy the favoritism of George III. The legend as told by West biographer John James Gil/ray 's The Death of the Great Wolf (London, 1 795) lampoons William Pitt, the younger, and his Treason and Seditio n Ac ts of 1795. A background scene of British Galt is that, ha ving seen the work in drago ons crushing French sans culottes suggests that his administration )vas overreacti ng progr ess , patriarch and president of the to radical agitation. The surgeon, Secretary at War Hen ry Dundas, hastens the demise of Royal Acade my Sir Joshua Reynolds the dying Pitt with a glass of port. warned West that he was risking his reputation and insulting the dig nity of his subject by his use of modern dress . 250livres. West , apparent ly satisfied er Paul Bottenwi eser was retain ed to Tn addition, West depi cted an emotional with his origin al composition, made arrang e for its sale in 1927. When the level not usually found in the reserved very fe w alterations in the subsequent National Gallery in Washington. D.C.. masculinit y of the Neocla ssical. Advised versions. However, in this third ver- passed on the opportunity to purchase that the painting was distasteful, Georg e sion, the mess enger on the left has it for $ 12,500. it was offered to William III rejected the work on the grounds grown larger and is more important L. Cleme nts, who talked Bottenwieser "t hat it was thought very ridiculous to to the action , and the background scene down to $7,500! Clements was not exhibit heroes in coats, breeches and along the river on the right has been known to be an art connoisseur and cock'd hats." given more space, with add itiona l ships expressed buyer's remorse afterwards, Detail s from the Galt biugraphy on the St. Lawrence . The shapes added but he should be credited for seein g the make for a compelling legend , but they to the lower left corner of this versio n importance of this item in the context are unsubstantiated and sometimes con- have been described as moccasins that of his Americana colle ction s. The tradicted by other sources. An ironic no Indian warrior would be witho ut. painting was shipped to the Clements chapter in the legend has Reynolds but, given the careful rendering of the Library in April of 1928. The fourth as the first to champion "The Death of other artifacts, it is doubtful that these painting rema ins at Ickworth House, Ge neral Wolfe" as an inno vative mas- vague shapes were intended for this now a National Trust site, and the fifth terpiece. According to Galt , Re ynolds purpose. A four th version was ordered is in the Roya l Ontario Museum in predicted that "this picture will not only by Frederick William Hervey, Fifth Earl Toronto. In addition to these five large become one of the most popular, but and First Marque ss of Bristol, and taken can vase s, there exist several smaller THE Q!JARTO PAGE 9
10. supports his chin in a pose that is sym- boli c of static contemplation rather than emotion or action . Through numerous engrave d print versions, "The Death of General Wolfe" became a highly recognizable image, accepted as the defining heroic apotheos is in Briti sh culture. Its influ- ence can be traced from epic battle scenes to decorati ve arts. It even was a vehicle for political satire in The Death or the Great Wolf, by Jam es Gillra y, with Prim e Mini ster William Pitt, in place of Wolfe, dying a political death at the passing of his Treason and Sediti on Acts of 1795. The popularity of "The Death of General Wolfe" earned West a con- tinuing string of royal commissions, althou gh his sugges tion for a compan- ion piece, "The Discovery of the Remai ns of Braddo ck 's Army," was never accepted. Continuing interest in "The Death of Gener al Wolfe" is partl y attributable to the legend of its revolu- tionary style, but this has been over- empha sized to the point of distracting from its other values. West successfully tapped strong popular feelings for the Nathaniel Marchant draped the figure of Wo(fe in "correct " neoclassical fashion in his subject with a timeless painting that 1790s composition. This stipple engraving is hy Italian engraver Luigi Schiavonetti. transce nds anyone style, with root s in the religious and history paintings tha t versions and at least one prelim inary Chris t. Like these lamentations , the preceded the Neoclassical. Seen as a dra wing that came from West' s studio . hands in "The Death of General Wolfe" part of this continuum, it is far less rev- C rucible of War author Fred describe actions and express emo- oluti onary, but no less a great paintin g. Anderson poin ts out that the varied tion s-announcing victory, directin g - Clayton Le.. vis ranks and nation alities of the group attention, tending wounds, supporting Cura tor of G raphic M aterials aroun d Wolfe make up an allegory of the fain t, grieving loss, wringing in a unified and diverse Briti sh Emp ire. frustration , and drainin g strength. Tn For George III, it must have been contrast, the visible hand of the Indian pleasin g to contemplate as he faced an increasingly rebell ious America in the A miniature 17705. Apart from this unity is the "Death oJ Wolfe " figure of the Indi an. In the allegorical has long graced images that appear on title pages, map the Clements cartouches , and political prints, America Library tea room is most often repre sented as a Native on a nineteen th- American. In "The Death of General centuf}' painted Wolfe" the warrior observes with a cool till tray. detachment, measurin g Wolfe' s martyr- dom and ponderi ng the significance of the eve nt and its ramifications for the balance of powe r in his native land. As with most significa nt contribu - tions to the history of art, "The Death of General Wolfe" fits into a sequence or cycle of related works. The compo- sition clo sely follows that of several medieval and early Renai ssance depic- tion s of the lamenta tion over the dead PAG E 10 T HE Q1JARTO
11. MAP WARS rouble brews across different Nova Scotia-the entire penin- lished their full negotiations. with the Appalachians." In sula and all the mainland extending explanatory maps accompanying the high school history books north to the S1. Lawrence River. The works and demonstrating the confusing ctt >..:::} '" the French and Indian War is task before the boundary commission array of possibilities and historical often presented as a series of was to determine what exactly consti- precedents using a bewildering variety conflicts beyond the western slopes of tuted Acadia. of hachures, dotted lines, dots. and North America' s great mountains and in The commissioners agreed "to crosses to demonstrate the historical the Ohio River Valley. Here a creeping study all the concessions, charters, land precedents for different boundaries. rash of newly-built French forts set the grants. and treaties" in North America The impasse of these negotiations stage for the colorful debut (and quick from the first European contact with the meant that commercial mapmakers exit) of the youthful George Washington. area until the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) . in London and Paris could leap into The French encroachments into territo- This grindingly slow process bore little the boundary waters with impunity. ries claimed by British colonists consti- tute standard fare for the diet of cause s of the conflict. Maps of North America printed in the colonial power centers of Paris and London during the early 1750s various- ly reflected these trans-Appalachian claims. Some British maps ignored the leprous spread of French forts. while others used color. bold lettering, and inflammatory rhetoric to draw attention to the growing cancer. On the other side of the Channel, less bois- ~ ",'~ terous French maps quietly penned in .:~ Ji ' the British colonies along the Atlantic '< , • j"V") l"? ',\( ~ seaboard, using dotted lines and soft -, ~, L-/: ;" <:» outline color along the Appalachian ridge to fence them off from the Ohio ~<~~ e-, .~ C'" ,;~ ) ) O/) I~ . . ... . River Valley. the Mississippi, and C"'.'\ .1. :'""\ -, 1\ the Great Lakes. Such cartographic Acadia, as shown on the / 755 state of Robert de Vaugo/ldy S map of Canada, is confi lled legerdemain did not pass unnoticed, to the Atlantic rim of the peninsula of No m Scotia. particularly in high diplomatic circles. In the early 1750s, French and cartographic fruit, for no maps had The first to test the temperature English diplomats were gathering in accompanied the original charters and was the French geograph er Didier elegant Paris salons to negotiate the concessions; thus, no map could pro- Robert de Vaugondy. His map of details of North American boundaries vide the j uridical proof for defining Canada of 1753, Carte des pays COJ1flll S set by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Acadia. Prioted maps published by SOI /S le nom de CANADA..., outraged That agreement had been signed in French and English cartographers were the British commissioners. It showed 1748 to end the War of the Austrian so contradictory and varied in scale, the French view of Acadia as a thin Succession, durin g which conflict both size. and purpose as to produce no strip along the Atlantic coast. Because sides had seized control of colo nial ter- meaningful conclusions. In frustration. the map was dedicated to the French ritories claimed by the other. The treaty the comm issioners admitted that "maps minister of War. Marc-Pierre de Voyer, returned European boundaries and colo- are from the Nature of them a very comte d' Argenson . the British commis- nial possessions in North America to slight evidence, Geogr aphers often sioners understood it to have been the status quo ollie bellum . The sorest lay them down upon incorrect Surveys, approved by the French Court and thus spot was not. as one might imagine, copying the Mistakes of one another: an insult to the work of the commission. the Ohio Valley but rather the northeast and if the Surveys be correc t, the Maps William Mildmay, one of the two corner of the Atlantic coastline: Acadia taken from them, tho' they may shew British commissioners. showed the or Nova Scotia. The treaty required the true position of a Country, the map to his patron in London, Lord that the French return this area to the Situation of Islands and Towns, and the Holderness. The reaction is found in British. The French were happy to give Course of Rivers, yet can never deter- Mildmay's jo urnal, now in the Clements up what they thought of as Acadia-a mine the Limits of a Territory. which Library: "His Lordship observed that narrow strip of land along the coast of depend entirely upon authentic Proof." since the French court thought fit to the peninsula from Cape Canso to Cape Having reached no solution. the treat this negotiation in so slight a man- Sable. The British expected to regain a commissioners from both sides pub- ner it was high time for us to insist that THE OlJARTO PAGE 11
12. rapher's nationali sm. Perhap s the most polem ical and certainly the most color- fully exubera nt map of all appe ared in London in 1755: A New and A ccurate Map vi the English Empire ofNortti A m erica: Rep rese nting their Rightful Claim as confirm'd by Charters, and the formal Surrender of their Ind ian Friends; Likewise the Encroachments of the French, with the sev eral Forts they ha ve unjustly erected the rein. It was pub- lished by the Society of Anti-Gallicans. The Anti-Gallican Society was a mercantile pressure group, found ed in 1745 to "extend the commerce of England and oppose the insidious Arts of the French Nation." It responded to The Society ofAnti-Galiicans made no bones about Britain 's territorial ambitions in a fear of French encroac hments, not in North Ameriea. French Canada is isolated within an area smaller than the modern North America but in England herself . province of Quebec. The infiltration of French artists, skilled laborers, and even theatrical performers the aff air between us should be brought high-level papers had left the Minist ry was seen as a weake ning of control to an accomm odation at once in plain of War for use in preparation of the of British goo ds and manufactures. and express terms, or else to attend to map_ In fact, Vaugondy's sources "Milliners, mantua-makers, tutoresses some mor e serious consequences." were the same publi shed works avail- for boarding-schools, disguis'd jesuits, Vaugond y's map not only reduced able to many cartograph ers: the map s of quacks , valets de chambrc" as well as Acadia to a narro w strip along the Jacques-Nicolas Bellin and the papers French painters, engravers, dancers, and coast; he neglected even to name British in the Depot de la Marine , an institution actors were all seen as part of a danger- Nova Scotia. The French claims on this that was often open to commercial map- ous French infiltration into daily life. map are clear. incorporating into makers for study and reference. The foreign worker was a threat Canada the banks of the St. Lawrence Vaugondy's effort was ju st one in to British j obs and an ally to the French from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes and a series of printed map s that fought the econom y. Worse yet, by buying French the territo ry extending along the Ohio . boundary battle s of Acadia and the Ohio goods, a British consumer might be aid- Although the Ohio River was not the we ll before the first shots were fired in ing the Pretender-the-rnernory of the concern of the boundary commission, 1754. Map s publi shed in London and 1745 Uprising and the vain attempt of it was very much on the mind of one Paris in the early 1750s pushed and Bonnie Prince Charlie to reinsert him- of the French memb ers. Rol and-Michel shaped the bound s of New France and self into British life was not soon for- Barrin de La Galissioniere. At precisely New England according to each cartog- gotten. In addition to protecting British the moment of publication, this former governor of Canada had become the The controversial French posts in the upper Ohio Valley stand out from the colorful British head of the Depot de la Marine, the claims in this detail of the Society of Anti-Gallicans map. department of maps and plans of the French navy and the bran ch of govern- ment that was also respon sible for the administration of the colonies. While La Galis sonicrc had been in Canada, as a true man of the Enli ghtenment, he had dispatched sev- eral survey expeditions to determin e longitude. One of these surveys was along the Ohio, done by a Jesuit priest, Joseph-Pierre de Bonnecamps . The second edition of Vaugondy 's map , pub- lished in 1755, shows the course of the Ohio based on Bormecamp's work as it was dra wn on manuscript maps found in the Depot de la Marine. The furor surrounding Vaugondy's map caused the cartographer to publi sh a spec ial note in the periodical Mercure de France, assuring his public that no PAGE 12 THE QlJARTO
13. jobs for British workers. the Society' s make s a stark. uncolored. whi te island by Rob ert de Vaugo ndy in his map of larger goal was to re-awaken the impe rial in the middle of the rainbow-hued Ca nada . Th e lack of rega rd for reliable mission of the Tudor queen Elizabeth. Briti sh claims. A white space surround- sources and certifiable claims. com- While the European and colonial enemy ing eve ry Fren ch fort and outpo st bined with the superimposition of col- in the sixtee nth century had been the speckles thesnrface like the rash of an ors and boundaries born of j ingois m. Spani sh, British eyes now viewed com- unknown disease , spreading its noisome created a cartograph ic atmosphere that petiti on \v'ith the Fren ch , both at home way across the co ntinent. The me ssage was already roilin g before the French and abroad. with fear and contempt. is clear: the British claim s extend from and Indian w ar began. As the French Th e fear of French en croachments the Atlanti c to the Mississippi and commissioner for the boundary negotia- was pe rpetua ted in the graphic produc- beyond . to the very wes tern edge of tion s had co mmented: "the authority of tion of the Soci ety ' s badge and arm s the map. Th e Fren ch po ssession s are map s is not decisive. Ca rtographers arc on man y everyday item s, such as snuff redu ced to the risibl e. more conc erned to give an air of system bo xes and ename l portraits. Its map No note is taken of the fact that and truth to their map s, as well as an of the Fren ch encroachments even the Society of Arui-Gallican s had based appearance of science and research than app eared on ladies' fans. The map its map on French so urces. The config- to truly fix the right s of Princes and the make s its strong statement by a rich uration of Michigan and the Great true limit s of a regio n." palette of color for the British colonial Lakes is based almo st wholly on ma ps - Mary SPOilberg Pedley cla ims in North Ame rica: a jeweled of the reg ion pub lished fir st by Jacques- A ssiSla1lt Curator of Maps turquoi se blue , vivid rose , and golden Nicolas Bellin in the Depot de la ye llow . The French co lony of Canada Marine and used. as noted above, CHABERT'S LEGACY " was rea red amidst the brother, Philippe, were tumult of ar ms," begins trained by their father the text o f the stained, to follow in his foot steps. leath er-boun d volume. "dev ot- Lo uis-Thomas Cha bert ed to the service of cou ntry fro m de Joneaire ( 1670-1739) the age o f nine , and em ploye d since had survived captivity and that time amo ng nat io ns equally fick le. adopti on by the Seneca to treacherous & savage, in culti vating enjoy co nsiderable status their uncerta in friend ship." The autho r. amo ng them as an envoy. Dan iel-Marie Chabcrt de Joncaire trader, and representative (I7 14-7 1}. lieutenant of the troupes of Onontio. the go vernor de la Marin e, former comm andant of o f Canada. In 1726 young Fort Littl e Niag ara. and late en voy to Daniel was sent to live the Si x Nations of the Iroq uois, might among the Iroquoi s as a well have concealed a double meaning diplom atic hostage. He in thi s bitter indictment of France's imm er sed him self in their Native Am erican allies. Confined to culture and langu age and the Bastille in 1762-63 and speaking became fluent in the thro ugh the pen of his attorne y, Chabert Ojib wa. Shawnee. and beli eved he had cau se to complain of Ottawa ton gues as well . another nation "e qually fickle" to those Nine year s later, Chabert of the North American fores ts. "Hav ing beg an his service to the escap ed from the fury of several bloody co lon y. Appo inted a cadet wars and from the peril of a tempes tu- in the colonial troops by ou s ocean," he protested. " 1 come to 1739, he had the pedigree Pari s full of the co nfidence whic h virtue and the ski lls to serve give s. & I find myse lf arrested on the New France among the orde rs of the King & confined to a Indian s. Thi s he did for prison . in order to render account, not 25 yea rs , fig hting through of my military acts, but of the use of the wes tern cam paig ns of His Majesty' s treasure." the French and Indian Such was Chabert's introduction to France . Born in Mon trea l and raised Cltabert 's in Ca nada and the Iroquois country of Memoir we stern New York, Daniel and his elde r du Canada. THE CWARTO PAGE 13
14. War, the siege of Fort Niagara , and the With everything to lose , Chabert same volume. Included with it are surrender of Montr eal in 1760 . resol ved to "speak, or rather let the memoires by Lieutenant Paul Duverger Chabert took his family to France truth speak." "It is eloquent itself," de St. Blin (ca.I720-after 1775), in 176 1 after the British conquest of he believed , and "the intelligent man Captai n Charl es Deschamps de Canada, only to find himself one of 55 cannot misunderstand its langu age." Boishebert ( 1727-97), Governor Pierre Canadian officers and officials charged The 93 pages that follow are filled with Rigaud de Vaudreuil ( 1698- 1778), and with malfeasance in what came to be Chabert's account of his colorful servic- Jacque s-Mich el de Breard (1711-75), known as the affa ire du Cana da. The es , detailed claims of his wartime loss- controller of the Marine at Quebec. indictment stemmed from his adminis- es, and his defen se against the charge s. Two further examples of these legal tration of the small fort on the Niagar a His memaire, along with those of a tracts survive in the Clements Library, portage. Chabert was accused of falsi- number of other defendants, was pub- those of Francois Bigot (1703 -78) and fying receipts and other financial irregu- lished in Pari s in 1763 while the trial Michel-Jean -Hugues Pean (1723-82). laritie s. He claimed to be the victim was in progress. In 2000, the family How man y more of the 55 defen- of a dishonest storekee per, and, in his of the late Carol yn 10 Bronson present- dants publi shed similar statements is defense, reasoned that a "military and ed a copy of this exceedingly rare book not kno wn. Nor is it entirely clear why Indian education was not likely to fit to the Clements Librar y. One of only Chabert chose to bind the other four me for the shady schemes of fraudulent two known copies of Chabert's with his own defense. Clo s represented finance ." Chabert was arrested in Paris memoire in Nort h America (the other all fi ve men, each of whom responded late in January 1762 and taken to the is held by Harvard University), it was vigorously to the claim s of the notori- Bastille. With other defendants, he the author's own. ous Bigot and his associate s such engaged a lawyer by the name of Clos, Memoire pour Daniel de as Pean. Chabert knew Boishebert who prepa red or helped him draft a Jonc aire-Chab ert is actually onl y one from service at Niagara in 1753, and memotre in his own defense, of five similar works bound into the Governor Vaudreuil was something of a patron, but he seems to havc had the closest relationship to St. BHn. with whom he shared a cell in the Bastille for 14 of the 23 months of his confinement. The two had much in common , for the charges against St. Blin stemmed from his command of Fort Le Boeuf on the Allegheny River and were virtually identical to those leveled at Chabert. The court rendered its verdict on December 10, 1763, aud Chabe rt' s ordeal in the Bastille came to an end. He wa s found guilty of having "negli- gently certified without inspection inventories of food stuff s belonging to the King" rather than of outri ght fraud. Chabert received "a stern warning against further offenses." St. Blin got the same verdict and sen- tence. Impoverished by wartime losses and two years of confinement, Chabcrt left France in 1764 to return to Canada. Presumabl y, his little morocco-bound book went with him, its spine stamped with the title Memo ir du Canada. The peace of 1763 had confi rmed Britain 's hold on Canada, so Chabe rt' s fir st stop was Lon don where, in October 1764, he presented a claim for lands along the Niagara River. Chabert attested that the Iroquoi s had granted them to his father. He had made improvements, all of which were destro yed durin g the war. It is at this point that the rest of Chabert's story begin s to play itself out in the Gage Papers at the Clem ents Libr ary.
15. In London, the Earl of Halifax and took up residence about three- Chabert's famil y was , by that informed Chabert that Indian grant s to quarters of a mile from the fort. He time, well established in Detroit, where individuals were invalid . particularly was watched carefully, espec ially after o ne of his sons, Franc ois (1757- 18 13), those west of the proc lamation line of his house became "'a gre at Resort of was a British parti san durin g the 1763 . Disappo inted in reco uping his Indians'tand Captain George Turnbull American Revolu tion. He kept his fort unes in this way, Chabert set out by reported that "Indians of every Nation father's Memoir du Canada , and it was way of New York for Montreal and Lo ve him." Thereaft er, Chabert's pre s- carefu lly prese rved by six succeeding what rem ained of his pro perty. At the . ence wa s tolerated, and he eve n report - genera tions in Detroit and Monroe. same time, Hali fax notified Gen eral ed occas ionally to Sir Willi am John son Handwritt en notati on s scattered Thoma s Gage of the impending arriva l on the mood of the Indians, but the thro ughout the book record a n umber of the fanner Canadia n officer, warni ng British never entirely trusted him . of family birt hs, deaths, and mar riages. him to keep the "Str ictest Eye" on his In spite of his popularity, Chabert Proudly inscrib ed in French above the co nduct and to prevent Chabert from was choking in debt incurred when he title is: "This book pertains to the fami- "going amongst the Indians" until he purchased goods in England in 1765 ly of Mr. Chabe rt." Early in the twen ti- had pro ven that he would not incite and then found that he could not trad e eth cent ury, Helen L. Bronson. Daniel' s them against the Brit ish. with the Indians. One of his creditors, great- great granddaughter, tra nslated his Chabert was in Montreal by the John Lees, traveled to Detroit in ] 768 memoire for Buffalo historian Frank summ er of 1765. where he wa s bitterly but got only "the fairest promi ses" and. Severance, who used it in An Old disappointed to find himself barred eventually, a lot in the town as part ial Frontier of France ( 19 17) and feature d from the Indian trad e. He then began repayme nt. Chabert even tried to obtain the exploits of Louis-Tho mas, Philippe, a long-distance effort to obtain co mpen- fina ncial support for his family from and Daniel Chabert de Joncaire. sation for his losses from the French General Gage, pleadi ng that "it would Daniel's Memo ir du Canada was gove rnment, but in this he was also be shameful at my age to see me drag- presented to the Clement s Librar y unsucce ssful. Finally, in 1767, having ging out my life along the lakeside , to in September 2000 and now reposes taken the oath of allegiance to Brit ain, be the laughing stoc k of the entire rab - where, 250 year s later, readers can be won the sympathy and support of ble." There was appare ntly some ponde r Cbabert's query: "w hich has Quebec governor Guy Ca rleton. who improve ment in his financial condition been the basis of my undertaki ngs, interceded with both Gage and Sir before C habert died at Detro it in 177 1 self-interest or hono r; zeal for the serv- William Joh nson. They relented and and was buried bene ath his pew in Ste. ice . or the desire [Q enrich myself]"]" permitted Ch abert to go (Q Detroit, but Anne 's Church. His remains were sub- - Brian Leigh Dunnigan Gage warned the commandant there sequently moved twice , and today they Curator of Maps and Head of to " keep a Watchfull Eye over him ." are believed to lie so mewhere in Mount Research & Publications Chaben arri ved at Detroit in September Olivet Cemetery. ANNOUN CEMENTS PRICE VISITING RESEARC H "In the King's Service: Amerindians. Seen : Conte sts of Power and Meaning FEL LOWS HIPS French Settlers, Traders, and the British in Colonial Georgia's Upcou ntry We are very pleased to annou nce the Mil itary Logistical System in the Old Landscapes." awa rd of eig ht Jacob M. Price Visit ing Northwes t, 1760-1776." Dr. David L. Preston. faculty of The Researc h Fell owships for tbe 2004 ca l- Rob Harper, Univer sity of Wiscon sin- Citadel. for his book, The TexflIre of endar year. The se grants pro vide sup- Madison. for his dissert ation , Contact: European and Indian Settler port for gra duate students and junior " Revolution and Conqu est: Politics. Communities 011 the lroquoian fac ulty who se research will benefi t from Violence . and Social C hange in the Borderlands. / 720-/ 780. the collections of the Clements Library. Ohio Valley. 1774- 1803." Thi s yea r's gro up of applicants wa s of Margaret Sumner. Rutgers University, particu larly high quality and presented Karen Marrer o, Yale University, for her for her dissertation , "Reason. diffic ult choices for our reviewers. dissertation. "Founding Families: Power Revelation & Romance : The Social Coincide ntally, five of the eight topics and Authori ty of Mixed Indigenous and Intellectual Con struct ion of Early have some relevance to the period of Lineages in Eighteenth-Cent ury America n College Co mmunitie s, the French and Indian War, the theme of Detroit." 1782- 1860." this issue of the Quarto. Th e succe ssful Robert Morrissey, Yale University, Dr. Kirk Davis Swinehart. facult y applicants are all ex pected to visit the for his dis sertati on, "B ottomlands & of Wesleyan University, for his book. Clements before the end of Decemb er. Bord erlands: Empire and Identity in the Molly 's War: The Other American Michelle Hamilton, University of Eighte enth-Cen tury Illinois Co untry." Revolution. Western Ontari o, for her dissertation , Robert E. Paulett . Co llege of William and Mary, for his dissertation, "A ugusta THE Q\)A RTO PAGE 15
16. CALEN DAR OF EVE NTS l\Iay 8 - June 4, 2004: Exhibit, George Washington: Gelling to Know the Man Behind the Image. Weekdays. 1:00- 4:45 p.m. l\Ia y 8, 2004 : Clements Library Associates Annual Meeting. 10:30 a.m. in the Main Room. The meeting is open to all CLA membe rs. ./un e 7 - Oc tobe r 1, 2004 : Exhibit , The Iceman Cometh ... and Gaeth: An Exhi bition Exploring the American Ice Indus try, From Early New Englund Pond Ice Harvesting to Mechanical Ref rigeration. Weekdays, 1:00 - 4:45 p.m. Oclober 1,2004 - ./anuary 15, 2005: Applications accepted for 2005 Price Visiting Research Fellowships. Awards will be announced by March 15, 2005. October 5, 2004: Clements Library Associates Board of Directors meeting. This apocryph al port rail of noted American ranger Robert Rogers ,vas pu blis hed ill the Hibernian Magazine ofSeptember 1776. It borrows poses and derails from " The Death of General Wolfe. " PAGE 16 T HE Q1JARTO
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