The Conquest Of Canada

The great struggle between France and England for supremacy in America was at its height when, early in 1758, Abercromby, who had succeeded Loudoun as Commander-in-Chief, decided upon a general advance. The plan of campaign was to invade Canada on two fronts-one from the south, via Lake Champlain, upon Montreal and the western portion of Canada, and the other from the east by sea, via Louisburg (Cape Breton) and the St. Lawrence River, upon Quebec on the eastern side.

Ticonderoga, 8th July, 1758

The 1st and 4th Battalions, under Bouquet and Haldimand, formed part of the main army in the western field of operations, and on the banks of Lake Champlain, at the failure of the attack on Ticonderoga, "at once a glory and a shame," the 4th Battalion and a portion of the 1st fought magnificently, losing 281 of all ranks killed and wounded. On 27th July, three weeks later, regardless of their losses, the Regiment furnished a part of the column under Bradstreet,4 of the 60th, which, after a forced march, captured Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario by a coup de main on 27th August.

Fort Duquesne, 25th November, 1758

In November following, the 1st Battalion, employed on the western frontiers under General Forbes, played the leading part in the advance against Fort Duquesne on the Ohio, and led by Bouquet captured it from the French and Red Indians. This was a triumph over great physical difficulties. The solid value of the victory is thus summed up by the American historian Parkman: "It opened the great West to English enterprise, took from France half her savage allies, and relieved her western borders from the scourge of Indian Wars." Fort Duquesne, rechristened Fort Pitt, was garrisoned by a detachment of the 60th. It was destined to play an important role in the subsequent operations.

Louisburg, 6th July, 1758>

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, under Lieutenant-Colonel Young and Major Augustine Prevost respectively, early in 1758 were ordered to join Generals Amherst and Wolfe in the eastern field of operations, and they took a prominent part in the capture of Louisburg, the great stronghold and sea base of the French at Cape Breton.