The Great Intendant | Page 8

a cousin of Tracy,
and one of the captives his nephew. Father Beschefer was at once
recalled and Captain de Sorel was ordered to march with some two
hundred Frenchmen and ninety Indians to strike a blow at the raiders.
Sorel lost no time and had nearly reached the enemy's villages when he
met Tracy's nephew and the other prisoners under escort of an Iroquois
chief and three warriors, who were bound for Quebec to make amends
for the treacherous murder recently perpetrated and to sue for peace.
Under these circumstances Captain de Sorel did not think it necessary
to proceed farther, and marched his men home again with the Iroquois
and the rescued prisoners. On August 31 a great meeting was held at
Quebec in the Jesuits' garden. The delegates of the Five Nations were
present, and speeches were made enlarging on the desirability of peace.
But it soon became apparent that no peace could be lasting except after
a successful expedition against the Mohawks. Tracy, Courcelle, and
Talon held a consultation, and the intendant submitted a well-prepared
document in which he reviewed the reasons for and against a
continuance of the war. In Talon's mind the arguments in favour of it
had undoubtedly the greater weight. Tracy and Courcelle concurred in
this opinion. Thirteen hundred men were drafted for an expedition--six
hundred regular soldiers, six hundred Canadians, and a hundred Indians.
All was soon ready, and on September 14, the day of the Exaltation of
the Cross, Tracy and Courcelle left Quebec, at the head of their troops.
It was a spectacle that did not fail to impress the Iroquois chiefs
detained in Quebec. One of them, deeply moved, said to the viceroy: 'I
see that we are lost, but you will pay dearly for your victory; my nation
will be exterminated, but I tell you that many of your young men will
not return, for our young warriors will fight desperately. I beg of you to

save my wife and children.' Many who witnessed that martial exit of
Tracy and Courcelle from the Chateau Saint-Louis, surrounded by a
staff of noble officers, must have realized that this was a memorable
day in the history of New France. At last a crushing blow was to be
struck at the ferocious foe who for twenty-five years had been the curse
and terror of the wretched colony. What mighty cheers were shouted on
that day by the eager and enthusiastic spectators who lined the streets
of Quebec!
On September 28, the troops taking part in the expedition were
assembled at Fort Sainte-Anne. [Footnote: On isle La Mothe at the
northern end of Lake Champlain.] Charles Le Moyne commanded the
Montreal contingent, one hundred and ten strong; the Quebec
contingent marched under Le Gardeur de Repentigny. Father Albanel
and Father Raffeix, Jesuit priests, the Abbe Dollier de Casson, a
Sulpician, and the Abbe Dubois, chaplain of the Carignan regiment,
accompanied the army. Three hundred light boats had been launched
for the crossing of Lakes Champlain and Saint-Sacrement. Courcelle,
always impetuous, was the first to leave the fort; he led a vanguard of
four hundred men which included those from Montreal. The main body
of the army under Tracy set out on October 3. Captains Chambly and
Berthier were to follow four days later with the rear-guard.
The journey by water was uneventful; but the portage between the two
lakes was hard and trying. Yet it was nothing compared with the
difficulties of the march beyond Lake Saint-Sacrement. One hundred
miles of forest, mountains, rivers, and swamps lay between the troops
and the Iroquois villages. No roads existed, only narrow footpaths
interrupted by quagmires, bristling with stumps, obstructed by the
entanglement of fallen trees, or abruptly cut by the foaming waters of
swollen streams. Heavily laden, with arms, provisions, and ammunition
strapped on their backs, French and Canadians slowly proceeded
through the great woods, whose autumnal glories were vanishing fast
under the influence of the chill winds of October. Slipping over moist
logs, sinking into unsuspected swamps, climbing painfully over steep
rocks, they went forward with undaunted determination. At night they
had to sleep in the open on a bed of damp leaves. The crossing of rivers

was sometimes dangerous. Tracy, who unfortunately had been seized
with an attack of gout, was nearly drowned in one rapid stream. A
Swiss soldier had undertaken to carry him across on his shoulders, but
his strength failed, and if a rock had not stood near, the viceroy's career
might have ended there. A Huron came to the rescue and carried the
helpless viceroy to the other side. The sufferings of the army were
increased by a scarcity of food. The troops were famishing. Luckily
they came upon some chestnut-trees and stayed their hunger with the
nuts.
At