and in
April, 1690, dispatched a small squadron from Boston, which took
possession of Port Royal and all the province of Acadia. In a month the
expedition returned, with sufficient plunder to repay its cost.
Meanwhile the British settlers deputed six commissioners to meet at New
York in council for their defense. On the first of May, 1690, these
deputies assembled, and promptly determined to set an expedition on foot
for the invasion of Canada. Levies of 800 men were ordered for the
purpose, the contingents of the several states fixed, and general rules
appointed for the organization of their army. A fast-sailing vessel was
dispatched to England with strong representations of the defenseless
state of the British colonies, and with an earnest appeal for aid in the
projected invasion of New France; they desired that ammunition and other
warlike stores might be supplied to their militia for the attempt by
land, and that a fleet of English frigates should be directed up the
River St. Lawrence to co-operate with the colonial force. But at that
time England was still too much weakened by the unhealed wounds of
domestic strife to afford any assistance to her American children, and
they were thrown altogether on their own resources.

New York and New England boldly determined, unaided, to prosecute their
original plans against Canada. General Winthrop, with 800 men, was
marched by the way of Lake Champlain, on the shores of which he was to
have met 500 of the Iroquois warriors; but, through some unaccountable
jealousy, only a small portion of the politic savages came to the place
of muster. Other disappointments also combined to paralyze the British
force: the Indians had failed to provide more than half the number of
canoes necessary for the transport of the troops across the lake, and
the contractor of the army had imprudently neglected to supply
sufficient provisions. No alternative remained for Winthrop but to fall
back upon Albany for subsistence.

In the mean time, Major Schuyler, who had before crossed Lake Champlain
with a smaller British force, pushed on against the French post of La
Prairie de la Madeleine, and attacked it with spirit. He soon overcame
the handful of Canadian militia and Indians who formed the garrison, and
compelled them to fall back upon Chambly, a fort further to the north.
Having met M. de Sanermes and a considerable force advancing to their
relief, they turned and faced their pursuers. Schuyler