general defence, assembled at New York, and resolved to carry war into
Canada: an army was to attack Montreal by way of Lake Champlain, and a
fleet to attempt Quebec by the St. Lawrence. The former advanced as far
as the lake, when the quarrels of the commanding officers defeated the
objects of the expedition. The Massachusetts fleet of thirty-four
vessels, (the largest carrying forty-four guns each,) and two thousand
men, failed to reduce Quebec, though the defences of that place were
then of the slightest character, and armed with only twenty-three guns.

In 1704, and again in 1707, Port Royal was attacked by costly
expeditions fitted out by the eastern colonies; and again, in 1709, a
land force of fifteen hundred men advanced against Montreal by Lake
Champlain; but nothing of importance was effected by either expedition.

In 1711, Lord Bolingbroke planned the conquest of Canada. The land
forces, numbering five thousand men in all, were separated into two
distinct armies, the one sent against Detroit, and the other against
Montreal by Lake Champlain; while a fleet of fifteen ships of war, forty
transports, and six store-ships, carrying a land force of six thousand
five hundred men, was to attack Quebec. The maritime expedition failed
to reach its destination, and after losing a part of the fleet and more
than a thousand men in the St. Lawrence, this part of the project was
abandoned. Nor was any thing important accomplished by either division
of the land forces.

The same plan of campaign was followed in 1712. An army of four thousand
men marched against Montreal by Lake Champlain, but on hearing of the
failure of the naval expedition and of the concentration of the French
forces on the river Sorel, they retired towards Albany.

The next expedition of any importance was the naval one of 1745 against
Louisburg. For the attack of this place the colonies raised about four
thousand men, and one hundred small vessels and transports, carrying
between one hundred and sixty and two hundred guns. They were afterwards
joined by ten other vessels carrying near five hundred guns. This
attacking force now, according to some of the English writers, consisted
of six thousand provincials, and eight hundred seamen, and a combined
naval force of near seven hundred guns. The troops landed, and laid
siege to the town. The garrison of the fortifications of Louisburg
consisted of six hundred regulars and one thousand Breton militia, or