tween the ages of sixteen and sixty,
but rarely mustering more than two thousand men. Such was the soldiery
in New France under Montcalm; and to them were added the Indian
allies, whose numbers rose or fell with the fortune of war.

Against a Canadian population of less than seventy thousand, the
English colonies could count more than a million souls; and although
they lacked cohesion, and, indeed, regular military establishment of
any kind, their greater wealth and numbers fore-told the inevitable
result of the struggle. At first the tide of war set against the
English: an event to be expected with Newcastle guiding the ship of
state, and believing in his generals, Loudon, Webb, and Abercrombie,
vain and obtuse military martinets, who fumbled their opportunities,
mismanaged their campaigns, and learned no lessons from their
failures.

From Oswego, on the south-east corner of Lake Ontario, the English
had planned to attack Fort Frontenac and Fort Niagara, so cutting off
New France from her western outposts. But Montcalm, with the speed and
energy that marked his character, determined to act upon the
offensive. With three thousand men he hurried to Fort Frontenac, and
crossed the lake under cover of the night. In the morning the garrison
of Oswego found themselves besieged. The cannonade on both sides was
brief but vigorous; but the French fought with greater spirit, their
dash and resource were disconcerting, and presently this, the most
important English stronghold of the west, was compelled to capitulate.
Sixteen hundred prisoners, a hundred pieces of artillery, and a vast
quantity of stores and ammunition fell into the hands of the
triumphant French. Having thus secured the west, Montcalm hurried back
to Lake Champlain, and intrenched himself at Carillon, by this means
to prevent an invasion of Canada by way of the Richelieu. Owing to the
lateness of the season, however, his opponents undertook no new
expedition that year, and waited for the spring.

In 1757 Loudon conceived the idea of attacking Louisbourg, and
accordingly he withdrew his troops to Halifax in order to co-operate
with an English squadron under Admiral Holbourne. Loudon's
incompetency alone would have fore-doomed so hazardous an undertaking;
but once more the elements fought on the side of France, and
Holbourne's fleet was shattered by a storm.

So far Montcalm had maintained a defensive attitude in the Richelieu
valley, but taking advantage of L