The Great Intendant : A chronicle of Jean Talon in Canada, 1665-1672 by Thomas Chapais
page 21 of 100 (21%)
page 21 of 100 (21%)
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unknown country. After seventeen days of extreme toil
they found that, instead of reaching the Mohawk district, they were near Corlaer in the New Netherlands, sixty miles distant. The vanguard had a brush with two hundred Iroquois, who slipped away after killing six French soldiers and leaving four of their own number dead. The governor could go no farther with his exhausted troops and was forced to retrace his steps. The retreat was worse than the forward march. The supply of provisions failed, and to the suffering from cold was soon added hunger. Many soldiers died of exposure and starvation. In reading the account of the ill-fated expedition, one is reminded of the disastrous retreat of Napoleon's army in 1812 through the icy solitudes of Russia. By this sad experience the military commanders of New France found that they had something to learn of the art of making war in North America, and must respect the peculiarities of the climate and country. Nevertheless Courcelle's winter expedition had made an impression on the minds of the Iroquois and had even surprised the Dutch and the English. The author of a narrative entitled Relation of the March of the Governor of Canada into New York wrote: 'Surely so bold and hardy an attempt hath not happened in any age.' Apparently the Five Nations were somewhat uneasy, for in March the Senecas sent ambassadors to the Marquis de Tracy to ratify the treaty signed in December. In July delegates came from the Oneida tribe; they presented a letter written by the English authorities at Orange which |
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