The hopes of His Britannic Majesty have vanished,
and will hardly revive again; for I shall take care to crush them in the
bud."[474]
[Footnote 473: _Vaudreuil au Ministre de la Marine_, 13 _Aout_, 1756.]
[Footnote 474: _Vaudreuil au Ministre de la Marine_, 1 _Sept._ 1756.]
The pronouns "I" and "my" recur with monotonous frequency in his
correspondence. "I have laid waste all the British provinces." "By
promptly uniting my forces at Carillon, I have kept General Loudon in
check, though he had at his disposal an army of about twenty thousand
men;"[475] and so without end, in all varieties of repetition. It is no
less characteristic that he here assigns to his enemies double their
actual force.
[Footnote 475: _Ibid._, 6 _Nov._ 1756.]
He has the faintest of praise for the troops from France. "They are
generally good, but thus far they have not absolutely distinguished
themselves. I do justice to the firmness they showed at Oswego; but it
was only the colony troops, Canadians, and Indians who attacked the
forts. Our artillery was directed by the Chevalier Le Mercier and M.
Fremont [_colony officers_], and was served by our colony troops and our
militia. The officers from France are more inclined to defence than
attack. Far from spending the least thing here, they lay by their pay.
They saved the money allowed them for refreshments, and had it in pocket
at the end of the campaign.
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