What at first they most dreaded was an advance of the enemy by
way of Lake Champlain. Bourlamaque, with three battalions, was ordered
to take post at Ticonderoga, hold it if he could, or, if overborne by
numbers, fall back to Isle-aux-Noix, at the outlet of the lake. La Corne
was sent with a strong detachment to intrench himself at the head of the
rapids of the St. Lawrence, and oppose any hostile movement from Lake
Ontario. Every able-bodied man in the colony, and every boy who could
fire a gun, was to be called to the field. Vaudreuil sent a circular
letter to the militia captains of all the parishes, with orders to read
it to the parishioners. It exhorted them to defend their religion, their
wives, their children, and their goods from the fury of the heretics;
declared that he, the Governor, would never yield up Canada on any terms
whatever; and ordered them to join the army at once, leaving none behind
but the old, the sick, the women, and the children.[700] The Bishop
issued a pastoral mandate: "On every side, dearest brethren, the enemy
is making immense preparations. His forces, at least six times more
numerous than ours, are already in motion. Never was Canada in a state
so critical and full of peril. Never were we so destitute, or threatened
with an attack so fierce, so general, and so obstinate. Now, in truth,
we may say, more than ever before, that our only resource is in the
powerful succor of our Lord.
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