Lawrence and, if possible,
prevent Murray from moving up the river. Bougainville was
stationed at Isle-aux-Noix to bar the approach from Lake
Champlain, and a force under La Corne was held ready to
defend the rapids above Montreal, should the English attempt
that dangerous passage. Prisoners taken by war parties near
Crown Point gave exaggerated reports of hostile preparation,
and doubled and trebled the forces that were mustering against
Canada.
[Footnote 835: _Vaudreuil au Ministre, 22 Juin, 1760_.]
These forces were nevertheless considerable. Amherst had
resolved to enter the colony by all its three gates at once,
and, advancing from east, west, and south, unite at Montreal
and crush it as in the jaws of a vice. Murray was to ascend
the St. Lawrence from Quebec, while Brigadier Haviland forced an
entrance by way of Lake Champlain, and Amherst himself led the
main army down the St. Lawrence from Lake Ontario. This last
route was long, circuitous, difficult, andfull of danger from
the rapids that obstructed the river. His choice of it for his
chief line of operation, instead of the shorter and easier way
of Lake Champlain, was meant, no doubt, to prevent the French
army from escaping up the Lakes to Detroit and the other wilderness
posts, where it might have protracted the war for an indefinite
time; while the plan adopted, if successful, would make its capture
certain. The plan was a critical one.
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