The Great Intendant | Page 9

last, on October 15, the scouts reported that the Mohawk settlements
were near at hand. It was late in the day, darkness was setting in, and a
storm of wind and rain was raging. But Tracy decided to push on. They
marched all night, and in the morning, emerging from the woods, saw
before them the first of the Mohawk towns or villages. Without
allowing a moment's pause, the viceroy ordered an advance. The roll of
the drums seemed to give the troops new strength and ardour; French,
Canadians, and Indians ran forward to the assault. The Mohawks,
apprised of the coming attack, had determined beforehand to make a
stand and had sent their women and children to another village. But, at
the sight of the advancing army, whose numbers appeared to them three
times as great as they really were, and at the sound of the drums, like
the voice of demons, they fled panic-stricken. The first village was
taken without striking a blow. The viceroy immediately ordered a
march against the second, which was also found abandoned. Evidently
the Iroquois were terrified, for a third village was taken in the same
way, without a show of defence. It was thought that the invaders' task
was finished, when an Algonquin squaw, once a captive of the Iroquois,
informed Courcelle that there were two other villages. The soldiers
pushed forward, and the fourth settlement of the ever-vanishing enemy
fell undefended into the hands of the French. The sun was setting; the
exertions of the day and of the night before had been arduous, and it
seemed impossible to go farther. But the squaw, seizing a pistol and
grasping Courcelle's hand, said, 'Come on, I will show you the straight
path.' And she led the way to the town and fort of Andaraque, the most
important stronghold of the Mohawks. It was surrounded with a triple
palisade twenty feet high and flanked by four bastions. Vessels of bark

full of water were distributed on the platforms behind the palisade
ready for use against fire. The Iroquois might have made a desperate
stand there, and such had been their intention. But their courage failed
them at the fearful beating of the drums and the appearance of that
mighty army, and they sought safety in flight.
The victory was now complete, and the army could go to rest after
nearly twenty-four hours of continuous exertion. Next morning the
French were astonished at the sight of Andaraque in the light of the
rising sun. instead of a collection of miserable wigwams, they saw a
fine Indian town, with wooden houses, some of them a hundred and
twenty feet long and with lodging for eight or nine families. These
houses were well supplied with provisions, tools, and utensils. An
immense quantity of Indian corn and other necessaries was stored in
Andaraque-'food enough to feed Canada for ten years'--and in the
surrounding fields a plentiful crop was ready for harvest. All this was
to be destroyed; but first an impressive ceremony had to be performed.
The army was drawn up in battle array. A French officer, Jean-Baptiste
Dubois, commander of the artillery, advanced, sword in hand, to the
front, and in the presence of Tracy and Courcelle, declared that he was
directed by M. Jean Talon, king's counsellor and intendant of justice,
police, and finance for New France, to take possession of Andaraque,
and of all the country of the Mohawks, in the name of the king. A cross
was solemnly planted alongside a post bearing the king's coat of arms.
Mass was celebrated and the Te Deum sung. Then the work of
destruction began. The palisades, the dwellings, the bastions, the stores
of grain and provisions, except what was needed by the invaders, the
standing crops-all were set on fire; and when night fell the glaring
illumination of that tremendous blaze told the savages that at last New
France had asserted her power, and that the soldiers of the great king
had come far enough through forest and over mountain and stream to
chastise in their own country the bloodthirsty tribes who for a quarter
of a century had been the terror of the growing settlements on the St
Lawrence.
On their return march the troops suffered great hardships. A storm on
Lake Champlain upset two boats and eight men were drowned. Tracy

reached Quebec on November 5. The expedition had lasted seven
weeks, during which time he had covered nine hundred miles. The
news of his success had been received with joy. Since the first days of
October the whole colony had been praying for victory. As soon as the
destruction of the Iroquois towns was known, prayers were changed to
thanksgiving. The Te Deum was solemnly chanted, and on November
14 a mass was said