omes, but the spirit which they displayed under Frontenac's
leadership is not merely that which one associates with a war of
defence. The French soldier, in all ages, loved to strike the quick,
sharp blow, and it was now necessary for the salvation of Canada that
it should be struck. The Iroquois had come to believe that Onontio was
losing his power. The English colonies were far more populous than New
France. In short, the only hope lay in a swift, spectacular campaign
which would disorganize {118} the English and regain the respect of the
Iroquois.

The issue depended on the courage and capacity of the Canadians. It is
to their honour and to the credit of Frontenac that they rose to the
demand of the hour. The Canadians were a robust, prolific race,
trained from infancy to woodcraft and all the hardships of the
wilderness. Many families contained from eight to fourteen sons who
had used the musket and paddle from early boyhood, and could endure the
long tramps of winter like the Indians themselves. The frontiersman
is, and must be, a fighter, but nowhere in the past can one find a
braver breed of warriors than mustered to the call of Frontenac.
Francois Hertel and Hertel de Rouville, Le Moyne d'Iberville with his
brothers Bienville and Sainte-Helene, D'Aillebout de Mantet and
Repentigny de Montesson, are but a few representatives of the
militiamen who sped forth at the call of Frontenac to destroy the
settlements of the English.

[Illustration: PIERRE LE MOYNE, SIEUR D'IBERVILLE. From an engraving
in the John Ross Robertson Collection, Toronto Public Library]

What followed was war in its worst form, including the massacre of
women and children. The three bands organized by Frontenac at the
beginning of 1690 set out on snowshoes from Montreal, Three Rivers, and
Quebec. {119} The largest party contained a hundred and fourteen
French and ninety-six Indians. It marched from Montreal against
Schenectady, commanded by D'Aillebout de Mantet and Le Moyne de
Sainte-Helene. The second party, proceeding from Three Rivers and
numbering twenty-six French and twenty-nine Indians under the command
of Francois Hertel, aimed at Dover, Pemaquid, and other settlements of
Maine and New Hampshire. The Quebec party, under Portneuf, comprised
fifty French and sixty Indians. Its objective was the English colony
on Casco Bay, where the city of Portland now stands. All three were
successful in accomplishing what they aimed