By the treaty of Riswick, it was agreed that France and England should mutually restore to each other all conquests made during the war; and it was farther stipulated that commissioners should be appointed to examine and determine the rights and pretensions of each monarch to the places situated in Hudson's bay.
The consequences of not ascertaining boundaries were soon perceived. The English claimed as far west as the St. Croix, while France asserted her right to the whole country east of the Kennebeck.
These claims remained unsettled; and were mingled with other differences of more importance, which soon occasioned the re-commencement of hostilities.
The whole weight of the war in America fell on New England. Previous to its commencement, the earl of Bellamont, who was at that time governor of New York as well as of Massachusetts and of New Hampshire, had required that the quotas of men, assigned by the crown to the different colonies for the defence of New York, should be furnished. This requisition however was not complied with; and, before hostilities began, a treaty of neutrality was negotiated between the Five nations and the governor of Canada, which was assented to by lord Cornbury, then governor of New York. This treaty preserved the peace of that province, but left Massachusetts and New Hampshire to struggle with the combined force of the French and their Indian allies;--a struggle which seems to have been viewed by New York with the utmost composure.
Hostilities between Great Britain and France were immediately followed by incursions of French and Indians into the exposed parts of New England. A predatory and desolating war, attended with no striking circumstance, but with considerable expense and great individual distress, was carried on for some years. During its continuance, propositions were made for a cessation of hostilities; and the negotiations on this subject were protracted to a considerable length; but Dudley, who had succeeded the earl of Bellamont as governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, declined engaging for the neutrality of those provinces, in the hope that Nova Scotia and Canada might be subdued in the course of the war.
The battle of Almanza, in Spain, having induced the British cabinet to direct an armament intended for New England to European objects, Dudley determined to make an attempt on Acadié, though no aid should arrive from England. With this view, he applied, early in the spring, to the assemblies of both his provinces, and to the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island; requesting them to raise one thousand men for the expedition. Connecticut declined furnishing her quota; but the other three colonies raised the whole number, who were disposed into two regiments, one commanded by colonel Wainright, and the other by colonel Hilton. On the 13th of May, they embarked at Nantucket on board a fleet of transports furnished with whale boats, under convoy of a man of war and a galley. The chief command was given to colonel March, who had behaved gallantly in several encounters with the Indians, but had never been engaged in such service as this. They arrived before Port Royal in a few days, and landed without opposition. After making some ineffectual attempts to bombard the fort, a disagreement among the officers, and a misapprehension of the state of the fort and garrison, induced the troops to re-embark in a disorderly manner.[122] Dudley, who was unwilling to relinquish the enterprise, directed the army to remain in its position till farther orders. March was beloved by the soldiers, and was known to be brave, but his capacity was doubted. It was therefore thought unsafe either to recall him, to place an officer over him, or to continue him in the chief command. The expedient devised in this perplexity was, to send a commission to the army, composed of three members of the council, invested with all the powers which the governor himself, if present, would possess. These commissioners arrived at Casco about the middle of July, where they found the army insubordinate, and indisposed to the service. The troops, however, were again embarked, and arrived at Passamaquodi, on the seventh of August. The spirits of the general were broken, and his health was impaired. While dispositions for landing the army were making, he declared his inability to act, and the command devolved on colonel Wainright. The landing was effected on the 10th of August; but the troops could not be inspired with that union and firmness which are essential to success. After devoting ten days to inefficient, unmeaning operations, they re-embarked, and returned, sickly, fatigued and dispirited.