I beg of you to save my wife and children.' Many who witnessed that martial exit of Tracy and Courcelle from the Chateau Saint-Louis, surrounded by a staff of noble officers, must have realized that this was a memorable day in the history of New France. At last a crushing blow was to be struck at the ferocious foe who for twenty-five years had been the curse and terror of the wretched colony. What mighty cheers were shouted on that day by the eager and enthusiastic spectators who lined the streets of Quebec! On September 28, the troops taking part in the expedition were assembled at Fort Sainte-Anne. [Footnote: On isle La Mothe at the northern end of Lake Champlain.] Charles Le Moyne commanded the Montreal contingent, one hundred and ten strong; the Quebec contingent marched under Le Gardeur de Repentigny. Father Albanel and Father Raffeix, Jesuit priests, the Abbe Dollier de Casson, a Sulpician, and the Abbe Dubois, chaplain of the Carignan regiment, accompanied the army. Three hundred light boats had been launched for the crossing of Lakes Champlain and Saint-Sacrement. Courcelle, always impetuous, was the first to leave the fort; he led a vanguard of four hundred men which included those from Montreal. The main body of the army under Tracy set out on October 3. Captains Chambly and Berthier were to follow four days later with the rear-guard. The journey by water was uneventful; but the portage between the two lakes was hard and trying. Yet it was nothing compared with the difficulties of the march beyond Lake Saint-Sacrement. One hundred miles of forest, mountains, rivers, and swamps lay between the troops and the Iroquois villages. No roads existed, only narrow footpaths interrupted by quagmires, bristling with stumps, obstructed by the entanglement of fallen trees, or abruptly cut by the foaming waters of swollen streams. Heavily laden, with arms, provisions, and ammunition strapped on their backs, French and Canadians slowly proceeded through the great woods, whose autumnal glories were vanishing fast under the influence of the chill winds of October. Slipping over moist logs, sinking into unsuspected swamps, climbing painfully over steep rocks, they went forward with undaunted determination. At night they had to sleep in the open on a bed of damp leaves. The crossing of rivers was sometimes dangerous. Tracy, who unfortunately had been seized with an attack of gout, was nearly drowned in one rapid stream. A Swiss soldier had undertaken to carry him across on his shoulders, but his strength failed, and if a rock had not stood near, the viceroy's career might have ended there. A Huron came to the rescue and carried the helpless viceroy to the other side. The sufferings of the army were increased by a scarcity of food. The troops were famishing. Luckily they came upon some chestnut-trees and stayed their hunger with the nuts.