The capture of Quebec from the French by the English in 1759 is one of the epics of modern military history. Quebec was supposed to be absolutely impregnable, and was the stronghold of France in America. If the English had not been able to capture Quebec, Canada might have been French today. And this brilliant military feat was accomplished by a young major general only thirty-two years old. The leaders on both sides of the battle were killed; but the glory of their heroism has lived to this day.
After General Amherst had captured Louisburg in 1758 he took charge of the American campaigns of the Seven Years’ War between England and France. Under him was Major General James Wolfe, who was but thirty-one years old. Amherst ordered him to attack Quebec, while that general himself led a force to capture Montreal.
Wolfe’s command consisted of seven thousand men; while Montcalm, the French commanded of Quebec, had under him a considerably larger army. The British sailed up the St. Lawrence River and camped on the Isle of Orleans, facing the city.
There were three ways of attacking Quebec,—from the St. Lawrence River, from the St. Charles River, and up the steep cliffs to the Plains of Abraham. On the St. Lawrence side it was impossible to get near enough to the city to damage it, and to climb the steep rock to the Plains of Abraham seemed unworthy of consideration. So Wolfe decided to cross the St. Lawrence seven miles below Quebec, and to fight his way to the city by the St. Charles side. But this attack failed, with great loss to the English.
However, although he was discouraged, the stout heart of General Wolfe never failed. He began immediately to plan another way of getting into Quebec. He learned that the impossible could be accomplished, the heights to the Plains of Abraham could be scaled. From a little cove in the river, Wolfe’s Cove, a steep path led up the cliffs. It was a desperate chance; but it was worth taking.
He only had thirty-six hundred men that could be spared for the attempt, and on the evening of September 12, 1759, these embarked on the warships and sailed upstream. Montcalm was a wary warrior, and sent some troops to watch the movements of the English. The British troops landed some distance above Wolfe’s Cove; but at one o’clock in the morning Wolfe and half his force dropped downstream in boats and landed at the cove.
Then came the scramble up the cliff-side in the inky darkness. Slowly they worked their way to the top. At the summit the French had a weak redoubt guarded by a handful of men. This was the last place at which Montcalm had expected an attack. The garrison was easily driven from the redoubt, and by daylight the entire English force was upon the Plains of Abraham.
Montcalm drew up his men, and the two armies, French and English, stood face to face on the narrow battlefield. The French advanced and began to push the English back; but Wolfe rallied his men. He held back his fire until the French came within close range, and then at his order one volley decided the battle. With great gaps in their lines, the French halted, and Wolfe led on his men to complete the victory.
But the brave English general, wounded twice already, now received a shot through the breast that was fatal. Montcalm too was mortally wounded, and died the next day.