[172] "Le Général Prideaux avoit été charge de l'attaque de Niagara; ce fort situé près de la fameuse cataracte pouvoit être considéré comme le point militaire le plus important du Canada; il commande, en effet, le passage qui sert de communication entre le Lac Erie et le Lac Ontarío, en sorte qu'il sert de clef à la navigation de ce vastes mers intérieures; il commande en même temps la seule communication par terre entre les régions situées au nord et midi du fleuve et des Grands Lacs. Les Français connoissoient toute la valeur de cette position admirable; mais abandonnés comme ils étoient par la mère-patrie, ayant consumé pendant cinq ans leurs soldats, leurs armes, leurs munitions, à se défendre par leurs seules ressources, ils n'avoient pu mettre que six cents hommes dans Niagara, et ils n'en purent pas rassembler plus de dix-sept cents parmi les milices Canadiennes et leurs sauvages alliés, pour marcher à la délivrance de cette fortresse. Le Général Prideaux en avoit commencé l'attaque depuis peu de jours, lorque le 20 Juillet il fut tué à la tranchée; Sir W. Johnson qui le remplaça, continua l'attaque avec le même vigueur. Le 25 Juillet il livra bataille à la petite armée qui s'avançoit au secours de la place assiégée, il la défit avec un grand carnage, et le même jour le fort capitula, et la garnison de six cents hommes qu'il centenoit se livra prisonnière de guerre."[174]
Sismondi gives the following reason for his exclusive use of English authorities throughout his narration of the last French war in Canada: "Car les Français se sont refusés à donner aucun détail sur des combats dont les résultats étoient si funestes, encore que leurs compatriotes y eussent deployé souvent autant d'héroisme que dans les victoires."
[173] An order has at length been issued that all candidates for commissions shall pass a certain examination in general acquirements.
[174] Annual Register, 1759, vol. ii., chap. vi., p. 29; Smollett, vol. vii., b. iv., chap. xi., § xiii., p. 56.
CHAPTER X.
From the indifferent progress of Amherst and the untoward inactivity of Gage, we may now return to the more stirring events of the expedition against Quebec. Early in February a considerable squadron was equipped in the English ports for North America, under the command of Admiral Saunders.[175] A land force was to proceed under convoy of the fleet for the same destination. Pitt justly estimated the importance and difficulty of the enterprise. He looked around in vain among the senior officers of the army for a chief worthy of the occasion. Judging that, among them, the advantages of experience were more than counterbalanced by the infirmities of age, he determined to trust the military honor of England to the elastic vigor and sanguine confidence of youth.
While yet a boy, James Wolfe had received the thanks of his general, the Duke of Cumberland, on the field of La Feldt; rapid promotion had followed this distinction. As lieutenant-colonel of a regiment, the young officer had justified the notice of his superiors. He was appointed to the staff in the inglorious expedition against Rochefort, and gathered laurels where all was barren to his associates. At the siege of Louisburg his transcendent merit shone in the strong light of opportunity and success, and when still in early manhood he had gained a fair maturity of fame. In him ambition was exalted by patriotism and purified by religion. Modest in manners and conversation, he nevertheless possessed in action self-reliance almost to presumption. With the prize of honorable distinction in view, his daring courage foiled every danger and difficulty, and "obstacles were but the stepping stones to his success." He commanded the confidence and respect of the rude soldiers, in spite of an almost feminine sensibility. When reverses for a moment damped his hope, they at the same time served to brace his energy. Ardent and laborious, daring and provident, practical and studious, pertinacious yet reasonable, he was dignified in command and docile in obedience. Gifted, gentle, and generous, earnest in life and devoted in death, history may grace her page with the name of no greater hero when she records the deeds of many a greater general.
Wolfe returned to England from Louisburg in the end of the year 1758. He suffered severely from an illness, for which repose offered the only chance of relief, and an early prospect of the realization of a long and dearly-cherished hope drew him to home. But his aspiring spirit would not yield either to the weakness of his frame or to the strength of his affection, and almost immediately after landing from America, he addressed Mr. Pitt in a modest and manly letter, and offered his services for the next American campaign.
Wolfe's name stood high in the esteem of all who were qualified to judge, but, at the same time, it stood low in the column of colonels in the Army List. The great minister thought that the former counterbalanced the latter. With instinctive genius, he discerned that the young soldier possessed the peculiar qualifications suited for his purpose, and, throwing aside the obstacles presented by official routine, he recommended the gallant brigadier of Louisburg to the especial notice of the king. One of the last gazettes in the year 1758 announced the promotion of Colonel James Wolfe to the rank of major-general, and his appointment to the chief command of the expedition against Quebec.