40. Exposure and fatigue threw the English general into a fever. It was decided to ascend the St. Lawrence, and gain the Plains of Abraham, in the rear of the city. The lower camp was broken up, and on the 6th of September the troops were conveyed to Point Levi. Wolfe then transferred his army to a point several miles up the river.
QUEBEC IN 1759.
41. On the night of the 12th of September, the English dropped down the river to a place called Wolfs Cove, and in the dawn of morning the general marshaled his army for battle on the Plains of Abraham. Montcalm was in amazement when he heard the news. With great haste the French were brought from the trenches on the Montmorenci, and thrown between Quebec and the English.
The Taking of Quebec.
42. The battle began with an hour's cannonade. The Canadians and Indians were routed. The French regulars wavered and were thrown into confusion. Wolfe, leading the charge, was twice wounded, but pressed on. At the moment of victory a third ball pierced his breast, and he sank to the earth. "They run, they run!" said the attendant who bent over him. "Who run?" was the response. "The French are flying everywhere," replied the officer. "Do they run already? Then I die happy," said the expiring hero.
43. Montcalm, attempting to rally his regiments, was struck by a ball and mortally wounded. "Shall I survive?" said he to his surgeon. "But a few hours at most," answered the attendant. "So much the better," replied the heroic Frenchman; "I shall not live to witness the surrender of Quebec."
44. Five days after the battle, Quebec was surrendered, and an English garrison took possession of the citadel. On the 8th of September, in the same year, Montreal, the last important post of France in the valley of the St. Lawrence, was surrendered to General Amherst.
The Treaty of Paris.