At that very instant, every separate regiment of the British army seemed to exert itself for the honour of its own peculiar character. While the right pressed on with their bayonets, brigadier Murray briskly advanced with the troops under his command, and soon broke the centre of the enemy: then the High landers, drawing their broad-swords, fell in among them, with irresistible impetuosity, and drove them with great slaughter into the town, and the works they had raised at the bridge of the river St. Charles. On the left and rear of the English, the action was not so violent. Some of the light infantry had thrown themselves into houses; where, being attacked, they defended themselves with great courage and resolution. Colonel Howe having taken post with two companies behind a small copse, sallied out frequently on the flanks of the enemy during this attack, and often drove them into heaps; while brigadier Townshend advanced platoons against their front; so that the right wing of the French were totally prevented from executing their first intention. The brigadier himself remained with Amherst’s regiment, to support this disposition, and to overawe a body of savages posted opposite to the light infantry, waiting for an opportunity to fall upon the rear of the British army. General Wolfe being slain, and at the same time Mr. Monckton dangerously wounded at the head of Lascelles’ regiment, where he distinguished himself with remarkable gallantry, the command devolved on brigadier Townshend, who hastened to the centre; and finding the troops disordered in the pursuit, formed them again with all possible expedition. This necessary task was scarce performed, when M. de Bougainville, with a body of two thousand fresh men, appeared in the rear of the English. He had begun his march from Cape Rouge, as soon as he received intelligence that the British troops had gained the heights of Abraham, but did not come up in time to have any share in the battle. Mr. Townshend immediately ordered two battalions, with two pieces of artillery, to advance against this officer; who retired, at their approach, among woods and swamps, where general Townshend very wisely declined hazarding a precarious attack. He had already obtained a complete victory, taken a great number of French officers, and was possessed of a very advantageous situation, which it would have been imprudent to forego. The French general, M. de Montcalm, was mortally wounded in the battle, and conveyed into Quebec; from whence, before he died, he wrote a letter to general Townshend, recommending the prisoners to that generous humanity by which the British nation is distinguished. His second in command was left wounded on the field; and next day expired on board an English ship, to which he had been conveyed. About one thousand of the enemy were made prisoners, including a great number of officers; and about five hundred were slain on the field of battle. The wreck of their army, after they had reinforced the garrison of Quebec, retired to Point-au-Tremble; from whence they proceeded to Jacques Quatiers, where they remained intrenched until they were compelled by the severity of the weather to make the best of their way to Trois Rivieres and Montreal. This important victory was obtained at the expense of fifty men killed, including nine officers; and of about five hundred men wounded: but the death of general Wolfe was a national loss, universally lamented. He inherited from nature an animating fervour of sentiment, an intuitive perception, an extensive capacity, and a passion for glory, which stimulated him to acquire every species of military knowledge that study could comprehend, that actual service could illustrate and confirm. This noble warmth of disposition, seldom fails to call forth and unfold the liberal virtues of the soul. Brave above all estimation of danger, he was also generous, gentle, complacent and humane; the pattern of the officer, the darling of the soldier: there was a sublimity in his genius which soared above the pitch of ordinary minds; and had his faculties been exercised to their full extent by opportunity and action, had his judgment been fully matured by age and experience, he would without doubt have rivalled in reputation the most celebrated captains of antiquity.
QUEBEC TAKEN.
Immediately after the battle of Quebec, admiral Saunders, who, together with his subordinates Durell and Holmes, had all along co-operated heartily with the land-forces for the advantage of the service, sent up all the boats of the fleet with artillery and ammunition; and on the seventeenth day of the month sailed up with all the ships of war, in a disposition to attack the lower town, while the upper part should be assaulted by general Townshend. This gentleman had employed the time from the day of action in securing the camp with redoubts, in forming a military road for the cannon, in drawing up the artillery, preparing batteries, and cutting off the enemy’s communication with the country. On the seventeenth, before any battery could be finished, a flag of truce was sent from the town, with proposals of capitulation; which, being maturely considered by the general and admiral, were accepted, and signed at eight next morning. They granted the more favourable terms, as the enemy continued to assemble in the rear of the British army; as the season was become wet, stormy, and cold, threatening the troops with sickness, and the fleet with accident; and as a considerable advantage would result from taking possession of the town while the walls were in a state of defence. What rendered the capitulation still more fortunate for the British general, was the information he afterwards received from deserters, that the enemy had rallied, and were reinforced behind cape Rouge, under the command of M. de Levy, arrived from Montreal for that purpose, with two regular battalions; and that M. de Bougainville, at the head of eight hundred men, with a convoy of provisions, was actually on his march to throw himself into the town on the eighteenth, that very morning on which it was surrendered. The place was not then completely invested, as the enemy had broke the bridge of boats, and posted detachments in very strong works on the other side of the river St. Charles. The capitulation was no sooner ratified, than the British forces took possession of Quebec on the land side; and guards were posted in different parts of the town, to preserve order and discipline; at the same time captain Palliser, with a body of seamen, entered the lower town and took the same precautions. Next day about a thousand prisoners were embarked on board transports, which proceeded to France with the first opportunity. Meanwhile the inhabitants of the country came in great numbers, to deliver up their arms, and take the oath of fidelity to the English government. The death of Montcalm, which was indeed an irreparable loss to France, in all probability overwhelmed the enemy with consternation, and confounded all their councils; otherwise we cannot account for the tame surrender of Quebec to a handful of troops, even after the victory they had obtained: for although the place was not regularly fortified on the land-side, and most of the houses were in ruins, their walls and parapets had not yet sustained the least damage; the besiegers were hardly sufficient to complete the investiture; a fresh army was assembled in the neighbourhood, with which their communication continued open; the season was so far advanced, that the British forces in a little time must have been forced to desist by the severity of the weather, and even retire with their fleet before the approach of winter, which never fails to freeze up the river St. Laurence.
Immediately after the action at the Falls of Montmorenci, general Wolfe had despatched an officer to England, with a detail of that disaster, written with such elegance and accuracy, as would not have disgraced the pen of a Cæsar. Though the public acquiesced in his conduct, they were exceedingly mortified at his miscarriage; and this mortification was the greater, as he seemed to despair of being able to strike any other stroke of importance for the accomplishment of their hope, which had aspired at the absolute conquest of Canada. The first transports of their chagrin were not yet subsided, when colonel Hale arrived in the ship Alcide, with an account of the victory and surrender of Quebec; which was immediately communicated to the people in an Extraordinary Gazette. The joy which this excited among the populace rose in proportion to the despondence which the former had produced: all was rapture and riot; all was triumph and exultation, mingled with the praise of the all-accomplished Wolfe, which they exalted even to a ridiculous degree of hyperbole. The king expressed his satisfaction by conferring the honour of knighthood upon captain Douglas, whose ship brought the first tidings of this success; and gratified him and colonel Hale with considerable presents. A day of solemn thanksgiving was appointed by proclamation through all the dominions of Great Britain. The city of London, the universities, and many other corporations of the kingdom, presented congratulatory addresses to his majesty. The parliament was no sooner assembled, than the secretary of state, in the house of commons, expatiated upon the successes of the campaign, the transcendent merit of the deceased general, the conduct and courage of the admirals and officers who assisted in the conquest of Quebec. In consequence of this harangue, and the motion by which it was succeeded, the house unanimously resolved to present an address, desiring his majesty would order a monument to be erected in Westminster-abbey to the memory of major-general Wolfe; at the same time they passed another resolution, that the thanks of the house should be given to the surviving generals and admirals employed in the glorious and successful expedition to Quebec. Testimonies of this kind, while they reflect honour upon the character of the nation, never fail to animate individuals to a spirited exertion of their talents in the service of the public. The people of England were so elevated by the astonishing success of this campaign, which was also prosperous on the continent of Europe, that, far from expressing the least sense of the enormous burdens which they bore, they, with a spirit peculiar to the British nation, voluntarily raised large contributions to purchase warm jackets, stockings, shoes, coats, and blankets, for the soldiers who were exposed to the rigours of an inclement sky in Germany and America. But they displayed a more noble proof of unrestrained benevolence, extended even to foes. The French ministry, straitened in their finances, which were found scarce sufficient to maintain the war, had sacrificed their duty to their king, and every sentiment of compassion for his unhappy subjects, to a thirst of vengeance, and sanguinary views of ambition. They had withdrawn the usual allowance from their subjects who were detained prisoners in England; and those wretched creatures, amounting in number to near twenty thousand, were left to the mercy of those enemies whom their sovereign had taken such pains to exasperate. The allowance with which they were indulged by the British government effectually secured them from the horrors of famine; but still they remained destitute of other conveniences, and particularly exposed to the miseries of cold and nakedness. The generous English beheld these forlorn captives with sentiments of sympathy and compassion; they considered them as their fellow-creatures and brethren in humanity, and forgot their country while they beheld their distress. A considerable subscription was raised in their behalf; and in a few weeks they were completely clothed by the charity of their British benefactors. This beneficent exertion was certainly one of the noblest triumphs of the human mind, which even the most inveterate enemies of Great Britain cannot but regard with reverence and admiration.—The city of Quebec being reduced, together with great part of the circumjacent country, brigadier Townshend, who had accepted his commission with the express proviso that he should return to England at the end of the campaign, left a garrison of five thousand effective men, victualled from the fleet, under the command of brigadier Murray; and, embarking with admiral Saunders, arrived in Great Britain about the beginning of winter. As for brigadier Monckton, he was conveyed to New York, where he happily recovered of his wound.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Siege of Madras..... Colonel Forde defeats the Marquis de Conflans near Gola-pool..... Captain Knox takes Rajamundry and Narsipore..... Colonel Forde takes Masulipatam..... Surat taken by the English..... Unsuccessful Attack upon Wandewash..... Admiral Pococke defeats Monsieur d’Apehé..... Hostilities of the Dutch on the River of Bengal..... Colonel Coote takes Wandewash..... Defeats General Lally..... and conquers the Province of Arcot..... State of the Belligerent Powers in Europe..... Frankfort seized by the French..... Progress of the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick..... Prince Ferdinand attacks the French at Bergen..... The British Ministry appoint an Inspector General of the Forage..... Prince Ferdinand retreats before the French Army..... Animosity between the General of the Allied Army and the Commander of the British Forces..... The French encamp at Min-den..... and are defeated by the Allies..... Duke de Brissac routed by the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick..... General Imhoff takes Munster from the French..... who retreat before Prince Ferdinand..... The Hereditary Prince beats up the Duke of Wirtemberg’s Quarters at Fulda..... A Body of Prussians make an incursion into Poland..... Prince Henry penetrates into Bohemia..... He enters Franconia, and obliges the Imperial Army to retire..... King of Prussia vindicates his Conduct with respect to his Prisoners..... The Prussian General Wedel defeated by the Russians at Zullichau..... The King of Prussia takes the Command of General Wedel’s Corps..... Battle of Cunersdorf..... Advantages gained by the Prussians in Saxony..... Prince Henry surprises General Vehla..... General Finck, with his whole Corps of Prussians, surrounded and taken by the Austrian General..... Disaster of the Prussian General Diercke..... Conclusion of the Campaign..... Arret of the Evangelical Body at Ratisbon..... The French Ministry stop Payment..... The States-General send over Deputies to England..... Memorial presented to the States by Major-General Yorke..... A counter Memorial presented by the French Minister..... Death of the King of Spain..... He is succeeded by his brother Don Carlos, who makes a remarkable Settlement..... Detection and Punishment of the Conspirators at Lisbon..... Session opened in England..... Substance of the Addresses..... Supplies granted..... Ways and Means, Annuities, &c....... Bills for granting several Duties on Malt, &c...... Petitions for and against the Prohibition of the Malt Distillery..... Opposition to the Bill for preventing the excessive Use of Spirituous Liquors..... Bill for continuing the Importation of Irish Beef..... Attempt to establish a Militia in Scotland..... Further Regulations relative to the Militia of England..... Bill for removing the Powder Magazine from Greenwich..... Act for improving the Streets of London..... Bill relative to the Sale of Fish in London and Westminster..... New Act for ascertaining the Qualifications of Members of Parliament..... Act for consolidating the Annuities granted in 1759..... Bill for securing the Payment of Prize and Bounty Money appropriated for the Use of Greenwich Hospital..... Act in Favour of George Keith, late Earl Marshal of Scotland..... Session closed