With a view of a reconciliation, on August 7th Montcalm sent Bougainville from Carillon to the governor of Montreal to make personal explanations, and on the 13th the aide-de-camp returned. We learn the success of his mission from his letter written to the minister of war on August 10th: "Union appears to me today perfectly established in good faith between our chiefs." In his journal on his return to Carillon he writes of his impressions and his delicate mission at Montreal: "I have been sent by the Marquis of Montcalm to the Marquis de Vaudreuil with the order to stifle, if possible, this leaven of discord which is being fermented and which perhaps may have been hurtful to the good of the service. Thus our general still makes the advances. Public interest is the rule of his conduct and he has acted ceaselessly in the spirit of the words of Themistocles, 'Strike! But hear!' It appears that the Marquis de Vaudreuil in all his bickerings has followed the impressions of subalterns interested in creating variances, rather than his own ideas. What is, however, his own is his 'amour propre' and a jealousy of a rival—a foundation on which the mischief makers readily build. The appearances are that my journey has not been unfruitful. I hope that facts will prove it so."
Meanwhile Montcalm remained at Carillon, holding the position so as effectively to prevent any return of the English. On September 1st a courier came from Montreal with news that the English were on Lake Ontario and had arrived within three leagues of Fort Frontenac. This was followed shortly by the news of the fall of Louisbourg. This latter was at first discredited by Montcalm, but the entry in his journal, at once heartbreaking and laconic, tells its own tale: "September 6, 1758—News from Quebec announcing the capture of Louisbourg; from Montreal, that of Frontenac."
That night Montcalm left Carillon secretly with Pontleroy and Bougainville, called by Vaudreuil to consult on the critical conjuncture in which the French possessions in America were now placed.
Never since the beginning of the "Seven Years' War" was the situation so menacing for the colony. With the loss of Frontenac, the French were no longer masters of Lake Ontario; Niagara was in a perilous position and French prestige had suffered a mortal blow in the regions of the Great Lakes. With the capture of Louisbourg, the English held the gateway of Canada. Their return to Lake Ontario and the destruction of Frontenac would open to them the route of the higher reaches of the St. Lawrence, onward to Montreal.
Montreal was reached on September 6th and Montcalm stayed there four days. During that time he drew up for Vaudreuil three "mémoires," one on the defence of the frontier of Lake Ontario, another on that of Lake Champlain, and a third on the defence of Quebec, as well as on general operations and regulations. These, in spite of the apparent cessation of personal hostilities, and the renewal of courtesies, seem to have displeased Vaudreuil. The latter "mémoire" on the reorganization of the army and the future methods of conducting war in Canada was looked upon by Vaudreuil and his secretary as a personal offence. In his letter of November 1st to the minister of marine, Vaudreuil calls to his attention "the faults of this 'mémoire,' the passion with which it is treated, the desire to censure the government, the desire of innovation, and more particularly that of lording it over the colonists."
The Montreal clique saw in the frank attempt of Montcalm to solve the situation another depreciation of the colonial forces.
While in Montreal it was arranged, with Vaudreuil's consent, that Bougainville should be sent to France at the end of the campaign to expose the Canadian situation to the king.
On September 13th Montcalm was on his way back to Carillon. But the enemy never returned. At the end of October news arrived that the English had broken up their camp at William Henry and had left Lake St. Sacrement. On November 4th, leaving behind at Carillon a garrison of 400 men, Montcalm left Montreal with the Languedoc battalion, which was soon to be followed by the other battalions. The war of 1758 was over.
The rigorous winter season set in very early this year and the return to Montreal from Carillon was a painful journey to Montcalm and his troops. A disastrous wind on Lake Champlain separated the vessels and nigh foundered several. The cold was intense and the last vessels found themselves hampered by the ice. Yet the victorious general reached St. John without harm. "I will venture to say," he wrote to Bourlamaque, "that my vessels carry Caesar and his fortunes."