Position of Montcalm's Army. British Possession of Orleans and Point Levi. Land near Montmorenci, The brave and accomplished Montcalm, with an army of thirteen thousand men, six battalions of which were regulars, and the others Canadians and Indians, occupied the city with a garrison, and a strongly intrenched camp upon the heights of Beauport, extending from the St. Charles to the River Montmorenci. The center of the camp and Montcalm's June 29. also two batteries for its defense, placed upon hulks sunk in the channel. Wolfe sent General Monkton to take possession of Point Levi, opposite Quebec. He landed at Beaumont, and marched up to the point with little opposition, where he erected batteries, from which the shots dealt destruction upon the lower town lying upon the St. Charles, but had no effect upon the walls of the city. Finding efforts from that point unavailing, Wolfe, with his division on Orleans, crossed the north channel of the St. Lawrence, and encamped near the left bank of the Montmorenci, within cannonJuly 10 shot of the left wing of the enemy on the other side of the river. He met with fierce opposition, but succeeded in maintaining his ground and erecting two batteries there. Still, Quebec was too distant to be affected by any of his works, and he resolved upon the bold measure of storming the strong camp of the enemy. On the last day of July the troops at Point Levi, and a large number of grenadiers under General Monkton, crossed the St. Lawrence in the boats of the fleet, and landed a little above the Montmorenci. At the same time those below Montmorenci, under Generals Townshend and Murray, crossed that stream by fording it near its mouth, at low water, and joined the other division upon the beach. The enemy at once made arrangements to receive them. The right of the French was This sketch is taken from Durham Terrace, near the north wall of the Castle Garden. In the foreground are the tops of the houses below in Champlain, Notre Dame, and St. Peter's Streets, and in the distance, across the St. Lawrence, is seen Point Levi, with its pretty little village, its church and wharves. On the extreme left, in the distance, is the upper end of the Island of Orleans, which divides the channel. The point seen is the place where Wolfe erected batteries. Junction of the English Division. Severe Battle. Wolfe disheartened. Camp broken up. Wolfe's Cove under Baron de St. Ours, the center under De Senezergues, and the left under M. Herbin The garrison in the city was commanded by M. de Ramezay. It was nearly night when the English divisions joined, and heavy thunder-clouds were rolling up from the west. The grenadiers, impatient of restraint, rushed madly upon the enemy's works, before the other troops that were to sustain them had time to form. Consequently they were driven back to the beach with a severe loss, and sought shelter behind a redoubt which had been abandoned by the enemy. The French kept up a galling fire, till the gathering tempest burst with great fury upon the belligerents. Night closed in while the storm was yet raging. The tide came roaring up against the current of the St. Lawrence with uncommon strength, and the British were obliged to retreat to their camp across the Montmorenci, to avoid submersion on the beach by the foaming waters. The loss of the English in that unfortunate attempt was one hundred and eighty killed and six hundred and fifty wounded. Wolfe was greatly dispirited by this event, for he was very sensitive to censure, and that he expected for this miscarriage. The emotions of his mind, co-operating with fatigue of body upon his delicate constitution, brought on a fever and dysentery, that nearly proved fatal. It was nearly a month before he was able to resume the command. When sufficiently recovered to write, he drew up a letter to Pitt, in which, after detailing September 2. the events, referring to his illness, and frankly confessing that he had called a council of war, he said, "I found myself so ill, and am still so weak, that I begged the general officers to consult together for the general safety....... We have almost the whole force of Canada to oppose us. In this situation there is such a choice of difficulties, that I own myself at a loss how to determine. The affairs of Great Britain require the most vigorous measures; but then the courage of a handful of brave men should be exerted only where there is some hope of a favorable event." When this letter reached England, it excited consternation and anger.' Pitt feared that he had mistaken his favorite general, and that the next news would be that he had either been destroyed or had capitulated. But in the conclusion of his melancholy epistle Wolfe had said he would do his best; and that best turned out a miracle of war. He declared that he would rather die than be brought to a court-martial for miscarrying, and, in conjunction with Admiral Saunders, he concerted a plan for scaling the Heights of Abraham, and gaining possession of the elevated plateau at the back of Quebec, on the side where the fortifications were the weakest, as the French engineers had trusted to the precipices and the river beneath." The camp at Montmorenci was broken up, and the artillery and troops were conveyed across to Point Levi, whence they were taken some distance up the river by a September 12. portion of the fleet under Holmes, while Saunders, with the rest of the fleet, remained behind to make a feigned attack upon the intrenchments at Beauport. Montcalm, unable to comprehend these movements, remained in his camp, while Bougainville was stationed a little above the Plains of Abraham, to watch the operations of the division of the English fleet that sailed up the river. At night the troops were all embarked in flat-boats, and proceeded up the river with the tide. Bourgainville saw them, and marched up the shore to prevent their landing. It was starlight, yet so cautiously did the boats, with muffled oars, move down the river toward daylight, with ebb tide, that they were unperceived by the French detachment, and landed safely in a cove below Sillery, now called Wolfe's Cove. The first division was commanded by Lieutenant-colonel (afterward General) Sir William Howe, and were all on shore at dawn The light infantry scrambled up the woody precipice, and dispersed a French guard under Captain de Verjer,' while the rest of the army clambered up a winding and steep ravine. 1 The news of the failure of Wolfe at Montmorenci reached England on the morning of the 16th of October, and was published in an extra Gazette of that date. The same evening Captain Hale arrived and brought the news of the triumph upon the Plains of Abraham. The general grief was suddenly changed into great joy, and a day for public thanksgiving was set apart by the old king. 2 Pictorial History of England, iv., 609. 3 The French guard, who could not comprehend the noise below them, fired down the precipice at ran The Battle-ground. Preparations for Battle. Ascent of the English to the Plains of Abraham. Wolfe's Ravine. The second division, under General Townshend, landed in good order, and before sunrise five thousand British troops were drawn up in battle array upon the Plains of Abra- September 13, ham, three hundred feet above the St. Lawrence. 1759. The appearance of the English troops upon the heights was the first intimation Montcalm had of the real intentions of his enemy. He at once saw the imminent danger to which the city and garrison were exposed, and immediately marched his whole army across the St. Charles to attack the English. He brought his troops into battle line about ten o'clock in the morning. He had two field pieces; the English but one, a light six pounder, which some sailors succeeded in dragging up the ravine at about eight o'clock in the morning. I am indebted to Alfred Hawkins, Esq., of Quebec, for the following account of the position of the two armies, and the present localities identified therewith: "The battle-ground presents almost a level surface from the brink of the St. Lawrence to the St. Foy Road. The Grand Allée, or road to Cape Rouge, running parallel to that of St. Foy, passes through its center. That road was commanded by a field redoubt, a four-gun battery on the English left, which was captured by the light infantry. The remains of this battery are distinctly seen near the present race-stand. There were also two other redoubts, one upon the rising ground in the rear of Mr. C. Campbell's house-the scene of Wolfe's death -and the other toward the St. Foy Road, which it was intended to command. On the site of the country seat called Marchmont, at present the residence of Major-general Sir James Hope, K.C.B., there was also a small redoubt commanding the intrenched path leading to the cove. This was taken possession of by the advanced guard of the light infantry immediately on ascending the height. At the time of the battle the plains were without fences or inclosures, and extended to the walls on the St Louis side. The surface was dotted over with bushes, and the roads on either side were more dense than at present, affording shelter to the French and Indian marksmen. WOLFE'S RAVINE.L "In order to understand the relative position of the two armies, if a line be drawn to the St. Lawrence from the General Hospital, it will give nearly the front of the French army at ten o'clock, after Montcalm had deployed into line. His right reached beyond the St. Foy Road, where he made dispositions to turn the left of the English. Another parallel line, somewhat in advance of Mr. C. G. Stewart's house on the St. Foy Road, will give the front of the British army before Wolfe charged at the head of the grenadiers of the twenty-second, fortieth, and forty-fifth regiments, who had acquired the honorable title of the Louisburgh Grenadiers, from having been distinguished at the capture of that place, under his own command, in 1758. To meet the attempt of Montcalm to turn the British left, General Townshend formed the fifteenth regiment en potence, or representing a double front. The light infantry were in the rear of the left, and the reserve was placed near the right, formed in eight subdivisions, a good distance apart." Wolfe placed himself on the right, at the head of the twenty-eighth regiment of Louisburgh Grenadiers, who were burning with a desire to avenge their defeat at the Montmorenci. The English had waited four hours for the approach of the French, and were fully dom, and so the British fired up. They all fled but the captain, who was wounded and taken prisoner. It is said the poor fellow begged the British officer to sign a certificate of his courage and fidelity, lest he should be punished for accepting a bribe, in the belief that Wolfe's bold enterprise would be deemed impossible without corruption. 1 This scene is about half way up the ravine from Wolfe's Cove, looking down the road, which is a steep and winding way from the river to the summit of the Plains of Abraham. It is a cool, shaded nook-a delightful retreat from the din and dust of the city in summer. Battle on the Plains of Abraham. 291 Burial-place of Montcalm. prepared for action. Montcalm was on the left of the French, at the head of the regiments of Languedoc, Bearne, and Guienne. Wolfe ordered his men to load with two bullets each, and reserve their fire until the French should be within forty yards. These orders were strictly obeyed, and their double-shotted guns did terrible execution. "The hottest of the fight occurred," says Hawkins, "between the right of the race-stand and the martello towers. After delivering several rounds in rapid succession, which threw the French into confusion, the English charged furiously with their bayonets. While urging on his battalions in this charge, Wolfe was singled out by some Canadians on the left, and was slightly wounded in the wrist. He wrapped a handkerchief around to stanch the blood, and, while still cheering on his men, received a second wound in the groin; a few minutes afterward another struck him in the breast and brought him to the ground, mortally wounded. At that moment, regardless of self, he thought only of the victory for his troops. "Support me," he said to an officer near him; let not my brave soldiers see me drop. They day is ours-keep it." He was taken to the rear, while his troops continued to charge. The officer on whose shoulder he was leaning exclaimed, "They run, they run!" The light returned to the dim eyes of the dying hero, and he asked, with emotion, "Who runs ?" "The enemy, sir; they give way every where." "What," feebly exclaimed Wolfe, do they run already? Go to Colonel Preston and tell him to march Webb's regiment immediately to the bridge over the St. Charles, and cut off the fugitives' retreat. Now, God be praised, I die happy!" These were his last words, and in the midst of sorrowing companions, just at the moment of victory, he died. Montcalm, who was gallantly fighting in the front rank of the French left, received a mortal wound, and died the next morning about five o'clock, and was buried in an September 14. excavation made by the bursting of a shell within the precincts of the Ursuline Convent, where his remains still rest." When Lord Aylmar was Governor of Canada, he GENERAL WOLFE.2 66 1 The Martello Towers are four strong circular structures erected at different distances in rear of the city, between the St. Lawrence and the St. Charles. Cannons are mounted upon their tops. They are very thick on the side toward the open country, but thin toward the city. The object of this manner of construction is, that, if taken by an enemy, they can easily be laid in ruins by the shot of the garrison. 2 James Wolfe was born in Westerham, in Kent, January 2d, 1727. He entered the army very young, and soon distinguished himself by skill, judgment, and bravery. After his return from the expedition against Louisburgh, in 1758, he was appointed to the command of that section of the expedition against Canada that went up the St. Lawrence. His assault on Quebec was one of the boldest military achievements ever attempted, but, just at the moment of victory, he lost his life, at the early age of 32 years. His body was conveyed to England on board the Royal William, and buried at Greenwich on the 20th of November, 1759, where, in the family vault, the hero rests by the side of his father and mother. His father, Edward Wolfe, was a lieutenant general, and died in March of the same year, aged 74. The British government erected a monument to the memory of the young hero, in Westminster Abbey. 3 Lewis Joseph de St. Veran, Marquis de Montcalm, descended from a noble family of Candiac, in France. He was educated for a soldier, and distinguished himself at the battle of Placenza in 1746. He rose by degrees to the rank of field marshal, and in 1756 was appointed Governor of Canada. He ably opposed the English under Abercrombie, but fell while gallantly fighting Wolfe at Quebec, on the 13th of September, 1759. His remains are within the grounds of the Ursuline Convent at Quebec. A few years ago a plain marble slab was placed to his memory, in the chapel of that nunnery, by Lord Aylmar, on which is the following inscription: Honneur MONTCALM Le destin, en lui derobant La victoire, L' a recompensé par Monument where Wolfe fell. Capitulation of Quebec. Levi's Attempt to recapture it. His Repulsion. Capture of Montreal. caused a small granite pillar. about ten feet high, to be erected upon the spot where Wolfe WOLFE'S MONUMENT.1 fell upon the Plains of Abraham, now just within the southern suburb of Quebec. It bears the brief inscription, HERE DIED WOLFE, VICTORIOUS. That Vandalism under the specious guise of reverence for the great, of which I have already had occasion to speak, has sadly mutilated this monument, as may be seen in the engraving. The pedestal has lost many a pound of relic, and the iron railing around the monument has been broken down. Wolfe and Montcalm were both able commanders, and were idolized by their respective troops. The former, though so young, was almost reverenced by his officers, for to bravery and great military skill he united all the virtues and graces of the perfect gentleman. The expressions of attachment made by General (afterward Marquis) Townshend illustrate the sentiment of his officers and men. In a letter written just after the battle, he says, "I am not ashamed to own to you that my heart does not exult in the midst of this success. have lost but a friend in General Wolfe. Our country has lost a sure support and a perpetual honor. If the world were sensible at how dear a price we have purchased Quebec in his death, it would damp the public joy. Our best consolation is, that Providence seemed not to promise that he should remain long among us. He was himself sensible of the weakness of his constitution, and determined to crowd into a few years actions that would have adorned length of life." I September 18, 1759. 1760. Five days after the battle the city of Quebec capitulated and passed into the possession of the English, and the remnant of the grand army of the French, under M. Levi, who succeeded Montcalm, retired to Montreal. General Murray was left to defend battered and half-ruined Quebec, and the British fleet, fearful of frost, retreated down the St. Lawrence to the ocean. Levi determined on attempting to regain all that the French had lost, and in the spring of 1760 he marched upon Quebec with a motley army of ten thousand men, composed of French, Canadians, and Indians. Murray, with seven thousand men, went out and attacked him, but was sorely defeated, lost all April 28, his and was nearly cut off in his retreat back to the city. Levi followed up guns, his success vigorously, and as soon as the ice left the St. Lawrence he brought up six French frigates and prepared to beleaguer the city by land and by water. He encamped upon the heights above Point Levi, and felt sure of his prey. Fortunately for the English, Lord Colville arrived at this juncture with two good frigates, and destroyed the French vessels May 16. under the eyes of Levi. Thoroughly frightened by the suddenness of the event, and learning that these two fast sailers were only the van of a powerful fleet, the French commander retreated precipitately to Montreal, leaving his artillery and stores behind him. Vaudrenil, the governor general of the province, was at Montreal, and Amherst, Murray, and Haviland proceeded to invest that city. Despairing of succor from abroad, Vaudreuil capitulated on the 8th of September, and on that memorable day French power in Canada expired and hostilities in America ceased. Peace ensued between the two governments by the conclusion and signing of a treaty at Paris, on the 10th of February, 1763, and thus ended the famous "Seven Years' War." From that time the two races have not been arrayed in battle against each other in the Western world, except while the French were here as allies in 1780-81, and assisted in the battle at Yorktown and the capture of Cornwallis. 1760. 1 Since my visit to Quebec (August, 1848) the remains of this monument have been removed, and a colmn forty feet high, surmounted by a bronze helmet and sword, has been erected. The monument is from the design of Sir James Alexander. |