In 1759, Britain was locked in a struggle with the French for control of Eastern Canada. The French had established a colony called Acadia in New France in north-eastern North America, centred on what is now the Canadian province of Quebec, plus Maine and areas of the North American coastline stretching to the Ohio River. The fighting lasted from 1754 to 1763 and became known as The Seven Years War, or by some as the French/Indian Wars.
In 1758, the British besieged and captured the port of Louisburg, gaining control of vast areas of Atlantic Canada and opening up the seaway to Quebec. In the same month, they also captured the French Fort Fronternac, situated where the St Lawrence River leaves Lake Ontario, an important French supply base for French outposts along the Ohio Valley. These victories persuaded some Indian allies of the French to defect to the British, forcing the French to draw back and consolidate their strength in major bases such as Quebec.
The British General James Wolfe was ordered to capture Quebec and was promised a force of 12,000 troops to achieve the task, but when he arrived from England having spent some time recovering from illness, he discovered that his force consisted of just 7,000 infantry and 300 gunners. He was supported however, by a fleet of 49 ships, plus various smaller craft, led by Admiral Charles Saunders.
One of Saunders’ officers was James Cook, captain of HMS Pembroke, later to find fame in his exploration of the Pacific. He was sent ahead into the St Lawrence to survey suitable landing sites close to Quebec. His ship guided the fleet through a treacherous channel known as “The Traverse” and the troops were landed on the Isle d’Orleans on the 28th of June. The French tried to disrupt the landing by sending seven fire ships down the river, but British sailors in longboats managed to drag the flaming craft clear of the fleet.
The following day, a further landing was made on the south bank of the river at Point Levis and directly opposite Quebec. An artillery battery was set up and began to bombard the city, reducing the shore area to rubble.
Realising that the British would attempt a landing on their side of the river, the French commander, General Montcalm despatched some 12,000 French and colonial troops along the river to build a system of fortified redoubts and artillery positions between the Saint Charles River and Montmorency Falls facing the shallow beaches where he expected landings to be made.
On the 31st of July, Wolfe attempted a landing at the town of Beauport on the northern shore. The town had been much fortified by the French; the houses barricaded and organised to allow musket fire from within. Following an artillery bombardment, 3,500 troops attempted to land, but were caught by crossfire in the shallows. Some members of the Louisburg Grenadiers did manage to reach the beach but could not gain further ground. A sudden thunderstorm gave the British the opportunity to pull back which they did having suffered some 450 casualties.
Some French officers thought that this defeat would be the last British attack. One wrote, “I have no more anxiety about Quebec. Wolfe, I assure you, will make no progress. He has contented himself with losing five hundred of his best soldiers”.
Wolfe, however, had changed his focus, sending troops, together with American Rangers, to attack French settlements along the St Lawrence, destroying over 1,000 stone houses and manors and killing many colonists. These tactics did not persuade Montcalm to come out from his fortifications, but did reduce the amount of supplies available to him and this, together with the blockade of French ports by the Royal Navy, would eventually weaken his ability to fight.
In the heat of summer, illness broke out in the British camp and Wolfe realised that he must strike as soon as possible. He wrote to his mother, “The Marquis of Montcalm is at the head of a great number of bad soldiers and I am at the head of a small number of good ones that wish for nothing so much as to fight him, but the wary old fellow avoids an action, doubtful of the behaviour of his army”.
Montcalm too expressed frustration over the long siege, relating that he and his troops “slept clothed and booted, and his horse always saddled in preparation for an attack”.
Wolfe and his staff examined and rejected a number of plans for a landing on the north shore until finally deciding to make an attempt upriver of the city. This, it was thought, would force Montcalm to come out and fight as his supply lines to Montreal would then be cut by the new British position.
On the 12th of September, Wolfe made his decision and selected a landing site at L’Anse au Foulon; a cove situated three miles upstream. It lies at the bottom of a 174 foot cliff leading to a plateau and was protected by a French gun battery. Quite why Wolfe chose the site is unclear. It was closer to Quebec than his original plan envisaged and even his own officers questioned the choice. Brigadier General Townshend later wrote that, “by some intelligence the General had, he has changed his mind as to the place he intended to land”.
At 8.30 pm that evening, aboard HMS Sutherland, Wolfe wrote,” I had the honour to inform you today that it is my duty to attack the French army. To the best of my knowledge and ability, I have fixed on a spot where we can act with most force and are most likely to succeed”.
Wolfe’s plan depended on secrecy and surprise, it required that a small party of troops should land at night on the north shore, climb the cliff, seize a small road and overpower the garrison that protected it.
The bulk of his army (5,000 men) could then ascend the cliff by the small road and deploy on a plateau known as the Plain of Abraham, named after a farmer who owned the land. He also ordered an artillery bombardment across the river and organised noisy arrangements of men boarding boats opposite the city to distract Montcalm and convince him that an attack was coming from that direction. It was a plan full of risk and even if the landing party succeeded in their mission and the army able to follow, such a deployment would still leave his force inside the French defences with no retreat but the river. Some historians attribute Wolfe’s choice of landing site to be due to his general disdain of his senior officer’s planning ability. Others believe that he was still suffering the effects of his earlier illness and the opiates he used as pain killers.
A Company of 100 French militia, led by Captain Louis du Pont Duchambon, had been assigned to guard the shore and the narrow road, but the camp contained less than 40 soldiers, the others having been detailed off to assist in harvesting. Duchambon, and others had expressed their concern at the possibility of a British landing at L’Anse au Foulon, but Montcalm dismissed them saying that 100 men could hold off an army until daylight, remarking, “It is not supposed that the enemies have wings so that, in the same night, cross the river, disembark, climb the obstructed acclivity and scale the walls, for which last operation they would have to carry ladders”.
As the British landing party approached the shore, French sentries did detect them and called a challenge, but luckily a French speaking officer of the 78thy Fraser Highlanders was able to answer the challenge and the sentry, expecting a supply convoy to pass that night, let them pass.
The boats had however drifted a little off course and instead of landing close to the small road, found themselves at the foot of the slope. A group of 24 volunteers, led by Colonel William Howe with fixed bayonets were sent forward to clear the picket on the road and climb the slope to come up behind Duchambon’s camp and capture it.
Wolfe followed an hour later with the main force and by sunrise, had a solid foothold on the top of the cliffs. It was here that fate intervened in his favour as the French had only a day earlier, redeployed the regiment tasked with guarding the plateau to a base east of the city. Had they still been in position Wolfe might have been forced to retreat. Fate again assisted him when a French officer whose duty was to regularly patrol the cliffs at night was unable on the night of the 12th, due to one of his horses having been stolen and two others were lame.
The first news of the landing came to when a runner who had escaped from Colonel Howe’s raid tried to raise the alarm, but one of Montcalm’s aides thought him mad and sent him away and then went back to bed.
Strangely, when Montcalm finally learned of the landing, he decided to attack Wolfe’s force directly. He could have waited for reinforcements which would have allowed him to attack both the front and rear of Wolfe’s position, or simply left the British on the plateau until lack of supplies forced them back down the cliff in the face of French fire. He explained his decision to his officers thus, “We cannot avoid action, the enemy is entrenching, and he already has two pieces of cannon. If we give him time to establish himself, we shall never be able to attack him”.
The forces available to Montcalm were considerable. In addition to some 13,000 regular troops he had Troupes de la Marine and militia, as well as cavalry, artillery and Ottowa Indians stationed in the city and at points along the river.
Wolfe had managed to assemble his troops with just one cannon, in a rough line with their backs to the river and spread out along the plateau with their right anchored on the bluff and his left on a wood. His main firing line was some 1,000 yards long to cover the width of the plain and was therefore forced to form them into two ranks rather than the conventional three.
On the left wing his troops exchanged fire with some French Canadian militia and the tussle managed to capture some huts to anchor the line. The militia set fire to one hut to keep it from enemy hands and the smoke from the burning building became so thick that it obscured the end of the British position and confusing Montcalm as to the actual width of the line.
As Wolfe waited for the main French attack, his troops came under harassing fire from the militia and irregulars. He ordered his troops to lie down in the scrub and tall grass until the enemy drew closer.
Montcalm ordered troops from their bases around the city, but instead of waiting and assembling an overwhelming force, he decided on an attack with the 3,500 troops that had so far reached the plain. His best were troops formed in lines three deep, others six deep and his poorest regiment in column. He also took three cannon up to the heights. At 10 am, he mounted his horse and with a wave of his sword, ordered a general advance on the British line.
Through his experience in European military warfare, Montcalm’s instinct was for large set piece battles in which regiments moved in precise order. Such actions required a disciplined soldiery, trained to march in time, change formation on command and retain cohesion in the face of bayonet charges or musket volleys. His regular regiments were well practised in these methods, but in the course of the long American campaigns, their ranks had been replenished by less disciplined militia whose talents in forest warfare made them prone to fire early and drop to the ground to reload, thus reducing the effect of concentrated fire.
Wolfe’s forces however, were all regulars and well trained in discipline under fire. They were ordered to charge their muskets with two balls each in preparation of their first volley. The two sides closed until they were about 30 yards apart.
Captain John Knox, serving with the 43rd Foot, later wrote, “As the French came into range, the regiments, with great calmness, gave them as remarkable a close and heavy discharge as I ever saw”.
Both sides held their fire for a few minutes before the French released two ragged volleys. The British closed ranks and fired their own double charged volley before stepping forward a few paces and fired again which shattered the French and sent them into retreat.
Wolfe, who had moved to a position on a slight rise to observe the battle was struck on the wrist by a stray bullet, but clumsily wrapped the wound and continued directing his men. James Henderson, soldier of the Louisburg Grenadiers, later wrote that, “within moments of giving the command to fire, Wolfe was struck with two shots, one low in the stomach and a second in the chest and he fell to the ground. A nearby soldier shouted, “They run! See how they run!”. Wolfe opened his eyes and asked, “Who is running?” Upon being told that the French had broken, he gave several orders, then turned on his side and said, “Now, God be praised, I will die in peace”, and died.
With Wolfe dead and many senior officers wounded, Brigadier General Murray ordered the 78th Fraser Highlanders to pursue the retreating French, but they were met near the city by heavy fire from a floating battery on the river and also by sniping militia firing from the tree line. The 78th took the highest number of casualties in the entire battle.
Brigadier General Townshend, realising that more French reinforcements were approaching the British rear, quickly formed up two battalions to oppose them, but instead of attacking, the French commander retreated while the remains of Montcalm’s force fled towards Quebec.
It was during this retreat that Montcalm, still mounted, was struck several times by musket balls in the lower abdomen and thigh. He managed to make it to the city but died of his wounds the next morning. He was buried in a shell crater in the floor of the Ursuline chapel.
The battle had cost him 200 dead and 400 wounded. British losses were 60 killed and 600 wounded.
The commander in chief of French forces, General Vaudreuil, blamed Montcalm for the defeat and decided to abandon Quebec and move his forces west to join up with other units. He left a garrison in the city under the command of John Baptiste Ramazey. Meanwhile, the British settled in to besiege the city, backed up with a large fleet under Admiral Saunders. On the 18th of September, Ramazey surrendered and signed the Articles of Capitulation of Quebec. The city was turned over to British control. Shortly afterwards, the British fleet was forced to leave the St Lawrence due to the winter pack ice and the garrison was left to fend for itself. They suffered terribly throughout the winter with below zero temperatures and outbreaks of scurvy, reducing the garrison to some 4,000. On the 27th of April 1760, the French met and defeated the weakened British just outside the city in the Battle of Sainte Foy. Although defeated, the British were able to retreat into Quebec and now found themselves under siege.
The French made several attacks on the city, but their lack of artillery, plus British improvements to the fortifications meant that they could not dislodge the defenders before the return of the British fleet in mid May.
A naval battle fought at Quiberon Bay, just off the French coast proved decisive when the Royal Navy destroyed the French fleet, preventing them from sending badly needed reserve forces to New France. Without fresh troops, the whole French offensive against Quebec in 1760 would fail. In September, a depleted French force of just 2,000 men was confronted by 17,000 British and American troops. On the 8th of September, the French capitulated and the British took control of Montreal.
The Seven Years War had begun with Britain attempting to control French influence in North America, but quickly spread worldwide. During the war, Britain had conquered the French and Spanish colonies of Canada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Lucia, Dominica and the Grenadines. She had also captured trading bases in India, Africa and the Philippines and the Spanish held island of Cuba. The French and Spanish had taken Minorca and Sumatra from the British, plus some territory in South America.
In 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed to end the war and give possession of most of New France to Britain, including Canada and the eastern half of French Louisiana, stretching from the Mississippi to the Appalachian Mountains. As part of the treaty, France and Spain restored all their conquests to Britain while Britain returned Manila and Cuba to Spain. The French were given back Guadeloupe, Martinique, and St Lucia, plus their trading bases in India. France was also forced to cede Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent and Tobago to Britain and Spain ceded the whole of Florida.
France had now given up all its territory in North America and retained only some fishing rights off Newfoundland, plus the two small islands of St Pierre and Miquelon to be used for fish drying and curing. Their vast territory of French Louisiana, stretching from Alberta and Saskatchewan in the north, through Montana, The Dakotas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, to Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and the Gulf of Mexico, had been secretly given to its ally Spain a year earlier in what became known as the Treaty of Fontainebleau and would remain a Spanish possession until 1800, when Napoleon took it back in an attempt to build a French Empire in North America. In 1803, the 828,000 square mile territory was bought by the United States for a little over three cents an acre.
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