was to attack Quebec, General Amherst was to make another effort to capture Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and General Prideaux was to capture Niagara and then march against Montreal.

154. Battle of Quebec. The army of General Wolfe, which sailed up the St. Lawrence in forty war vessels, numbered from eight to

PLAINS

OF ABRAHAM

ST. LAWRENC

English Camp

ISLAND OF ORLEANS

French Camp

Montcalm Gen. Wolf

QUEBEC

Cita

ife's Cove

Point Levi
English Batteries

English Camp (Monctons)

QUEBEC

ten thousand regulars of the British army. It was the twenty-seventh of June when he landed on an island a few miles below Quebec. The French garrison was principally composed of a militia force of Canadians. The reg ular troops probably did not number more than two thousand, with full ten thousand of the militia. From this point, General Wolfe for more than a month made various attempts to press

the siege of Quebec, all of which were unsuccessful. Meantime, Montcalm strengthened himself by drawing off forces from other points. The consequence was that General Amherst was able to capture Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which surrendered in July. At Niagara, also, the British were successful, after a brief siege in which General Prideaux was killed.

155. The Supreme Moment. Now all interest centred at Quebec. The destiny of the whole continent hung in the balance. It was the supreme moment in American history. If the French had succeeded and the English had been defeated, the continent would inevitably have remained under the domination of France. North America would doubtless have been French to-day, and not English. On the other hand, if the English captured the town, it would prove the death-knell of France in this country. Montcalm was a brave and a distinguished general. Wolfe, still a young man, was equally brave and skilful. The two armies were large; and as the delay continued, the French steadily strengthened their position, and their army became more efficient. Wolfe, through the month of August, continued his camp at Montmorenci below the city. Early in September he withdrew from this point, and a portion of his forces occupied Point Levi while the others took up their quarters at the point of Orleans.

156. The Final Blow. When the British broke camp at Montmorenci, abandoned their intrenchments, and re-embarked their forces on vessels, removing their heaviest pieces of artillery from Point Levi, the French general, considering the lateness of the season, believed the English were about to raise the siege and sail away. He thought that this attempt of the English had failed. Montcalm, however, was constantly on the alert; no precaution was spared. He increased his forces above Quebec, and ordered a sharp watch of the entire shore. The heights near the

town, I called the Plains of Abraham, where his principal forces were intrenched, were considered inaccessible. Montcalm himself believed them safe.

Quebec.

He thought the English could not

reach these heights unless they had wings. Of the very place where they afterwards landed, he said, "a hundred men posted there would stop their whole army." Two weeks elapsed before the final blow was struck. The main body of the British was above the city. On the night of September 12th, they floated down the river in boats and landed at the foot of the abrupt precipice.

157. Heights of Abraham. It was a still night, and there was no moon. Slowly and cautiously the British crawled up the rugged path; and at dawn, September 13th, 1759, Montcalm beheld the

rific onslaught ensued. Louisburg grenadiers. his handkerchief about

General Wolfe. — Parkman, in "Montcalm and Wolfe," gives the following graphic description of the

Scene:

"For full two hours the procession of beats, borne on the current, steered silently down the St. Lawrence. The stars were visible, but the night was moonless and sufficiently dark. The General was in one of the foremost boats, and near him was a young midshipman, John Robison, who used to tell in his later life how Wolfe, with a low voice, repeated Gray's ' Elegy in "a Country Churchyard' to the officers about him. Probably it was to relieve the intense strain of his thoughts. Among the rest was the verse which his own fate was soon to illustrate,

a severe one.

army of his enemy drawn up in battle array on the Heights of Abraham. The battle was It lasted for many hours. At ten o'clock Wolfe saw that the crisis was near. A terWolfe led the charge at the head of the His wrist was shattered, but he wrapped it and kept on. A second shot struck him, but he still advanced. A third ball lodged in his breast. He staggered and sat on the ground. A few moments after, one of them cried, "They run; see how they run!" "Who run?" demanded Wolfe. "The enemy, sir; they give way everywhere." "Go, one of you, to Colonel Burton," returned the dying man; "tell him to march Webb's regiment down to Charles River to cut off their retreat from the bridge." Then, turning on his side, he murmured, "Now God be praised, I will die in peace;' and in a few moments his life had ebbed away. Montcalm, still on his horse, was borne with the tide of his retreating troops toward the town. Before reaching the gate, a shot passed through his body. He was carried into the city. When the surgeon told him that his wound was mortal, he replied, "So much the better; for then I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec."

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.' "Gentlemen,' he said, as his recital ended, 'I would rather have written those lines than take Quebec.' None were there to tell him that the hero is greater than the poet.

"The dead stillness was suddenly broken by the sharp Qui vive! of a French sentry, invisible in the thick gloom. France!' answered a Highland officer of Fraser's regiment from one of the boats of the light infantry. He had served in Holland, and spoke French fluently.

"A quel régiment?'

"De la Reine,' replied the Highlander. The sentry was satisfied, and did not ask for the password."

It was still five days before the city surrendered. On the square before the

castle of St. Louis, many years afterward, a monument was erected to the joint memory of Wolfe and Montcalm, who both gave up their lives in the great battle which settled the destiny of all North America.