It Was The
Crowning - Though Bootless Victory - To The Recent Brilliant, But
Useless Success Of The French Arms At Carillon, Monongahela, Fort
George, Ticonderoga, Beauport Flats.
It was, moreover, the last title,
added to numerous others, to the esteem and respect of their
conquerors."
Of the second battle of the Plains, that of 28th April 1760, called by
some writers "The battle of Ste. Foye," by others "The battle of Sillery
Wood," so bloody in its results, so protracted in its duration, we have in
Garneau's History the first complete account, the historian Smith
having glossed over with striking levity this "French victory." The loss
of the rival Generals, at the battle of the Plains, of September, 1759,
though an unusual incident in warfare, was not without precedent Generals
Braddock and DeBeaujeu in 1755, had both sealed on the battlefield their
devotion to their country with their blood on the shores of the
Monongahela, in Ohio; in this case as in that of Wolfe and Montcalm, he
whose arms were to prevail, falling first.
In 1759, everything conspired to transform this conflict into an important
historical event. Even after the lapse of a century, one sometimes is fain
to believe, it sums up all which Europe recollects of primitive Canada.
The fall of Quebec did not merely bring to a close the fierce rivalry of
France and England in America. It lent an immense prestige to Great
Britain, by consolidating her maritime supremacy over France - a supremacy
she then so highly prized. The event, after the discouraging news which
had prevailed, was heralded all over England by the ringing of the bells,
and public thanksgiving. Bonfires blazed through the length and breadth of
the land, it was a national victory which King, Peers and Commons could
not sufficiently extol, and still what has been the ultimate result? By
removing the French power from Canada - the only counterpoise to keep down
the restless and thriving New England colonies, New England, from being
strong got to be defiant. The surrender of Canada hastened the American
Revolution. The rule of Britain soon ceased to exist in the New England
Provinces; and later on, in 1810, by the abrogation of the right of search
on the high seas, her maritime supremacy became a dead letter. As Mr.
Chauveau has remarked, "if the independence of America meant the lessening
of the British prestige, it remains yet to be proved that France has
benefitted thereby."
How much of these momentous changes can be traced to the incidents
(perhaps the treason of Bigot), [203] which made the scale of victory
incline to British valour on the 13th of September, 1759!
Those desirous of obtaining a full account of the two battles of the
Plains are referred among other works, to "Quebec Past and Present." I
shall merely borrow from Col. Beatson's very rare volume details not to be
found in the ordinary histories.
"It has," says Col Beatson, "been alleged that Montcalm in hastening
to meet the British on an open plain, and thereby to decide in a
single battle, the fate of a fertile Province nearly equal in extent
to one-half of Europe, was not only forgetful of his usual caution,
but acted with culpable temerity."
Such action, however, proceeded from no sudden impulse, but from a
noble resolve deliberately formed after the most mature consideration
and recorded some time previously.
Painfully convinced how little security the weak defences of the city
could afford against the determined assault of well disciplined and
ably led troops, he believed that however great the risk of meeting
his daring adversary in the open field, this course was the only one
that seemed to promise him any chance of success. Besides, he had a
force numerically [204] superior to that of the English General, could
he have concentrated them at one spot. Bougainville with the flower of
the French army, the grenadiers and volunteers, 3,000 strong,
according to professor Dussieux, was at Cap Rouge, six miles from the
battlefield and took no part in the fight, having arrived there more
than one hour after the fate of Canada was decided. 1,500 men had been
left at the Beauport camp to repel the feint by Admiral Saunders'
ships, on the morning of the 13 Sept., 1759. The Charlesbourg, Lorette
and Beauport militia had been granted leave to return home that week,
to look after their harvest: a curious coincidence.
The French army was as follows, viz:
Left | The Royal Roussillon Regiment, a battalion Regulars. Militia.
Wing | of the marines, or colony troops, and
| Canadian militia........................... 1,300 2,300
Centre. - The Regiments of Bearn and militia. ...... 720 1,200
Right | The Regiments of La Sarre and Languedoc,
Wing | a battalion of the marine, and militia..... 1,600 400
- - - - - -
3,620 3,900
Wolfe's field-state on the morning of the 13th September, showed
only 4,828 men of all ranks, from the General downwards; but of these
every man was a trained soldier.
And within little more than an hour's march from the Plains, he could
not honourably have remained inactive while believing that only a part
of the enemy's force was in possession of such vantage ground; and
neither the dictates of prudence [205] nor his own chivalrous spirit
and loyal regard for the national honour, would permit him to betray a
consciousness of weakness by declining the combat, on finding himself
unexpectedly confronted by the whole of Wolfe's army. Relying,
doubtless, on the prestige of his victories during the campaign of the
proceeding year (1758) in which he had been uniformly successful, and
in which at Ticonderoga, with four thousand men he had defeated
General Abercromby at the head of nearly four times that number - he
endeavoured by a confident bearing and encouraging expressions [206]
to animate his troops with hopes which he himself could scarcely
entertain; and though almost despairing of success, boldly resolved to
attempt, by a sudden and vigorous onset, to dislodge his rival before
the latter could intrench himself in his commanding position, and it
is surely no blot on his fame that the superior discipline and
unflinching steadiness of his opponents, the close and destructive
volley [207] by which the spirited but disorderly advance of his
battalions was checked, and the irresistible [208] charge which
completed their confusion, rendered unavailing his gallant effort to
save the colony; for (to borrow the words of the eloquent historian of
the Peninsular War), "the vicissitudes of war are so many that
disappointment will sometimes attend the wisest combinations; and a
ruinous defeat, the work of chance close the career of the boldest and
most sagacious of Generals, so that to judge a commander's conduct by
the event alone is equally unjust and unphilosophical."
In the remarkable letter said to have been addressed to his cousin, M.
de Mole, President au Parlement de Paris, and dated from the camp
before Quebec, 22nd August, 1759," - a fortnight before the battle -
MONTCALM thus pathetically describes how hopeless would be the
situation in the event of WOLFE effecting a landing near the city;
and, with a firm heart, foretold his own fate,
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