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.
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