DeVergor, on the 13th of September, 1759,
after allowing his militia men to return home on leave, was in charge of
the post at Wolfefield, where Wolfe ascended after taking the Captain
prisoner; this was the key to the position. Ferland and other writers have
imputed treason to DeVergor.
[204] "MONTCALM EN CANADA."
In a work published at Tournai, in 1861, par un ancien missionnaire, at
page 193, Pere Martin notices the discrepancies between the various
writers whom he had consulted. "It is difficult at the present day, to
decide with certainty as to the numbers of the two armies who met on the
Plains of Abraham; ancient writers are no more in accord than modern. Here
are some of the estimates:
FRENCH. ENGLISH.
L'Intendant Bigot,....................... 3,500 3 to 4,000
Montreuil, Major General,................ ... 4,500
Doreil, Commissaire,..................... 3,000 6,000
Colonel Fraser,.......................... 5,000 4,000
(Sullivan says the forces were equal, but that Wolfe's soldiers were
disciplined veterans, and that the half of Montcalm's were militia and
Indians.)
Hawkins,................................. 5,000 4,800
Bancroft,................................ 5,000 5,000
Garneau,................................. 4,500 8,000
Beatson,................................. 7,500 4,828
Dussieux,................................ 4,500 5,000
The estimates given by Garneau, of the English, and by Lt. Col. Beatson,
of the French, are evidently exaggerated. The estimates of Knox and
Ferland deserves also notice, even if only from the discrepancy they
present."
[205] Montcalm, when he heard that the English had ascended the hill and
were formed on the high ground at the back of the town scarcely credited
the intelligence ... but he was soon undeceived.
