The Beginning of a New War
• After the deportation of the Acadians it
was clear France and Britain would again
be at war
• In Europe the Seven Years War broke out
and this effected the history of North
America
Different Ways of Gaining
control of North American
• The British thought they could defeat
France if they kept many soldiers in North
America
• The British decided they would attack the
French in three places: Louisbourg, Ohio,
Quebec
• France decided to keep most of their
soldiers at home and focus on beating
Britain in Europe
Battle 1: Louisbourg
• The British decided to attack France at
Louisbourg first
• Louisbourg was in Cape Breton Island
• By winning here they could control access
to the St. Lawrence River
• The French were so surprised to see
Britain they surrendered
Battle 2: Ohio Valley
• The French had many forts in the valley
• If the British won here they had more
control
• Since they won at Louisbourg they could
go down the St. Lawrence and eventually
get to Lake Ontario
Quebec
• Quebec was the centre of power in North
America
• If the British won in Quebec they would
control the whole continent
• The British under General Wolfe attacked
Quebec in 1759
• The French were led by General Montcalm
• All summer they tried to attack Quebec
and ended up having to attack upriver by
cutting off supplies to the city
General Montcalm
General Wolfe
Preparation for Battle
• Meanwhile the French General Marquis de
Montcalm launched his own attack.
• The French launched ships and rafts
toward the anchored British fleet that were
loaded with gunpowder.
• Boats and rafts carrying gunpowder were
chained together and sent with the current
toward the English fleet
• Aboard each craft, a man awaited the
signal to ignite his cargo before diving into
the river.
•
• The French assault on the British
fleet failed because the fireboats
were ignited too soon
• Even though the fire ships were
frightening, the boats, which had
been intended to blow up the
British fleet, missed their mark
and burned uselessly until
morning.
• The British siege of Quebec began the
night of Thursday, July 12, 1759.
"At precisely 9 o'clock in the evening, the enemy
sent a rocket from the heights of the Pointe de
Lévy..."
•Four large cannon and five mortars sent
cannonballs into the streets and smashing walls.
•Firebombs made of iron baskets filled with pitch, tar
and powder were lobbed over the walls, spreading
fire.
• In that first day three hundred British bombs fell on
Quebec.
British Forces Assemble
•
On the orders of a sick General James Wolfe, 5,000
English troops landed, just before midnight on
September 12, 1759.
• The soldiers were met with a steep rock face rising 200
feet above the river. A narrow goat path was their only
access to the top.
•
For six hours the British army climbed, reaching the field
above by five o'clock in the morning Thursday,
September 13, 1759.
• Wolfe had only seen this place – the Plains of Abraham
– through a spyglass on his ship's deck. It was an
abandoned farmer's field.
• Wolfe didn’t have enough soldiers to
fight the way the British liked, in a
triple line
• The British like to fight in a triple line
where they took turns shooting,
kneeling and loading
• Instead he set up two lines and had
the men load two musketballs to
maximize their firepower.
French Forces Mobilize
•
On the Plains of Abraham
General James Wolfe and
were fighting in the middle
of two French armies.
.
• Wolfe was gambling that Montcalm would take the bait.
• He was hoping that the French general would get into a
quick battle on the Plains that morning
• Montcalm's men had been up all night and as Wolfe's
men were getting ready, the French soldiers were going
to sleep.
• The British were soon spotted and word reached a
surprised Montcalm, who ordered his army awake and
quick marched them to Quebec.
• But Montcalm, uncertain about what the British had
planned, sent only five thousand men towards the Plains
of Abraham, leaving four thousand behind to guard the
trenches.
• The French soldiers, who had been on half rations for
months and awake for thirty-six hours, began to march
towards the British soldiers
• Montcalm marched his men to the hill
above the Plains of Abraham, where
they formed a line.
• From the top of the hill, he scanned
the Plains below him, surveying the
British line, a mile wide.
• Montcalm was still uncertain.
• The British position seemed so crazy;
he didn't know if this was their full
invasion force
• His choices were to attack, or wait for
reinforcements.
• The French General, decided to
advance with a massive centre
column to crush the British and two
shallow side columns to finish them
off.
• He rode the length of the formation,
shouting the question, "Are you
tired?“
• Of course his soldiers said “no” even
though they were
• At around 10:00 the French shouted "Vive le
Roy!" and the battle formally began with
Montcalm ordering a general advance.
• But the French formation that started down the
hill was uncoordinated
• The troops, made up of Canadians and French
soldiers who had not trained together, were very
disorganized
At 10 a.m on September 13, 1759, Montcalm ordered the French to advance against the
British troops. The Battle of the Plains of Abraham had begun.
As the French line began to collapse under British fire, they charged with their
broadswords.
• As the French reloaded, the British took their position.
Before he gave the order to fire, General James Wolfe
was spotted in a new uniform by a sniper and shot
through the wrist.
• The wound was dressed with a borrowed handkerchief
and at 10:15 Wolfe raised his cane, giving the order to
fire – the last military order of his life.
• The French troops were confused and scared.
• Wolfe was shot in the groin and had to be helped
forward.
• A third shot, into his chest, was fatal and he slumped to
the ground, happily receiving the whispered news that
the enemy was in retreat.
The battle on the Plains of Abraham lasted just
more than fifteen minutes.
• On the other side of the line, engulfed in a
stream of retreating men, Montcalm received a
mortal wound below his ribs.
• He fell just as he was about to enter the SaintLouis gate and was then carried by his men to
the General Hospital.
The French Retreat
Just over fifteen minutes after the
battle on the Plains of Abraham had
begun, the French line crumbled
under the advancing sword-swinging
Highlanders and the pressing wall of
British bayonets.
• The French scattered back up the hill
with the Scottish Highlanders
pursuing the retreating army to the
woods.
•
Fifteen minutes after the battle began, French troops were forced to retreat.
Scottish Highlanders chased the French as they retreated toward the walls of
Quebec.
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham
left 1,300 men killed or wounded.
• James Wolfe, the British General who had been
sick and frail before the battle, lived only a few
minutes after receiving a fatal shot to the chest.
His body was sent back to England
• The French and English dead were buried in
large common pits on the Plains.
• The location of their graves was never marked.
• Louis-Joseph, the Marquis de Montcalm, would
survive for one more day. He died of his wounds
at the General Hospital, glad, he said, not to
have seen the fall of Quebec.
• There were no coffins left and his body was put
into a makeshift box and buried in a crater made
by a British cannonball
The French and English dead were buried in large common pits on the Plains.
The location of their graves was never marked.
• One thousand, three hundred men were
killed or wounded on the Plains of
Abraham.
• All were buried, French and English
together, in common pits on the Plains.
• Louis-Joseph, the Marquis de Montcalm,
would survive for one more day. He died
of his wounds at the General Hospital,
glad, he said, not to have seen the fall of
Quebec. The location of their graves
would never be marked.
The Death of General James
Wolfe
The Battle of Quebec
Fallen Soldiers on the Plains
Death of General Wolfe