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 Saint-Louis 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