Battle on the Plains of Abraham
The Plains of Abraham was a battle between the British and the French. English General James Wolfe was up against French General Marque de Montcalm. The battle took place with around 4500 British men, and roughly 5000 French men. In May 1759 about two hundred ships of the British navy carrying eight thousand soldiers, commanded by General James Wolfe, arrived on the river below Quebec.Marquis de Montcalm, the French General, mounted a force of sixteen thousand troops to repel the British invaders. This was about to be a very bloody and brutal confrontation. For several months both sides fought with each other. James Wolfe wanted to get the French troops out of the city and engage them in battle on the open farm land, but General Montcalm preferred staying behind the wall of his fortress because he thought it was safer there. Every time the English assaulted the low ground around Beauport they were beaten back by the French. Quebec was undestroyable and as the summer was coming to an end Wolfe was expected to withdraw his forces. He was so frustrated that he decided to take his anger out on the local residents. He ordered his soldiers to wreak all the farms that were up and down the river. During this, houses were burned, crops were destroyed and the people were taken as prisoners. Some were even murdered. This period was a reign of terror. While this was taking place the British mounted cannons on the high ground and bombed Quebec. Buildings were destroyed and 80% of the city was completely gone. The French knew the British force was strong but they were also determined to keep them away from their fortress. As autumn was nearing General Wolfe realized that the time was running out and he agreed with his men, to make a daring move. During the night when it was dark, he ferried up the river, with 4400 British soldiers, which was beneath the threatening fortress to the bottom of a cliff that was about three kilometers from the city where a narrow steep pathway led up to the Plains of Abraham. The French General, not realizing what was happening, suspected that his enemies were launching their attack at Beauport as they always did. He took his troops to that spot leaving the cliff top undefended. In the morning it was discovered that the British army had arranged for battle at the gates of the city. The French commander choose to do nothing to force the enemy to assault the walls of the city, he did what General Wolfe wanted him to do.Montcalm emerged with 4500 soldiers and the battle was officially on. The battle lasted for only 15 minutes. In this time Wolfe, Montcalm and one thousand three hundred men lay dead or wounded on the Plains of Abraham. The English troops were victorious and the English began to rule. The French colonists were deeply upset by the defeat but nonetheless Quebec, still developed its own French Canadian Culture that is used to this day. By the end of this battle both Generals had lost their lives, and the French and the English were in much different shape than they had at the beginning.