Chapter VI: Montcalm and the Fall of New France

“The history of French America is far more picturesque than the
history of British America in the period of 1608-1754. But the
English were doing work more solid, valuable and permanent than
their northern neighbours. The French took to the lakes, rivers
and forests; they cultivated the Indians; their explorers were
intent on discovery, their traders on furs, their missionaries
on souls. The English did not either take to the woods or
cultivate the Indians, they loved agriculture and trade, state
and church, and so clung to the fields, shops, politics and
churches. As a result while Canada languished, the English
states grew up on the Atlantic plain modelled on the Saxon
pattern, and became populous, rich and strong. At the beginning
of the war there were 80,000 white inhabitants in New France,
1,160,000 in the British colonies.”

—PROFESSOR B. A. HINSDALE.

MONTCALM AND THE FALL OF NEW FRANCE.

What the gold mines of Mexico and Peru were to the Spaniards the fur trade of New France was to the French, and until the furs arrived in Montreal or Quebec, they could not be considered safe, for in the Ohio country and especially at the Niagara portage, and even on the way to Frontenac, they were liable to attack from the English and their Indian allies.

To protect this trade the French built a strong fort at the mouth of the Niagara River, part of which may be seen to-day in what is known as Fort Niagara on the American side of the river. At the head of the portage, above the Falls, there was a smaller fort called Fort Little Niagara.

This was the great trading centre, not only for the district immediately tributary to it, such as Toronto (at the mouth of what is now called the Humber River, and which in summer was very busy) but for all the north-west country which with the development of Detroit had increased in wealth and inhabitants. Toronto was really an outpost of Niagara and was established with the great French forward movement in 1749. It had been officially named Fort Rouillé after the Colonial Minister of the day, who was also a man of letters, and the head of the Royal Library. However, this name was too artificial to survive and the old name for the bay and river, Toronto, maintained its hold upon the people.

In 1749 the French determined upon a great expedition to show their power and assert their sovereignty over the Ohio country and to warn off all strangers from trading on French territory. So in June of that year with 23 canoes and 250 men they left Lachine, passed through Niagara in July, and made their triumphal way through the Ohio country to Detroit, and thence back to Montreal in November.

The headquarters of the English on the Lakes was at Oswego. This was the great rival of Niagara as a trading centre. When the war had raised the prices in France the French traders at Niagara raised their prices correspondingly—and even more. The Indians grumbled and went on to Oswego, where they could trade with the English to better advantage. The French, feeling that their trade with the Indians was being endangered urged an expedition against Oswego, and in 1756 Montcalm took the place by storm in the greatest battle which up to that time had been fought between the French and the English for control of the Lakes.

This disaster followed closely upon the defeat of Braddock at Duquesne, made especially famous because of the presence of George Washington, the colonial, as junior officer, who, accustomed to the Indian manner of fighting, warned General Braddock, but whose advice the haughty English general thought beneath notice; and still more was heaped upon the unfortunate English when Montcalm defeated them at Ticonderoga. It certainly looked as if there must needs be a vigorous policy on the part of the English if they were to have any of the trade on the great inland waters.

Pitt, the Premier of England, saw this and made plans for an aggressive campaign. In 1758 Colonel Bradstreet, with American provincials, captured Fort Frontenac, burned and sank seven vessels of war, captured sixty cannon and destroyed the Fort and incidentally the shipyard, which was the first upon the Great Lakes. This success greatly heartened the English and made them think how simple might be the conquest of other places if they had ships of war. It was the awakening of the English to the importance of “sea power” on the Lakes.

Now Niagara was the centre of French power and influence, situated on the great portage which practically controlled the great trade from the West. The fort had been greatly strengthened during 1756-7, and the English carefully gathered a strong force. It was a real siege, in which the assailing force used trench warfare to make steady and safe advances. After nineteen days the garrison surrendered to Sir William Johnson, who was ranking commander on account of the deaths of the superior officers during the siege. Sir William had joined the investing force with 900 Indians, the largest number ever led into battle by a white man. When he entered the fort one of the most interesting of his companions was Joseph Brant, a Mohawk lad of 17, destined to become one of the most renowned men of his day. And now the English for the first time had access to the great fur trade.

While speaking of this fort it will be of interest to note that in the common English speech of that day the pronunciation of the name of the fort was Niagàra. Our present pronunciation would have been impossible to the Iroquois tongue, which requires that each syllable should end in a vowel.

While these disasters were overtaking the French on the Lakes, the English under Wolfe had sailed up the St. Lawrence after clearing the coasts below, and were preparing to attack Quebec. Indeed the news of the capture of Niagara, which came at a very opportune moment, greatly heartened the English and correspondingly depressed the French.

The situation was perilous. Fort Frontenac was destroyed, Fort Niagara in the hands of the English, Amherst was advancing, as part of Pitt’s plan, through New York State by way of Oswego, against Montreal, and a strong English force under Wolfe, selected specially for this work by Pitt, was before the capital city of Quebec.

The internal affairs of the country were not promising. Montcalm, the general of the French forces, an able military man of good experience, was not supreme, but had to take his orders from Vaudreuil, the governor, a weak and jealous man, fatal failings in a position of authority. And with almost the powers of the governor, was the Intendant, a man called Bigot, to whose looseness in matters of morals and money may be partially ascribed the loss of New France. The defects of the rulers were to be seen in the officials under them, and it was a difficult task that confronted Montcalm.

The advance against Quebec was made by water, and up to the battle itself the movements were those of a fleet. The commander of the army was General Wolfe, selected by Pitt, the Prime Minister of England, and to him was given what was then the extraordinary privilege of selecting most of his staff and thus providing for unity of aim and community of interest. Saunders was Admiral of the fleet.

At first they lay below the city and tried sundry attacks by land, but without success. Then they made a skilful movement up the river and in a better position to make a direct attack.

Quebec is a natural stronghold, and had to depend largely upon this for protection. Large sums of money had been assigned for the greater development and strengthening of the fortifications, but in those days of corruption and thoughtlessness the money had doubtless been squandered. Its great cliffs might have presented a hopeless appearance to the enemy if properly guarded, but Wolfe knew through his capable Intelligence Department, that there was but little ammunition and little food in the garrison. Above all, there was a lack of intelligence and co-operation among the rulers of the French, an evidence of which was the fact that a great fleet could make its way up the dangerous St. Lawrence with practically no opposition.

Wolfe studied out the situation and, emboldened by the good news from the Lakes, planned an assault by night. Carefully selecting the place, he told no one but the admiral and the captain who was to lead the great procession of boats to the assault. Shortly after midnight on September 12th, 1759, the boats in line dropped down the river with Wolfe and his staff in the leading boat. They passed successfully a French sentry who thought they were a French convoy, and about four o’clock on that autumn morning Wolfe leaped ashore at a cove about a mile and a half above the city, and led his men up the steep path which he had already carefully investigated. Again they successfully answered the challenge of a sentry and by six o’clock the whole landing force was on the heights.

It was a surprise to the French, but even then the chance for recovery would have been greater if Montcalm had not been hampered by having to consult the governor on all details. This was a national crisis. Half a continent was at stake and yet the man whose training had been for this purpose, whose business it was to know what to do at such a crisis, had to lay his plans before a political appointee, who in turn used his power for the humiliation of the expert military leader.

But Montcalm was a patriot, and he made the best of the situation. By nine o’clock the French marched out in battle array against Wolfe’s army, which by this time had reached the level known as the Plains of Abraham. The armies were almost equal in numbers, approximately 5,000 each, and as the French advanced to the attack, which was their best policy, Wolfe, advancing his men so that the action would be close, gave the order that no shot was to be fired until the enemy was within forty paces. It was a difficult matter to remain steady and resist the temptation to fire, but they did, and when at forty paces a volley was let loose, followed immediately by a second, the French line wavered and Wolfe gave the order to charge.

The French could not withstand the shock and the battle was won. Wolfe, already wounded, received a death wound in the first moment of the charge. While being carried to the rear he heard some one say, “They run, they run!” Wolfe roused himself and asked, “Who run?” “The French, sir! Egad! they give way everywhere!” “Then I die content.” And so passed away the young intrepid general, who had recognized fully the great issues involved in this encounter and on the previous evening had made a disposition of all his belongings.

And Montcalm, while trying to rally the fugitives, was stricken down, and when told that he could not live, replied calmly, “So much the better. I am happy not to live to see the surrender of Quebec.”

The battle lasted until mid-day, and the result was a triumph for Wolfe’s tactics, for it was a carefully planned attack, and nothing was left to chance. Quebec surrendered, the French troops marched out with the honours of war, and the reign of France was virtually over in the New World.

Montcalm was buried in the Ursuline chapel at Quebec, while Wolfe’s body was carried on the Royal William to Portsmouth in charge of Sergeant Donald MacLeod, of the Black Watch, all his years a soldier and with twelve sons in the army and navy.

Years afterwards, to these two great generals, noble and self-sacrificing men, each doing his duty to his country even to the sacrifice of his life, a monument was erected in the city for whose possession they had fought. On one side is the word Montcalm; on the other Wolfe; and on the pedestal between these words:

MORTEM VIRTUS COMMUNEM
FAMAM HISTORIA
MONUMENTUM POSTERITAS
DEDIT.