It was next resolved to attempt a landing above the town. The camp at Orleans was therefore broken up ; and the whole army having embarked on board the fleet, one division of it was put on shore at Point Levi, and the other carried higher up the river. A plan, suited to the enterprising genius of the British commander, was then formed. It was proposed to scale a pre cipice on the north bank of the river, during the night, and in this way to reach the heights of Abraham, behind the city. The precipice was accessible only by a narrow path. The stream was rapid, the shore irregular, the landing place such as could not easily be found in the dark, and the steep above, very diffi cult to be ascended, even without opposition from an enemy. If the English general should succeed, he knew that he could bring the French to an en gagement ; but he knew also, that if the attempt should fail, the destruction of a great part of the troops would be the unavoidable consequence. Something, however, was to be done. A strong detachment was put on board the vessels destined for the service ; and falling silently down with the tide, the English arrived an hour before day-break, at the place which had been fixed upon. Wolfe was the first man who leaped on shore ; he was followed by the Highlanders and the light infantry who composed the van ; as these were in tended to secure a battery not far from the entrenched path by which the troops were to ascend, and to cover the landing of their associates. Though they had been forced by the violence of the stream to some distance from the place of debarkation, and were obliged to scramble up the rock by the assistance of its projec tions, and the branches of the trees which grew in the cliffs, such was the ardour of the general, and such the alacrity of the soldiers, that they reached the heights in a time, and almost instantly dispersed the guard by which they were defended. The battery was se cured ; tLe whole army followed ; and when the sun arose, the troops were ranged under their respective officers.
The marquis de Monmalm saw, at once, the advan tage which the English general had gainA, and per ceived that a battle, which would decide time Lie of Quebec, and of Canada, was unavoidable ; he tm.r. lore prepared for it with a courage and activity worthy of his lOrmer exploits. He left his strong position on the Montmorency, and passed the St Charles, to attack the army of the besiegers. As soon as the nioN einent of the French was perceived, Wolfe eagerly formed his order of battle. is right wing was under the command of general Monckton, and covered by the Louisbourg gre nadiers; and his left under that of general Townshund, protected by the Highlanders and the light infantry. The reserve consisted of Webb's regiment. The right and left wings of the enemy were composed of Euro pean and colonial troops ; a body of French were in the centre, and they advanced against the English under the support of two field pieces, and preceded by an irregular corps of militia and Indians, who kept up a galling fire. The movements of the French indicating a design to turn his left, Wolfe ordered the battalion of Amherst, and two battalions of royal Americans, to that part of his line ; and here they were formed under general Townshend, en jzotence, presenting a double front to the enemy. The French marched up briskly, and began the attack ; but the English reserved their fire till the enemy were almost at hand, when they gave it with decisive effect. The two generals were opposed to each other, Wolfe on the right of the British, and Montcalm on the left of the French. The English com mander ordered the grenadiers to charge ; and putting himself at their head, advanced with all the zeal and all the intrepidity of his character, when lie unfortunately received a mortal wound, and was obliged to be carried to the rear. He was succeeded in the chief command by general Monckton, and he by general Townshend. The marquis de Montcalm fell. His principal officers experienced the same fate. The French gave way, the English pressed forward with their bayonets fixed, and the Highlanders with their broadswords; and in a short time, victory declared in favour of Great Britain. The enemy made one attempt to rally, but were driven into Quebec, and partly into the river St Charles. failed completely in endeavouring to turn the left of the English. Meanwhile, Wolfe surveyed the field with the utmost anxiety ; forgetful of his sufferings, and alive only to glory. He had been shot through the wrist in
the beginning of the action, but without manifesting the least uneasiness, he wrapt a handkerchief about his arm and continued to animate his soldiers; another bullet pierced his groin, and immediately after, lie received, as we have stated, a wound in the breast, which forced him to be removed from the heat of the conflict, and of which he soon expired. Still his eye was fixed on the engagement. Faint through loss of blood, he re clined his head on the shoulder of an officer who was near him, eagerly inquiring about the fate of the day ; and, though nature was almost exhausted, he roused himself at the words, " they fly, they fly," which reach ed his cars. " NVho fly ?" he exclaimed. Ile was told it was the enemy. " Then," said the hero, " I depart content ;" and havin• said this, he expired in the arms of victory. Thus fell the young and gallant Wolfe; a man from whom his country had formed the highest expectations, and whose conduct through the whole of his short life, demonstrated that these expectations were not formed of one who was either unable or unwilling to support them. Brave, enterprising, dignified, and humane, he possessed all the virtues of the military character. Ills actions are still held up to the imitation of every British soldier ; and numerous songs and bal lads proc lann his merits, and perpetuate his lame among the British people. While, however, we pronounce the eulogium of successful intrepidity, let us not forget that bravery may be displayed when it is not rewarded by fortune ; and that, if the victors in this memorable battle are celebrated for their courage and their conduct, the vanquished likewise are entitled to praise. The marquis de :11ontcalm was an antagonist worthy of the gallant Wolfe. Their minds were of kindred vigour ; the same love of glory animated them both, and it led them both to the same fearlessness of danger, and the same contempt of death. His troops being defeated, notwithstanding all his exertions, Montcalm expressed the !ugliest satisfaction that his wound was declared to he mortal ; and when he was told that he could not live more than a few hours, lie said, " it is so much the beau' ; I shall not then live to see the surrender of Quebec." The battle of the heights of Abraham was followed by the reduction of the city, and ultimately by the sub jugation of the French in Canada. They made, how ever, sonic attempts to recover the dominion and the places which they had lost ; and Alonsieur de Levi, after a successful encounter, opened his batteries before Que bec ; hut a strong fleet arriving from England, he was compelled to raise the siege, and retire ith precipita tion to Montreal. Here Vaudreuil, the governor gene ral of Canada, fixed his head-quarters, and calling in his detachments, gathered around hint the whole strength of the colony. In the mean time, Amherst, the British commander in chief, prepared to attack the French ; and to secure to his countrymen the possession of Canada, with the smallest loss which might be possible, on his side. After making the necessary preparations, he set out in person at the head of 10,000 men, and was joined at Oswego by sir William Johnson, and a strong body of Indians ; whose fidelity to the English, that gentle man had exerted himself to preserve and to confirm. The army embarked on Lake Ontario ; and the British general, having taken possession of the fort of Isle Royale, which commanded, in a great measure, the entrance of the St Lawrence, proceeded down the river, and notwithstanding the difficulty of the navigation at that time of the year, he arrived at Montreal. General Murray appeared below the town, with as many of the troops as could be spared from the garrison of Quebec, on the same day that Amherst approached it from above. Colonel Haviland joined the English with a detachment from Crown Point. Against such a force as was now before the place, the French were utterly unable to con tend. The governor offered to capitulate ; and in the month of September, A. D. 1760, Montreal, together with Detroit, Michilimakinac, and all the possessions of France in Canada, were surrendered to his Britannic majesty. The troops of the enemy were to be trans ported to their own country in Europe ; and the Canadians were to be protected in the full enjoyment of their pro perty and their religion.