MONTCALM, mont-kam' (Fr. mon-kalm), Louis Joseph de Saint VOran, loo-E de sin va'-raii, MARQUIS DE, French soldier: b. near Nimes, 1712; d. Quebec, Canada, 14 Sept. 1759. He entered the army at 14, distinguished himself in the war for the Austrian Succession and gained the rank of colonel in the battle of Piacenza, Italy, in 1746. In 1756, being then a brigadier-general, he was appointed to com mand the French troops in Canada, where he began operations against the English with great activity and success. Fort Ontario at Oswego was carried on 14 Aug. 1756, after a well-con ducted attack. The next year he took Fort William Henry, at the head of Lake George, which was held by a garrison of over 2,500 men, and thus became possessed of 42 guns and large stores of ammunition and provisions. In the campaign of 1758 he occupied the strong position of Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga), made it still stronger by entrenchments, and on 8 July held it with 3,600 men against a British force of over 15,000. His personal bravery had gained him great popularity among his soldiers, but the want of energy on the part of the home government, the scarcity of food all over New France and personal dissensions be tween himself and the civil governor forbade him to look for much assistance; and he ex pressed his conviction that in a few months the English would be masters of the French col onies in America; yet he prepared as best he could for the campaign of 1759. The English
had sent strong reinforcements and were pre paring for an attack on Quebec. As the suc cess of the whole campaign and indeed the conquest of Canada depended upon the taking of that city, Montcalm had concentrated his principal forces on the banks of the Montmor ency River to protect it. In the first attack, 31 July, the English general, Wolfe, was re pulsed; he later succeeded in landing his troops above Quebec, and on 13 September brought his whole force to the Heights of Abraham; Mont calm at once opposed his advance, but though he led the attack in person, his troops soon broke before the fire of the British. Wolfe fell in the moment of triumph; Moutcalm was mortally wounded and died the next morning.
Consult Bonnechose, 'Monicalm et la Canada Francaise) (1877) ; Parkman, 'Wolfe and Montcalm) QM) • Falcairolle, 'Montcalm de vant la Posterite) (1886) ; Doughty, The Siege of Quebec and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham' (1901).