Editing Battle of the Plains of Abraham (section)

==Battle==
[[Image:NSRW Siege of Quebec.png|left|thumb|Map of the Quebec City area showing disposition of French and British forces. The Plains of Abraham are to the left.]]
The plateau was undefended save for Vergor's camp, as Vaudreuil had ordered one of the French regiments to relocate to the east of the city not long before the landing. Had the immediate defenders been more numerous, the British might have been unable to deploy or even been pushed back.  An officer who would normally have patrolled the cliffs regularly through the night was unable to on the night of the 12th because one of his horses had been stolen and his two others were lame.<ref>{{Harvnb|Eccles|1972|p=123}}.</ref> The first notice of the landing came from a runner who had fled from Vergor's camp, but one of Montcalm's aides felt the man was mad and sent him away, then went back to bed.<ref>{{Harvnb|Anderson|2000|p=356}}.</ref> Admiral Saunders had staged a diversionary action off Montmorency, firing on the shore emplacements through the night and loading boats with troops, many of them taken from [[field hospital]]s; this preoccupied Montcalm.<ref>{{Harvnb|Anderson|2000|p=355}}.</ref>

[[File:SLIPPING AND STUMBLING, THE MEN WENT ON.gif|thumb|The British under General Wolfe climbing the heights of Quebec, 1759]]
Montcalm was taken aback to learn of the British deployment, and his response has been regarded as precipitate.<ref>{{Harvnb|Anderson|2000|p=359}}.</ref> Though he might have awaited reinforcement by Bougainville's column (allowing simultaneous frontal and rear attacks on the British position) or avoided battle while he concentrated his forces, or even yielded the city to Wolfe, he instead elected to confront Wolfe's force directly.  Had he waited, the British would have been entirely cut off—they had nowhere to go but back down the Foulon, and would have been under fire the entire way.<ref>{{Harvnb|Eccles|1972|pp=203–204}}.</ref> To an artillery officer named Montbelliard, Montcalm explained his decision thus: "We cannot avoid action; the enemy is entrenching, he already has two pieces of cannon. If we give him time to establish himself, we shall never be able to attack him with the troops we have."<ref>{{Harvnb|Reid|2003|pp=72–73}}.</ref>

===First engagements===
[[File:Battle of the Plains of Abraham 2.svg|thumb|left|First phase of the battle]]
In total, Montcalm had 13,390 regular troops, [[Troupes de la Marine]], and [[militia]] available in Quebec City and along the Beauport shore, as well as 200 [[cavalry]], 200 artillery (including the guns of Quebec), 400 [[First Nations in Canada|native warriors]] (including many [[Odawa people|Odawa]] under [[Charles de Langlade]]),<ref>{{Harvnb|Casgrain|1905|p=112}}.</ref> and 140 [[Acadia]]n [[Military volunteer|volunteers]], but most of these troops did not participate in the action. Many of the militia were inexperienced; the Acadian, Canadian, and indigenous [[irregulars]] were more used to guerrilla warfare. By contrast, the British 7,700 troops were almost all [[Regular Army|regulars]].<ref name="s117">{{cite web | title=Military history of Quebec City : 1608-2008 / Serge Bernier, Jacques Castonguay, André Charbonneau, Yvon Desloges, Larry Ostola. : R62-391/2007E-PDF | website=Publications du gouvernement du Canada | date=1 July 2002 | url=https://publications.gc.ca/site/fra/9.889526/publication.html | language=fr | access-date=26 February 2025|page=143}}</ref>

On the morning of 13 September, Wolfe's army formed a line first with their backs to the river, then spread out across the Plains with its right anchored by the bluff along the St. Lawrence and its left by a bluff and thick wood above the St. Charles River. While the regular French forces were approaching from Beauport and Quebec, the Canadian militia and native sharpshooters engaged the British left flank, sheltering in the trees and scrub; the militia held these positions throughout the battle and fell back on this line during the general retreat, eventually holding the bridge over the St. Charles River.<ref>{{Harvnb|Reid|2003|p=61}}.</ref>

Of the British troops, approximately 3,300 formed into a shallow [[horseshoe]] formation that stretched across the width of the Plains, the main firing line being roughly one kilometre long. Two battalions were deployed, facing north, to cover the left flank and a further two formed a reserve. In order to cover the entire plain, Wolfe was forced to array his soldiers two ranks deep, rather than the more conventional three ranks. On the left wing, regiments under Townshend exchanged fire with the militia in the scrub and captured a small collection of houses and [[gristmill]] to anchor the line. The defenders pushed the British from one house, but were repelled and, in retreat, lit several houses on fire to keep them out of enemy hands. Smoke from these fires wound up masking the British left, and may have confused Montcalm as to the width of the lines.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hibbert|1959|p=148}}.</ref> As Wolfe's men waited for the defenders, the steady fire became intense enough that Wolfe ordered his men to lie down amid the high grass and brush.<ref>{{Harvnb|Reid|2003|p=69}}.</ref>

[[Image:Montcalm leading his troops at the Plains of Abraham.jpg|thumb|Montcalm leading his troops into battle. Watercolour by [[Charles William Jefferys]] (1869–1951)]]
As French troops arrived from Beauport, Montcalm, one of few mounted men on the field, decided that a swift assault was the only way to dislodge the British from their position.  Accordingly, he deployed the forces immediately available in and near Quebec City and prepared an immediate attack, without waiting for further reinforcements from the Beauport shore.  He arrayed his approximately 3,500 soldiers into place, his best regulars three deep, others six deep and his poorest regiment in column. At approximately 10&nbsp;a.m., Montcalm, riding his dark horse and waving his sword to encourage his men,<ref>{{Harvnb|Chartrand|1999|p=86}}.</ref> ordered a general advance on the British line.<ref name="w567">{{cite web | title=Montcalm, Wolfe and the memory of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham | website=The Canadian Encyclopedia | date=September 12, 2013 | url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-path-of-glory-the-plains-of-abraham-feature | access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>

As a European-trained military leader, Montcalm's instinct was for large, set-piece battles in which regiments and soldiers moved in precise order.  Such actions required a disciplined soldiery, painstakingly drilled for as long as 18 months on the parade ground, trained to march in time, change formation at a word, and retain cohesion in the face of bayonet charges and musket volleys.<ref name="Eccles, pp. 197"/> Though his regular regiments (the "troupes de terre" or "metropolitans") were adept at such formal warfare, in the course of the campaign their ranks had been replenished by less professional militiamen, whose talents at forest warfare emphasised the individual: they tended to fire early and then drop to the ground to reload, thus reducing the effect of concentrated fire at close range.<ref name="Eccles, pp. 182">{{Harvnb|Eccles|1969|p=182}}.</ref>

===Main engagement===
[[File:Battle of the Plains of Abraham 3.svg|thumb|left|French forces in retreat]]
As the French approached, the British lines held their fire. Wolfe had devised a firing method for stopping French column advances in 1755 that called for the centre—in this case, the [[43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot|43rd]] and [[47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot|47th]] Foot regiments—to hold fire while waiting for the advancing force to approach within {{cvt|30|yd|m}}, then open fire at close range. The French held their fire and both armies waited for two or three minutes. The French finally fired two disorganized volleys.<ref name="g791">{{cite book | last=McCulloch | first=Ian M. | title=Sons of the Mountains | publisher=Purple Mountain Press | publication-place=Fleischmanns, NY | date=2006 | isbn=1-896941-49-4 | pages=186–187}}</ref>

Wolfe had ordered his soldiers to charge their muskets with two balls each in preparation for the engagement.<ref>{{Harvnb|Reid|2003|pp=74–75}}.</ref> [[John Knox (British Army officer)|Captain John Knox]], serving with the 43rd Foot, wrote in his journal that as the French came within range, the regiments "gave them, with great calmness, as remarkable a close and heavy discharge as I ever saw". After the first volley, the British lines marched forward a few paces towards the shocked French force and fired a second general volley that shattered the attackers and sent them into retreat.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chartrand|1999|p=88}}.</ref>
[[Image:PlainsOfAbraham2007.jpg|thumb|upright=2.2|Engraving based on a sketch by Wolfe's aide-de-camp, [[Hervey Smythe]], depicting the easy climb by Wolfe's soldiers]]

Wolfe, positioned with the [[28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot|28th Foot]] and the Louisbourg Grenadiers, had moved to a rise to observe the battle; he had been struck in the wrist early in the fight, but had wrapped the injury and continued on. Volunteer James Henderson, with the Louisbourg Grenadiers, had been tasked with holding the hill, and reported afterwards that within moments of the command to fire, Wolfe was struck with two shots, one low in the stomach and the second, a mortal wound in the chest.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hibbert|1959|p=151}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Lloyd|1959|p=139}}.</ref> Knox wrote that one of the soldiers near Wolfe shouted "They run, see how they run." Wolfe, on the ground, opened his eyes and asked who was running.  Upon being told that the French had broken, he gave several orders, then turned on his side and said "Now, God be praised, I will die in peace", and died.<ref>{{Harvnb|Reid|2003|pp=76–77}}.</ref>

With Wolfe dead and several other key officers injured, British troops fell into a disorganized pursuit of the retreating French troops. The 78th Fraser Highlanders were ordered by Brigadier-General [[James Murray (Quebec governor)|James Murray]] to pursue the French with their [[sword]]s, but were met near the city by a heavy fire from a floating battery covering the bridge over the St. Charles River as well as militia that remained in the trees. The 78th took the highest number of casualties of all British units in the battle. This was notably the last known successful [[Highland charge|Highland Charge]] in history.<ref>{{Harvnb|Reid|2003|p=82}}.</ref>
[[Image:Death of General Montcalm.jpg|thumb|General Montcalm, mortally wounded on the Plains of Abraham, is taken to Quebec. Watercolour by Louis Bombled (1862–1927)]]

An eyewitness with the 78th Highlanders (Dr Robert Macpherson) wrote three days after the battle:

<blockquote>The Highlanders pursued them to the very Sally Port of the town. The Highlanders returned towards the main body. When the highlanders were gathered together, they lay'd on a separate attack against a large body of Canadians on our flank that were posted in a small village and a Bush of woods. Here, after a wonderful escape all day, we suffered great loss both in Officers and men but at last drove them under the cover of their cannon which likeways did us considerable loss.<ref>{{Harvnb|McCulloch|2006|p=186}}</ref></blockquote>

Townshend took charge of the British forces and realised that Bougainville's column was approaching from the British rear, having taken some time to arrive from Cap Rouge. He quickly formed up two battalions from the confused troops on the field and turned them to meet the oncoming French, a day-saving manoeuvre; instead of attacking with a well rested and ready force, Bougainville retreated while the rest of Montcalm's army slipped back across the St. Charles.<ref>{{Harvnb|Anderson|2000|p=363}}.</ref>

During the retreat, Montcalm, still mounted, was struck by either [[canister shot]] from the British artillery or repeated musket fire, suffering injuries to the lower abdomen and thigh. He was able to make it back into the city, but his wounds were mortal and he died at the wee hours the next morning.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chartrand|1999|p=90}}.</ref> A few moments before he drew his last breath, Montcalm asked his surgeon how much time he had to live. "A few hours," he was answered. "All the better," he said, "I will not see the English in Quebec."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.herodote.net/13_14_septembre_1759-evenement-17590914.php |title=13–14 septembre 1759 – Mort de Montcalm et Wolfe  |website=www.herodote.net |language=fr |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-date=13 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014510/https://www.herodote.net/13_14_septembre_1759-evenement-17590914.php |url-status=live}}</ref> He was buried in a shell crater left in the floor of the Ursuline chapel by a British shell.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chartrand|1999|p=94}}.  In 2001, his remains were moved to the military cemetery at the Hôpital-Général, near the St. Charles River, where they were placed in a [[mausoleum]]. [http://xenophongroup.com/mcjoynt/quebec01.htm Press release, Commission de la capitale nationale du Québec] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509095432/http://www.xenophongroup.com/mcjoynt/quebec01.htm |date=9 May 2008 }}, retrieved 26 April 2007</ref> In terms of casualties the British suffered 658 killed or wounded, of these, 61 were killed and 597 were wounded.<ref name="Macleod230"/><ref name="Snow385"/> The French casualties was between 644 to 716 killed or wounded,<ref>{{Harvnb|Reid|2003|p=83}}</ref> among those thirteen officers, and a further 350 men were taken prisoner.<ref name="Snow385"/>