'"
He was pious in his soldierly way, and ardently loyal to Church and
King.
His family seat was Candiac; where, in the intervals of campaigning, he
found repose with his wife, his children, and his mother, who was a
woman of remarkable force of character and who held great influence over
her son. He had a strong attachment to this home of his childhood; and
in after years, out of the midst of the American wilderness, his
thoughts turned longingly towards it. "_Quand reverrai-je mon cher
Candiac_!"
In 1741 Montcalm took part in the Bohemian campaign. He was made colonel
of the regiment of Auxerrois two years later, and passed unharmed
through the severe campaign of 1744. In the next year he fought in Italy
under Marechal de Maillebois. In 1746, at the disastrous action under
the walls of Piacenza, where he twice rallied his regiment, he received
five sabre-cuts,--two of which were in the head,--and was made prisoner.
Returning to France on parole, he was promoted in the year following to
the rank of brigadier; and being soon after exchanged, rejoined the
army, and was again wounded by a musket-shot. The peace of
Aix-la-Chapelle now gave him a period of rest.[362] At length, being on
a visit to Paris late in the autumn of 1755, the minister, D'Argenson,
hinted to him that he might be appointed to command the troops in
America. He heard no more of the matter till, after his return home, he
received from D'Argenson a letter dated at Versailles the twenty-fifth
of January, at midnight.
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