They passed the great
ships of the fleet, and anchored among the other transports towards the
head of the harbor. It was not yet free from ice; and the floating
masses lay so thick in some parts that the reckless sailors, returning
from leave on shore, jumped from one to another to regain their ships.
There was a review of troops, and Knox went to see it; but it was over
before he reached the place, where he was presently told of a
characteristic reply just made by Wolfe to some officers who had
apologized for not having taught their men the new exercise. "Poh,
poh!--new exercise--new fiddlestick. If they are otherwise well
disciplined, and will fight, that's all I shall require of them."
Knox does not record his impressions of his new commander, which must
have been disappointing. He called him afterwards a British Achilles;
but in person at least Wolfe bore no likeness to the son of Peleus, for
never was the soul of a hero cased in a frame so incongruous. His face,
when seen in profile, was singular as that of the Great Conde. The
forehead and chin receded; the nose, slightly upturned, formed with the
other features the point of an obtuse triangle; the mouth was by no
means shaped to express resolution; and nothing but the clear, bright,
and piercing eye bespoke the spirit within. On his head he wore a black
three-cornered hat; his red hair was tied in a queue behind; his narrow
shoulders, slender body, and long, thin limbs were cased in a scarlet
frock, with broad cuffs and ample skirts that reached the knee; while on
his left arm he wore a band of crape in mourning for his father, of
whose death he had heard a few days before.
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