Its failure was due to no
shortcoming on the part of its conductors; who, under a brave Canadian
named Courval, acted with coolness and resolution. Nothing saved the
fleet but the courage of the sailors, swarming out in their boats to
fight the approaching conflagration.
It was now the end of July. More than half the summer was gone, and
Quebec seemed as far as ever beyond the grasp of Wolfe. Its buildings
were in ruins, and the neighboring parishes were burned and ravaged; but
its living rampart, the army of Montcalm, still lay in patient defiance
along the shores of Beauport, while above the city every point where a
wildcat could climb the precipices was watched and guarded, and Dumas
with a thousand men held the impregnable heights of Cap-Rouge. Montcalm
persisted in doing nothing that his enemy wished him to do. He would not
fight on Wolfe's terms, and Wolfe resolved at last to fight him on his
own; that is, to attack his camp in front.
The plan was desperate; for, after leaving troops enough to hold Point
Levi and the heights of Montmorenci, less than five thousand men would
be left to attack a position of commanding strength, where Montcalm at
an hour's notice could collect twice as many to oppose them. But Wolfe
had a boundless trust in the disciplined valor of his soldiers, and an
utter scorn of the militia who made the greater part of his enemy's
force.
Towards the Montmorenci the borders of the St.
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