" On the twenty-ninth he was able
to write or dictate a letter to the three brigadiers, Monckton,
Townshend, and Murray: "That the public service may not suffer by the
General's indisposition, he begs the brigadiers will meet and consult
together for the public utility and advantage, and consider of the best
method to attack the enemy." The letter then proposes three plans, all
bold to audacity. The first was to send a part of the army to ford the
Montmorenci eight or nine miles above its mouth, march through the
forest, and fall on the rear of the French at Beauport, while the rest
landed and attacked them in front. The second was to cross the ford at
the mouth of the Montmorenci and march along the strand, under the
French intrenchments, till a place could be found where the troops might
climb the heights. The third was to make a general attack from boats at
the Beauport flats. Wolfe had before entertained two other plans, one of
which was to scale the heights at St. Michel, about a league above
Quebec; but this he had abandoned on learning that the French were there
in force to receive him. The other was to storm the Lower Town; but this
also he had abandoned, because the Upper Town, which commanded it, would
still remain inaccessible.
The brigadiers met in consultation, rejected the three plans proposed in
the letter, and advised that an attempt should be made to gain a footing
on the north shore above the town, place the army between Montcalm and
his base of supply, and so force him to fight or surrender.
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