SEARCH
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Prev | Current Page 821 | Next

Parkman, Francis, 1823-1893

"Montcalm and Wolfe"

Ibid., 29 Juillet,
1759_.] The hundred men were there. Captain de Vergor, of the colony
troops, commanded them, and reinforcements were within his call; for the
battalion of Guienne had been ordered to encamp close at hand on the
Plains of Abraham.[760] Vergor's post, called Anse du Foulon, was a mile
and a half from Quebec. A little beyond it, by the brink of the cliffs,
was another post, called Samos, held by seventy men with four cannon;
and, beyond this again, the heights of Sillery were guarded by a hundred
and thirty men, also with cannon.[761] These were outposts of
Bougainville, whose headquarters were at Cap-Rouge, six miles above
Sillery, and whose troops were in continual movement along the
intervening shore. Thus all was vigilance; for while the French were
strong in the hope of speedy delivery, they felt that there was no
safety till the tents of the invader had vanished from their shores and
his ships from their river. "What we knew," says one of them, "of the
character of M. Wolfe, that impetuous, bold, and intrepid warrior,
prepared us for a last attack before he left us."
[Footnote 760: Foligny, _Journal memoratif. Journal tenu a l'Armee_,
etc.]
[Footnote 761: _Vaudreuil au Ministre, 5 Oct._ 1759.]
Wolfe had been very ill on the evening of the fourth. The troops knew
it, and their spirits sank; but, after a night of torment, he grew
better, and was soon among them again, rekindling their ardor, and
imparting a cheer that he could not share.


Pages:
809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833