We knew
that they would stand by us to the last extremity."
Wolfe had thirty-six hundred men and officers with him on board the
vessels of Holmes; and he now sent orders to Colonel Burton at Point
Levi to bring to his aid all who could be spared from that place and the
Point of Orleans. They were to march along the south bank, after
nightfall, and wait further orders at a designated spot convenient for
embarkation. Their number was about twelve hundred, so that the entire
forced destined for the enterprise was at the utmost forty-eight
hundred.[767] With these, Wolfe meant to climb the heights of Abraham in
the teeth of an enemy who, though much reduced, were still twice as
numerous as their assailants.[768]
[Footnote 767: See Note, end of chapter.]
[Footnote 768: Including Bougainville's command. An escaped prisoner
told Wolfe, a few days before, that Montcalm still had fourteen thousand
men. _Journal of an Expedition on the River St. Lawrence._ This meant
only those in the town and the camps of Beauport. "I don't believe their
whole army amounts to that number," wrote Wolfe to Colonel Burton, on
the tenth. He knew, however, that if Montcalm could bring all his troops
together, the French would outnumber him more than two to one.]
Admiral Saunders lay with the main fleet in the Basin of Quebec. This
excellent officer, whatever may have been his views as to the necessity
of a speedy departure, aided Wolfe to the last with unfailing energy and
zeal.
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