When they entered
Quebec a gill of rum was served out to each man; several
houses in the suburb of St. Roch were torn down to supply
them with firewood for drying their clothes; and they were left
to take what rest they could against the morrow. The French,
meanwhile, took possession of the abandoned heights; and
while some filled the houses, barns, and sheds of Ste.-Foy and
its neighborhood, others, chiefly Canadians, crossed the
plateau to seek shelter in the village of Sillery.
Three courses were open to Murray. He could defend Quebec,
fortify himself outside the walls on the Buttes-a-Neveu,
or fight Levis at all risks. The walls of Quebec could not withstand
a cannonade, and he had long intended to intrench his army on the
Buttes, as a better position of defence; but the ground, frozen like
a rock, had thus far made the plan impracticable. Even now, though
he surface was thawed, the soil beneath was still frost-bound, making
the task of fortificationextremely difficult, if indeed the French
would give him time for it. Murray was young in years, and younger
still in impulse. He was ardent, fearless, ambitious, and emulous
of the fame of Wolfe. "The enemy," he soon after wrote to Pitt, "was
greatly superior in number, it is true; but when I considered
that our little army was in the habit of beating the enemy, and
had a very fine train of field artillery; that shutting ourselves
at once within the walls was putting all upon the single chance
of holding out for a considerable time a wretched fortification,
I resolved to give them battle; and, half an hour after six in
the morning, we marched with all the force I could muster,
namely, three thousand men.
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