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WOLFE

TO HIS ARMY BEFORE QUEBEC[1]

(1759)

Born in 1727, died in 1759; served against the Scottish insurgents in 1745–1746; made a Brigadier in 1758; commanded a division at Louisburg in 1758; made a Major-General in 1759; commanded the expedition to Quebec in the same year, and died on the Plains of Abraham in the hour of victory.

I congratulate you, my brave countrymen and fellow soldiers, on the spirit and success with which you have executed this important part of our enterprise. The formidable Heights of Abraham are now surmounted; and the city of Quebec, the object of all our toils, now stands in full view before us. A perfidious enemy, who have dared to exasperate you by their cruelties, but not to oppose you on equal ground, are now constrained to face you on the open plain, without ramparts or intrenchments to shelter them.

You know too well the forces which compose their army to dread their superior numbers. A few regular troops from old France, weakened by hunger and sickness, who, when fresh, were unable to withstand the British soldiers, are their

  1. ↑ Delivered on the Plains of Abraham, before the battle, September 13, 1759, Wolfe's men had been drawn up in six battalions in first line facing Quebec, two battalions covering the left flank, one being held in reserve.

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