James Wolfe versus Marquis de Montcalm: A British army under Wolfe tries to take an impregnable fortress from a French army under Montcalm. Wolfe tries many different ways to do so; will Montcalm suffer defeat to any of them? Includes the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Click on the image below to view.

 

 

In Canada, this is that stereotypical battle that everyone is taught about in school; young students know the place, the time and the commanders who lead each side. For Canada, this battle decided the path of Canada to be English instead of French even though French still holds a significant place in modern Canadian culture.

 

This battle must have been extremely difficult and stressful for both commanders although the massive implications could not have been known at the time. Both commanders struggled logistically; Montcalm struggled more but Wolfe felt the urgent need to capture Quebec, going to desperate, costly measures. Wolfe came out the better commander in this battle due to luck, always the best quality to have in a commander. The animation overlooks certain details of the landing at Anse de Foulon. For one, a French sentry questioned the leading British transport as it passed Quebec; one of the British soldiers spoke crude French sufficiently that the French sentry sent the word that the transports were their own supply vessels. Also, the actual landing went unimpeded because the cliffs were guarded by thirty soldiers, seventy less than required, and were led by a commander known for loose command and sleeping on duty. Does this mean Montcalm should have won the battle and that Wolfe just got lucky? Absolutely not because there are infinite factors attributed to chance and not the commander’s attributes.