When was montcalm born

Bougainville went much farther; he described it as utterly hopeless. None of the fortified places was defensible, least of all Quebec, therefore it would be futile to send reinforcements to Canada. In any event the Royal Navy would surely intercept them. He failed to mention that supply convoys had eluded the British and reached Quebec every year of the war.

He also asked that instructions be sent on the capitulation terms the French should request, and orders given empowering Montcalm, 24 hours before the capitulation took effect, to muster what remained of the regular troops and embark in a fleet of canoes for Louisiana.

This move, it was claimed, would prevent the loss of a sizeable body of men and preserve the honour of French arms by a feat rivalling the retreat of the Ten Thousand that had immortalized the Greeks. A second proposal, even more bizarre, was that Canada could be saved were France to send an expeditionary force to invade North Carolina.

The British would be taken by surprise, their forces being concentrated in the north; the southern colonies abounded in supplies; the large slave population could be made use of in one way or another; and if the invading army were unable to maintain itself in the Carolinas it could retire to Louisiana.

Given these wild proposals and the fact that they were postulated on one premise, defeat, the wonder is that the council of ministers took seriously anything recommended by Montcalm and Bougainville. Yet their views carried more weight than did those of Vaudreuil. The government, pinning its hopes on the plan for an invasion of England, decided that neither ships nor men could be spared for Canada, or for a diversionary assault on the Carolinas. Instead, on 20 Oct. Since a lieutenant-general ranked much higher than a colonial governor general, Montcalm was given command of all the military forces in Canada and Vaudreuil was instructed to defer to him in all things, even routine administrative matters.

They were both instructed that little in the way of reinforcements could be spared, therefore they were to remain strictly on the defensive and strive to retain a foothold in Canada; then the territory given up to the enemy could be recovered at the peace table. In short, the strategy recommended by Montcalm had to be adopted.

Early in May over 20 supply ships reached Quebec. On one of them was Bougainville, accompanied by recruits and a handful of officers. Close behind them was the Royal Navy escorting Major-General James Wolfe at the head of 8, troops, the bulk of them well trained British regulars. For this Vaudreuil has to be held responsible. As late as March , however, Montcalm had declared that there was little cause to fear for Quebec, because the difficulties of river navigation would render it virtually impossible for the British to bring a fleet up the river.

The real threat, he believed, would be on the Lake Champlain front. Vaudreuil agreed with him, being sure that the British could not bring ships of the line to Quebec without Canadian pilots.

It did not cross his mind that the British would make use of captured pilots. All told, Montcalm had some 15, to 16, men under his command, and the advantage of a fortified position that the enemy would have to assail. Moreover, time was on his side. The British had to defeat his army and take Quebec before the end of the summer. Montcalm had only to hold them off for not more than three months, then they would be forced to sail away or be destroyed by the onset of the winter.

He did not have to defeat them in a set battle, merely make sure that they did not defeat him. The British, however, did have one advantage — command of the river.

The Canadians, fearing that the British would establish batteries to bombard the city, were greatly perturbed but Montcalm and his officers were of the opinion that the range was too great for much damage to be done. Not until 11 July did Montcalm consent to an attack on the British position.

Against more than double their number of British regulars in a fortified position the attempt had no hope of success. It was a fiasco and Montcalm voiced his disdain for military operations conducted by amateurs.

The next day the bombardment of Quebec began. It was to continue for two months and reduce the city to rubble. Fortunately for the French, Wolfe was a poor tactician. On 9 July he landed a brigade at Montmorency which Montcalm declined to oppose, fearing to commit his forces lest it prove to be a feint; then Wolfe quickly brought in reinforcements and made the position impregnable.

On 31 July Wolfe launched an assault on the Montmorency-Beauport lines. It was beaten back with heavy losses. This result convinced Vaudreuil that Wolfe would not attack there again. He was gravely concerned lest Wolfe should attack above the city and wanted that flank strengthened but Montcalm refused to believe that the danger there was real.

He was convinced that Wolfe would continue to hammer at the Beauport lines. Montcalm did not know it, but Wolfe too had begun to despair and his health had deteriorated seriously.

Frustrated at every turn, he gave orders to lay the Canadian settlements waste. He was determined that if he could not take Quebec, he would destroy as much of the colony as possible. All through August into September this destruction persisted until some of the British officers were sickened by it [ see George Scott ]. As the days slipped by and the nights became cooler the navy became anxious. Admiral Saunders declared that the fleet would have to sail by 20 September at the latest.

Before admitting defeat and departing, Wolfe had to launch a final assault, although he had little confidence of success. He wanted to attack the Beauport lines again but when he proposed this plan to his brigadiers they rejected it. This action, they claimed, would force him to come out of his lines and give battle.

Wolfe gave way and made preparations to shift his army up river. Vaudreuil, seeing the British abandon their base at Montmorency and the army transported upstream, became more concerned than ever about that flank and wanted the forces above Quebec strengthened. His urging alone was enough to cause Montcalm to regard such a move as ill advised and to persist in holding his main force below Quebec.

By this time the French were congratulating themselves that the campaign was virtually over; that the British would shortly be forced to sail ignominiously away.

Within hours, to the great surprise of even Wolfe, the British had some 4, men on the Plains of Abraham, less than a mile from the city. At daybreak Montcalm was informed but he refused to believe it. Only a small force was sent to bolster the outposts on the cliff. A few hours later he decided to see for himself. When he reached the heights beyond the city walls and saw the British army drawn up he was staggered and immediately ordered the army to come up at the double. There was, however, no need for Montcalm to oblige Wolfe by giving battle immediately; in fact, no need for him to give battle at all.

In fact, Wolfe had placed his army in terrible jeopardy. With the enemy virtually at his mercy, Montcalm chose the one course of action that ensured his defeat.

He decided to attack at once with the troops he had at hand, not wait for Bougainville to come up with his force.

He failed even to notify Bougainville that the enemy had landed, relying on the outposts to do that. It was, in fact, Vaudreuil who sent word to Bougainville. While the Canadian militia and Indians were galling the British lines from cover, Montcalm mustered his troops in three units, some 4, in all, approximately the same number as the British and less than half the force he could have put in the field.

He had recently incorporated a large number of untrained militia into their ranks. Some of the regulars, come from the Beauport lines at the double, hardly had time to catch their breath before Montcalm gave the order to abandon the high ground and advance down the thicket-strewn slope towards the foe.

The result was predictable. The French formations quickly became disorganized. At extreme musket range they halted to fire ragged volleys, then many of the men dropped to the ground to reload.

The British held their fire until the range closed, replied with rapid platoon fire, advanced through the smoke, then gave crashing volleys by battalion all down the line. Great gaps were torn in the French ranks, the survivors turned and ran, the British in hot pursuit. The French were saved from complete destruction only by the deadly fire of the Canadian militia from the flanks. It was they who forced the British to halt and regroup. The French regulars, in a disordered mass, poured through the city streets, Montcalm, on horseback, bringing up the rear.

Just as he was about to enter the Saint-Louis gate he received a mortal wound. Wolfe, wounded earlier, was already dead. For both generals in an 18 th -century battle to be killed is indication enough that the tactics employed left something to be desired.

After the battle was over Bougainville arrived with his force, then quickly withdrew to Cap Rouge. At Beauport Vaudreuil sought to reorganize the demoralized army. He sent a courier to Montcalm, who was being given medical aid in the city, requesting his advice on what should be done. The reply was that Vaudreuil had a choice of three courses of action: give battle again, retreat to Jacques Cartier, or capitulate for the entire colony.

He left it to Vaudreuil to decide. This missive, if received, was without immediate effect. Vaudreuil meanwhile held a council of war attended by Bigot and the principal officers of the French regulars. Both he and Bigot urged that another attack be made, since they could still put twice as many men in the field as the British and still held the city, but the French officers had no stomach for it.

They demanded that the army retire to Jacques Cartier, join forces with Bougainville, and regroup. In the face of this opposition Vaudreuil gave way and ordered the retreat to begin that night.

At p. These terms had been drawn up by Montcalm weeks earlier and concurred in by Vaudreuil. Later that night he received the last sacraments, then he instructed his aide-de-camp to write to his family conveying his last farewell. At five in the morning, as dawn was breaking over the shattered city, his defeated army in full retreat, Montcalm expired.

He was livid with fury. I owe it to his memory to vouch for the honesty of his intentions,. This attempt placed them in a dilemma; to blame Montcalm meant that the army had to accept responsibility for the loss of Canada, and they feared that they would have to share in that blame. When Louis XV and his ministers received word of the capitulation they were far more disturbed over the fact that the army had surrendered without being accorded the honours of war than they were over the loss of the colony.

They showed no concern whatsoever for the plight of the Canadians. Someone had to be held responsible for the disaster, and it could not be Montcalm.

He was not there to defend himself and he had to be exonerated to spare the reputation of the army. The obvious choice was Vaudreuil. For the preceding four years Montcalm and his entourage had predicted the outcome, defeat, and held that the corrupt colonial administration would be to blame — it was now even held accountable for the outcome of the battle of 13 September.

Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that when the Marquise de Montcalm requested compensation for her grievous loss, the government was sympathetic. His finances improved soon after by his marriage to Angelique Louise Talon du Boulay. Despite a marriage arranged for money and influence, they were a devoted couple. They made their home at Candiac and had a large number of children of whom five survived to adulthood.

His father purchased a captaincy for him in and he served in the War of Polish Succession , seeing action at the Siege of Kehl and the Siege of Philippsburg. He took part in Marshal de Maillebois ' Italian campaigns, where he was awarded the Order of Saint Louis in [3] and taken prisoner in the Battle of Piacenza after receiving five sabre wounds while rallying his men. He was released on parole after several months' imprisonment, and promoted to Brigadier for his actions during the campaign. After prisoner exchanges made possible his return to active service, he joined the Italian campaign again in He was wounded again by a musket ball in the Battle of Assietta , and assisted in raising the Siege of Ventimiglia in October.

When Marshal Belle-Isle retired that winter, his army was left under the command of its brigadiers, including Montcalm. The war came to an end in with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Montcalm trying to stop Native Americans from attacking British soldiers and civilians as they leave Fort William Henry. Montcalm was promoted to major general and sent to New France in to replace the captured Baron Dieskau as commander of French troops in North America during the French and Indian War.

His early campaigns against the British were major successes. He expanded the defences at Fort Carillon on Lake Champlain. He captured and destroyed Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario in His victory at Fort William Henry in was a military and personal victory, but the conduct of his Algonquin allies, who massacred British soldiers as they marched out of the fort under negotiated terms of surrender, was a significant political blow.

These actions, which were immortalized in James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Last of the Mohicans , disgusted Montcalm, who personally intervened in an attempt to halt the slaughter. Montcalm's most impressive victory was at the Battle of Carillon , where he defeated a British army of more than 16, with fewer than 4, men.

It was considered his greatest victory, but the victory was made possible in part due to the incompetence of the British commander, James Abercrombie , who committed numerous errors of tactics and strategy in the battle.

He was appointed 20 October lieutenant-general - the second-highest rank in the French army. Montcalm's time in New France was marked by feuding with its governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil , and the lack of support in terms of personnel and supplies from France. In August Montcalm crossed Lake Ontario, took the British fort at Oswego, destroyed the settlement, and restored French control to the area. In August he took and destroyed Ft. When the British garrison surrendered and marched out, Montcalm's Indian allies massacred many soldiers before Montcalm could stop them.

In the following year he occupied Ticonderoga Ft. Carillon and held it with 3, men against a British attacking force of 15, The British sent strong reinforcements to Canada in to take Quebec, a virtually impregnable fortress high above the St.

Lawrence River. Coming from Louisbourg, Gen. James Wolfe landed at the Island of Orleans, just downstream from Quebec.