This statue of MG James Wolfe occupies a place of pride at the west portico of the Manitoba Provincial capitol building in downtown Winnipeg.
Wolfe is a pivotal figure in the Seven Years War, which was a worldwide conflict fought between the major European powers -- the French, British, Spanish, Austrian, Prussian and Russian armies. The Seven Years War was fought on the continents of Europe, Asia, and North America, as well as in colonial territories of the combatant nations (Phillipine Islands and Cuba). [Note: In the US, the North American conflicts in the Seven Years War are known as the The French and Indian War. In Quebec Canada, the conflict is known as La Guerre de la Conquête (War of the Conquest) -- just in case you were not confused enough by what war this is. Blasterz will use the British Canadian term for this conflict (since the Brits won it) -- the Seven Years War.]
At the end of the Seven Years War, the multiple treaties that ended that war left most of the European territorial borders of the combatants unchanged, but resulted in large transfers of colonial territories.
In Canada, the French and British armies clashed repeatedly. Both countries had outposts and colonial holdings in North America, which was a rich source of furs and trade.
The French had laid claim to the entire Mississippi River Valley from the Gulf of Mexico west through the Mississippi River watershed, and north along the St Lawrence River to the Atlantic ocean.
The British held the Eastern seaboard of what would become the US, and the area around the Hudson Bay in modern Manitoba.
As the British and French expanded settlement and trading post activities in their respective holdings, they inevitably bumped up against one another and hostilities ensued. In fact, these shooting conflicts predated the "official" start of the Seven Years War by two years.
From Wikipedia: (
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"A further cause for war arose from the heated colonial struggle between the British Empire and French Empire which, as they both expanded, met and clashed with one another on two continents. The formal opening of hostilities in Europe was preceded by fighting in North America, where the westward expansion of the British colonies located along the eastern seaboard began to run afoul of French claims to the Mississippi valley in the late 1740s and early 1750s. In order to forestall the expansion of Virginia and Pennsylvania, in particular, the French built a line of forts in what is now western Pennsylvania in the mid-1750s. British efforts to dislodge them led to conflicts generally considered to be part of the French and Indian War, in which fighting began two years before the onset of hostilities in Europe."
Jumping FAR ahead in the story: British Major General James Wolfe defeated the French Army at the battle of Quebec in 1759, which inexorably led to the cession of New France (modern Day Quebec) to the British Crown.
From Wikipedia: (
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"Major General James Peter Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French at the Battle of Quebec in Canada in 1759. The son of a distinguished general, Lieutenant-General Edward Wolfe, he had received his first commission at a young age and saw extensive service in Europe where he fought during the War of the Austrian Succession. His service in Flanders and in Scotland, where he took part in the suppression of the Jacobite Rebellion, brought him to the attention of his superiors. The advancement of his career was halted by the Peace Treaty of 1748 and he spent much of the next eight years on garrison duty in the Scottish Highlands. Already a brigade major at the age of eighteen, he was a lieutenant-colonel by the age of twenty-three.
The outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756 offered Wolfe fresh opportunities for advancement. His part in the aborted raid on Rochefort in 1757 led William Pitt to appoint him second-in-command of an expedition to capture the Fortress of Louisbourg. Following the success of the Siege of Louisbourg he was made commander of a force which sailed up the Saint Lawrence River to capture Quebec City. After a lengthy siege Wolfe defeated a French force under Louis-Joseph de Montcalm allowing British forces to capture the city. Wolfe was killed at the height of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham due to injuries from three musket balls.
Wolfe's part in the taking of Quebec in 1759 earned him posthumous fame and he became an icon of Britain's victory in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion. He was depicted in the painting The Death of General Wolfe, which became famous around the world. Wolfe was posthumously dubbed "The Hero of Quebec", "The Conqueror of Quebec", and also "The Conqueror of Canada", since the capture of Quebec led directly to the capture of Montreal, ending French control of the country."
For more on the decisive Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the Death of Wolfe, see here (
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The statue of MG Wolfe is made of stone, and sits on a stone base over a pedestal of local Tyndall limestone. It was made by the Piccarilli Brothers, who also made the companion statue of Lord Dufferin on the other side of the east portico. Source: (
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Gen. Wolfe is wearing his 1750s British Army "redcoat" uniform. On his head he wears a Tricorne hat with a silk ribbon cockade on it to indicate his senior officer rank.
Gen. Wolfe is depicted seated, but it seems as though he will not be seated for long: His eyes are wide open as he faces forward with a determined and serious look on his face. With his right hand he grasps the handle of his sword, ready to unsheath it. His left hand holds the scabbard as the sword is freed. It is not hard to imagine that in the next second Wolfe will be on his feet, leading his troops at they engage the enemy French army.
A bronze plaque below the statue reads as follows:
"WOLFE
Major General James Wolfe (1727-1759) led the British Forces and died in taking Quebec at the first Battle of the Plains of Abraham on September 13, 1759. Effective rule over Canada from France was thus ended and the cession of Canada to Great Britain was completed in 1763."
The statue appears to be twice life size.