General Wolfe
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member V70PDB
N 51° 28.669 W 000° 00.051
30U E 708259 N 5707228
General James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British military officer, remembered mainly for his defeat of the French in Canada and establishing British rule there.
Waymark Code: WM272X
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/15/2007
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member skrabut
Views: 113

In 1756, with the outbreak of open hostilities with France, Wolfe was promoted to colonel and participated in the failed British amphibious assault on Rochefort, a seaport on the French Atlantic coast, a year later. Nonetheless, Wolfe was one of the few military leaders who had distinguished himself in the raid. As a result, Wolfe was brought to the notice of the prime minister, William Pitt, the Elder. Pitt had determined that the best gains in the war were to be made in North America. On 23 January, 1758, James Wolfe was appointed as a brigadier general, and sent with Major General Jeffrey Amherst to lay siege to Fortress of Louisbourg in New France (located in present-day Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia). The French capitulated in June of that year.


The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin WestWolfe comported himself admirably at Louisbourg, and as a result, Pitt chose him to lead the British assault on Quebec City the following year, with the rank of major general. The British army laid siege to the city for three months. During that time, Wolfe issued a written document, known as Wolfe's Manifesto, to the French-Canadian (Québécois) civilians, as a part of his strategy of psychological intimidation. In March 1759, prior to arriving at Quebec, Wolfe had written to Amherst: "If, by accident in the river, by the enemy’s resistance, by sickness or slaughter in the army, or, from any other cause, we find that Quebec is not likely to fall into our hands (persevering however to the last moment), I propose to set the town on fire with shells, to destroy the harvest, houses and cattle, both above and below, to send off as many Canadians as possible to Europe and to leave famine and desolation behind me; but we must teach these scoundrels to make war in a more gentleman like manner."

After an extensive yet unsuccessful shelling of the city, Wolfe then led 200 ships with 9000 soldiers and 18 000 sailors on a very bold and risky amphibious landing at the base of the cliffs west of Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. His army, with two small cannons, scaled the cliffs early on the morning of September 13, 1759, surprising the French under the command of the Marquis de Montcalm, who thought the cliffs would be unclimbable. The French, faced with the possibility that the British would haul more cannons up the cliffs and knock down the city's remaining walls, fought the British on the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The French were defeated, but Wolfe was shot in the chest and died just as the battle was won. He reportedly heard cries of "They run," and thus died content that the victory had been achieved. The Battle of the Plains of Abraham is notable for causing the deaths of the top military commander on each side: Montcalm died the next day from his wounds. Wolfe's victory at Quebec enabled an assault on the French at Montreal the following year. With the fall of that city, French rule in North America, outside of Louisiana and the tiny islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, came to an end.

Wolfe's body was returned to England and interred in the family vault in St Alfege Church, Greenwich alongside his father (died in March 1759).


From Wikipedia…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wolfe

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