Montcalm

Montcalm. Louis Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm Gezan de Saint Vêran, was born in the château of Candiac, near Nîmes, 29th February 1712. At fifteen he entered the army. In 1746 he was severely wounded and made prisoner at the battle of Piacenza. In 1756 he assumed command of the French troops in Canada, and soon after his arrival captured the British post of Oswego. The succeeding summer he crossed Lake George with about 8000 French and Indians, and captured Fort William Henry. After the French had taken possession of the fort, the defenceless prisoners, comprising men, women, and children, were massacred by the Indians. Montcalm has been blamed even by his apologists for not foreseeing the danger, and taking effectual measures to avert it. In 1758 General Abercromby advanced on Ticonderoga with 15,000 regulars and provincial troops. The place was defended by Montcalm with a much smaller force of regular troops. The British troops displayed heroic daring and courage, but after repeated attempts to force the defences, which were in themselves almost impregnable, and were defended with great gallantry, they withdrew with a loss of about two thousand men. This French success was, however, much more than counterbalanced by the loss of Louisburg and Fort Duquesne about the same time. Montcalm then removed to Quebec, and prepared to defend it against a British attack. Of the 16,000 troops under his command the majority were militia and Indians. In 1759 General Wolfe ascended the St Lawrence with about 8000 troops, and a naval force under Admiral Saunders. After repeated attempts to scale the heights of Montmorency, and a severe repulse about the end of July, he surprised a French outpost before dawn on 13th September, scaled the heights with about 5000 men, gained the plateau of Quebec, and formed in line of battle on the Plains of Abraham. In the battle that ensued the French ultimately broke in disorder and retreated on the city. Montcalm tried in vain to rally his force, and, having been borne back by the pressure of the retreat, he was mortally wounded at the St Louis gate, and died the following morning, 14th September 1759. See the article WOLFE; Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe (Boston, 1884); and Falgairolle's Montcalm devant la Posterité (Paris, 1886).