following his role in the
raid on Rochefort. Pitt had Wolfe promoted and posted to Canada, which he planned to capture. In 1756, with the outbreak of open hostilities with France, Wolfe was promoted to Colonel. He was stationed in
Canterbury, where his regiment had been posted to guard his home county of
Kent against a
French invasion threat. He was extremely dispirited by news of the
loss of Minorca in June 1756, lamenting what he saw as the lack of professionalism amongst the British forces. Despite a widespread belief that a French landing was imminent, Wolfe thought that it was unlikely his men would be called into action. In spite of this, he trained them diligently and issued fighting instructions to his troops. As the threat of invasion decreased, the regiment was marched to
Wiltshire. Despite the initial setbacks of the war in Europe and North America, the British were now expected to take the offensive and Wolfe anticipated playing a major role in future operations. However, his health was beginning to decline, which led to suspicions that he was suffering, as his younger brother (Edward Wolfe 1728–1744) had, from
consumption. Many of his letters to his parents began to assume a slightly
fatalistic note in which he talked of the likelihood of an early death.
Rochefort In 1757, Wolfe participated in the British
amphibious assault on
Rochefort, a seaport on the French Atlantic coast. Planned as a major naval descent, it was designed to capture the town, and relieve pressure on Britain's German allies who were under French attack in Northern Europe. Wolfe was selected to take part in the expedition partly because of his friendship with its commander,
Sir John Mordaunt. In addition to his regimental duties, Wolfe also served as
Quartermaster General for the whole expedition. The force was assembled on the
Isle of Wight and after weeks of delay finally sailed on 7 September. The attempt failed as, after capturing an island offshore, the British made no attempt to land on the mainland and press on to Rochefort and instead withdrew home. While their sudden appearance off the French coast had spread panic throughout France, it had little practical effect. Mordaunt was
court-martialed for his failure to attack Rochefort, although acquitted. Nonetheless, Wolfe was one of the few military leaders who had distinguished himself in the raid – having gone ashore to scout the terrain, and having constantly urged Mordaunt into action. He had at one point told the General that he could capture Rochefort if he was given just 500 men but Mordaunt refused him permission. While Wolfe was irritated by the failure, believing that they should have used the advantage of surprise and attacked and taken the town immediately, he was able to draw valuable lessons about amphibious warfare that influenced his later operations at Louisbourg and Quebec. As a result of his actions at Rochefort, 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 where France was vulnerable, and planned to launch an assault on
French Canada. Pitt now decided to promote Wolfe over the heads of a number of senior officers.
Louisbourg in 1758. On 23 January 1758, James Wolfe was appointed as a
brigadier general, and sent with Major General
Jeffrey Amherst in the fleet of
Admiral Boscawen to lay siege to the
Fortress of Louisbourg in
New France (located in present-day
Cape Breton Island,
Nova Scotia).
Louisbourg stood near the mouth of the
St Lawrence River, and its capture was considered essential to any attack on Canada from the east. An
expedition the previous year had failed to seize the town, because of a French naval build-up. For 1758 Pitt sent a much larger Royal Navy force to accompany Amherst's troops. Wolfe distinguished himself in preparations for the assault, the initial landing and in the aggressive advance of siege batteries. The French capitulated in June of that year in the
Siege of Louisbourg (1758). He then participated in the
Expulsion of the Acadians in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign (1758). The British had initially planned to advance along the St Lawrence and attack Quebec that year, but the onset of winter forced them to postpone to the following year. Similarly a plan to capture
New Orleans was rejected, and Wolfe returned home to England. Wolfe's part in the taking of the town brought him to the attention of the British public for the first time. The news of the victory at Louisbourg was tempered by the failure of a British force advancing towards
Montreal at the
Battle of Carillon and the death of
George Howe, a widely respected young general whom Wolfe described as "the best officer in the British Army". He died at almost the same time as the French general.
Québec (1759) Appointment As Wolfe had comported himself admirably at Louisbourg,
William Pitt the Elder chose him to lead the British assault on
Québec City the following year. Although Wolfe was given the local rank of
major general while serving in Canada, in Europe he was still only a full
colonel. Amherst had been appointed as
Commander-in-Chief in North America, and he would lead a separate and larger force that would attack Canada from the south. He insisted on the choice of his friend, the
Irish officer
Guy Carleton as Quartermaster General and threatened to resign the command should his friend not have been chosen. Once this was granted, he began making preparations for his departure. Pitt was determined to once again give operations in North America top priority, as he planned to weaken France's international position by sailing back to India.
Advance up the Saint Lawrence Despite the large build-up of British forces in North America, the strategy of dividing the army for separate attacks on Canada meant that once Wolfe reached Quebec the French commander
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm would have a local superiority of troops having raised large numbers of Canadian militia to defend their homeland. The French had initially expected the British to approach from the east, believing the St Lawrence River was impassable for such a large force and had prepared to defend Quebec from the south and west. An intercepted copy of British plans gave Montcalm several weeks to improve the fortifications protecting Quebec from an amphibious attack by Wolfe. Montcalm's goal was to prevent the British from capturing Quebec, thereby maintaining a French foothold in Canada. The French government believed a peace treaty was likely to be agreed the following year and so they directed the emphasis of their own efforts towards victory in Germany and a
planned invasion of Britain hoping thereby to secure the exchange of captured territories. For this plan to be successful Montcalm had only to hold out until the start of winter. Wolfe had a narrow window to capture Quebec during 1759 before the St Lawrence began to freeze, trapping his force. Wolfe's army was assembled at
Louisbourg. He expected to lead 12,000 men, but was greeted by only approximately 400
officers, 7,000 regular troops, and 300 gunners. Wolfe's troops were supported by a fleet of 49 ships and 140 smaller craft led by Admiral
Charles Saunders. Eager to begin the campaign, after several delays, he pushed ahead with only part of his force and left orders for further arrivals to be sent on up the St Lawrence after him.
Siege are located to the left. 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 civilians, as 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." This manifesto has widely been regarded as counter-productive as it drove many neutrally-inclined inhabitants to actively resist the British, swelling the size of the militia defending to Quebec to as many as 10,000. After an extensive yet inconclusive bombardment of the city, Wolfe initiated a failed attack north of Quebec at Beauport, where the French were securely entrenched. As the weeks wore on the chances of British success lessened, and Wolfe grew despondent. Amherst's large force advancing on Montreal had made very slow progress, ruling out the prospect of Wolfe receiving any help from him.
Battle and subsequent death '' by
Benjamin West Wolfe then led 4,400 men in small boats 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 53-metre cliff from the river below early in the morning of 13 September 1759. They surprised the French under the command of the
Marquis de Montcalm, who thought the cliff would be unclimbable, and had set his defences accordingly. Faced with the possibility that the British would haul more cannons up the cliffs and knock down the city's remaining walls, the French fought the British on the
Plains of Abraham. They were defeated after fifteen minutes of battle, but when Wolfe began to move forward, he was shot thrice, once in the arm, once in the shoulder, and finally in the chest. Historian
Francis Parkman describes the death of Wolfe: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham caused the deaths of the top military commander on each side: Montcalm died the next day from his wounds. Wolfe's victory at Quebec enabled the
Montreal Campaign against the French 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 Britain on
HMS Royal William and interred in the family vault in
St Alfege Church, Greenwich alongside his father (who had died in March 1759). The funeral service took place on 20 November 1759, the same day that Admiral Hawke won the last of the three great victories of the "
Wonderful Year" and the "
Year of Victories" –
Minden,
Quebec and
Quiberon Bay. ==Character==