Francis Parkman

“ The object of the expedition was the reduction of Quebec, the citadel of Canada. Here the whole available force of the colony was mustered to oppose the invaders, and Quebec, with the adjacent shores of Beauport, was occupied by regulars, militia, and Indians, to the number in all of more than 16,000, of whom only a small part were disciplined troops. Montcalm shared the command with Vaudreuil, who, with all his jealousy, was always ready in time of danger to throw responsibility on his rival. Having no confidence in the Canadian militia, Montcalm persisted in an attitude of defence. ”

“ Having thus raised the needful money, he returned to Canada, accompanied by the Chevalier de Tonti and a friar named Louis Hennepin.
The new enterprise aroused jealousy and opposition among the Canadian merchants; but men at length were hired and stores collected, and in November, 1678, La Salle and his company set out from Fort Frontenac. He had laid aside his scheme of finding a way to China, and, convinced that the Mississippi flowed to the Gulf of Mexico, had substituted a vast plan which should plant France on its shores, and open to her the whole interior of the continent. ”

“ On the other hand, France, engrossed by European wars, left her American colonies almost without succor, and Montcalm, with scanty resources, disordered finances, and a discouraged people, was left to the well-nigh hopeless task of defending Canada. Pitt resolved on a strong effort to master it, and in 1759 Gen. Wolfe ascended the St. Lawrence with between 8,000 and 9,000 troops and a considerable naval force under Admiral Saunders. ”

“ Through the influence of the governor and the support of a rich relative, La Salle found means to appease his creditors, and even to gain fresh advances. Then, accompanied by Tonti, thirty Frenchmen, and a band of faithful Indians, he moved up the lakes with a flotilla of canoes, crossed by the Chicago portage to the waters of the Illinois, descended that stream to its mouth, and on 6 Feb., 1682, embarked on the Mississippi. ”

“ His schemes, moreover, were too vast for his resources, and even his rare energy and fortitude could not grapple with the ceaseless enmities and jealousies arrayed against him. He stands, nevertheless, the foremost pioneer of the great west. ”

“ As a commander he stands high, though not in the foremost rank. His last years were embittered by his misunderstanding with Vaudreuil, who, during the life of his rival and still more after his death, lost no opportunity of traducing him. With him perished the last hope of the colony of New France. The engraving represents the monument erected to Montcalm and Wolfe in 1827. Montcalm's journal of his Canadian campaign was discovered among other valuable papers in the Château de Troisiel, France, in 1888, by Abbé Henry R. Casgrain, of Canada. ”

“ The next was to plant a fortified settlement on the Gulf of Mexico that should secure for France the vast regions between it and Canada. A bitter and vindictive opposition awaited him, not only from the jealous Canadian fur-traders, but from the new governor, La Barre, who had lately supplanted Frontenac. La Salle returned to France, and laid his plans before the court. ”

“ In 1789 he was elected to the states general by the nobility of Rouergue, and, when the annuities to noblemen were suppressed in 1790, his was continued, the exception being made out of respect for the memory of his father. He emigrated to Italy a few months later, and died in Turin from the effects of a fall from his horse. ”

“ The English troops displayed a desperate courage, but could not force the breastwork and the abatis, which, in themselves almost impregnable to a direct attack, were defended with the utmost gallantry. ”

“ Thus the opposing forces were about equal in number. Montcalm led the charge in person. The French came on shouting and firing. The British waited in silence till they were within forty yards, then gave them a general volley and charged with bayonet and broadsword. The French broke in disorder. Wolfe, leading the pursuit, was mortally wounded, and died on the field. Montcalm, who was on horseback, tried in vain to rally his troops, and was borne back with the tide of fugitives toward the St. ”

“ It was plain that he, and he alone, was the man for the hour. He was summoned before the king and charged once more with the government of New France. In spite of his sixty-nine years, he did not hesitate, accepted the burden and the peril, sailed for the St. ”