Historical Note
On May 28, 1754, twenty-two-year-old Major George Washington and his men attacked a party of French soldiers from Fort Duquesne, at what is now called Jumonville Glen in Pennsylvania. One of the officers, Ensign Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de Jumonville, was killed. Washington took twenty-one prisoners back to his nearby encampment at The Great Meadow, a large open field. But one Canadian militiaman had escaped. He reported back to Captain Contrecoeur, the fort’s commander. Knowing there would be a reprisal, Washington had his men build a small stockade about 16 metres in diameter, one that he called Fort Necessity.
On a rainy July 3, 1754, after a four-hour battle, Washington surrendered the fort to Captain Loius Coulon de Villiers, half-brother of the dead Jumonville. The French and Indian War for the control of North America had begun. Sometimes referred to as The War for Empire, The Seven Years War would not only be fought on this continent, but in Europe, the Caribbean and India. At first the war consisted of skirmishes, but then escalated. For the next few years the outcome would swing back and forth as each side won its victories and forts changed hands.
George II (until October of 1760) and then George III were the kings of England during this period, but the real force behind the war was the prime minister, William Pitt. It was he who ordered that thousands of troops be sent to North America to bring the war to a rapid close by striking at the very heart of New France.
Many of the characters who walk the pages of this story did experience the siege of Quebec. I have attempted to present a balanced picture of what happened during those months. Citizens would not have had instant access to information. Nor would it necessarily be accurate. Geneviève’s diary is sometimes coloured by rumours, gossip and time delays, all of which are intentional.
The French and the British had different First Nations allies, although during the siege that summer, it was only the French who were supported by theirs. According to a letter written by Governor Vaudreuil, the allies fighting with the French army and the militia were mainly “Abenakis and different nations of the Pays d’en Haut” or upper country. They were skilled warriors who, that summer at Quebec, saw an entirely different sort of warfare, one that was modern. Warriors would have been part of endless raiding parties as they relentlessly harassed the British.
Any man or young man in the city of Quebec would have had to belong to the militia. It was to allow both Chegual and Étienne freedom to come and go that I had Étienne adopted by the Abenaki people. The First Nations allies chose their fights, and sometimes did not fight at all, which showed their good judgment rather than cowardice.
Other than Andrew Doig, James Stewart and young Marc and Louis, all the British and French officers named in the diary were there. It may seem odd that Geneviève is keeping a daily journal under such extreme circumstances, but officers such as Lieutenant John Knox were doing exactly that. So were the captains of the Royal Navy ships, since daily and sometimes hourly log entries were made, which allowed me to pinpoint weather conditions. The hail with which Geneviève and her household chill cider? There was a heavy fall of hail on that very day.
François Bigot, the Intendant of New France, and Pierre de Rigaud de Cavagnial de Vaudreuil, Marquis de Vaudreuil, the Governor, shared the responsibility for running the colony. Bigot was as corrupt as he has been portrayed — not unusual for a colonial officer of the time, at least by modern standards. Vaudreuil, a Canadian, had never commanded a large army and was not pleased to have been replaced by the French general, Montcalm. At times there was disagreement between them, a situation which did not contribute to the French cause. Vaudreuil was convinced that Canada would be able to survive the powerful British offensive that year. Montcalm was less optimistic.
The officer that Geneviève sees on Île d’Orleans is Major General James Wolfe, who had been given the task — his first independent command — of directing a naval attack on Quebec. He was only thirty-two years old, but had been in the military since the age of fourteen. Ironically, Wolfe had been a commander at the battle of Culloden.
He was in poor health that summer, and in fact seemed convinced that he was going to die. Like Montcalm, Wolfe’s relationship with his generals — Monckton, his second in command, Murray and Townshend — was not always a co-operative one.
Montcalm’s forces consisted of the militia, the regulars from France, and Les Compagnies Franches de la Marine (The Independant Companies of the Navy) — a complement of about 20,000 men. Wolfe had a smaller army, about 9000 men, made up of three brigades of soldiers, as well as the Louisbourg Grenadiers, Light Infantry, Rangers and the Royal Artillery. He could not have taken Quebec had it not been for the Royal Navy and Vice Admiral Charles Saunders and his fleet of 49 warships and 140 other naval vessels, with about 20,000 officers, sailors and Marines on board. Not only did the navy bring Wolfe’s army safely to the city, it supported it in the summer-long siege. It is interesting to note that Captain James Cook, who would later go on to explore the Pacific and “discover” the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawaii), was the master or pilot.
An eighteenth-century war, with all its horror and violence, was different in some ways from modern warfare. Geneviève comments upon the flags of truce and the courtliness of the officers. This is no exaggeration. In a letter that Wolfe wrote to General Amherst he remarked regarding the French that “… we must teach these Scoundrels to make war in a more gentleman like manner.” Perhaps Wolfe did not achieve his goal, but his success at Quebec is undeniable.
Around four o’clock in the morning on September 13, the British ships anchored off Quebec began to bombard the city to create a diversion. At the same time, longboats filled with British soldiers were carried by the tide to L’Anse au Foulon, west of the town. Wolfe’s men scaled the cliff and by six o’clock in the morning were in position on what we now call the Plains of Abraham. Sailors had also dragged up two 6-pounders, cannons that fired balls weighing 6 pounds.
At about ten o’clock, the French — militiamen among the soldiers — advanced at a run and their formation began to fall apart. They fired a volley at the British. Wolfe had given orders that no one was to fire until the enemy was about 36 metres away. It was then that the 6-pounders, loaded with grapeshot (a number of small balls), were fired, and the French became disordered. Only when they were closer still did Wolfe give the order to fire what Knox describes as a “well-timed, regular and heavy discharge of our small arms.”
The small arms he mentions were muskets loaded with two balls, and the effect was devastating. Black powder creates a great deal of white smoke; it took six or seven minutes for it to clear, but when it did, the British saw that the French were retreating. Fraser’s Highlanders gave chase with their broadswords, and the soldiers attacked with bayonets. Hundreds of Canadians — men like Étienne — held them off as the French army fled.
The main battle was over in less than fifteen minutes. Montcalm’s army had not stood much of a chance against that of the British. According to Lieutenant John Knox, (though other sources give other figures) 58 British were killed that day and 658 wounded. More Fraser’s Highlanders — 168 — were wounded than in any other regiment. Although Vaudreuil says that 44 officers and 600 men were wounded, British accounts claim as many as 1500.
Over the next months many more would die of their wounds. As the story describes, both Wolfe and Montcalm died of their wounds. James Wolfe’s body was embalmed and returned to England. He was buried in the family vault at St. Alfege Church in Greenwich. The shell hole in which Montcalm was buried was in time reopened. For many years his skull was on display in the convent. In 2002, however, his remains were moved to the Hôtel-Dieu cemetery where the French soldiers who died during the siege are buried.
Mme Claire’s friendship and eventual marriage to Lieutenant Stewart may seem odd, but the fact is that within a few days of Quebec’s surrender, Canadian women and British soldiers were marrying. General Murray issued an order forbidding any mor
e of his soldiers from doing this. It would have been necessary for Mme Claire and the lieutenant to wait until the Highland Regiment had been disbanded and he was no longer in the military.
People who had been injured were fortunate to survive wounds in the eighteenth century, since physicians still believed that four internal liquids, called humours — black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm — controlled the health and sanity of an individual. When the humours were in balance, all was well. But illness was seen as an imbalance in the humours. There was no concept of infection. The “laudable pus” that Geneviève wished she had seen oozing from Chegual’s wound would have been a sign to her that he was getting better. Similarly, the procedure of bleeding a patient, as M. Laparre did with Mme Joule, was another attempt to balance the humours. Regarding the man Geneviève sees buried up to his neck in sand, Lieutenant Knox wrote that it was a cure for scurvy.
The Ursuline monastery was occupied by General Murray and his men for about eight months. The relationship between Murray and the nuns was a good one. Mère Esther Wheelwright, who had been the assistant superior, was elected superior on December 15, 1760.
Fighting of a different sort continued after the battle. The Rangers, who were not militia, but rather units raised under the British Crown, were ordered by General Amherst to attack the St. Francis mission as an act of revenge once Quebec surrendered. Robert Rogers, the Rangers’ leader, claimed that more than two hundred Abenaki were killed; Abenaki accounts say far less. What is known is that several children and a woman who was probably the chief’s sister were taken prisoner. This unfortunate woman was killed and eaten by the Rangers when their supplies ran out. Thus Chegual’s rage and Geneviève’s horror.
It has not been my intention to portray the Rangers or any of King George’s forces in a negative light. As Lieutenant Doig’s journal shows here, atrocities were committed by both sides. Geneviève’s reactions to all and any information regarding such events would have been as I have portrayed them: coloured by fear and prejudice.
The Abenaki people took shelter near Quebec after the attack and in time came to live in parts of Quebec, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. Today’s United States government still does not recognize the Abenaki as a “tribe,” and so the fight for tribal recognition continues.
Quebec has been chosen as a world heritage site by the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Many of the places mentioned in Geneviève’s diary may be seen and visited today. Notre-Dame-des-Victoires and the Cathedral have been rebuilt. The Ursuline monastery houses a museum and a collection of artifacts.
War is not simply a list of places and dates. It is more than battles and treaties. War is about people and what it does to them. The siege of Quebec was the longest campaign of the French and Indian War; it changed life forever for the various groups of people who fought with and against each other. But like Geneviève, the people of New France have remained determined and resilient. Their stories and culture remain Canadian treasures today.
French and Indian War Chronology
July 3, 1754 Major George Washington is defeated by the French at Fort Necessity in Pennsylvania.
June 16, 1755 British victory at Fort Beauséjour in Acadia.
July 9, 1755 French defeat of General Braddock’s forces near Fort Duquesne. Braddock dies.
September 8, 1755 The British colonial general William Johnson wins the Battle of Lake George.
October 1755 Expulsion of the Acadians begins.
March 11, 1756 Montcalm appointed commander-in-chief of the French forces in North America.
May 18, 1756 Great Britain declares war on France. France declares war on Britain the next day.
August 14–15, 1756 Montcalm takes Fort Oswego.
August 9, 1757 Montcalm takes Fort William Henry.
July 8, 1758 The British fail to take Fort Carillon.
July 27, 1758 General Amherst defeats the French and takes Fortress Louisbourg.
August 27, 1758 The British take Fort Frontenac.
November 25, 1758 The British occupy the site of Fort Duquesne.
June 1759 Siege of Quebec begins.
July 25, 1759 Fort Niagara taken by the British.
July 26, 1759 Fort Carillon taken by the British, who rename it Fort Ticonderoga.
September 18, 1759 Quebec surrenders to the British.
September 8, 1760 Montreal surrenders to the British.
November 29, 1760 Fort Detroit surrenders to the British.
February 10, 1763 The Treaty of Paris is signed. Canada becomes a British colony.
Images and Documents
Image 1: The Catholic nuns in Quebec often took First Nations girls under their wing. Mère Esther, superior of the Ursuline monastery in Quebec, had been captured and raised by the Abenaki. Even when she had a chance to return to her family, she declined, wishing to stay in Quebec to continue her ministry.
Image 2: The Ursuline Convent, founded in Quebec in 1639, was the first of its Order in North America. The superior of the new foundation was Mère Marie Guyart de l’Incarnation.
Image 3: General Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm, French commander of the forces aligned against the British at Quebec.
Image 4: General James Wolfe, who along with General Amherst had taken Fortress Louisbourg for the British, next set his sights on Quebec.
Image 5: General James Murray, leader of the British garrison at Quebec following the death of Wolfe.
Image 6: French ships were floated toward the British fleet and set afire in an attempt to burn the British vessels. The blazing ships were towed ashore and the British fleet remained unharmed.
Image 7: Soldiers from Fraser’s Highlanders, one of three highland regiments in the French and Indian War, and the only Scottish regiment to fight with the British troops on the Plains of Abraham.
Image 8: September 13, 1759: British soldiers make the perilous climb from the river to face the French troops on the Plains of Abraham.
Image 9: General Wolfe took three gunshots and died during the battle.
Image 10: General Montcalm directing his troops against a British attack.
Image 11: In this rather romanticized painting, General Montcalm is shown dying a day after the battle, as a result of the serious wounds he had suffered.
Image 12: Much of the upper town and lower town were badly damaged from the heavy shelling they received during the siege of Quebec.
Image 13: The ruins of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires and neighbouring buildings.
Image 14: An Abenaki corn husk doll. Note the unusual facial features — most dolls did not have them.
Image 15: This traditional Abenaki basket with hide straps would have been used as a backpack.
Image 16: A traditional birchbark bowl might be used for carrying berries or nuts.
Image 17: During the first half of the eighteenth century, the British tried to challenge the French for control of areas bordering New France (the striped areas on the map above). The French had a strong trading presence in these areas, and even established settlements as far west as Detroit and present-day Illinois. First Nations people, of course, lived across the whole of North America.
Image 18: Some key battle locations of the French and Indian War.
Glossary: French
aigre-doux: bittersweet
après midi: afternooon
armoire: cupboard or wardrobe
avant l’aurore: before dawn
bâton: stick or staff
cajeux: rafts made of logs piled up and crossing at right angles
chemise: long “dress” made of light material and worn under other garments
cochon: pig
compote: stewed fruit
détachement: a military unit sent on special assignment
drôle: dryly amusing
eau de vie: brandy from France
Les Écossais: the Scottish
enceinte: pregnant
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fichu: scarf
forgeron: blacksmith
les gens sans culottes: the Canadian nickname given to the Scots, meaning “men without pants”
Guignolée: the custom of going to visit relatives to wish them a happy New Year
hôpital: hospital
lapin: rabbit
le bon Dieu: merciful God
Marines: colonial regulars
mouchoir: handkerchief
pendant la nuit: night
pensionnaires: boarding students
pieds du roi: unit of measurement
pigeons de passage: wild migratory pigeons
plus tard: later
porte-crayon: a holder for graphite (an early version of the pencil)
potager: kitchen garden or vegetable garden
ragoût: stew
respectable: respectable
salut: informal greeting
souvenir: keepsake or memento
stupide: stupid/idiotic
tard: later
tard le soir: late at night
tarte: pie
tôt: early in the morning
tourtière: meat pie
Glossary: Abenaki
Alnanbal: Abenaki
anhahkoganal: woven mat
Chegual or Chegwal: frog
Jigenaz: hawthorn
Kwai: Hello or Greetings
mategwas or matgwas: rabbit
The Death of My Country Page 11