All of Britain's campaigns against New France…

1759 CE

All of Britain's campaigns against New France succeed in 1759, part of what becomes known as an Annus Mirabilis.

Fort Niagara and Fort Carillon on July 8, 1758, had fallen to sizable British forces, cutting off French frontier forts further west.

Starting in June 1759, the British under James Wolfe and James Murray set up camp on the Ile d'Orleans across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec, enabling them to commence the three-month siege that ensues.

The French under the Marquis de Montcalm anticipate a British assault to the east of Quebec so he orders his soldiers to fortify the region of Beauport.

On July 31 the British attack with four thousand soldiers but the French positioned high up on the cliffs overlooking the Montmorency Falls force the British forces to withdraw to the Ile D'Orleans.

While Wolfe and Murray plan a second offensive, British rangers raid French settlements along the St. Lawrence, destroying food supplies, ammunition and other goods in an attempt to vanquish the French through starvation.

On September 13, 1759, General James Wolfe leads five thousand troops up a goat path to the Plains of Abraham, one mile west of Quebec City.

He had positioned his army between Montcalm's forces an hour's march to the east a

Instead of waiting for a coordinated attack with Bougainville, Montcalm attacks immediately.

When his thirty-five hundred troops advance, their lines become scattered in a disorderly formation.

Many French soldiers fire before they are within range of striking the British.

Wolfe organizes his troops in two lines stretching one mile across the Plains of Abraham.

They are ordered to load their Brown Bess rifles with two bullets to obtain maximum power and hold their fire until the French soldiers come within forty paces of the British ranks.

When Montcalm's army is within range of the British, their volley wis powerful and nearly all bullets hit their targets, devastating the French ranks.

The French flee the Plains of Abraham in a state of utter confusion while they are pursued by members of the Scottish Fraser regiment and other British forces.

Despite being cut down by musket fire from the Canadiens and their indigenous allies, the British vastly outnumber these opponents and win the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

General Wolfe is mortally wounded in the chest early in the battle so the command falls to James Murray, who will become the lieutenant governor of Quebec after the war.

The Marquis de Montcalm is also severely wounded later in the battle and dies the following day.