A Dialogue in Hades: A Parallel of Military Errors, of Which the French and English Armies Were Guilty, During the Campaign of 1759, in CanadaJohnstone, James Johnstone, chevalier de
History
A Dialogue in Hades: A Parallel of Military Errors, of Which the French and English Armies Were Guilty, During the Campaign of 1759, in Canada
Johnstone, James Johnstone, chevalier de
Québec Campaign, Québec, 1759; United States -- History -- French and Indian War, 1754-1763
[M] The place where Montcalm died appears yet shrouded in doubt. It
is stated, in Knox's Journal, that, on being wounded, Montcalm was
conveyed to the General Hospital, towards which the French squadrons
in retreat had to pass to regain, over the bridge of boats, their camp
at Beauport. The General Hospital was also the head-quarters of the
wounded--both English and French. It has been supposed that Arnoux's
house, where Montcalm was conveyed, stood in St. Louis street. No where
does it appear that Montcalm was conveyed to his own residence on the
ramparts (on which now stands the residence of R. H. Wurtele, Esquire).
As the city surrendered five days after the great battle, it was likely
to be bombarded--and, moreover, one-third of the houses in it had been
burnt and destroyed--we do not see why the wounded General should have
been conveyed from the battle-field to the Château St. Louis--certainly
an exposed situation in the event of a new bombardment; and, moreover,
the city itself, after and during the battle, was considered so
insecure that the French army, instead of retreating to it for shelter,
hurried past the General Hospital, over the bridge, to their camp at
Beauport. There is a passage in Lieutenant-Colonel Beatson's Notes
on the Plains of Abraham, which we give:--"The valiant Frenchman
(Montcalm), regardless of pain, relaxed not his efforts to rally his
broken battalions in their hurried retreat towards the city until he
was shot through the loins, when within a few hundred yards of St.
Louis Gate.[N] And so invincible was his fortitude that not even the
severity of this mortal stroke could abate his gallant spirit or alter
his intrepid bearing. Supported by two grenadiers--one at each side of
his horse--he re-entered the city; and in reply to some women who, on
seeing blood flow from his wounds as he rode down St. Louis street, on
his way to the Château, exclaimed: _Oh, mon Dieu! mon Dieu! le Marquis
est tuê!!!_ he courteously assured them that he was not seriously hurt,
and begged of them not to distress themselves on his account.--_Ce
n'est rien! ce n'est rien! Ne vous affligez pas pour moi, mes bonnes
amies._"[O]
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