A History of the British Army, Vol. 2: First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' WarFortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir
History
A History of the British Army, Vol. 2: First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' War
Fortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army -- History
Gage for his advance to La Galette; and Gage, who was not a very
enterprising man, to Amherst's great disappointment thought
himself not strong enough to move in consequence. On Amherst's own
failure to reach Montreal comment has already been passed; but it
should be remembered that the whole burden of the preparations for
Wolfe's expedition was laid upon him, and that Wolfe gratefully
acknowledged the thoroughness of the work. Still the fact remains
that the diversions from south and west were an almost total
failure, and that Wolfe was consequently obliged to perform his
difficult task unaided.
Fortune was against the British in that the weather delayed the
assembling of Wolfe's army at Louisburg; for those few lost weeks
might easily have made the entire difference to the campaign.
Wolfe, with an inadequate force, was driven to his wits' end to
solve the problem assigned to him; and it is quite incontestable
that the credit for the fall of Quebec belongs rather to the
Navy than to the Army. The names of Saunders and of Holmes are
little remembered; and the fame of James Cook the master, whose
skill and diligence did much to reveal the unknown channel of the
St. Lawrence, is swallowed up in that of Captain James Cook the
navigator. Still the fact remains unaltered. It was the audacity of
Holmes and his squadron in running the gauntlet of the batteries of
Quebec which first threatened the supplies and communications of
the city, and forced Montcalm to weaken his main army by detaching
Bougainville. It was the terrible restless energy of the same
squadron, ever moving up and down the river, which wore out the
limbs of the French soldiers and the nerves of their officers; and
to the Navy fully as much as to the Army is due the praise for the
movement that finally set Wolfe and his battalions on the heights
of Abraham. But in truth this last most delicate and critical
operation was so admirably thought out and executed by the officers
of both services that it must abide for ever a masterpiece in its
kind. The British Navy and Army working, as at Quebec, in concord
and harmony under loyal and able chiefs, are indeed not easily
baffled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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