The
Battle of the Plains of Abraham, fought
September 13, 1759, was a decisive battle
of the North American theatre of the Seven
Years' War (a theatre known in the United
States as the French and Indian War).
It was fought on a plateau just outside
the city walls of Quebec City in New France,
on the land of Abraham Martin dit L'Ecossais.
Combat lasted only 30 minutes, ending
a three-month siege of Quebec City. The
battle was actually the culmination of
a siege that began on June 26 when the
British landed on Île d'Orléans
in the St. Lawrence River. The British
fleet under Admiral Charles Saunders had
sailed from Louisbourg on Cape Breton
Island, which they had captured in 1758.
The fleet consisted of 49 ships with 1,944
guns and 13,500 sailors, as well as 140
smaller craft to land General James Wolfe's
force of 8,640 British troops (7,030 British
regulars, 1,280 Americans, and 330 artillery).
An
attempt to land 4,000 men on the north
side of the river at the Montmorency Falls
east of Beauport on July 31 failed: French
General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon,
Marquis of Montcalm inflicted 440 casualties
while his forces suffered only 60. Throughout
July and August Saunders' fleet sailed
up and down the St. Lawrence, surveying
the river for possible landing spots.
The French, whose naval forces consisted
of only 1,460 men, sent fire ships against
the British, but could otherwise offer
little resistance. James Cook, later a
captain and explorer of the Pacific, was
one of the cartographers surveying the
river. The fleet also burned farms, forts,
and supply depots, although the British
did not take control of the entire river
and left the French supply routes open.
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