fessed. “My only aim was to serve Germany.”
Four days later, mindful of his personal dic-
tum that a marshal must never surrender,
Model shot himself in the woods outside
Duisberg on April 21, 1945. The “Führer’s fire-
man” certainly ranks as among the most ener-
getic and capable German field commanders
of World War II. According to General Man-
teuffel, “Model stood up to Hitler in a way
hardly anyone else dared.”
Bibliography
Barnett, Correlli, ed. Hitler’s Generals. New York:
Grove Weidenfield, 1989; Breuer, William B. Death of
a Nazi Army: Falaise Pocket.Chelsea, MI: Scarbor-
ough House, 1990; Chant, Christopher, ed. Hitler’s
Generals and Their Battles.London: Salamander
Books, 1977; Fraschka, Gunter. Knights of the
Reich.Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1994; Harclerode, Peter.
Arnhem: A Tragedy of Errors.London: Arms and
Armour, 1994; Humble, Richard. Hitler’s Generals.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974; Kershaw, Robert
J.It Never Snows in September: The German View
of Operation Market-Garden.New York: Sarpedon,
1996; Kessler, Leo. The Battle of the Ruhr: April- Chelsea, MI: Scarborough House, 1990;
Kurowski, Franz. Hitler’s Last Bastion: The Final
Battles for the Reich, 1944–1945.Atglen, PA: Schif-
fer Military History, 1998; Lucas, James S. Hitler’s
Commanders: German Bravery in the Field,
1939–1945.London: Cassell, 2000; Lucas, James S.
Hitler’s Enforcers.London: Arms and Armour, 1996;
Mellenthin, Friedrich W. German Generals of World
War II as I Saw Them.Norman: University of Okla-
homa Press, 1977; Mitcham, Samuel W. Hitler’s Field
Marshals and Their Battles.Chelsea, MI: Scarbor-
ough House, 1990; Whiting, Charles. The Last As-
sault: The Battle of the Bulge Reassessed.London:
Leo Cooper, 1994.
MONTCALM, LOUIS-JOSEPHDEMONTCALM-GOZON, MARQUISOF
Montcalm, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis of
(February 28, 1712–September 14, 1759)
French General
M
ontcalm was the legendary French
commander of the French and Indian
War. Unable to surmount superior
manpower and resources of the English, he
managed to thwart the impending conquest of
Canada for three years. In doing so he estab-
lished a legendary reputation, despite defeat
and death in his final engagement.
Louis-Joseph Montcalm was born near
Candiac, near Nimes, France, on February 28,
1712, into an old aristocratic family. He joined
the army in 1724 at age 12 as an ensign in the
Hainaut Regiment. Nine years later he first ex-
perienced combat against the Austrians dur-
ing the War of the Polish Succession while
serving under Marshal de Saxe. Two years
later Montcalm inherited his father’s title, and
commencing in 1740 he campaigned promi-
nently in the War of the Austrian Succession.
Montcalm fought at the siege of Prague in
1742 before rising to colonel of the Auxerrois
Regiment the following year. On June 16,
1746, he and his unit were closely engaged
against the Austrians at Piacenza, where he
sustained five saber wounds before being cap-
tured. Montcalm was exchanged shortly after,
promoted to brigadier general, and was
wounded again before the close of hostilities
in 1748. A devoted family man, he thereafter
spent nearly a decade in semiretirement at his
home in southern France. However, in the
spring of 1756, King Louis XIV tendered him
an appointment as major general and com-
mander in chief of French regular forces in
Canada to replace the captured Baron Jean-
Armand de Dieskau. Europe at that time
was in the beginning phases of the in-
ternecine Seven Years’ War against Prussia,