The Decisive Battles of World History

communication and trade would be severed, and the British could

lay claim to North America.

The Opponents
x James Wolfe was from a military family, and from a young age,
he dreamed of achieving distinction in the army. By virtue of both
his abilities and his aggressive
self-promotion, Wolfe ascended
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the British army with unusual
rapidity—by the time he gained
command of the attack on Quebec
as a major general, he was only 32.

x Wolfe’s opponent at Quebec

was the Marquis de Montcalm, a

French nobleman also descended

from a long line of military

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an experienced soldier who

was demonstrably brave on

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x Although possessing a charm and

sophistication that Wolfe lacked,

Montcalm had some of the era’s

prejudice against those he regarded

as social inferiors. Thus, when assigned to command in North

America, he openly expressed his disdain for both the Indians, who

were allies of the French, and the local French Canadians.

x The Canadian-born governor-general of New France had an

especially thorny relationship with Montcalm and disagreed

radically with him over how the war should be fought. The

governor-general advocated a kind of guerilla warfare using Indians

and local soldiers that Montcalm found morally troubling.

James Wolfe continues to

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portrayed in biographies as

being everything from one of

the great military geniuses

in history to a borderline

incompetent.

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