fare. Acting in concert with a small but pro-
fessional corps of regular French infantry, ex-
perienced in European-style warfare, Vau-
dreuil hoped to fight the invaders to a draw
pending the arrival of massive reinforcements
from France.
The French and Indian War commenced
promisingly enough when French forces oper-
ating out of Fort Duquesne (present-day Pitts-
burgh) successfully ambushed a large British
force under Gen. Edward Braddock at Monon-
gahela in July 1755. The following September a
British offensive under Col. William Johnson
was marginally defeated at Lake George, al-
though the French commander, Baron Jean-
Armand Dieskau, was captured. This event
held unforeseen consequences at the time, for
Dieskau’s replacement, Gen. Louis-Joseph
Montcalm, worked poorly with the governor-
general. Montcalm arrived in Quebec the fol-
lowing summer and announced his presence
by capturing British posts at Oswego, New
York, in August. This made a large gap in
British defensive lines, and Vaudreuil ordered
Montcalm to take the war deep inside New
York. In August 1757, the general did exactly
that by capturing Fort William Henry and its
large garrison. However, he felt his resources
were insufficient to proceed any further and
declined to advance upon Fort Edward as or-
dered. Interpreting this caution as timidity,
Vaudreuil expressed disdain for his second in
command and repeatedly called upon Paris to
replace him. When that failed to occur, the two
leaders remained at loggerheads over their
common goal: the survival of New France.
Despite unexpected setbacks, English
Prime Minister William Pitt made victory in
North America his government’s stated goal.
Consequently, numerous well-trained British
forces flooded into North America and were
joined by equal numbers of colonial forces.
France, by comparison, then embroiled in war
with Prussia, declined to send Canada any re-
inforcements at all. This, in turn, led to serious
disagreements between the governor-general
and General Montcalm over the best method
of utilizing their scanty resources. Vaudreuil
desired a strategically offensive stance, “con-
testing the ground on our frontiers inch by
inch with the enemy.” Montcalm, however,
sought to fight defensively whenever possible,
especially behind fortifications for tactical ad-
vantage. On July 8, 1758, forces under his com-
mand won a stunning victory by repulsing a
large British army under Gen. James Aber-
cromby at Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga, New
York). Consequently, Montcalm was promoted
to lieutenant general and granted overall com-
mand of all military forces, regular and colo-
nial, over Vaudreuil’s objections. But his re-
fusal to follow up the recent victory only
further enraged the governor-general and
deepened the rift between them.
By 1759, the final act was in play in the con-
test for Canada. A series of British victories
on the flanks of New France had reduced that
province to a strip of land along the St.
Lawrence River between Montreal in the west
and Quebec to the east. In July 1759, a British
armada under Gen. James Wolfe anchored in
the St. Lawrence off Quebec and attempted to
land troops to invest that city. Montcalm’s
alert troops defeated four attempts before a
final effort on September 12, 1759, allowed
Wolfe to assemble his army on the nearby
Plains of Abraham. Montcalm and Vaudreuil
then bickered over what to do next, with the
usually aggressive governor-general advising
defensive measures until dispersed elements
of the French army were reunited. Montcalm,
however, disregarded this advice and unchar-
acteristically attacked Wolfe in the open, only
to be defeated and fatally wounded. Vaudreuil
did not improve French chances when he re-
fused his artillery to leave the city gates in
support. The governor-general and his surviv-
ing troops then fled to Montreal while Quebec
passed into British hands. The following year
there was a brief French resurgence under
Gen. François-Gaston Levis, but superior
British resources forced him back to Mon-
treal. There, in September 1760, it became
Vaudreuil’s melancholy duty to surrender
New France. Furthermore, he sullied his rep-
utation in the minds of many military officersDEVAUDREUIL, PIERREDERIGAUD