| Battle of Beauport | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFrench and Indian War | |||||||
 A 1777 map depicting the military positions of the French and British during the Siege of Quebec | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Great Britain | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| James Wolfe | Marquis de Montcalm | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 4,000 regulars | ~10,000 regulars and militia | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 210 killed 233 wounded[1] | 60 dead or wounded[2] | ||||||
TheBattle of Beauport, also known as theBattle of Montmorency, fought on 31 July 1759, was an important confrontation between theBritish andFrench armed forces during theSeven Years' War (also known as theFrench and Indian War and the War of Conquest) of the French province ofCanada. The attack conducted by the British against the French defense line ofBeauport, some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east ofQuebec was checked, and the army of GeneralJames Wolfe retreated with 443 casualties and losses.
TheFrench and Indian War campaigns of 1758 were mostly successful for theBritish, who had sent more than 40,000 men againstNew France and made key gains bycapturing Louisbourg anddestroying Fort Frontenac, although their primary thrust was stopped by French generalLouis-Joseph de Montcalm in theBattle of Carillon.William Pitt continued the aggressive policy in 1759, again organizing large campaigns aimed at the heartland of New France, theCanadien communities ofQuebec andMontreal on theSt. Lawrence River. For the campaign against Quebec, GeneralJames Wolfe was given command of an army of about 7,000 men.
When he arrived before Quebec on 26 June, Wolfe observed that the northern shore of theSt. Lawrence River aroundBeauport (theBeauport shore), the most favourable site for the landing of troops, was strongly defended by the French, who had built entrenchments on high ground,redoubts andfloating batteries. Wolfe consequently had to devise a plan involving a landing on some other location of the shore. The search for the best site kept him busy for weeks.
On the night of the 8th or 9th of July, British forces landed on the north shore, some 1.2 km (0.75 mi) east of theMontmorency Falls, east of where the French west-east defence line ended, at the mouth of theMontmorency River. Wolfe landed first, leading the Louisbourg grenadiers, who were followed by the brigade commanded byGeorge Townshend. The landing met no opposition from the French.[3]James Murray, at the head of a part of his brigade, joined Wolfe and Townshend on 10 July. A camp was set up near the landing site. Wolfe ordered the construction of a battery to defend the camp, as well as rafts and floating batteries in anticipation of an attack on the French line.[4]
After establishing the Montmorency camp, Wolfe explored various plans of attack and chose his plan on 28 July. He had two main plans.
The first plan which Wolfe mentioned in his journal and the correspondence with his officers is that of 16 July. In a letter to BrigadierRobert Monckton, Wolfe wrote that he had hoped to capture one of the French redoubts, the second one counting from the east end of the Beauport line, in order to force the enemy out of their entrenchments. The plan involved an attack by the Navy, an important landing force transported fromÎle d'Orléans, as well as a body of troops crossing the river Montmorency on rafts and marching westward to the battle site. At the same time, the brigade commanded by Monckton was to land on the French right, between theSaint-Charles River and Beauport.
This plan was put on hold on 20 July, when an event of great import to the British occurred: theRoyal Navy succeeded, on the night of 18–19 July, in passing seven ships, including theship of the lineHMS Sutherland and two frigates (HMSDiana and HMSSquirrel), through the narrow passage between Quebec andPointe-Lévy, thus opening the possibility of a landing west of Quebec.[5] Batteries firing at the British flotilla from theLower Town of Quebec, as well as the floating batteries pursuing it, were unable to prevent the crossing. TheSutherland's log records that the French cannonballs flew too high to cause serious damage.[6]
On 19 July Wolfe was at the Pointe-Lévy camp to reconnoiter the north shore west of Quebec. He moved further west the next day, near the mouth of theChaudière River, to study the opposite shore betweenSillery andCap Rouge.[6] Wolfe wrote to Monckton with orders for a plan of attack involving a landing near the village ofSaint-Michel, something he had already considered in June.[7] However, at 13:00, Wolfe countermanded his orders to Monckton, ordering him instead to wait a few days and remain ready to act quickly, because of some "particular circumstances".[8] It is possible that the circumstance he alluded to was a French counteroffensive in which a newly built battery at Samos (near Sillery) damaged theSquirrel.
Wolfe returned to the Montmorency camp on 26 July. Escorted by two battalions, he walked up the Montmorency river to reconnoiter the French lines. At about five kilometres (3.1 miles) from the river's mouth, he observed aford allowing the easy crossing from the west shore to the east shore. This discovery was followed by a solid skirmish between British soldiers, attempting to cross, and French soldiers entrenched on the other side. The British reported 45 killed and wounded.[9]
On 28 July, Wolfe wrote of an attack on the Beauport line to be executed on 30 July. However, poor winds did not allow for naval movements that day and the operations were postponed to the next day.[10] The plan of attack then contemplated by Wolfe was a variation of the plan he had described to Monckton in his letter of 16 July. Unlike the earlier plan, there was no mention of a parallel landing on the French right (west of Beauport).
The order of battles were;[11]
British forces were commanded byMajor GeneralJames Wolfe, who commanded less than 5,000 men.
French forces were commanded byBrigadier GeneralLouis Joseph de Saint Véran, Marquis de Montcalm, who commanded 12,000 regulars and militia but just a part (left wing) of the force took part in the battle.
On the morning of 31 July the war vesselCenturion positioned itself by les Chutes Montmorency to attack the easternmost French batteries. General Wolfe went on board theRussell, one of the two armed transports (the other being theThree Sisters) that were meant for the attack on the redoubt. Wolfe, who was then in the heat of the action, had a better chance to reconnoitre the French position than he could from. l’Île-d'Orléans. He immediately realized his mistake: the redoubt he hoped to seize to force the French out of their entrenchments was within range of enemy fire. The French soldiers could then very well shoot toward the redoubt without leaving their entrenchments on high ground. This fact changed everything and Wolfe's plan of attack consequently proved riskier than expected.[12]
In spite of this, General Wolfe decided to proceed with the attack already underway. In his journal, he stated that it was "the confusion and disorder" he observed on the enemy's side which incited him to action. Townshend, who commanded at Montmorency, and Monckton who was doing the same at la Pointe-de-Lévy, received the order to prepare for the attack.
At around 11:00, the transport ships (Russell andThree Sisters) reached the north shore where the body of troops mobilized to take the redoubt landed. Toward 12:30, the boats transporting the main landing force left the Île d'Orléans to rendezvous with Wolfe. An unforeseen difficulty caused the landing planned a little to the west of the Montmorency Falls to be suspended: the boats met with ashoal preventing them from reaching the shore. A significant amount of time was lost trying to find a suitable site for landing, which finally occurred at around 17:30.[13] By that time, the sky was covered by storm clouds.
The first troops advancing toward French lines were the thirteen companies of grenadiers and some 200 soldiers of theRoyal Americans.[14] Fire from the Montreal militia stalled their advance up the hill to the entrenchments above.[15]
Shortly after the firing began, asummer storm broke out, causing gunpowder to become wet and rendering firearms unusable.[16] When General Wolfe ordered the retreat, the troops marching from the Montmorency camp had not yet met up with the main force transported from the Île d'Orléans camp.[14]
The French were victorious. General Wolfe recorded 443 losses (210 killed and 233 wounded),[1] while the French counted 60 killed and wounded on their side; losses which were attributed to the fire coming from the great battery of the Montmorency camp.[2] The day after the battle, Wolfe wrote Monckton that the losses incurred in the battle were not great and that the defeat was no cause of discouragement.[17]
While the news of the victory was celebrated in the French camp, GeneralMontcalm remained lucid, writing toBourlamaque that in his opinion this attack was only a prelude to a more important one, which they could do nothing but patiently wait for.[15] The attack did eventually arrive, when on 13 September the British landed west of Quebec anddefeated the French on thePlains of Abraham in a battle that claimed the lives of both Montcalm and Wolfe.
