pected, determined to attack their lines. Without gaining a proper knowledge of the works of the enemy, or of the proper points of attack, Abercrombie ordered an immediate assault. "The army advanced to the charge with the greatest intrepidity, and for more than two hours, with incredible obstinacy, maintained the attack. But the works, where the principal attack was made, were eight or nine feet high, and impregnable, even by field pieces; and for nearly one hundred yards from the breast work, trees were felled so thick, and wrought together with their limbs pointed outward, that it rendered the approach of the troops in a great measure impossible. In this dreadful situation, under the fire of about three thousand of the enemy, these gallant troops were kept, without the least prospect of success, until nearly two thousand were killed or wounded." After a contest of four hours, Abercrombie ordered a retreat; and the next day resumed his former camp on the south side of Lake George. 45. Capture of Quebec. The capture of Quebec, in 1759, was the most brilliant and important event which took place during the French war; it gave the death blow to the French power in America. The command of the important expedition against Quebec was intrusted to Gen. James Wolfe, a young officer, who had distinguished himself at the capture of Louisburg. The army, amounting to 8,000 men, landed in June, on the island of Orleans, below Quebec. The city of Quebec stands on a rock, at the confluence of Charles and Iroquois rivers; it is naturally a place of great strength, and was well fortified and defended by a force of 10,000 men, under the command of General Montcalm. Gen. Wolfe had to contend with immense difficulties, and after having failed in several attempts to reduce the city, he conceived the bold project of ascending, with his troops, a steep, craggy cliff, of from 150 to 200 feet, by which he would reach the plains of Abraham, south and west of the city. This almost incredible enterprise was effected in the night; and by daylight, Sept. 13, the army was formed, and ready to meet the enemy. The battle which took place, is thus described by Mr. Goodrich, in his History of the United States. "To Montcalm, the intelligence that the English were occupying the heights of Abraham, was most surprising. The impossibility of ascending the precipice he considered certain, and therefore had taken no measures to fortify its line. But no sooner was he informed of the position of the English army, than he perceived a battle no longer to be avoided, and prepared to fight. Between nine and ten o'clock, the two armies, about equal in numbers, met face to face. Inattentive to the fire "The battle now commenced. of a body of Canadians and Indians, 1500 of whom Montcalm had stationed in the corn-fields and bushes, Wolfe directed his troops to reserve their fire for the main body of the French, now rapidly advancing. On their approach within 40 yards, the English opened their fire, and the destruction became immense. "The French fought bravely, but their ranks became disordered, and notwithstanding the repeated efforts of their officers to form them and renew the attack, they were so successfully pushed by the British bayonet, and hewn down by the Highland broadsword, that their discomfiture was complete. "During the action, Montcalm was on the French left, and Wolfe on the English right, and here they both fell in the critical moment that decided the victory. Early in the battle, Wolfe received a ball in the wrist, but binding his handkerchief around it, he continued to encourage his men. Shortly after, another ball penetrated his groin; but this wound, although much more severe, he concealed, and continued to urge on the contest, till a third bullet pierced his breast. He was now obliged, though reluctant, to be carried to the rear of the line. "Gen. Monckton succeeded to the command, but was immediately wounded, and conveyed away. In this critical state of the action, the command devolved on Gen. Townsend. Gen. Montcalm, fighting in front of his battalion, received a mortal wound about the same time, and General Jennezergus, his second in command, fell near his side. "Wolfe died in the field, before the battle was ended; but he lived long enough to know that the victory was his. While leaning on the shoulder of a lieutenant, who kneeled to support him, he was seized with the agonies of death; at this moment was heard the distant sound, They fly, they fly.' The hero raised his drooping head, and eagerly asked, 'Who fly? Being told that it was the French, Then,' he replied, I die happy,' and expired. "This death,' says Professor Silliman, 'has furnished a grand and pathetic subject for the painter, the poet, and the historian; and, undoubtedly, (considered as a specimen of mere military glory,) it is one of the most sublime that the annals of war afford.' "Montcalm was every way worthy of being the competitor of Wolfe. In talents, in military skill, in personal courage, he was not his inferior. Nor was his death much less sublime. He lived to be carried to the city, where his last moments were employed in writing, with his own hand, a letter to the English general, recommending the French prisoners to his care and humanity. When informed that his wound was mortal, he replied, I shall not then live to see the surrender of Quebec.'" 46. War with the Cherokees. While the British and colonial troops were conquering Canada, the Cherokees, a powerful tribe of Indians, were committing outrages on the frontiers of Virginia and Carolina. During the first years of the war with |