Northern Armageddon: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the Making of the American RevolutionA huge, ambitious re-creation of the eighteenth-century Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the pivotal battle in the Seven Years’ War (1754–1763) to win control of the trans-Appalachian region of North America, a battle consisting of the British and American colonists on one side and the French and the Iroquois Confederacy on the other, and leading directly to the colonial War of Independence and the creation of Canada. It took five years of warfare fought on three continents—Europe, Asia, and North America—to bring the forces arrayed against one another—Britain, Prussia, and Hanover against France, Austria, Sweden, Saxony, Russia, and Spain (Churchill called it “the first world war”)—to the plateau outside Quebec City, on September 13, 1759, on fields owned a century before by a fisherman named Abraham Martin . . . It was the final battle of a three-month siege by the British Army and Navy of Quebec, the walled city that controlled access to the St. Lawrence River and the continent’s entire network of waterways; a battle with the British utilizing 15,000 soldiers, employing 186 ships, with hundreds of colonists aboard British warships and transports from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, with France sending in a mere 400 reinforcements in addition to its 3,500 soldiers. The battle on the Plains of Abraham lasted twenty minutes, and at its finish the course of a continent was changed forever . . . New military tactics were used for the first time against standard European formations . . . Generals Wolfe and Montcalm each died of gunshot wounds . . . France surrendered Quebec to the British, setting the course for the future of Canada, paving the way for the signing of the Treaty of Paris that gave the British control of North America east of the Mississippi, and forcing France to relinquish its claims on New Orleans and to give the lands west of the Mississippi to Spain for surrendering Florida to the British. After the decisive battle, Britain’s maritime and colonial supremacy was assured, its hold on the thirteen American colonies tightened. The American participation in ousting the French as a North American power spurred the confidence of the people of New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, who began to agitate for independence from Great Britain. Sixteen years later, France, still bitter over the loss of most of its colonial empire, intervened on behalf of the patriots in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). In Northern Armageddon, Peter MacLeod, using original research—diaries, journals, letters, and firsthand accounts—and bringing to bear all of his extensive knowledge and grasp of warfare and colonial North American history, tells the epic story on a human scale. He writes of the British at Quebec through the eyes of a master’s mate on one of the ships embroiled in the battle. And from the French perspective, as the British bombarded Quebec, of four residents of the city—a priest, a clerk, a nun, and a notary—caught in the crossfire. MacLeod gives us as well the large-scale ramifications of this clash of armies, not only on the shape of North America, but on the history of Europe itself. A stunning work of military history. |
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... Canada; responsible for supplying the French armed forces with provisions “CADET'S CRITIC”—author of the “Mémoire du Canada” (Memoir of Canada) CALCRAFT, JAMES—captain, British Army CAMERON, EWAN—private, Seventy-Eighth Regiment; rumored.
... Canada; responsible for supplying the French armed forces with provisions “CADET'S CRITIC”—author of the “Mémoire du Canada” (Memoir of Canada) CALCRAFT, JAMES—captain, British Army CAMERON, EWAN—private, Seventy-Eighth Regiment; rumored.
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... Memoir of Lieutenant William Hunter” JACK—African American teamster with the British expedition to Quebec JEREMY ... Memoirs of a French Officer” JOSEPH—valet to Louis-Joseph de Montcalm KACHAKAWASHEKA—Menominee warrior; fought at ...
... Memoir of Lieutenant William Hunter” JACK—African American teamster with the British expedition to Quebec JEREMY ... Memoirs of a French Officer” JOSEPH—valet to Louis-Joseph de Montcalm KACHAKAWASHEKA—Menominee warrior; fought at ...
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... Memoirs of an Invalid” MILLER, MARIE-JOSEPH—resident of Montreal; married to Mathieu Valentin Jacques Miller MILLER, MATHIEUVALENTINJACQUES—soldier, troupes de la marine; wrote a letter to his wife describing conditions at Quebec in ...
... Memoirs of an Invalid” MILLER, MARIE-JOSEPH—resident of Montreal; married to Mathieu Valentin Jacques Miller MILLER, MATHIEUVALENTINJACQUES—soldier, troupes de la marine; wrote a letter to his wife describing conditions at Quebec in ...
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... Memoir of Canada,” had a great deal to say about logistics and a low opinion of Joseph-Michel Cadet, who was responsible for supplying the French army with provisions. The “naval volunteer” served in the Royal Navy during the campaign ...
... Memoir of Canada,” had a great deal to say about logistics and a low opinion of Joseph-Michel Cadet, who was responsible for supplying the French army with provisions. The “naval volunteer” served in the Royal Navy during the campaign ...
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Contents
DEFENDERS | |
The Man Who Saved Canada | |
Soldiers and Shoe Brushes | |
VI | |
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham and | |
Acknowledgments | |
Defeat at Montmorency | |
The Anse au Foulon | |
Standing on Guard | |
Ashore in the Dark | |
Night Battle | |
City at | |
Bombardment | |
The Governor the General and Just a Hint of Scandal | |
Wheat and | |
Alarms in the Night | |
The Last Convoy to Quebec | |
III | |
BATTLE | |
SIEGE | |
Ramezays Surrender | |
V | |
Canadian Winter | |
The Plains of Abraham | |
Preparing for Battle | |
Montcalms Decision | |
The French Charge | |
Firefight | |
Dying Generals | |
The British Charge | |
The Canadians Strike Back | |
After the Battle | |
Illustration Credits | |
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Northern Armageddon: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the Making of ... D. Peter MacLeod No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
Anse au Foulon artillery Ashley Bowen attack battalions batteries battle Beauport began boats Bougainville Buttes-à-Neveu Cadet camp campagnes de Montcalm Canada Canadians cannon Cap-Rouge Captain colony command convoy defend detachment Durell enemy entry of Sept Fauteux fire Foligné France French army garrison Grenadiers Historical Journal Hôpital Général hundred Hunter Ibid James Wolfe Joannès John Graves Simcoe Journal des campagnes Journal du siège landing craft Lawrence lieutenant light infantry Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Louisbourg Louisbourg Grenadiers Malartic Malcolm Fraser marched marine Marquis de Montcalm Memoirs militia militiamen Monckton Montbeillard Montreal Murray musket Native American Nicolas René Berryer North America officers ordered Panet Plains of Abraham Point Lévis Pointe-aux-Trembles provisions Quebec Promontory Ramezay Récher reel Regiment regulars River Royal Navy sailors Saint-Charles Saunders Saunders’s September ships shore shot siège de Québec Siege of Quebec soldiers supply clerk Townshend troops Vergor Williamson Wolfe’s Wolfe’s army wounded