Enlightenment · North America · War
1759
Wolfe Takes Quebec on the Plains of Abraham
September 13, 1759
Before dawn, British troops scaled a goat path up the cliffs and formed lines on the plateau. Montcalm came out to meet them and both generals fell - Wolfe as the French broke, Montcalm the next day. Quebec surrendered; French Canada's fate was sealed in a fifteen-minute volley exchange. Benjamin West's painting of Wolfe's death became the most reproduced image in the British Empire.