Part 1: The Battle of The Plains of Abraham (Quebec City)
[and ultimately, the continent]
CAVET: as an purely amateur historian, my readings over the years have me coming to one overwhelming conclusion; That the multiple American attempts at invading Canada would have well been successful, had it not been consistently the case, whereby those in command [on both sides of the border-lands] made tragic decisions. Poor leadership was oft married with corruption, malfeasance, in-fighting and lack of cooperation, to determine the course of the many skirmishes and conflicts. The Battle of The Plains of Abraham being one such outstanding example.
That it took the reading of many sources to piece together the tragedy that was the fall of Quebec City, surrounded by corruption, malfeasance, nepotism and incompetence. While there have been thousands of papers written on the strategic, tactical successes and blunders by both Wolf and Montcalm, the following is my summation:
The Players:
The French:
Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial - Governor General of New France (Canada);
General
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon - Commander of French forces in New France
during the Seven Years' War.
* It must be explicitly noted, that Vaudreuil and Montcalm despised each other; the former routinely dismissing the latter's military authority and decisions in strategy and tactics.
François Bigot - Intendant of New France. Controlled the money in New France. He was subordinate to and worked for Vaudreuil. However, in practice - Bigot controlled what can best be described as an earlier version of the Italian mafioso.
Louis Du Pont Duchambon de Vergor was a junior French military officer during the Seven Years' War. Subordinate to Montcalm, de Vergor had many friends in very high places; most notably, François Bigot.
The British:
General Wolf was Commander of British forces; greatly aided by the capable and confident [then] Capt Robert Monckton.
And so the story begins.
Initial incompetence is allowed to breed future disaster:
In 1754, Lt. de Vergor was named as commander of France's Fort Beauséjour in what would eventually become New Brunswick. On June 4, 1755, Fort Beauséjour was attacked by a force led by (British) Robert Monckton's forces.
After a few days of siege, a cannon ball exploded inside the fort, killing six officers and several soldiers. Vergor panicked, and raised the white flag. The British gave him favorable conditions, and gave permission to him and his men to go to Louisbourg. de Vergor was tried by court-martial at Quebec City in September 1757 and acquitted of charges - that the forts were not adequately fortified, thus deemed indefensible, and allowed to continue his service as an officer.
Despite this decision, Montcalm specifically insisted that de Vergor not be promoted, due to his displayed lack of judgment at Beauséjour.
Two years later - We meet again...
The Battle of The Plains of Abraham (Quebec City)
de Vergor [now promoted Captain, with Vaudreuil's intervention] was a part of the defence of Quebec under Louis-Joseph de Montcalm during the siege prior to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
On the night of September 12, 1759, Vergor was in command of 'Fulon Post', high above (present day 'Wolf's Cove') tasked to guard the upper portion of a rough trail leading from the St Lawrence River up to the plains; As de Vergor slept, his command was the first to contact the British under General James Wolfe. [1.]
With great irony, the British officer in charge of the initial assault force was again Robert Monckton [now Major]. Remembering his encounter at Fort Beauséjour with de Vergor four years previously, it must have came as a great comfort realizing that de Vergor was now in command of Fulon Post, guarding his approach.
A second accounting:
Wolfe's Cove, formerly the Anse au Foulon: A mile and a half above the city [up river] of Quebec City. In 1759 the French 'Fulon Post', was commanded by de Vergor. Early on the morning of September 13th 1759 Wolfe landed with his army at the foot of the escarpment; a small party of volunteers scaled the rudimentary path, surprised and overpowered de Vergor's handful of; the army followed -
"In the gray of the morning the long file of red-coated soldiers moved quickly upward,
and formed in order on the plateau above;" the first step had been successfully taken in
the movement that led to the Battle of the Plains and the cession of Canada to Great Britain.[2.]
Reticent Incompetence:
Tellingly,
Montcalm had become increasingly concerned with the exposure of the
Fulon Post and the plains, and hence requested of Vaudreuil, that de
Vergor be replaced [based on his historical record of leadership
performance (or lack thereof)]. Vaudreuil denied the request. It must be
emphasized that a nepotistic relationship between de Vergor [who was
one of ' Bigot's Gang '] and Vaudreuil existed and is presumed to have
played a part in de Vegor's persistent 'protection'.
de Vergor had previously unilaterally released 50% of his troops, to depart home, to tend to their fields (common in the times - but this was not a common tactical situation); the deal, was that they had to work 'his' land holdings and fields as well, on their return trip.[3.]
This left Fulon Post at 50% strength and likely at far less, accounting for those sick and delayed.
In historical terms, this was to be the second time that de Vergor's reticent incompetence had failed his country on an increasingly massive scale.
Part 2 - Where the hell were the rest of the Guns ?
The second tragedy in the subsequent battle for Quebec was that when Montcalm requested all of the twenty-five guns [horse drawn artillery] available for deployment, Vaudreuil only released three; against the single (one) field piece that Wolf’s artillerymen had managed to disassemble and drag up the escarpment.
Notably, the majority of Quebec's guns were still guarding against Wolf's initial failed attack on the the easterly approaches around Beaufort.
A handful of remaining guns were fully serviceable and located in the city's easterly artillery barracks [today @ 2 Rue D'Auteuil, Québec]; Montcalm requested these guns be relocated west, but Vaudreuil explicitly refused.
However, it would have had no effect either way, in any event - as Francois Bigot the Intendant of New France - had rented the artillery unit's horses out to harvesting farmers (as was his habit, notably for his personal profit) and thus they were not available to be harnessed in front of the guns and moved with all speed west of Quebec City. [4.]
Despite the fact that Montcalm had known reinforcing troops approaching Wolf's rear from (Montreal) the west, Montcalm inexplicably lead his mixed troops (professional, habitant, metis and native) out onto The Plains of Abraham; whereby the well disciplined British forces allowed Montcalm to fire outside his range and close the gap.
Wolf's apparent one(1) single artillery gun was outmatched by Montcalm's three(3); the latter inexplicably having not been brought decisively into action.
A few British massed rifle volleys ultimately decimated Montcalm's front ranks and the rear broke formation, retreating to the city's walls, capitulating within days.
The battlefield drama on The Plains of Abraham ended with the two principals Montcalm and Wolf, both dead.
Facing the Tribunals
Vaudreuil along with Bigot and twenty other officials were tried in France for the loss of French possessions in North America. They were sent to the infamous French prison, Bastille, where they stayed for a year before being brought to trial for fraud. They spent another two years awaiting judgment.
Vaudreuil's trial in France into the loss of the empire in North America lasted 15 months:
Vaudreuil put up a spirited defence, maintaining that he was solely preoccupied with military matters and had nothing to do with finance. He said the sordid charges against him insulted his noble lineage and the honour of the armies of France. He wrapped himself in the mantle of Montcalm and appeared in court as a soldier of France, innocent and ignorant of the conniving and corruption that swirled about him. He was acquitted, awarded the Grand Cross of St. Louis and given a pension of 12,000 livres. He retired to his family chateau where he died at the age of 80 in 1778. [5.]
At the trial of Bigot his defence filed some 1000 evidentiary pages. Despite this he was found guilty. The prosecutor demanded that he be made to kneel before the main gate wearing only a shirt, a rope around his neck and a placard labelling him "Thief." He was then to confess his crimes and have his head chopped off. The court decided instead to confiscate all his possessions, fine him 1,500,000 livres and banish him from France for life. He paid the fine and went to Switzerland where he "successfully fitted himself into local circles" and led a comfortable life before dying on January 12th, 1778.
de Vergor, eventually made his way back to France, wed, bore two children and faded into obscurity.
Tragically wrote one historian, there was enough ability among them [save de Vergor] to have defended New France from ruin. Torn from without by invasion and from within - by pillage and dissension, there was no way the colony could survive, under French rule. [6.]
References:
2. Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe; Casgrain
3. Lawrence J. Burpee, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Canadian History, London and Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1926, 699p., p. 692.
4. William Wood, The Plains of Abraham, in The Passing of New France. A Chronicle of Montcalm, Toronto, Glascow, Brook & Company, 1915, 149p., pp. 12-142
5. Century of Conflict – Vol 2 of 6, The Struggle between the French & British in Colonial America 1956, by Joseph Lister Rutledge, Doubleday p. 497
