Wolfe, James

Wolfe, James (1727-59), soldier, b. Westerham, Kent, England.

James Wolfe became a soldier at the age of fifteen and as a young man took part in many famous battles including Dettingen and Fontenoy in Europe and Culloden in Scotland.

By the time he was thirty-one he was a colonel in charge of a brigade fighting in North America.

In 1758, he played an important part in the capture of Louisburg in present-day Canada and afterwards was promoted to the rank of major-general.

Next Wolfe wanted to attack Quebec, a city in the heart of Canada which was then held by the French. Back in England, someone said to King George II, 'This new general must be mad.' 'Mad is he?' exclaimed the King. 'Then I wish he'd bite some of my other generals.'

In 1759, Wolfe sailed up the St. Lawrence River with an army of 9,000 men in a fleet of twenty-two warships, and set up his camp on the bank opposite Quebec. The city stood on a rocky height almost 300 feet (91 meters) above the river. Wolfe found a way up the cliffs behind the town and secretly crossed the river with his army. At dawn on 13 September, they were on a plain behind Quebec and the French, under General Montcalm, marched out to meet them. In the battle that followed both Montcalm and Wolfe were mortally wounded. Before he died, Wolfe knew that the battle was won and his last words were, 'Now, God be praised, I will die in peace.'

Mainly as a result of his victory, Canada became part of the British Empire and is today a leading member of the British Commonwealth.

See Francis Parkman Montcalm and Wolfe: The French and Indian War