[doughty] bat île of THE PLAIKS OF ABRAHAM 407 



'' an officer who was by him, to give him an account of what he saw. 

 *• The officer answered that the enemy seemed broken, he repeated his 

 " question a few minutes after with much anxiety, when he was told 

 " that the enemy was totally routed, and that they fled in all parts." 



The Abbé Ferland gives this version: "Blessé au poignet au com- 

 " mencement de l'action, "\Yolf e s'était contenté de l'envelopper, et con- 

 "■finuait à commander les troupes, dans un des endroits les plus péril- 

 " leux, lorsqu'il reçut dans la poitrine une balle qui le renversa, il mourut 

 '' peu après, ayant eu seulement le temps d'être informé que les Fran- 

 " çais prenaient la fuite." 



It will be observed that from all these sources the French gave 

 way immediately afrer the iiring of the decisive volley. The question 

 to determine here, is the time at which they gave way everywhere. 



Colonel Fraser sa^ys that it was by the time the smoke from the 

 poM'der had vanished, after firing six minutes. Captain Knox states: 

 " Hereupon they gave way and fled with precipitation, so that by the 

 "time the cloud of smoke had vanished, our men were' again loaded, 

 " and profiting by the advantage we had over them, pursued them 

 " almost to the gates of the town." 



The Annual Register states that it was in seven minutes after the 

 firing that the English commenced to pursue the enemy. During this 

 interval, however, that is between the time of the firing, when Wolfe 

 received his wound, and the time when the pursuit commenced, Wolfe 

 was on the spot wheTe he died. It was after he had been wounded ; 

 after he had been carried to the rear of the front line, and while lying 

 upon the ground, that he was told that the enemy was giving way. It 

 is, therefore, apparent that he must have fallen very near to the place 

 where the firing occurred. 



If the battle occurred on the Marchmont property, as some main- 

 tain, then the French must have receded in some unexplained manner 

 a distance' of over half a mile to a place east of Wolfe's monument, 

 before giving way after the decisive volley, because it was from this 

 spot that Wolfe was told that the enemy was beginning to give way. 

 The accounts are very clear on this point. The enemy approached until 

 within forty yards, and fired. The British returned their fire, and while 

 they were reloading, before the smoke had cleared, the French were 

 retreating, the British saw them in flight, and pursued them. Even if 

 it were possible for the enemy to recede a distance of half a mile, whilst 

 facing their opponents, it would have been impossible to have done so 

 within the time indicated by the various authorities cited. 



There is no difficulty to explain respecting the monument, if we 

 accept the position established by the plan. The English received the 



