THE FALL OF NEW FRANCE 113 
the 13th of September witnessed the last great scene 
in this eventful story. 
Crestfallen with calamity, the people of Canada had 
begun to cry for peace at any price; but Montcalm, 
ensconced with seven thousand men in the impregna- 
ble stronghold of Quebec, declared that, though the 
outlook was anything but cheering, he had not lost 
courage, but was resolved to find his grave under the 
ruins of the colony. Quebec was the objective point 
of the summer campaign, and early in June the youth- 
ful General Wolfe had appeared in the St. Lawrence 
with an army of eight thousand men, supported by a 
powerful fleet of twenty-two ships of the line, with as 
many frigates. In this memorable expedition Colonel 
Barré, afterward the eloquent friend of the American 
colonies in Parliament, was adjutant-general; a regi- 
ment of light infantry was commanded by William 
Howe; and one of the ships had for its captain the 
immortal navigator, James Cook. It was intended 
that Johnson, after taking Niagara, and Amherst, after 
taking Ticonderoga and Crown Point, should unite 
their forces with those of Wolfe, and overwhelm the 
formidable Montcalm by sheer weight of numbers. 
But Johnson failed for want of ships to transport his 
men, and Amherst failed through dulness of mind, so 
that Wolfe was left to do the work alone. The task 
was well-nigh impossible, though the powerful English 
fleet had full control of the river. Standing on a lofty 
rock just above the junction of the St. Charles and St. 
Lawrence rivers, and guarded by water on three sides, 
Quebec was open to a land attack only on the north- 
west side, where the precipice was so steep as to be 
deemed inaccessible. After wasting the summer in 
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