James Wolfe

General James Wolfe, "Who, at the Expence of his Life, purchas'd immortal Honour for his Country... By the Reduction of Quebec, Septr. 13th 1759"

General James (Jimmy) Wolfe (January 2, 1727 – September 13, 1759) was a British general, remembered mainly for his role in establishing British rule in Canada.

Wolfe was born in Westerham, Kent, England, the son of Colonel Edward Wolfe. From his earliest years he was destined for a military career, entering his father's regiment at the age of 14. Wolfe fought at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743. He served in Scotland under the Duke of Cumberland in the campaign to defeat the Jacobite army of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and took part in the Battle of Culloden in 1746. At the Battle of Culloden he refused to carry out an order of the Duke of Cumberland, to shoot a wounded highlander stating his honour was worth more than his commission. This act may have been a cause for his later popularity among his Royal Highland troops. He returned to Germany and in July 1747 was wounded at the Battle of Lauffeld. Wolfe fought as a colonel under Jeffrey Amherst at the siege of Louisbourg on June 12, 1758, during the French and Indian War. The prime minister, William Pitt, chose him to lead the British assault on Quebec the following year.

The British army laid siege to the city for three months. During that time, Wolfe issued a written document, known as Wolfe's Manifesto, to the French-Canadian civilians, as a part of his strategy of psychological intimidation. In March 1759, prior to arriving at Quebec, Wolfe had written to Amherst: "If, by accident in the river, by the enemy’s resistance, by sickness or slaughter in the army, or, from any other cause, we find that Quebec is not likely to fall into our hands (persevering however to the last moment), I propose to set the town on fire with shells, to destroy the harvest, houses and cattle, both above and below, to send off as many Canadians as possible to Europe and to leave famine and desolation behind me; but we must teach these scoundrels to make war in a more gentleman like manner."

File:Death-wolfe.jpg

The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West

After an extensive yet unsuccessful shelling of the city, Wolfe then led a very bold and risky amphibious landing at the base of the cliffs west of Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. His army with two small cannon, scaled the cliffs early on the morning of September 13, 1759, surprising the French under the command of the Marquis de Montcalm, who thought the cliffs would be unclimbable. The French, faced with the possibility that the British would haul more cannon up the cliffs and knock down the city's remaining walls, fought the British on the Plains of Abraham. The French were defeated, but Wolfe was shot in the chest and died just as the battle was won. He reportedly heard cries of "They run," as he died and died content that the victory had been achieved. Wolfe's victory at Quebec enabled an assault on the French at Montreal the following year. With the fall of Montreal, French rule in North America came to an end.

Affair

Wolfe had a breif affair with another woman which ended upon his wife's discovery. Afterwards he made numerous efforts to destroy any records of his affair.

The Wolfe legend

Examples of the Wolfe legend include the famous painting The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West, the Anglo-American folk ballad "Brave Wolfe"[1] (sometimes known as "Bold Wolfe"), and the opening of "The Maple Leaf Forever."

Statue of Wolfe in Greenwich Park

There is a memorial to Wolfe in Westminster Abbey by Joseph Wilton and a statue of him overlooks the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London.

In 1761, as a perpetual memorial to Wolfe, George Warde, a friend of Wolfe's from boyhood and the second son of John Warde Esq of Squerryes Court, Westerham, instituted the Wolfe Society which to this day meets annually in Westerham for the Wolfe Dinner to his "Pious and Immortal Memory".

Upon hearing from his ministers and military men that Wolfe was, in their own words, a "mad dog," King George II said, "Good, then I wish he would bite some of the other generals."

Further reading

• Frank McLynn, 1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World (2004)
• Fred Anderson, Crucible of War : The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 (2001)

External links

• Extensive page on James Wolfe at the Quebec History website
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online