Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 2.djvu/54

 ; 23i SOLDIERS AND SAILORS The harbor being still choked with ice, the vessels could not get in ; and the de- lays which occurred prevented Wolfe from entering the St. Lawrence till June. The ships reached the Isle of Orleans by the end of the month ; and, casting an- chor, possession was taken. The land was in a high state of cultivation, afford- ing abundant supplies to soldiers and sailors. The Marquis of Montcalm, now an old but still energetic man, occupied Que- bec and the adjoining district with an army of five thousand regular troops, and the same number of militia and Indians. He made preparations for the defence with great judgment ; the mass of his army was in the town, which he had further protected by intrenchments extending nearly eight miles to the west, till they reached the Montmorency River. Montreal was also well garrisoned; and, twenty miles above Quebec, a body of two thousand men lay encamped to attack in flank any force which might attempt to land in that direction. Many skirmishes took place at first between the Indians and British troops ; and one attack of more importance, on the intrenchments near the St. Charles, was headed by Wolfe in person. It completely failed ; but it taught him the strength of the enemy's position, and clearly showed that it would require strata- gem to accomplish his design of reducing the town itself. A council was summoned, when it was found that disease and the petty com- bats in which they had been engaged, had reduced the troops to five thousand effective men. Insufficient as this army seemed, Wolfe determined to remain idle no longer ; and a plan of attack on the tov/n was agreed upon. Accordingly, the following morning (September nth), the ships of the line, with the excep- tion of two or three, and all the frigates, suddenly hoisted sail, and, exposed to a cannonade from all the batteries, sailed up the river past Quebec. The troops had previously been landed on the southern side of the river, and in perfect safety they marched in the same direction. When they had proceeded about nine miles, they found the fleet riding at anchor, already beyond the reach or observation of the enemy. The point of attack Wolfe had chosen lay within a mile and a half of Quebec, and consequently this march had no other purpose in view than to mislead the enemy as to his intentions. No sooner had the tide turned, and even- ing set in, than the surface of the river suddenly swarmed with boats, which had secretly been brought to this distant mustering-place. Then the signal for the ships to sail was hung out, and they immediately began proudly to descend the channel, leaving the flotilla boats behind them. Before midnight, the fleet had reached its first anchorage, and the troops up the river could hear the thundering of their guns, as they cannonaded at long shot the fortifications below the St. Charles. The cheering sound told them that the ships had repassed the town safely ; while the French naturally concluded, that from the ships a descent was about to be attempted. During the interval, the troops had silently and in complete order taken their places in the boats ; and, as soon as it became quite dark, like a huge flock of water- fowl, they glided down the stream. Not a word was spoken ; the soldiers sat up- right and motionless; and the sailors scarcely dipped their oars, lest the splash