"Montcalm and Wolfe on Top of the Rock" Topic

"Foreword: These rules use the second version of fast rules developed by Matt Fritz's for conflicts during the musket era. Matt Fritz's fast rules are simple and fast as are the morale checks and charges. Not all of the rules listed below apply to this battle. These rules were written to be a general set of rules to cover the entire musket era of warfare. These rules have been modified by two additional rules. These two additional rules are found under the Optional Rules. The first additional rule being the first fire rules for muskets. The second additional rule is regarding the number of cannons that each side had available to them in this battle. This rule can be used as a "what if" scenario.

Historical Background: The battle for Quebec 1759 was apart of the Seven Years War in North America between the England and France. The British General Wolfe sailed up the St Lawrence River with over 250 ships and boats in late June of 1759 from the fortress Louisbourg. The British knew very little about the City of Quebec, which they sent General Wolfe to attack, other than that the city was the capital of New France. Quebec is a native word in Algonquin meaning where the river narrows. Quebec City is situated at the narrowest part of the St Lawrence River. No ships could sail past Quebec City if cannons were placed on both sides of the river. Who ever controlled Quebec City would be able to control the access from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. When General Wolfe and his soldiers landed on the Isle d' Orleans they discovered that the City of Quebec sat on top of a 350 foot cliff over looking the St Lawrence River. The British soldiers made several amphibious attacks from the Isle d' Orleans into the surrounding area. It was not until September that General Wolfe found the cove and ravine which they could climb up to get on top of the rock to be able to attack the City of Quebec. Both the City of Quebec and the Plains of Abraham were located on top of the rock. On September 13th General Wolfe made the amphibious landing that led his soldiers up to the Plains of Abraham. The whale boats and flat bottom barges took Wolfe's 4,800 men over in two trips. When General Montcalm woke in the morning he found out that the British were just outside the City on the Plains of Abraham.

General Montcalm had defeated the British several times before and each time he had done it with less soldiers that the British side, but this time would be different. The French lacked good intelligence on the size and deployment of the British forces during this period. The British navy screened the movements of the British army and also used night naval movements to deny the French good intelligence. When General Montcalm got out to the Plains of Abraham he saw a red line of British soldiers a over mile long. At 09:00 General Montcalm ordered the French soldiers to move forward. The French soldiers started firing at long musket range of 400 meters. The French soldiers continued on, moving and firing at the British. General Wolfe had his soldiers lay down on the ground when the French started firing until he ordered his soldiers to stand up and fire. The British waited until the French were at close musket range of 40 meters before they fired. Before the battle started General Wolfe had his men load their muskets with two to three musket balls in their guns for a greater first fire effect. The British fire tore through the French ranks with disastrous effects. General Wolfe also had his soldiers' line up only two men deep for greater fire power. The first row would kneel and the second row would stand and both fire at the same time. The French were formed up in the traditional way for the Seven Years War with men in three rows deep. Only the first two rows could fire. The men in the third row would move forward to take the place of the fallen soldiers in the first two rows. The French advance was stopped because of the tremendous casualties. The French soldiers started to retreat. General Montcalm spent most of this time rallying his soldiers. Both General Wolfe and General Montcalm were killed in this battle. At 10:00 the French soldiers retreated off from the Plains of Abraham and away from the City of Quebec. The French Governor surrendered the city to the British five days later. The French did try two times to take back the city. The French won both battles but the British would not surrender the city back to the French…"

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