User:Lord Cornwallis/Siege of Quebec (1760)

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Siege of Quebec
Part of Seven Year's War
DateApril - May 1760
Location
Quebec City, Canada
Result British victory
Quebec relieved
Belligerents
Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain Kingdom of France France
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of Great Britain James Murray Kingdom of France Francis de Gaston, Chevalier de Lévis
Casualties and losses
30 206[1]

The Siege of Quebec was an unsuccessful French attempt in 1760 during the Seven Years War to retake Quebec City in New France which had been captured by Britain the previous year. The siege lasted from 29 April until 15 May when British ships arrived to relieve the city compelling the French to break off the siege and retreat. The British capture of Montreal a few months later largely ended French resistence and completed the Conquest of Canada, which was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris. It is sometimes referred to as the Second Siege of Quebec to distinguish it from the previous year's siege.

Background[edit]

In 1759 a British expedition led by James Wolfe had sailed up the St Lawrence River and laid siege to Qubec. After an initial failure at the Battle of Beauport, Wolfe managed to defeat the French field army under Montcalm at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on 13 September 1759.[2] After Montcalm's death during the battle, the French armies outside Quebec retreated westwards despite their numerical supremacy - leaving the garrison of Quebec exposed to the British. The city surrendered several days later, and British forces under James Murray occupied it.[3]

The retreating French troops had reached the Jacques-Cartier River, where they came under the command of Francis de Gaston, Chevalier de Lévis on 17 September 1759. He initially hoped to lead his force back to recapture Quebec directly, but it became clear that such an immediate attack was impossible, and he decided to postpone any attempt until the following year. During the winter Lévis' forces camped near the Jacques-Cartier River. In spite his descision not to attack, rumours continued to circulate around Quebec throughout the winter that a major French assault was imminent.[4] Lévis rejected a proposal by Murray for a winter truce.[5] French patrols continued to operate and a position was even set up at Saint-Augustin close to Quebec until it was captured in a surprise attack by the British using snow shoes.[6]

Lévis prepared his attack during the winter, and sent a message to Paris in October 1759 asking for reinforcements, siege artillery and supplies to be sent to Quebec as soon as possible. He was determined to press on as soon as the ice began to melt making the St Lawrence passable. On 20 April his force set out from Montreal, and reached the village of Sainte-Foy by 27 April. He had around 7,000 troops, around half were French regulars the remainder were Canadian militia and Native allies, and twelve artillery pieces.[7] Some of the British expedition who had captured Quebec the previous autumn departed shortly afterwards with the fleet, leaving Murray with around 7,000 troops to defend the city. Because of a variety of ailments, shortages of food and weather a thousand of these troops had died, and two thousand more were ill, meaning Murray had only around 4,000 men in condition to fight.[8]

Battle of Sainte-Foy[edit]

Main article: Battle of Sainte-Foy
The Battle of Sainte-Foy which took place outside Quebec on 28 April 1760. The French defeated the British force and opened up thier siege of the city the following day.

Murray received warning of the French approach on the morning of 27 April costing Lévis the element of surprise he had hoped for. Murray's response to the appreance of Lévis and his force outside the city was to march out and take up a strong defensive position. He hoped Levis would attack him, but it also allowed Murray time to withdraw his outposts of light infantry, some of them at Cap Rouge, who would otherwise have been cut off.

Lévis declined to attack Murray on 27 April, realising that the battlefield would not suit his plans. Instead, during the night, he chose to move his army to outflank Murray, using the woods on the British left as cover. Faced with this new threat Murray, withdrew to a new position close to where the Battle of the Plains of Abraham had been fought the previous September. On 28 April instead of withdrawing back into the city, Murray elected to give battle. This was something of a gamble, which Murray justified by observing "that our little Army was in the habit of beating that Enemy"[9] and because he feared the ability of his forces to withstand a siege. Murray had 3,800 troops in the field, virtually every soldier in Quebec fit to carry a musket, and Lévis had a similar number of men to hand although additional forces were on their way.

Lévis didn't expect the British to give battle and he was surprised to see the enemy. The battle began when Murray saw that the French main body were still on the march and weren't yet formed up. Impulsively abandoning the high ground, the British decided to attack. Their advance was slowed by the ground, a mixture of half-melted snow and mud, and by the time the two sides engaged the French were prepared. Initially the British had success, driving the outlying French back from their strong points, and sending panic through the French ranks that sent them fleeing to the nearby woods. The British pressed on, and ran into the main body of French troops under Lévis.[10]

After around an hour of fighting at close quarters, the British flanks began to cave and Murray ordered a withdrawal. The French then completed their victory by capturing the abandoned British artillery. The battle had been bloodier than that fought a year before; Lévis had suffered 833 killed and wounded while the British under Murray sustained 1,088 casualties (nearly a third of his force).[11]

Siege[edit]

Seeing that there was no chance of salvaging the situation, Murray withdrew his remaining forces into the city and prepared to hold out in the hope that relief would arrive up the St Lawrence for the defenders. Lévis had similar hopes, although he was realistic about the slim chances of any French relief as he brought up the rest of his forces and began to prepare to lay siege to the city. The captured British artillery was added to the French guns brought from Montreal. Murray drew up plans, if the city were to fall to the French, to withdraw to the Île d'Orléans to the east and wait for reinforcements to arrive. After some disorder, and fearing a wider breakdown in discipline, Murray ordered harsh punishments for offenders and had all liqour in the Lower Town poured away.[12]

On 29 April, the day after the battle, the siege commenced. Lévis chose not to make an immediate assault, fearing that his troops were too exhausted and uncertain of the quality of some of the militia. Instead he occupied the hospital outside the city walls, and began to bring up the artillery. In not attacking immediatly, it is possible that Lévis threw away his best chance of taking the city.[13]

The city's defences had been shattered by the previous year's bombardment, and it had even been suggested after its capture that the British should simply destroy the fortications and abandon the city.[14] Instead, work parties had tried to rebuild the fortifications and Murray also concentrated in erecting defences beyond the city walls. However, some of his attempts to boost the security of the area proved overly ambitous and various vulnerable spots remained. The weakness of the city's defences had a major impact on his decision to confront the French in open battle rather than remain in the city.[15]

After the capture of Quebec, Murray was concerned that a hostile population would add to his problems so he chose to exhibit kindness to the local inhabitants provided they disarm and swear allegiance to George II. This policy had proved generally sucessful although it was clear most of the inhabitants hoped for a French return. Murray had previously expelled from the city a number of inhabitants suspected of supplying intelligence to the enemy or encouraging British troops to desert[16], and in April 1760 he ordered all civilians to leave within three days.[17]

Once the shelling of the city began, on ----. One of Lévis' biggest handicaps was a shortage of munitions for his artillery, and the rate of fire was slow. By contrast the British were soon able to bring many heavy guns to bear on the French positions, having unloaded a number of guns from the fleet before it had sailed, and had plentiful supplies of ammunition. So heavy was the British bombardment that the French had to withdraw their main camp about a mile to protect it. During the siege the French suffered nearly seven times as many casualties as the British. It grew so dangerous in the French entrenchments that it was reported that the Canadiens had to be paid half a dollar a day to work there.[18]

In a common courtesy during a siege, the two commanders exchanged small gifts of food. Lévis sent spruce beer and partridges while Murray responded with Cheshire cheese.[19] As time wore on, it became clear a stalemate had developed. The French cannons were to weak to batter down the city's defences, while the British were not strong enough to march out and drive off the more numerous French. Victory would go to whoever's ships came first down the St. Lawrence carrying reinforcements.

Lévis rested his hopes on the prospect of reinforcements arriving from France, boosting his strength and allowing him to take the city. In France a strategic debate had been underway about the allocation of French reinforcements. The French first minister, the Duc de Choiseul, believed that French prospects were better in Europe and planned another major attack in Germany. The French hoped that if they were able to win a major victory in Germany and occupy the Electorate of Hanover they would be able to negotiate the return of Canada by way of exchange when peace was agreed. An added consideration was the heavy naval defeats the British had inflicted on the French at the Battle of Lagos and Battle of Quiberon Bay during 1759 and a near constant blockade of the French ports which had further weakened French naval power. In an effort to show the Canadians they had not been completly abandoned, a small group of supply ships were sent carrying 400 troops - well short of the sort of reinforcement that Lévis required and only one frigate could be spared as an escort. Even this limited relief was weakened when blockading British forces captured three of the transports shortly after they had sailed from Bordeaux in early April.[20]

Relief[edit]

On a sail was made out approaching along the St Lawrence from the east. Initially it was taken by both sides to be a French ship, leading to despair for the British, and French celebrations, with shouts of "Viv L'Roi". However as the ship reached Quebec they were able to make out that it was flying British colours which led to cheers from the British troops on the ramparts[21]

When the British fleet had sailed the previous year, Admiral Saunders had detached several ships to Halifax in Nova Scotia with orders to return to Quebec as soon as the ice melted.[22]

immediate danger of being stormed.

The French releif expedition reached --- by -----, only to discover that the British ships had entered the St Lawrence six days earlier. Having arrived too late, the French didn't want to risk ------- and being captured and didn't even attempt to -------.

As the ---- arrived outside Quebec Lévis immediatly realised that his chances of --------

to withdraw as quickly as possible towards Trois-Rivières. It was resolved to make a final stand at Montreal, in the hope of frustrating the British long enough for them to require amother year to complete the total conquest of Canada.

After its failure to proceed up the St Lawrence the French relief convoy had taken shelter in the Restigouche River, where there were still Acadian inhabitants loyal to France. There they were defeated by the British Royal Navy in the Battle of Restigouche in July 1760, ending the last hopes of any relief arriving for Lévis.

Aftermath[edit]

Main article: Montreal Campaign

With his forces substantially increased Quebec City became a staging point for the conquest of the remainder of French Canada. The British strategy for capturing Montreal, the last major French stronghold, involved a three-pronged advance. Seperate forces under Jeffrey Amherst and William Haviland would advance from Lake Ontario in the west along the St Lawrence River and from upper New York via the Richelieu River respectively. James Murray led the third prong of 4,000 men advancing from Quebec down the St Lawrence River and approaching the Island of Montreal from the east.

Faced with such overwhelming numbers the Governor Marquis de Vaudreuil ordered Lévis, who had wanted to fight, to lay down his arms and on 8 September 1760 the city was surrendered to Amherst. The British completed their conquest of Cananda by mopping up the remaining outposts such as Detriot. Lévis was later exchanged for a British prisoner, and served in the later French campaigns in Europe. The French government's hopes of offsetting their loss of Canada with victories in Europe was frustrated by a series of victories by the Anglo-German forces led by the Duke of Brunswick. Added to this further French colonies, particularly in the valuable West Indies, were lost and it was agreed in the negotiations ahead of the Treaty of Paris that France would permenantly ceded Canada to the British in exchange for the return of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Another siege, the third in sixteen years, took place at Quebec City in 1775 during the American War of Independence when American rebel forces participating in the Invasion of Canada laid siege for the city for a number of months. A failed attack ended any real hope of storming the city and the arrival of British ships down the St Lawrence the following Spring forced the Americans to abandon their attempt, in a situation very similar to the relief of 1760.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Manning p.110 - Includes both sets of casualty figures
  2. ^ Snow p.
  3. ^ McLynn p.308-311
  4. ^ Marston p.65-66
  5. ^ Manning p.84
  6. ^ Manning p.94
  7. ^ Anderson p.391-392
  8. ^ Anderson p.392-393
  9. ^ Anderson p.393
  10. ^ Manning p.101-104
  11. ^ Anderson p.394
  12. ^ Manning p.106-108
  13. ^ Manning p.108-109
  14. ^ Manning p.77
  15. ^ Manning p.81-83
  16. ^ Manning p.80-86
  17. ^ Mannin p.95
  18. ^ Manning p.111
  19. ^ Dunmore p.72
  20. ^ Anderson p.395
  21. ^ Manning p.
  22. ^ Manning p.79

Bibliography[edit]

  • Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War:
  • Dunmore, John. Storms and Dreams: Louis de Bouganville: Soldier, Explorer, Statesmen. Nonsuch Publishing, 2005.
  • Manning, Stephen. Quebec: The Story of Three Sieges. Continuum, 2009.
  • Marston, Daniel. The French-Indian War 1754-1760. Osprey, 2002.
  • McLynn, Frank. 1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World.
  • Snow, Dan. Death or Victory: The Battle for Quebec and the Birth of Empire. Harperpress, 2010.
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