When the forces of James Murray arrived to begin the Siege of Quebec, Lévis participated in the early defenses, including the Battle of Beauport. He was then sent to organize the defense of Montreal, and so was not present when Quebec fell. Following Montcalm's death in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Lévis was appointed commander of French forces in North America. Wintering at Montreal, Lévis managed to rally his troops and train them for a spring offensive to recapture Quebec in 1760. Marching downstream with the first breaking of the ice, Lévis met the forces of James Murray at the Battle of Sainte-Foy, where Lévis' army won a victory in one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on Canadian soil. This forced Murray to retreat behind Quebec's walls and a siege began. The lack of artillery and siege equipment precluded any assault on the fortifications of Quebec and Lévis held back, awaiting reinforcements from Europe. With the arrival of a British squadron which then destroyed his support ships on the Saint Lawrence, Lévis was obliged to retreat to Montreal, where Vaudreuil eventually surrendered New France to Amherst's army, which had advanced down the Saint Lawrence River that summer, in early September. Lévis, unhappy with the terms of capitulation, which did not include the traditional "honors of war", decided to burn the regimental colors rather than turning them over to the British.