The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1871-05-05

Just below Quebec, the isle ofOr-
leans, six miles wide and twenty
long lies in st. Lawrence, containing
now a population Of six or seven
thousand, but then an unpeopled
wilderness. Up on this island Wolfe
disembarked his army in June, 1859.
The story Of the siege Of Quebec
is too long to be related here: how
the French attempted by fre-rafts
to burn the English feet; how one
yell-planned assault was repOlsed,
with the loss of four hundred men,
though Wolfe commanded the troops
in person. For two whole months
this feet and army were frustrated
by nature and Montcalm. Wolfe,
never strong man, and worn now
by anxiety and constant exert1on,
wrote in a despairing tone to Dlr.
FIT and said he dared not propose
an assault which would but throw
away the lives of brave men.
One dav, when he was recOnnoit-
ering the northern shore Of the pro
montory, he discovered little inlet
or indentation-noW called Wolfe's
Coye-from which he could discern
a pathway winding up through a
deep gorge, so Morrow that in some
places two men could not walk
abreast. On the summit, where the
path ended, the Watchful, cautious
Montcalm had posted a guard, which
consisted, as Wolfe inferred from
the number of tents, Of not more
than a hundred men. The reader
knows the rest.
Every one who tells the story
pauses here to relate the converse
ton which occurred when the young
General was going in his boat, two
nights after, from ship to ship, CIV
ing his last directions for the move
ment appointed for one O'Clock the
next morning. Wolfe had always
been fond of poetry. He was con-
,neetion of that Rev. Charles Wolfe
who sent to a country newspaper,
many years after, the famous poem
on the Burial of Sir John Moore
with which we are all familiar, and
who died of consumtion soon after.
The General began to talk in his
boat of Gray's Elegy in a Country
Churchyard.
81 would prefer" said he, ''being
the author of that poem, to the glO-
~ of beating the French tomorrow
And then, in the stiffness of the
evening, he repeated the harmOni-
US, prophetic lines:
81 he boast of heraIdry, the pomp Of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour
The paths Of glory lead but to the grave
At day-break, the next morning,
General Wolfe and his army stood
in battle array upon the Plains Of
Abraham, behind Quebec. When it
was reported to Montcalm that Brit
ish troops were there, he said:
1T can but be a small party come
to burn a few houses, and retire"
When the extent of the movement
was reported to him a short time
after, his heart died within him, for
he had but two thousand regular
troops, and crowd of frightend, i'll
armed farmers, who had Run in from
the neighborhood for safety.
"Then," cried Montcalm, "they
have at last got to the weak side Of
this wretched garrisonl We must
give battle and crush them before
! midday"
! Long before midday, the English
! had won the victory-the last deci-
i sive charge of two regiments with
fixed bayonents being led by Wolfe
| in person. At the beginning Of this
movement he was wounded in the
wrist by musket ball, but he wound
| his handkerchief about it, and
pressed on. In the midst of the &C
| ton, he received a second wound in
the groin, which he equally disre
garded. When the day was all but
won, shot struck him in the breast
which brought him low at last
Support me-" said he to an of
fcer; ''Iet not my brave fellows see
me drop"
They carried him to the rear and
brought a draught of water, which
he drank supported by one Of his
taf,whose eyes were still fixed upon
the fight.
"T6ey run! they runr' cried this
officer.
"Who runp asked Wolfe.
@The French" (" replied the officer
"give way everywhere" "
''Whatr' said Wolfe, 'do they
run already? Go, one of you, to Col
onel Burton; bid him march Webb's
regiment with all speed to Charles
river to cut off the fugitives."
His life was almost spent, but he
spoke once more, saying:
''Now God be praised, l die
happy|
A moment after he bresthed his
last. Montcalm, too, lay dying from
two wounds received in the same
hour, and expired at five on the fol
lowing morning. Among those who
lamented the death of Wolfe was
, the Young lady in England to whom
he was betrothed. Within thes1
I I few years, the officers Of the British
garrison at Quebec have erected a
: a monument to both these gallant
! officers, which euIogizes with equa
emphasis the victor and the van
: ouished. A stone marks the spoi
I upon which Wolfe expired. Al
thirty-two, he had won the victory
which added Canada to the realm o
Britain, and his country acknOwledg
ed consigning his remains to West
minister Abbey.
Hint for Farmers.
The editor of a rural Ohio papel