The San Francisco call., 1905-01-15
HssNIXlX.yY-

he nes 'of'5 at tbe taaS Nsw sSs wapa ,aS 09s'
mitted their divinely ilraEined
scheme to find execution at the hands
Of human agents. Upon the Plains of
Abraham. furder the shoulder of the
fortress of Quebec, ten thousand men
at arlns-a paitry number-fought for
seven hours, and a The end the will OF
the f&tcs was accomplished. America
was henceforth the land Of the English.
and the French had no further place
in tho affairs OF the continent.
The story OF The Canadian wars. of
the siege of Quebec. the heroism of
Montcalm and tie intrepid bravery of
Wolfe, has been told many times. Many
authorities have brought their individ-
ual interpretations of facts and their
deductions from lack of facts to bear
upon the subject, and many have been
the contradictions and wordy disputes
over irreconcilable differences. 1 be-
lieye, however, that in Major William
Woods book. The Fight for Canada" "
just published, the first really authori-
.tative and trustworthy account of the
last days of Frances colony in the New
World has been written. Lack of ac-
cess to sources only recently made
available has been the cause of great
deal of conjecturing and laundering on
the part Of those who have come be-
fore with histories Of the siege and fall
of the fact that A. G. Doughty of Que
bee has collected from various sources
the letters and orders bearing upon the
events of the time, most of them here
'tOfore overlooked by historians. the
author of this book is enabled to base
his entire story upon sources whose
authenticity is unquestioned. Six vol
umes Of Mr.. Doughty's letters and dis
patches have already been published,
and the entire mass of material is not
yet digested. To these six volumes
Major Wood makes frank and free
acknowledgment of debt for the facts
he sets forth In his story OF the dra-
matte last days of Quebec.
The author OF THE Fight for Can
ada" has given his book added dis
tincdon by the novel viewpoint taken
by him upon the coordination be-
: tween army and navy in the Quebec
maneuvers. For the first time the sea
' power is given it's proper relation to
conquest Of Canada. He establishes his
premise thus:8
THE command Of the sea must al
ways be taken into account first of all,
when considering either the whole or
any part Of the struggle for dominion
In the New World. It was, indeed, the
great and unvarying factor which de-
termined the relative strength Of New
onies owed their birth to the sea, and
depended in every way on the sea-
And the ultimate result of every con-
hict between them. even If fought out
In the remotest inland wiids, was
settled. either for or against the victor,
by the relative fighting force which
their two netherlands then possessed
at sea-"
And indeed Major Wood makes out
q good case for the naval branch of
the service. Throughout the whole of
the great imperial war between Eng
land and France which had its inter-
nlittent duration between the years OF
1888 and 1885, control OF the seas was
the deciding weight in the balance of
ultimate success. In 1892 the naval en-
gagement of La Hogue definitely
decided England's mastery OF the
worlds waterways: from that time
forth the fortunes os the flag Of st.
George in India and America no less
than upon the Continent lay in the
stanchness of the wooden walls" Of
Britain. Wood demonstrates how de-
pendent both New England and New
France were upon the fleets OF the
mother countries. The existence of
ships guaranteed mobility in aggressive
action and constant proximity OF the
supply base Thus it was that when
the French fleet had been swept off
the western seas and Wolfe's force
from Louisburg was the one named for
the reduction of Quebec the British
fleet under the three admIrals, Saun-
ders, Durell and Holmes, acting as
convoy and transports for the army.
made the attack upon the citadel IAN
integral part of a world wide scheme
of naval strategy; and Wolfe's army
was simply a landing party on large
scale"
Major Woods narrative of the actual
siege operations against Quebec and
the final struggle on the Plains OF
Abraham has the technical minuteness
of day-by-day diary. From his vast
documentary sources the writer is en-
abled to give in finest detail the scheme
OF attacks and counter-attacks, feints
and assaults which finally eliminated
in the midnight landing of the grena
diers and the mornings battle on the
plains Wood deprecates the too pop