Battle of Sainte - Foy The Battle of Sainte - Foy , sometimes called the Battle of Quebec , was fought on April 28 , 1760 near the British - held town of Quebec in the French province of Canada during the Seven Years ' War ( called the French and Indian War in the United States ) . It was a victory for the French under the Chevalier de Lévis over the British army under General Murray . The battle was notably bloodier than the Battle of the Plains of Abraham of the previous September , with 833 French casualties to 1 , 124 British casualties . It was the last French victory of the French and Indian War . At first the British had some success , but the advance masked their artillery , while the infantry became bogged down in the mud and melting snowdrifts of the late spring . The battle turned into a two - hour fight at close range ; eventually , as more French soldiers joined the fray , the French turned the British flanks , forcing Murray to realize his mistake and to recall the British back to Quebec without their guns , which Lévis then turned on the city . Background . New France had suffered significant setbacks in the 1758 campaigns of the French and Indian War . Its fortress at Louisbourg was lost in a siege by British forces , and Fort Duquesne was abandoned to another advancing British army . The situation got worse in 1759 when Fort Carillon and Fort Niagara were taken , and the key citadel of Quebec fell after a prolonged siege and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham of September 13 , 1759 . The French army regrouped in Montreal under General Chevalier de Lévis . Meanwhile the British army , left behind in Quebec after the fleet sailed at the end of October 1759 , suffered from hunger , scurvy and the travails of living in a city that they had largely destroyed in the siege . In April 1760 , Lévis returned to Quebec with an army of over 7 , 000 men , including Canadian militia and First Nations warriors . He hoped to besiege Quebec and force its surrender in the spring , when he expected a French fleet to arrive . General James Murray , left in command at Quebec , felt that his army was too small to adequately defend the walls of Quebec , which had not been improved much since the British capture of the town . He therefore moved some 3 , 800 men into the field , all he could muster , along with over twenty cannon , to the same position that Montcalm had occupied for the 1759 battle . Rather than waiting for the French to advance , however , he took the gamble of going on the offensive . Battle . Forces . Lévis commanded 6 , 910 soldiers , including 3 , 889 in eight regular battalions . Compagnies Franches de la Marine comprised two more battalions . The remainder of his army was made up of Canadian militia , plus a handful of native allies . Of this force , approximately 5 , 000 and only three cannons were present on the field of Sainte - Foy . Murray ' s 3 , 886 - man force consisted of ten regular battalions , a converged light infantry battalion , and two companies of rangers . In order to cover the entire plateau , the battalions were each drawn up in two ranks with three - foot gaps between files , instead of the normal elbow - to - elbow formation . There were 40 - yard intervals between battalions . The light infantry covered the right flank . In order , from right to left , were the 48th Foot , 15th Foot , 58th Foot , 2nd battalion of the 60th Foot , 43rd Foot , 47th Foot , 78th Foot , and 28th Foot . The rangers and some volunteers covered the left flank . In reserve behind the right flank stood the 35th Foot , while the 3rd battalion of the 60th formed the left flank reserve . The infantry were supported by 20 cannons and two howitzers . One sergeant recorded that the British army was " a poor pitiful handful of half starved scorbutic skeletons . " North flank . Observing that the French army was still deploying , Murray resolved to strike his enemies before they were ready . As the British advanced , Lévis pulled his three formed right wing brigades back into the Sillery Woods . At this time , the French left wing had not yet deployed . The British light infantry drove some French grenadiers out of a windmill on the right flank . Pursuing , they soon ran into trouble . The French left wing troops aggressively attacked and scattered the light infantry . Murray committed the 35th Foot from his reserve and restored the right flank of the British line . However , a bitter struggle for possession of the windmill continued . Decision . The British left flank troops captured some redoubts , but then Lévis launched a powerful counterattack with his right wing . Murray sent in his final reserve , the 3 / 60th to stop this attack . He also pulled out the 43rd Foot from his center , which Levis had mostly ignored , and moved it to support his left flank . However , the British left flank finally gave way after suffering heavy losses , and the line collapsed from left to right . Lévis later claimed that he tried to cut the British off from Quebec , but a mischance allowed his enemies to escape . Instead of attacking straight ahead , as ordered , one of his right wing brigades went astray , heading over to help the left wing . At the beginning of the action the numerous British cannon kept the French attacks at bay . The French advance gained momentum when the guns began to run out of ammunition . When Murray ordered the line forward , their ammunition carts had become bogged in the snow . The British spiked and abandoned their guns in the retreat . Result . Casualties . The British army suffered 292 killed , 837 wounded , and 53 captured , for a total of 1 , 182 casualties . The French lost 833 men , including 193 killed and 640 wounded . The 15th Foot lost 138 out of 386 soldiers of all ranks , or 34 % casualties . Three - quarters of the officers of the Fraser Highlanders ( 78th ) were killed or wounded . This makes the Battle of Sainte - Foy one of the bloodiest engagements ever fought on Canadian soil . Failed siege . Lévis was , however , unable to retake Quebec . The British retreated behind the city ' s walls , and withstood Lévis ' feeble siege until the arrival of naval reinforcements in May . The French fleet never arrived , because France ' s naval hopes were smashed at Quiberon Bay the previous fall and the few supply ships sent from France were lost in the Bay of Chaleur in the Battle of Restigouche . When HMS " Lowestoffe " raised its flag as it neared Quebec , Lévis raised the siege and retreated to Montreal , where he surrendered in September to overwhelming British forces that approached the city from three directions .