Wolfe

To His Army Before Quebec^*
(1759)

This day puts it into your power to terminate the fatigues of a siege which has so long employed your courage and patience. Possessed with a full confidence of the certain success which British valor must gain over such enemies, I have led you up these steep and dangerous rocks, only solicitous to show you the foe within your reach. The impossibility of a retreat makes no difference in the situation of men resolved to conquer or die; and, believe me, my friends, if your conquest could be bought with the blood of your general, he would most cheerfully resign a life which he has long devoted to his country.

^* Delivered on the Plains of Abraham, before the battle, September 13, 1759. Wolfe’s men had been drawn up in six battalions in first line facing Quebec, two battalions covering the left flank, one being held in reserve.