Major General James Wolfe example essay topic

The history books should be re-written as to include Major-General James Wolfe as one of the founding fathers of our country. During the Seven years War he served as part of the British military and was the commander-in-chief of the British, American, and Highlander forces at the Battle of Quebec. His plan of attack up the Anse du Foulon to the Plains of Abraham was not only incredibly daring, but highly effective as it was this decisive move that allowed Wolfe's army to capture the city of Quebec. He caught the French forces completely off guard and was therefore able to even out the numbers to almost completely even fighting forces. The question that lies ahead of me in this paper is to answer a two part question to the best of my ability with the research I have done. How was James Wolfe able to lead the English forces, which were outnumbered 4 to 1, to victory?

Was this victory at the Battle of Quebec truly a victory of a madman? The siege of Quebec was a chess match between two men, Major-General James Wolfe of the British army, and Marquis de Montcalm of the French military. Major-General James Wolfe had been in service to the British army since the age of fifteen. However, his involvement in the army started at age thirteen and a half when he volunteered to go with his father on the Carthegena Expedition.

Luckily for him he became ill and was sent home before setting sail. The Carthegena Expedition was a terrible excursion and took the lives of many stronger men to severe fever. It was inconceivable that a boy of Wolfe's age at the time would have survived such an expedition. Officially enlisting at the age of fifteen, James Wolfe had all the makings of a military prodigy. In fact, it was documented that for his leave from the army after being named lieutenant-colonel that he wanted to study artillery and engineering at Metz but was refused.

Wolfe was able to successfully gain rank at a young age through diligence on the battlefield, and great military understanding. Major-General Wolfe understood the military better than most everybody he acted as a subordinate. Wolfe felt that there were problems with the British military due to political appointments where military appointments were needed. On top of this, Wolfe deemed chivalry one of the most important qualities of a strong military. During the Jacobite revolution Wolfe was riding with a superior through the battlefield when he was ordered to shoot a wounded highlander who had been staring at them.

In response Wolfe rebutted with the statement, "My commission is at your Highness's disposal, but I can never consent to be an executioner" (Hart, 216). In this act, Wolfe was able to show that one person can be enthralled with war without being consumed by it entirely. In previous courses that I have partaken in it had always been told that Captain James Wolfe was a "mad-man at the end of his wit", and that his attack at the Anse du Foulon was a "last ditch effort for Wolfe to die with honor on the field of battle". Indeed James Wolfe had his share of problems. Before being able to rejoice in being promoted to captain of the 4th Foot, he was passed the grave news that his brother Edward, one year his inferior, had died from the inclement conditions at Flanders. However, Wolfe was one of the lucky people who understood death as part of war.

Wolfe's main problem was the way that the military was handled by those in charge. Speaking on the refusal for his leave to Metz to study in artillery, he sent a private letter in which he described his unhappiness with their (his superiors) decision; "They oppose the only method that can be fallen upon to preserve any knowledge of military affairs in the army."This is a dreadful mistake and, if obstinately pursued, will disgust a number of good intentions, and preserve that prevailing ignorance of military affairs that has been so fatal to us in all our undertakings... ". (Hart, 223). Wolfe clearly was despondent, but nonetheless he continued on in his leadership to the best of his ability. However, Wolfe wasn't completely the dreadful picture that I have painted thus far.

In fact, Wolfe was a very personable character and understood full that troop morale was undoubtedly one of the keys to a successful army. With this in mind, Wolfe was known to throw the occasional dance, inviting the local women to come and enjoy the company of British soldiers. Wolfe was a man who was able to enjoy the finer things in life as well as the next. In October of 1752, Wolfe took leave to Paris where he woke up an hour before dawn so that he could get all of his daily routines in; his daily routines which included riding, fencing, and dancing.

Having already studied Latin extensively, Wolfe found himself being tutored in French as well during his stay in Paris. After five months in Paris, Wolfe had planned to go to the countryside and visit French camps. However, his commanding officer didn't feel that it was a sufficient use of his leave and recalled him almost immediately upon hearing his pending request. Wolfe then headed back to the lugubrious setting of Glasgow where he found his company in quite a bit of disarray.

Finally good fortune found him as he was named Major-General of forces heading to America. This title was only bestowed upon him when he was present in North America, but that was only how long he was going to need the title. After being a part in capturing the strongest fortress in the New World, Louisburg, Wolfe was to return to London for two months in order to recuperate. It was upon his return that he was to navigate down the St. Lawrence River and lay siege upon the city of Quebec. His force of roughly nine thousand soldiers was comprised of British regulars, Scottish Highlanders, and American troops. Wolfe thought very highly of the Scottish Highlanders, saying that they were, "commanded by the most manly corps of officers I ever saw (Hart, 233)".

This was much more highly a regard then he held the Americans calling them, "the dirtiest most contemptible cowardly dogs that you can conceive (Hart, 255)". He even continued on to say that they were, "the worst soldiers in the world" (Donaldson, 100). However, Wolfe still was upset at the fact that he only received six companies of the American Rangers at Louisburg. "Wolfe was to be hailed as "the soldier's friend", a general loved by his men, but his letters are marked by violent outbursts against the common soldier" (Donaldson, 99). Wolfe even went on to insult his British regulars. "I know their discipline to be bad and their valour precarious.

They are easily put to disorder and hard to recover out of it. They frequently kill their officers through fear and murder one another in confusion" (Donaldson, 100). Major-General Wolfe was the epitome of backstabber. He had no actual care for the well-being of his soldiers.

He merely saw them as pawns in his chess game of military battle. He knew that to their faces he had to seem as if he cared about them, but in the letters he wrote his true colors shone through. Upon arriving at Quebec, Wolfe was able to see the defenses of the city. Stretching eight miles east of the city were the Beauport Lines which were entrenched and heavily defended.

Directly in front of the city and stretching to the west were a series of seemingly impassable cliffs. Wolfe immediately realized that an attack on the city would be at a devastating cost. Since the roughly nine thousand men that were under his command were outnumber almost 2 to 1, Wolfe knew that he was going to have to lure the French out and beat them with tactical brilliance rather than sheer power. The initial camp, and the camp that would remain Wolfe's main camp, was just east of the Beauport Lines on the other side of the St. Lawrence. His first order of business was to split up his forces between his brigadiers.

Townsend, Monckton, and Murray were his three brigadiers all of whom Wolfe had the utmost confidence in. Monckton's brigade was sent to Point Levis, just south of the city (Hart, 261). This was the staging point for the bombing of the city. The English had now also secured an encampment at the Isle of Orleans and were poised to fight.

The only problem with this was that Marquis de Montcalm had his troops in a virtually impenetrable position, and Montcalm knew this. Montcalm knew that the best way for him to protect the city of Quebec was to allow Wolfe to make the first move. Quebec was so well defended that there was no conceivable way that the English army would be able to bypass the French defensive positions. The French had the English greatly outnumbered and were in complete control of the situation.

The bombing by Monckton's forces from Point Levis was a constant annoyance and indeed brought a considerable amount of damage to the city, but it still was not enough to lure the French out to battle. This is where Wolfe seems to deviate down the road of uncertainty. Wolfe's actions could be seen as insane, seeing how he attacked a place where there was no conceivable victory in sight. It is just lost in the shuffle that he is only 32 years of age. As far as Major-Generals go, he's extremely young, and with that youth comes the anxiousness.

Wolfe attempted to lure out the French at Montmorency, but he failed miserably and slipped into an illness that didn't allow him the luxury of getting out of bed. After days of recuperation, Wolfe was finally able to get out of bed and assume command again. He then planned to attack at the Anse du Foulon, but told nobody of his plan until a couple nights before to prevent any leak in information (Parkman, 319). He chose this spot, not because he was crazy and just wanted to die, but because he notice that it was guarded by a camp with less then a dozen tents. Surprise was a vital element in this attack, catching the French off guard was the only way for the English to be able to take the upper hand in any battle with the French. Knowing this, Wolfe ordered Admiral Saunders and his men to row back and forth to the east of the city.

This way the French's undivided attention would be focused to the east as the real invasion came from the west. At 2 a.m. the row boats came to the base of the Anse du Foulon where there was a path leading through towards the city. The French in the area were taken completely by surprise and did not put up much of a resistance. The English forces easily marched up through the path and found themselves emptied into the Plains of Abraham to the west of the city. Here the English forces took their positions and lay down as to make themselves a more difficult target.

The map below shows exactly where each regiment was set up. You can notice the right angle to the north of the English lines. This was put in place solely under the intention of thwarting off Indians and sharpshooters that were attempting to curl behind the English forces. The moment had arrived and Wolfe could not have been happier. Montcalm was alerted to the presence of the English forces to the West and rode quickly to find an opposing army lined up and waiting for their orders. In a panic, Montcalm decided to attack at around 10 a. m., and the results were disastrous.

The French force started firing too soon and they were at a full out sprint so that their lines were broken by themselves. Wolfe's well trained battalion waited for his fire command and when they could see the whites of their eyes the command was given and after two volleys the French were in complete retreat. Wolfe, who had been hit in the wrist during the French charge, now ran in pursuit of the retreating French army along with the Louisburg Grenadiers. It was during this charge that he was fatally hit. He was carried to the back where he asked for no surgeon.

The final words he uttered were, "Now God be praised, I die happy (Donaldson, 173)". This picture by Edward Penny in 1763 is a more accurate portrayal of what had actually happened during his death. In the distance you can see the English forces chasing after the retreating forces. The other version of the painting made seven years later by Benjamin West depicted characters that were not even at the scene to give Wolfe a more dramatic demise (May, 31). Although the West painting is more famous and well known, I think it is more important to have a more realistic sense of what actually was happening at the time. This painting by Penny is more useful as a historical source than West's painting.

In conclusion, the success of the English was strongly due to Wolfe's ingenious strategy to capture Quebec. There is no historical evidence that I could come across that indicated that he was in any way insane. Like most geniuses in their time they are often times misunderstood. James Wolfe was a military genius and was very much responsible for this nation's birth. His deep understanding of the military allowed him to take calculated risks that won him the Battle of Quebec. By distracting the larger portion of the French forces, Wolfe was able to get a fair fight upon numbers, but not at all in the sense of military ability.

He was not mad, he was a student of war and he was able to excel when it counted the most. When it was told to King George II that Wolfe was mad the king replied with, "Mad is he? Then I hope he will bite some of my other generals!" (May, 25). Not only did Wolfe have the respect of his soldiers, but even that of the king of his country. Patton was considered a madman as well, but at the end of the day results are what count. He died heroically on the battle field, victorious, and will forever be one of the most infamous characters of modern American history.

Bibliography

Liddell Hart, Sir Basil Henry, Great Captains Unveiled, Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, Inc., 1967 Donaldson, Gordon, Battle for a Continent;
Quebec 1759, Toronto, Ontario: Doubleday Canada Limited, 1973 May, Robin, Wolfe's Army, New York, NY: Osprey Publishing Limited, 1974 Parkman, Francis, Montcalm and Wolfe Vol.
II, Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Company, 1884.