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Wolfe, Maj Gen James (1727-59). Son of a general, Wolfe joined his father's regiment in 1741 and was its adjutant at Dettingen (1743). A brevet major at Culloden, he declined an order from Lt Gen Hawley, on whose staff he was serving, to pistol a wounded Jacobite officer. A colonel by 1750, Wolfe turned his regiment into one of the best-trained in the army. ‘I have a very mean opinion of the infantry in general, ’ he told his father. ‘I know their discipline to be bad, & their valour precarious. They are easily put into disorder & hard to recover out of it; they frequently kill their Officers thro' fear, and murder one another in their confusion.’ His regimental orders warned: ‘A soldier who quits his rank, or offers to flag, is instantly to be put to death by the officer who commands that platoon’.
In 1757 Wolfe took part in the abortive expedition to Rochefort, but performed so well that he was sent, as a brigadier, on the Louisbourg expedition to North America. Here he covered himself with glory, and was promoted. Given command of the attack on Quebec, Wolfe made slow progress, and fell seriously ill. Recovering, he asked his brigadiers for advice. They recommended a landing upstream of the city, and he duly slipped a force onto the Heights of Abraham. His adversary, Montcalm, came out to meet him, and both were mortally wounded in a firefight won by superior British musketry.
Wolfe was a strange mixture. His romantic streak led him to declare that he would rather have written Gray's Elegy than take Quebec, but there was nothing romantic in his views on discipline. His fierce energy blazed from a weedy frame, with weak chin and pointed nose. Had he escaped French musketry he would have died of the galloping consumption that was already eating him away.
— Richard Holmes
| US Military Dictionary: James Wolfe |
Wolfe, James (1727-1759) British army officer. Born in Westerham, Kent, England, in 1727, James Wolfe entered the British military service as a lieutenant in his father's regiment of marines in 1741. He commanded a company in Flanders, was appointed brigade major in 1745, and served at the Battle of Culloden that same year. He then returned to fight in the Netherlands where he was wounded at Laeffelt. In January 1748, he obtained a majority in the 20th Regiment of Foot. Since the regiment's colonel, Lord Charles Cornwallis, was often absent, Wolfe, who was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1749, frequently commanded the regiment and introduced a system of tactics which remained in use for some time. In June 1757, he was made quartermaster general of Newcastle's expedition against Rochefort, France, and was subsequently rewarded for his service with brevet promotion to colonel. In 1758, William Pitt offered Wolfe a brigade command in Sir Jeffrey Amherst's expedition against Louisbourg. Wolfe subsequently distinguished himself during the landing and successful siege of the French fortress. After the capture of Louisbourg, Wolfe was sent to destroy French fishing camps in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, after which he returned to England. Although he had never held an independent command, in 1759 Wolfe was selected by Prime Minister William Pitt to command the British expedition against Quebec. Wolfe's initial assault on the Marquis de Montcalm's position at Montmorency (July 31, 1759) failed, but in August he moved his forces up the river to a point above the city, and in the early morning hours of September 13, 1759, seized the Plains of Abraham, forcing Montcalm into an attack which failed. Both Montcalm and Wolfe were mortally wounded during the brief engagement.
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
| Biography: James Wolfe |
James Wolfe (1727-1759), English general, led the British troops to their famous victory over the French at the Plains of Abraham near Quebec.
James Wolfe was born into a military household on Jan. 2, 1727, at Westerhan, Kent. He attached himself as a volunteer to his father's regiment at the age of 13 and 2 years later received a commission in that regiment. Shortly afterward, he joined the 12th Foot as an ensign. In 1743 he fought at Dettingen as battalion adjutant. In the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, he was brigade major and aide to Gen. "Hangman" Hawley. Wolfe was cited by the Duke of Cumberland for his part in the battle at Lanfoldt, a factor in his being given command of the 20th Regiment at the age of 23. After his promotion to lieutenant colonel in 1750, he served as quartermaster general in the ill-fated attempt on Rochefort.
In the continuing conflict between the French and British in Canada, Wolfe distinguished himself as a brigadier under Gen. Jeffery Amherst in early 1758 during the successful siege of Ft. Louisbourg. After ravaging the settlements of the "Canadian vermin" along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, he returned to England although he had received no specific orders to do so. Then, becoming bored with garrison life, he offered his services to Prime Minister William Pitt, expressing a preference for duty in the St. Lawrence area.
In Pitt's plan to take Canada, Amherst was to drive north to take Ticonderoga and Montreal. Wolfe, now a major-general, was given an independent command to take Quebec. On June 4, 1759, the expedition sailed from Louisbourg with a total of 8,500 troops, and by June 27 the army had disembarked and camped on Île d'Orléans opposite Quebec. A bombardment of Quebec from batteries on Pointe de Le'vis and raiding parties through the countryside failed to lure the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm, out of the city. On July 31 a British attack at Beauport failed because of strong French resistance and a sudden storm.
Wolfe sent out punitive expeditions, burning homes and killing inhabitants, hoping that the Canadians would desert Montcalm. Illness swept through the British army. Wolfe's personal relations with the officers of the army worsened. The famous statement, "I can only say, Gentlemen, that if the choice were mine, I would rather be the author of these verses [Gray's "Elegy"] than win the battle which we are to fight tomorrow morning," is said to have been uttered by Wolfe in a fit of pique when his officers did not properly appreciate his recitation.
On Sept. 3, 1759, the Pointe de Le'vis camp was evacuated, and preparations were made for an all-out attack on the city before cold weather. On the night of September 13, the British scrambled up a zig-zag path at Anse au Foulon and overpowered the French guard at the top of the cliff. On the following morning the British were drawn up on the Plains of Abraham. Montcalm sallied out of the city, and the battle began about 2 P.M.
Early in the battle Wolfe received a wound in the wrist from a sniper and later a belly wound from an artillery splinter. He had his ranks hold their fire until the enemy were within 50 yards. The badly mauled French were routed; their general was among the fatalities. Wolfe received another wound, through the lungs, supposedly from the gun of an English deserter. He died shortly afterward with the words: "Now, God be praised. Since I have conquered, I will die in peace." Quebec surrendered on September 18. Wolfe's body was returned to England and was buried in the family vault at Greenwich.
Further Reading
Wolfe has been a popular subject for biographers. Christopher Hibbert, Wolfe at Quebec (1959), provides insight into Wolfe's personality. Duncan Grinnell-Milne, Mad, Is He?: The Character and Achievement of James Wolfe (1963), is chiefly a defense of Wolfe's military career. Older works include Francis Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe (2 vols., 1884; new intro., 1962); Beckles Willson, The Life and Letters of James Wolfe (1909); J. T. Findlay, Wolfe in Scotland (1928); W. T. Waugh, James Wolfe: Man and Soldier (1928); and Frederick E. Whitton, Wolfe and North America (1929). For the struggle between England and France for control of North America see Lawrence H. Gipson's multivolume work, The British Empire before the American Revolution, particularly vol. 7: The Great War for Empire: The Victorious Years, 1758-1760 (1949), and vol. 8: The Great War for Empire: The Culmination, 1760-1763 (1954).
Additional Sources
Garrett, Richard, General Wolfe, London: Barker, 1975.
Liddell Hart, Basil Henry, Sir, Great captains unveiled, London: Greenhill Books; Novato, Ca., U.S.A.: Presidio Press, 1990.
Pringle, John, Sir, Life of General James Wolfe, the conqueror of Canada, or, the elogium of that renowned hero, attempted according to the rules of eloquence with a monumental inscription, Latin and English, to perpetuate his memory, Montreal: Grant Woolmer Books, 1974.
| British History: James Wolfe |
Wolfe, James (1727-59). Born in Westerham (Kent) into a military family, Wolfe was an intelligent and articulate professional soldier. He fought at Culloden and with distinction in the Rochefort expeditionary force. Marked out by William Pitt for Canadian service, he served bravely at Louisbourg in 1758. Appointed a major-general, he led the assault on Quebec in 1759. His tactical success and youthful death in victory on 13 September 1759 ensured his entry to the pantheon of British heroes. His statement that he would rather have written Gray's ‘Elegy’ than capture Quebec is not forgotten.
| Spotlight: James Wolfe |
From our Archives: Today's Highlights, January 2, 2006
| Columbia Encyclopedia: James Wolfe |
Bibliography
See biographies by C. Hibbert (1959) and D. R. Robin (1960); F. Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe (1884); R. Howard, Wolfe at Quebec (1965).
| Wikipedia: James Wolfe |
| James Wolfe | |
|---|---|
| January 2, 1727 – September 13, 1759 (aged 32) | |
 "Major General Wolfe. Who, at the Expence of his Life, purchas'd immortal Honour for his Country, and planted,with his own Hand, the British Laurel, in the inhospitable Wilds of North America, By the Reduction of Quebec, Septr. 13th. 1759." |
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| Place of birth | Westerham, Kent, England |
| Place of death | Quebec, New France |
| Resting place | St Alfege Church, Greenwich |
| Allegiance | Great Britain |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 1740–13 September 1759 † |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Dettingen, Battle of Lauffeld (War of Austrian Succession) Battle of Falkirk, Battle of Culloden (Jacobite uprising) Battle of the Plains of Abraham† (Seven Years War) |
| Relations | Lieutenant General Edward Wolfe (father) |
General James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada and establishing British rule there.
Wolfe's part in the taking of Quebec in 1759 earned him posthumous fame and he became an icon of Britain's victory in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion. He was depicted in the painting The Death of General Wolfe.
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James Peter Wolfe was born on 2 January 1727 at Westerham, Kent, the older of two sons of Colonel (later Lieutenant General) Edward Wolfe and the former Henrietta Thompson (his childhood home in Westerham has been preserved in his memory under the name Quebec House).[1]
In York, a fine timber framed house called 'The Black Swan' remains well preserved, and was the home of Edward Thompson MP Lord Mayor of York and his daughter Henrietta Wolfe (mother of Gen.James Wolfe)
Around 1738, the family moved to Greenwich, in London. From his earliest years, Wolfe was destined for a military career, entering his father's 1st Marine regiment as a volunteer at the age of 13.
Illness prevented him from taking part in a large expedition against Spanish-held Cartagena in 1740, and his father sent him home a few months later.[2] He was fortunate to miss what proved to be a disaster for the British forces at the Battle of Cartagena de Indias during the War of Jenkins' Ear.
In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out. Wolfe, initially unable to travel to the continent with his regiment due to his seasickness, transferred to the 12th Regiment of Foot, a British Army infantry regiment, and set sail for Flanders some months later. Here, he was promoted to lieutenant and made adjutant of his battalion. He took part in an offensive launched by the British. In 1743, Wolfe fought at the Battle of Dettingen, where his activities came to the attention of the Duke of Cumberland. A year later, he became a captain of the 45th Regiment of Foot.
In 1745, Wolfe's regiment was recalled to Britain to deal with the Jacobite rising. Wolfe served in Scotland in 1746 as aide-de-camp under General Henry Hawley in the campaign to defeat the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart. In this capacity, Wolfe participated in the Battle of Falkirk and the Battle of Culloden.[3] At Culloden, he famously refused to carry out an order of the Duke of Cumberland to shoot a wounded Highlander by stating that his honour was worth more than his commission. This act may have been a cause for his later popularity among the Royal Highland Fusiliers, whom he would later command.
Wolfe returned to Germany and the War of the Austrian Succession, serving under Sir John Mordaunt. He participated in the Battle of Lauffeld, where he was wounded and received an official commendation for servies to Britain. In 1748, at just 21 years of age and with service in seven campaigns, Wolfe returned to Britain following the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which ended the war.
Once home, he was posted to Scotland and garrison duty, and a year later was made a major, in which rank he assumed command of the 20th Regiment, stationed at Stirling. In 1750, Wolfe at the age of 22—was confirmed as lieutenant colonel of the regiment. During the eight years Wolfe remained in Scotland, he wrote military pamphlets and became proficient in French, as a result of several trips to Paris. Despite struggling with bouts of ill health suspected to be tuberculosis, he also tried to keep himself mentally fit by teaching himself Latin and mathematics, also Wolfe trained his body too, pushing himself to improve his swordsmenship and attending scessions where he learned about science and how to improve his leadership skills. Wolfe worked hard despite his illness and learned from many people.
In 1756, with the outbreak of open hostilities with France, Wolfe was promoted to Colonel. He was stationed in Canterbury where his regiment had been posted to guard Kent against a French invasion threat. He was extremely dispirited by news of the loss of Minorca in June 1756, lamenting the lack of professionalism amongst the British forces.
In 1757 Wolfe participated in the British amphibious assault on Rochefort, a seaport on the French Atlantic coast. He was selected to take part in the expedition partly because of his friendship with its commander, Sir John Mordaunt. As well as his regimental duties, Wolfe also served as Quartermaster General for the whole expedition.
The attempt failed as, after capturing an island offshore, the British made no attempt to land on the mainland and press on to Rochefort, and instead withdrew home. Nonetheless, Wolfe was one of the few military leaders who had distinguished himself in the raid - having gone ashore to scout the terrain, and having constantly urged Mordaunt into action. As a result, Wolfe was brought to the notice of the Prime Minister, William Pitt, the Elder. Pitt had determined that the best gains in the war were to be made in North America where France was vulnerable, and planned to launch an assault on French Canada.
On 23 January 1758 James Wolfe was appointed as a brigadier general, and sent with Major General Jeffrey Amherst to lay siege to Fortress of Louisbourg in New France (located in present-day Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia). Wolfe distinguished himself in preparations for the assault, the initial landing and in the aggressive advance of siege batteries. The French capitulated in June of that year.
As Wolfe had comported himself admirably at Louisbourg, William Pitt the Elder chose him to lead the British assault on Quebec City the following year, with the rank of major general. The British army laid siege to the city for three months. During that time, Wolfe issued a written document, known as Wolfe's Manifesto, to the French-Canadian (Québécois) civilians, as part of his strategy of psychological intimidation. In March 1759, prior to arriving at Quebec, Wolfe had written to Amherst: "If, by accident in the river, by the enemy’s resistance, by sickness or slaughter in the army, or, from any other cause, we find that Quebec is not likely to fall into our hands (persevering however to the last moment), I propose to set the town on fire with shells, to destroy the harvest, houses and cattle, both above and below, to send off as many Canadians as possible to Europe and to leave famine and desolation behind me; but we must teach these scoundrels to make war in a more gentleman like manner."
After an extensive yet inconclusive bombardment of the city, and a failed attack north of Quebec at Beauport, where the French were securely entrenched, Wolfe then led 200 ships with 9,000 soldiers and 18,000 sailors on a very bold and risky amphibious landing at the base of the cliffs west of Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. His army, with two small cannons, scaled the cliffs early on the morning of September 13, 1759, surprising the French under the command of the Marquis de Montcalm, who thought the cliffs would be unclimbable. Faced with the possibility that the British would haul more cannons up the cliffs and knock down the city's remaining walls, the French fought the British on the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. They were defeated after fifteen minutes of battle, but when Wolfe began to move forward, he was shot three times, once in the arm, once in the shoulder, and finally in the chest.
Historian Francis Parkman describes the death of Wolfe:
They asked him [Wolfe] if he would have a surgeon; but he shook his head, and answered that all was over with him. His eyes closed with the torpor of approaching death, and those around sustained his fainting form. Yet they could not withhold their gaze from the wild turmoil before them, and the charging ranks of their companions rushing though the line of fire and smoke.
"See how they run." one of the officers exclaimed, as the French fled in confusion before the leveled bayonets.
"Who run?" demanded Wolfe, opening his eyes like a man aroused from sleep.
"The enemy, sir," was the reply; "they give way everywhere."
"Then," said the dying general, "tell Colonel River, to cut off their retreat from the bridge. Now, God be praised, I die contented," he murmured; and, turning on his side, he calmly breathed his last breath.
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham is notable for causing the deaths of the top military commander on each side: Montcalm died the next day from his wounds. Wolfe's victory at Quebec enabled an assault on the French at Montreal the following year. With the fall of that city, French rule in North America, outside of the tiny islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, came to an end.
Wolfe's body was returned to Britain and interred in the family vault in St Alfege Church, Greenwich alongside his father (who had died in March 1759).
Wolfe was renowned by his troops for being demanding on himself and on them. Although he was prone to illness, Wolfe was an active and restless figure. Amherst was to report that Wolfe seemed to be everywhere at once. There was a story that when someone in the British Court branded the young Brigadier mad, King George II retorted, "Mad, is he? Then I hope he will bite some of my other generals." Some biographers including Richard Garrett have suggested Wolfe may have been a repressed homosexual, and that he was once severely reprimanded by his father for having sex with a young and very attractive aide.
The inscription on the obelisk at Quebec City, erected to commemorate the battle on the Plains of Abraham once read: "Here Died Wolfe Victorious." Now it simply reads: "Here Died Wolfe." [4] Wolfe's defeat of the French led to the British capture of the New France department of Canada, and his "hero's death" made him a legend in his homeland. The Wolfe legend led to the famous painting The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West, the Anglo-American folk ballad "Brave Wolfe"[1] (sometimes known as "Bold Wolfe"), and the opening line of the patriotic Canadian anthem, "The Maple Leaf Forever."
The site where Wolfe purportedly fell is marked by a column surmounted by a helmet and sword. An inscription at its base reads, in French and English, "Here died Wolfe - September 13th, 1759." It replaces a large stone which had been placed there by British troops to mark the spot. There is a memorial to Wolfe in Westminster Abbey by Joseph Wilton and a statue of him overlooks the Royal Naval College in Greenwich. A statue also graces the green in his native Westerham, Kent, alongside one of that village's other famous resident, Sir Winston Churchill. At Stowe Landscape Gardens in Buckinghamshire there is an obelisk, known as Wolfe's obelisk, built by the family that owned Stowe as Wolfe spent his last night in England at the mansion. Wolfe is buried under the Church of St Alfege, Greenwich, where there are four memorials to him: a replica of his coffin plate in the floor; The Death of Wolfe, a painting completed in 1762 by Edward Peary; a wall tablet; and a stained glass window. In addition the local primary school is named after him.
In 1761, as a perpetual memorial to Wolfe, George Warde, a friend of Wolfe's from boyhood and the second son of John Warde Esq of Squerryes Court, Westerham, instituted the Wolfe Society, which to this day meets annually in Westerham for the Wolfe Dinner to his "Pious and Immortal Memory".
There are several institutions, localities, thoroughfares, and landforms named in honour of him in Canada. Significant monuments to Wolfe in Canada exist on the Plains of Abraham where he fell, and near Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Ontario Governor John Graves Simcoe named Wolfe Island (Ontario) an island near the Royal Military College of Canada in General James Wolfe's honour in 1792. On Sept. 13, 2009, the Wolfe Island Historical Society will lead celebrations on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of James Wolfe's victory at Quebec. A life-size statue in Wolfe's likeness is to be sculpted. [4]
A senior girls house at the Duke of York's Royal Military School is named after Wolfe, where all houses are named after prominent figures of the military. There is a James Wolfe school for children aged 5–11 down the hill from his house in Greenwich.
Artifacts and relics owned by Wolfe are held at Museums in both Canada and England, although some have mainly legendary association. Wolfe's cloak worn at Louisbourg, Quebec and at the Plains of Abraham is part of the British Royal Collection. In 2008 it was loaned to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax for an exhibit on the Siege of Louisbourg and in 2009 was loaned to the Army Museum at the Halifax Citadel.
The town of Wolfeboro is named in honor of Wolfe.
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There is such a choice of difficulties that I am myself at a loss how to determine.
- James Wolfe to William Pitt, shortly before the battle in which Wolfe died
