Montcalm, Louis Joseph de
Montcalm, Louis Joseph de
(mŏntkäm`, Fr. lwē zhôzĕf` də môNkälm`), 1712–59, French general. His name in fuller form was Louis Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, marquis de Saint-Véran. A veteran of the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession, he was sent (1756) to defend Canada in the French and Indian War (see French and Indian WarsFrench and Indian Wars,1689–1763, the name given by American historians to the North American colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the late 17th and the 18th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. . His position was subordinate to that of the marquis de Vaudreuil de Cavagnal, governor of New France, and protests to the home authorities against the dishonesty of the provincial administration and the evil consequences of divided command were without avail. Montcalm's capture of Fort Ontario at Oswego (1756) restored control of Lake Ontario to France, and he besieged and captured (1757) Fort William Henry on Lake George. This victory was marred by the massacre of English prisoners by his Native American allies, although Montcalm finally restored order at the risk of his life. In 1758 he concentrated a force of 3,800 at Ticonderoga and successfully withstood an attack by a large British force under Gen. James Abercromby. In 1759, still handicapped by Vaudreuil's interference, Montcalm successfully defended Quebec against the siege of Gen. James WolfeWolfe, James,
1727–59, British soldier. After a distinguished record in European campaigns, he was made (1758) second in command to Jeffery Amherst in the last of the French and Indian Wars.
..... Click the link for more information. until the strategy of the English effected an open engagement (see Abraham, Plains ofAbraham, Plains of,
fairly level field adjoining the upper part of the city of Quebec, Canada. There, in 1759, the English under Gen. James Wolfe defeated the French under Gen. Louis Montcalm.
..... Click the link for more information. ). The British were victorious (Sept. 13, 1759), but both Wolfe and Montcalm were killed.
Bibliography
A classic account is that of F. Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe (1884, repr. 1965). See also biography by M. L. Lewis (1961); W. Wood, The Passing of New France (1914). See also bibliography under French and Indian WarsFrench and Indian Wars,
1689–1763, the name given by American historians to the North American colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the late 17th and the 18th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. .