The Three Sieges of Quebec
Marking the 250th anniversary of General Wolfe’s victory over the French at Quebec, Jeremy Black considers the strategy employed by British forces in their struggle to gain and hold Canada.
Last year Canada and France celebrated the foundation of the first lasting French settlement at Quebec in 1608. This year Canada and Britain commemorate the heroism and skill of James Wolfe on the 250th anniversary of the British capture of Quebec, the key military position in New France, the French colony in North America.
Yet Wolfe's victory in 1759 was not the end of the story. The nature of the British achievement of 1759 can best be appreciated if it is seen in relation to two other seiges of Quebec that followed. The first took place in 1760 when French forces tried to recapture the city, the second when the Americans laid seige to it in 1775-76. Significantly, 1759 was the only one in which the city fell.
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