Island, then called Isle St. Jean, was occupied by an English force as
the necessary consequence of the fall of the Cape Breton fortress. The
nation felt that its confidence in Pitt was fully justified, and that
the power of France in America was soon to be effectually broken.

In 1759 and 1760 Pitt's designs were crowned with signal success. Wolfe
proved at Quebec that the statesman had not overestimated his value as a
soldier and leader. Wolfe was supported by Brigadiers Moncton,
Townshend, Murray, and Guy Carleton--the latter a distinguished figure
in the later annals of Canada. The fleet was commanded by Admirals
Saunders, Durell and Holmes, all of whom rendered most effective
service. The English occupied the Island of Orleans and the heights of
Lévis, from which they were able to keep up a most destructive fire on
the capital. The whole effective force under Wolfe did not reach 9000
men, or 5000 less than the regular and Colonial army under Montcalm,
whose lines extended behind batteries and earthworks from the St.
Charles River, which washes the base of the rocky heights of the town,
as far as the falls of Montmorency. The French held an impregnable
position which their general decided to maintain at all hazards, despite
the constant efforts of Wolfe for weeks to force him to the issue of
battle. Above the city for many miles there were steep heights, believed
to be unapproachable, and guarded at all important points by detachments
of soldiery. Wolfe failed in an attempt which he made at Beauport to
force Montcalm from his defences, and suffered a considerable loss
through the rashness of his grenadiers. He then resolved on a bold
stroke which succeeded by its very audacity in deceiving his opponent,
and giving the victory to the English. A rugged and dangerous path was
used at night up those very heights which, Montcalm confidently
believed, "a hundred men could easily defend against the whole British
army." On the morning of the 13th September, 1759, Wolfe marshalled an