they were all sons of peers, but because, like Howe and
Boscawen, they were first-rate officers as well. Barre
and Carleton were the two chief men on the staff. Each
became celebrated in later days, Barre in parliament,
and Carleton as both the saviour of Canada from the
American attack in 1775 and the first British
governor-general. Williamson, the best gunnery expert in
the whole Army, commanded the artillery. The only
troublesome officer was Townshend, who thought himself,
and whose family and political friends thought him, at
least as good a general as Wolfe, if not a better one.
But even Townshend did his duty well. The army at Halifax
was supposed to be twelve thousand, but its real strength
was only nine thousand. The difference was mostly due to
the ravages of scurvy and camp fever, both of which, in
their turn, were due to the bad food supplied by rascally
contractors. The action of the officers alone saved the
situation from becoming desperate. Indeed, if it had not
been for what the officers did for their men in the way
of buying better food, at great cost, out of their own
not well-filled pockets, there might have been no army
at all to greet Wolfe on his arrival in America.

The fleet was the greatest that had ever sailed across
the seas. It included one-quarter of the whole Royal
Navy. There were 49 men-of-war manned by 14,000 sailors
and marines. There were also more than 200 vessels--
transports, store ships, provision ships, etc.--manned
by about 7,000 merchant seamen. Thus there were at least
twice as many sailors as soldiers at the taking of Quebec.