were waiting. The French now prepared to defend themselves
at once. But as the two divisions of boats came together,
they both rowed off through the gaps between the men-of-war.
Wolfe's army had broken camp and got safely away, right
under the noses of the French, without the loss of a
single man.

A whole week, from September 3 to 10, was then taken up
with trying to see how the brigadiers' plan could be
carried out.

This plan was good, as far as it went. An army is even
harder to supply than a town would be if the town was
taken up bodily and moved about the country. An army
makes no supplies itself, but uses up a great deal. It
must have food, clothing, arms, ammunition, stores of
all kinds, and everything else it needs to keep it fit
for action. So it must always keep what are called
'communications' with the places from which it gets these
supplies. Now, Wolfe's and Montcalm's armies were both
supplied along the St Lawrence, Wolfe's from below Quebec
and Montcalm's from above. But Wolfe had no trouble about
the safety of his own 'communications,' since they were
managed and protected by the fleet. Even before he first
saw Quebec, a convoy of supply ships had sailed from the
Maritime Provinces for his army under the charge of a
man-of-war. And so it went on all through the siege.
Including forty-nine men-of-war, no less than 277 British
vessels sailed up to Quebec during this campaign; and
not one of them was lost on the way, though the St Lawrence