Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint Veran (28 February 1712-14 September 1759) was a Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom of France during the War of the Austrian Succession and the French and Indian War. Montcalm was killed at the battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 by grapeshot in the decisive battle of the war.
Biography[]
The mortally wounded Montcalm returning to the city of Quebec
Sent to defend Canada against the British in May 1756, Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm, was a professional soldier who had proved his courage and competence in the War of the Austrian Succession. Accustomed to the honorable formalities of European warfare, he was not impressed by the Canadian colonial troops and militia that formed a large part of his new command, and he was appalled at the need to use Native American auxiliaries who behaved, in his view, with unpardonable savagery. Montcalm's initial successes in the capture of Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry were marred by Indian massacres of prisoners and the wounded that he could not prevent. At Fort Carillon in July 1758, he routed a poorly led British force that outnumbered his troops by four to one.
Death in battle[]
Montcalm's insistence of conducting the war on European lines, however, held out little long-term prospect of success against the growing strength of British forces. Rejecting the possibility of a guerrilla war and unleashing Indian raids, in 1759, he concentrated his forces around Quebec and Montreal. From June to September he defended Quebec skillfully against British attack. He died honorably, as he would have wished, cut down by grapeshot facing the enemy in open battle outside the city on the Plains of Abraham.
Gallery[]
