4;
_Eggleston_, 129-131; _Source-book_, 103-105.]

99. Braddock's Defeat, 1755.--The English government now sent
General Braddock with a small army of regular soldiers to Virginia.
Slowly and painfully Braddock marched westward. Learning of his
approach, the French and Indians left Fort Duquesne to draw him into
ambush. But the two forces came together before either party was
prepared for battle. For some time the contest was even, then the
regulars broke and fled. Braddock was fatally wounded. With great skill,
Washington saved the survivors,--but not until four shots had pierced
his coat and only thirty of his three companies of Virginians were
left alive.

[Sidenote: The French and Indian War.]

[Sidenote: William Pitt, war minister, 1757.]

100. The War to 1759.--All the earlier French and Indian wars had
begun in Europe and had spread to America. This war began in America and
soon spread to Europe. At first affairs went very ill. But in 1757
William Pitt became the British war minister, and the war began to be
waged with vigor and success. The old generals were called home, and new
men placed in command. In 1758 Amherst and Wolfe captured Louisburg, and
Forbes, greatly aided by Washington, seized Fort Duquesne. Bradstreet
captured Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario. There was only one bad
failure, that of Abercrombie at Ticonderoga. But the next year Amherst
captured Ticonderoga and Crown Point and opened the way to Canada by
Lake Champlain.

[Illustration: WOLFE'S RAVINE. This shows the gradual ascent of the path
from the river to the top of the bluff.]

[Sidenote: Capture of Quebec, 1759. _Higginson_, 154-156; _Eggleston_,
137-139; _Source-Book_, 105-107.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Quebec.]

101. Capture of Quebec, 1759.--Of all the younger generals James
Wolfe was foremost. To him was given the task of capturing Quebec.
Seated on a high bluff, Quebec could not be captured from the river. The
only way to approach it was to gain the Plains of Abraham in its rear
and besiege it on the land side. Again and again Wolfe sent his men to
storm the bluffs below the town. Every time they failed. Wolfe felt that
he must give up the task, when he was told that a path led from the
river to the top of the bluff above the town. Putting his men into
boats, they gained the path in the darkness of night. There was a guard
at the top of the bluff, but the officer in command was a coward and ran
away. In the morning the British