g to outflank the enemy by a night
march. As for the English, seeing how impossible it was to hold the
outpost against so large an army, they spiked their guns, destroyed
their works, and finally withdrew to the city.

[Footnote 32: This romantic story is not fully established. Parkman
cites it as historical, but Kingsford considers it disproved by
General Murray's _Journal_. Its original source is the diary of the
Chevalier de Levis, but it also appears in _The Campaign of 1760_,
attributed to the Chevalier Johnstone, Montcalm's Scotch
_aide-de-camp_.]

[Illustration: OLD FRENCH HOUSE, ST. JOHN STREET]

Once again Quebec was on the eve of invasion, and as Murray
contemplated his serious position, it is hardly a matter of wonder
that his plan of defence savoured more of boldness than of prudence.
The breached ramparts offered but a feeble defence; the frost-bound
earth made it impossible to protect the city by an intrenched camp;
and the commissariat department could not sustain a long investment.
The situation is well summarised in the General's letter to Pitt: "The
enemy was greatly superior in number, it is true; but when I
considered that our little army was in the habit of beating the enemy,
and had a very fine train of field artillery; that shutting ourselves
at once within the walls was putting all upon the single chance of
holding out for a considerable time in a wretched fortification, I
resolved to give them battle; and half an hour after six in the
morning we marched with all the force I could muster, namely, three
thousand men."

[Illustration: General Sir A. P. Irving,
2nd Governor of Canada 1766.]

It was the 28th of April, and the snow still lay upon the ground.
Murray's army marched out through the gates in two columns, and
took up a strong position on that rolling mound upon the Plains which
was known as _Les Buttes-a-Neveu_. The force was disposed as follows:
The right wing, consisting of the divisions of Amherst, Anstruther,
and Webb, with the second battalion Royal Americans, was commanded by
Colonel Burton; Colonel Fraser was in charge of the left, which
comprised Kennedy's and Bragg's divisions, and Lascelles' Highlanders;
while Otway's and the third battalion Royal Americans, commanded by
Colonel Young, formed a corps of reserve. Major Dalling, with the
Light Infantry, covered the right; and Hazen's Rangers and a company
of volunteers, under Captain Donald M'Donald, were on the left. Each