bduing
all the Lower Canada; the inhabitants of which actually submitted, and
took the oath of allegiance to the king of Great Britain. [550] _[See
note 4 M, at the end of this Vol.]_ The garrison., however, within the
walls of Quebec, suffered greatly from the excessive cold in the winter,
and the want of vegetables and fresh provisions; insomuch that, before
the end of April, one thousand soldiers were dead of the scurvy, and
twice that number rendered unfit for service. Such was the situation of
the garrison, when Mr. Murray received undoubted intelligence that the
French commander, the chevalier de Levis, was employed in assembling
his army, which had been cantoned in the neighbourhood of Montreal;
that from the inhabitants of the country he had completed his eight
battalions, regimented forty companies of the troops de Colonie, and
determined to undertake the siege of Quebec, whenever the river St.
Laurence should be so clear of ice that he could use his four frigates,
and other vessels, by means of which he was entirely master of the
river.

The brigadier, considering the city of Quebec as no other than a strong
cantonment, had projected a plan of defence, by extending lines, and
intrenching his troops on the heights of Abraham, which at the distance
of eight hundred paces, entirely commanded the ramparts of the city,
and might have been defended by a small force against a formidable army.
Fascines, and every other necessary for this work, had been provided;
and in the month of April the men were set at work upon the projected
lines: but the earth was so hardened by the frost, that it was
found impracticable to proceed. Being informed on the night of the
twenty-sixth, that the enemy had landed at Point-au-Tremble, to the
number of ten thousand men, with five hundred savages, he ordered all
the bridges over the river Cape Rouge to be broken down, secured the
landing places at Sylleri and the Foulon; and next day, marching in
person with a strong detachment, and two field-pieces, took possession
of an advantageous situation, and thus defeated the scheme which the
French commander had laid for cutting off the posts which the English
had established. These being all withdrawn, the brigadier that same
afternoon marched back to Quebec, with little or no loss, although his
rear was harassed by the enemy. Here he formed a resolution which hath
been censured by some critics in war, as a measure that savoured more
of youth