James Wolfe
James Wolfe (born January 2, 1727 in Westerham , Kent , † September 13, 1759 in Québec ) was a British general , important for his role in the conquest of Canada by Great Britain . His conquest of the city of Québec in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on September 13, 1759 was the turning point in the French and Indian Wars that brought the British to rule Canada.
Life
James Wolfe was the son of officer Edward Wolfe (1685–1759) and his wife Henrietta (1704–1764) and raised from an early age for a military career, although he was a petite and sensitive child. In 1738 the family moved to Greenwich . At the age of 14 he joined his father's marine infantry regiment as a sub-lieutenant in 1742 and took part in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) against the French, where he was involved in the 1743 battle of Dettingen .
In the same year he became a lieutenant and in 1744 a captain in an infantry regiment. He then served under the Duke of Cumberland in the 1745 and 1746 campaigns against the revolt of the Scottish Jacobites led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart , where he witnessed the battles of Falkirk and Culloden . After the suppression of the uprising, he returned to mainland Europe, where he was wounded in the battle of Lauffeldt near Maastricht (June 21, 1747) and praised for his behavior in battle.
In 1749 Wolfe achieved the rank of major , in 1750 that of lieutenant colonel and regimental commander. After the outbreak of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763, French and Indian War in North America , 1754–1763) he took part in a failed landing operation near Rochefort (France) in 1757 and was one of the few officers who distinguished themselves in this action. He attracted the attention of Prime Minister William Pitt , who had him promoted to Brigadier General in 1758 and sent with General Jeffrey Amherst to North America to attack the French fortress Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island . Wolfe personally commanded the first British landing wave, despite the heavy French defensive fire, and subsequently played an essential role in the success of the siege, despite his poor health. According to Amherst he seemed to be everywhere, constantly spurring his soldiers and himself on and leading them personally even under the heaviest fire.
After the conquest of Louisbourg, Wolfe initially returned to England, but in 1759 became commander-in-chief of an army sent against Québec . After a successful landing and a difficult two- and-a- half month siege , during which he was mostly seriously ill and suffered from tuberculosis like his brother Edward, who died from it in 1744 , he found insufficiently secure access to the Québec plateau and was able to bring part of his army there . In the following battle on the Plains of Abraham on September 13, 1759, he succeeded in decisively defeating the French army led by Louis-Joseph de Montcalm . Wolfe was wounded three times during the battle, the last fatally, and died on September 13 conscious of his victory. His opponent Montcalm was also fatally wounded and died the following day.
Wolfe's body was transferred to England and buried in St Alfege's Church near his home on Croom's Hill in Greenwich . A statue in nearby Greenwich Park commemorates him, as does a memorial in Westminster Abbey .
Wolfe's father, Lieutenant General Edward Wolfe, died on March 26, 1759 at the age of 74, a few months before his son, who was buried at his side. Wolfe's mother died on September 26, 1764 at the age of 60.
meaning
Wolfe is still considered one of the most brilliant British generals to this day. He was small, thin, and petite in appearance; his character has garnered great praise. According to his biographer Robert Wright ( lit .: Life of James Wolfe , London 1864) he was “impulsive but not reckless, steadfast but not stubborn, full of self-confidence but unpretentious and modest, ambitious but not boastful; generous, hospitable and charitable, but not extravagant, straightforward, but friendly, witty but not selfish, open-hearted but polite ”.
He was revered by his officers and soldiers, not least because, despite his poor health, he did not spare himself, shared all hardships and exposed himself to the greatest dangers. His enthusiasm and enthusiasm was infectious and highly motivating - according to another historian, he had a gift for bringing out the best qualities in his soldiers.
Characteristic is the devotion shown to him by the Scottish highlands under his command, against which he had fought in 1745/46. His untimely death at the age of 32 was an irreplaceable loss to the British Army, whose lack of capable generals became apparent during the American Revolutionary War .
Reception in art
- Painting by Benjamin West : The Death of General Wolfe, 1770, now in the Nation Gallery of Ottawa
See also
literature
- Robert Wright: Life of Major General James Wolfe . - London: Chapman & Hall, 1864.
- Francis Parkman: Montcalm and Wolfe . - Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1885 <reprinted 1964>
- Beckles Willson: The Life and Letters of James Wolfe . - London: Heinemann, 1909.
- William Templeton Waugh: James Wolfe: Man and Soldier : - Montreal: L. Carrier & Co, 1928.
- Robin Reilly: The Rest to Fortune: The Life of Major General James Wolfe . - London: Cassell, 1960.
- Stuart Reid: Wolfe, James (1727-1759). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004, accessed July 29, 2019.
- Stephen Brumwell: Paths of Glory: The Life and Death of General James Wolfe. Montreal 2007, ISBN 978-0-7735-3261-8 .
- Wolfe, James . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 28 : Vetch - Zymotic Diseases . London 1911, p. 773 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
Web links
- Parkman Montcalm and Wolfe . (English)
- Biography with portraits (English)
- Stacey biography. Critical review of literature
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wolfe, James |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 2, 1727 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Westerham , Kent |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 13, 1759 |
| Place of death | Quebec |