Although the capitulation of the city of Quebec was a milestone in the conquest of Canada by the English, it certainly did not signal the end of the war. The two armies went into their winter camps with anticipation, and perhaps a certain amount of dread, about what lay ahead in the coming year.
In their camp at Pointe-aux-Trembles, the Marquis de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, the General Duc de Levis and De Bougainville discussed embarking on a counterattack against the British at Quebec. Levis, now the ranking officer in the French camp, was not inclined toward a counterattack, so that plan was set aside.
In the British camp, virtually all the ranking officers left: Townshend lost no time returning to England to confront rumors that he had conspired against his superior, General Wolfe; Admirals Holmes and Saunders led their fleets downstream and away from the dangers of an ice-choked St. Lawrence in winter; and Monckton left for New York, under the pretense of taking dispatches to General Amherst. General Murray was the only one left in command of the newly won tract of land.
Taking an inventory of what the British possessed, going into the winter of 1759/60, we find General John Murray, approximately seven thousand troops, a city that was more a collection of ruins than of inhabitable buildings, dwindling rations and other supplies ~ and scurvy. By the time spring came to the Canadian countryside, Murray's forces would number only about 4,000.
The troops under Murray's control at this time included nine regiments of between four and six hundred men each, along with four to five hundred Royal Artillery troops, two to three hundred Rangers, and fifty sailors. The regiments present, at least portions thereof, included: 15th Amherst's, 28th Bragg's, 35th Otway's, 43rd Kennedy's, 47th Lascelle's, 48th Dunbar's, 58th Anstruther's, 60th Royal American, and the 78th Fraser's Highlanders.
General Murray set about rather quickly to gain control of the Canadians in the city and its environs by stern, but humane treatment. They were first disarmed and made to take the oath of allegiance to Great Britain so that they might not rise up against their conquerors; then they were extended compassion and courtesy. General Murray issued orders against the undeserved harming of the citizenry by any of his soldiers. One soldier was hanged for robbing a rsident of Quebec, and others were punished for slighter offenses. The new general's ruling style worked well to promote peaceful coexistence between the conquering army and the people. As the harvest season wore on, British soldiers could be seen helping the farmers get their crops in.
General Murray established two fortifications, or rather fortified outposts, to the west of Quebec: one at Sainte-Foy and the other at L'Ancienne-Lorette. Both were between four and five miles from the city, between it and Cap Rouge. Sainte-Foy was close to the St. Lawrence River, while L'Ancienne-Lorette was about a mile distant to the northwest.
During this period, as the winter progressed, the British troops were kept busy cutting and hauling wood for their fires. The French troops, meanwhile, were being kept busy with training and with making raids throughout the region. French grenadiers made a raid on the farmsteads near L'Ancienne-Lorette in February of 1760, driving off many head of cattle. But the British sent a squad of rangers to overtake them, which they succeeded in doing, and liberated the abducted cattle.
Across the river from Quebec City, near Pointe Levis, a body of French regulars, Canadian militia and their Indian allies established a base. Their commander, Colonel Gerard Saint-Martin sent General Murray a message, stating that he had a number of expert hairdressers ready to wait upon his officers. The 'hairdresssers' were, of course, his Indian allies desiring scalps. Murray replied by sending a detachment of men under Major Dalling across the river, which by then was frozen solid. The British troops engaged the French around the church at pointe Levis and in the forest behind it. The British routed the French from their position and killed quite a number of them before the Frenchmen fled. Dalling then established a post at the church, using the priest's house, which was beside it, as a fortified structure. But the French troops returned a couple days later and cut down a number of trees to build a fortification for their own use, from which they struck at the British troops holding the priest's house. The engagement that followed was heard in the camp at Quebec City, and Murray sent additional troops across the frozen waterway. Murray followed along with a detachment of the Highlanders, but before he arrived at the scene, the French troops had already fled.
Through the early spring, rumors arrived at the British camp regarding an imminent attack by the French, but they were just that: rumors. By the end of April, though, the rumors proved to be true. As soon as the pack ice melted and flowed down and out of the St. Lawrence River, the General Duc de Levis led an army of nearly 8,500 French troops from their camp at Montreal to take back the city of Quebec. The army was comprised of eight battalions of regular army, three thousand Canadians and about four hundred Indians. As the force moved across Canada, the garrisons of outposts including those at Jacques-Cartier and Point-aux-Trembles joined the army. In fact, governor Vaudreuil had sent out an order for all able Canadian men to fall in line with the advancing army on pain of death.
Levis' artillery and stores were loaded on board two frigates, two sloops and a number of smaller vessels and the army itself embarked on numerous bateaux. On 20 April, the French force set off, heading down the St. Lawrence. They arrived and disembarked about thirteen miles from Quebec at St. Augustin on 25 April. By the following evening, Levis was crossing the Cap Rouge River.
The French Army headed toward the British outpost at L'Ancienne-Lorette. The outpost's defenders immediately abandoned it and fled to the one at Sainte-Foy. Levis followed the fleeing British soldiers, despite a driving storm that caused the night to seem darker than usual. As morning broke, and the mist cleared a bit, a ridge could be seen ahead. It was occupied by a church and a number of houses, being the village of Sainte-Foy on the western edge of the plateau, the opposite end of which was occupied by the city of Quebec.
As the French army advanced toward the village on the morning of 27 April, cannon fire rang out from the vicinity of the church and houses. The British troops who held the outposts at L'Ancienne-Lorette and Sainte-Foy had commandeered the buildings from their Canadian owners. The barrage of heavy shot initially forced the French back.
Levis, not having any reconnaissance to inform him of the enemy's strength in numbers, hesitated to storm the ridge, instead choosing to wait until that night before advancing again. It was a mistake on Levis' part, because had he pressed on against the defenders of the ridge at Sainte-Foy, with his vastly superior numbers, would surely have taken the British holding the spot, and might have been successful at moving against Quebec before Murray would have a chance to properly defend it. Instead, while Levis hesitated, the British as Quebec found out about the invading French army on their doorstep in time to respond.
The way that the British did find out about the oncoming French army was by accident – literally. One of the bateaux ferrying the French soldiers down the St. Lawrence overturned and its passengers were apparently all drowned with the exception of a single man who clung to and climbed onto a piece of the pack ice floating in the river. As it neared the Lower Town of Quebec, around three o'clock on the morning of the 27th, Captain Macartney heard the cries of the exhausted fellow, and sent a boat and crew to rescue the man. He was carried to the quarters in which General Murray was sleeping, who being aroused, listened to the Frenchman's story. The French soldier embellished his story a bit, claiming that Levis was commanding an army numbering twelve thousand.
By daybreak on the 27th, Murray had mustered his British soldiers and they were marching toward the outposts at Sainte-Foy, Cap Rouge, Sillery and L'Anse-au-Foulon. Of course, the French soldier, having drifted on the St. Lawrence River rather than participating in march overland, was unaware of exactly where Levis was at the moment. Murray intended to meet Levis wherever he was, and force him to turn back to Montreal.
General Murray mobilized half of the garrison at Quebec; this amounted to approximately thirty-five hundred. They took with them ten pieces of cannon.
Upon reaching the ridge at Sainte-Foy, Murray found that the French army was partly hidden in the woods below the ridge. Murray got his guns established and spent a few hours firing into the woods. The French did not emerge from the woods to engage the British in battle, and so Murray made the decision to return to Quebec during the afternoon. Before leaving Sainte-Foy, the British exploded munitions that they had stored in the church; they had no easy means of removing the munitions to Quebec; blowing them up would at least keep the French from gaining them.
Once back at the city of Quebec, the British officers held a council and made the decision to march out again the following morning and engage the French. General Murray explained their decisison in a letter to Minister Pitt:
Early the following morning, 28 April, the British army once again marched through the St. louis Gate and out of the city of Quebec, headed for the Sainte-Foy region. This time, twenty cannon and two howitzers were taken along by the soldiers. There were no horses left in the camp; all of them having either starved or been sacrificed for food. As a result there were eight or ten soldiers harnessed to each of the artillery carriages in order to pull them across the still-frozen ground. Certain of the other soldiers carried tools with which they intended to dig into the ground as well as they might to establish batteries.
The British infantry advanced across the ground upon which General Wolfe's troops had been formed into ranks. There they commenced digging into the half-frozen ground to anchor the field-pieces. The British soldiers had just begun to dig in when General Murray caught sight of Levis' army emerging from the woods near the village of Sillery. The artillery began a barrage. Momentarily, Levis ordered his left flank, led by Colonel Dalquier, to fall back into the woods to avoid the cannon projectiles.
Murray saw the French movement, and the order was given for the men to halt their work and instead, to fix the bayonets onto the muzzles of their muskets. His next order was for his soldiers to advance on the French before they could be formed into ranks. The order could not have been more of a mistake. Murray gave up the one advantage he could have exploited as the French came forward: the stability of the ground on the ridge for the benefit of the cannon. By advancing his men forward, down the slope and across the low lying ground, the artillerymen found that the ground below the slope was soft and muddy. The cannon could not be moved easily across the muddy ground without horses, nor could they be fired on the French line without striking the backs of the advancing British infantry. Nevertheless the order was given, and the British charged toward the French line.
The first object of the advancing British troops was a house and windmill which had been occupied by five companies of French grenadiers. The British infantry assaulted the house and windmill, and the French grenadiers conceded the post. This minor victory encouraged the British troops, and they surged forward. But their advance was checked by the return of the French left flank. Having backed into the woods when the artillery barrage began, Dalquier and his troops now emerged and smashed into the advancing British troops.
The battle that morning between the British right and the French left was primarily a hand-to-hand struggle, the striking of bayonets and swords taking precedence over musket fire, the sharp blades inflicting deadly blows on the bodies of the combatants. It lasted over an hour; at least twice as long as the meeting of Wolfe and Montcalm the previous September.
On the British left, the woods in which the French were established, made an arc into which the British line poured. The French, firing from the relative safety of the woods, mowed down scores of the British soldiers.
General Murray realized he was about to be outflanked by the superior numbers of Levis' army. He ordered a retreat, and a completely disordered retreat it was. The artillery, mired down in the mud, became objects that had to be clambered over ~ and ultimately left on the field for the French to claim after the battle. Many of the wounded soldiers were left on the field. Later, the Indians, who had participated in the battle with the French army, moved across the field scalping and otherwise disfiguring the bodies of the wounded British soldiers who had been left behind.
The General Duc de Levis ordered a regiment to attempt to outflank the retreating British troops, but they failed do so. Murray's troops were able to make their way back to the city, and the safety behind her walls before noon.
The entire battle had lasted about to hours. The British army lost 1,088 killed and wounded. Though less than the British, the French lost 833 men in the battle.
The French troops began digging trenches and setting up a camp to begin a siege to retake the city of Quebec. General Murray set his men to strengthening the weak parts of the defensive walls of the city in anticipation of a siege by the French. Murray also began firing on the French with the nearly one hundred and fifty cannon that were still in the possession of the British.
Even with entrenchments for his troops, Levis was not really prepared to engage in a siege of the city. Apparently, he believed that he would defeat the British easily and quickly, and therefore without a long campaign, the city, and by default the region, would once more be under French control. That assumption can be made because of the evidence provided by Levis himself: he had brought only a few pieces of cannon from Montreal. Surely he had not counted on taking any of the British cannon; he, like Murray, would have had no idea that the British cannon would become bogged down in the mud. Likewise, only the minimal amount of supplies had been brought along by the French army. All of the evidence pointed to an over-confident French commander.
After the defeat of Montcalm the previous autumn, the General Duc de Levis had sent Francois-Marc- Antoine Le Mercier, the chief of artillery, as a messenger to the court at Versailles to request siege guns and the munitions required to flush the British out of the city. He hoped that such relief would reach Quebec soon. The supplies did not come. Initially, Le Mercier was not believed, and was imprisoned. He accomplished his mission later, and the French Ministry sent five ships laden with supplies, escorted by one warship. The tiny fleet was grabbed by British patrols when they attempted to enter the St. Lawrence River.
General Murray was also anxiously watching the river for relief ships from England. The British ship, the Lowestoft was seen coming around the Ile d'Orleons on 09 May. With the Lowestoft came the news that more British ships were making their way up the St. Lawrence River and would arrive in a few days.
The French troops established batteries on which their cannon could be mounted, and by the 11th of May began a bombardment of the city. The British had 132 guns mounted along the walls of the city which answered the French. The artillery duel was active through the 12th, but as their ammunition dwindled, so did the fire from the French cannon. On the 13th, Levis gave orders for the guns to fire not more than twenty rounds per day. By 15 May, the French cannon were virtually silent due to the lack of ammunition.
A week after the Lowestoft arrived at Quebec, during the evening of 15 May, the British ships, the Vanguard and the Diana appeared below the city. And when the next morning dawned, the Diana and the Lowestoft sailed past the city to attack the six French vessels which had transported Levis' army from Montreal. The French Captain Jean Vauquelin put up a good fight. Taking up a position off Pointe-aux-Trembles, Vauquelin, in his ship, the Atalante attempted to block the St. Lawrence. The Lowestoft engaged with the Atalante, and before he ran out of ammunition, Vauquelin sank the Atalante. Eventually, Vauquelin was taken prisoner. The other French vessels gave up without resistance. The cannon of one of the ships were thrown overboard, and she escaped upriver. The other four vessels were driven ashore and burned so that the British could not claim them. As Levis watched the destruction of his ships, he saw the destruction of his siege plans. Through the night of 16 May 1760, the French army slipped off the Plains of Abraham and headed back toward Montreal. The withdrawal was sudden; Levis' troops left thirty-four cannon and six mortar along with their tents, baggage, intrenching tools and even muskets in their wake. Even the sick and wounded French soldiers were left to fend for themselves as the French army headed back to Montreal. The withdrawal of the French army guaranteed that the city of Quebec would remain in British hands to the end of the war.
Along the way, General Levis directed a detachment of three hundred men to be deployed to the fortification at Pointe-aux-Trembles, two hundred to Fort Jacques-Cartier, and twelve hundred to Deschambault. The garrison at Pointe-aux-Trenbles was placed under the command of M. de la Rochebeaucourt. The garrison at Fort Jacques-Cartier was placed under the command of Lieutenant Louis Legardeur de Repentigny. And the garrison at Deschambaut was placed under the command of Captain Jean-Daniel Dumas, adjutant of the militia.
General Murray marched out of the city with a contingent of five battalions of grenadiers and light infantry at dawn on the 17th, intending to attack Levis' rear. The British were too late. As Murray led his men across the marshy ground at Ancienne-Lorette, the French army was finishing the crossing of the Cap-Rouge River. The British turned back to their quarters at Quebec City.
The focus now was aimed at the city of Montreal. Montreal was located 167 miles upstream, from the city of Quebec. Pitt developed a plan that called for a three-pronged assault on the city of Montreal. General Lord Amherst would move northward from Oswego with a complement of 10,000 British troops. General James Murray would move southwestward from Quebec with 2,500 troops. The third prong would consist of Colonel William Haviland bringing 3,400 troops from Crown Point, by traveling northward via the Richelieu River.
By 28 May, General Duc de Levis arrived at the fortification, and relative safety, of Jacques-Cartier. By this time, though, his force had become smaller through desertions. Levis wrote an entry in his journal, dated 21 May, that nearly all of the Canadians had deserted the army. They were primarily farmers, and majority of them had left the army in order to get their crops planted, but the rest of them probably left because they were disillusioned about the prospect of France winning the war. The string of British victories wounded the spirits of the French, and especially of the (French) Canadians whose home and farmsteads had been laid waste by the warfare. Then, to add insult to injury, in June, Levis received a letter from the Court at Versailles notifying the military that the treasury would not honor the drafts made during the previous year. Those drafts had been made not only for supplies, but for the pay intended for the soldiers: for the officers and the troops alike. On 29 May, Levis and his army arrived at Montreal. As the French army encamped at Montreal, there wasn't much optimism in the camp.
Over the 7th and 8th of June, Levis sent an officer by the name of Sieur de Langy with a party of Indians to reconnoiter the British movements around Crown Point. When they were at Pointe-aux-Fers, the French party met up with a company of British soldiers. After a brief skirmish, the French party returned to Montreal.
At this same time, on the shores of Lake Champlain, a detachment of two hundred and fifty men led by Major Robert Rogers ventured toward a small fort at Ile Saint-Therese. Near that fort, where they disembarked at Saint-Jean, Rogers' rangers were attacked by a force of three hundred and fifty French troops. Despite being subdued in the fight that ensued, and despite being forced to retreat to nearby Ile LaMotte, Rogers persevered. On the 15th he pushed on and assaulted the fort on Ile Saint-Therese, about five miles from Saint-Jean. The French outpost fell to the British, who also burned a number of the neighboring houses.
As the spring turned to summer, the British army under General Murray at Quebec numbered approximately twenty-five hundred. By 15 July, nearly all of the British troops at Quebec were embarked on thirty-five vessels to start moving upriver toward Montreal. The fleet that Murray assembled consisted of twelve gunboats (including the schooner Gaspe, carrying eight guns), barges, bateaux and other small craft. These vessels would be escorted by three larger frigates: the Diana, carrying thirty-two guns, under the command of Captain Joseph Deane; the Penzance, carrying forty guns, under the command of Captain William Gough; and the Porcupine, carrying sixteen guns, under the command of John Macartney.
Murray's force would, in a couple days, be joined in a couple days by a force of thirteen hundred soldiers, the 22nd and 40th Foot Regiments, from Louisbourg under the command of Lord Rollo. The British monarch had commanded the fortification at Louisbourg to be dismantled, and the garrison to take part in the advance on Montreal.
As Murray's troops moved up the St. Lawrence, they encountered pockets of French soldiers, with whom they skirmished, but of little account. They also disarmed many of the inhabitants along the way to prevent them from going to the aid of the French army.
General Murray, employing a bit of propaganda, sent couriers through the parishes along the way announcing to the inhabitants that the men were to remain in their homes and not take up arms with the French army at Montreal. The warning was given that, if searched, any homestead at which the men were absent would be deemed aiding the French army, and such homestead would be set on fire. This was not an idle threat, as a few homeowners discovered when their homes were actually set on fire due to the menfolk being absent. By the end of August, with the word having spread faster than the fire that burned a few homesteads, nearly half of Bourlamaque's force, consisting of Canadian militia, deserted him and appeared at the British encampment on Ile Saint-Therese to sign oaths of neutrality and give up their weapons.
Upon learning of Murray's propaganda, Governor Vaudreuil sent out his own proclamation to the Canadian parishes. In a letter to the French Minister of Marine, Nicolas Rene Berryer, Vaudreuil wrote: "I have been compelled to decree the pain of death to the Canadians who are so dastardly as to desert or give up their arms to the enemy, and to order that the houses of those who do not join our army shall be burned.". It is not recorded whether Vaudreuil's threat resulted in any homesteads being burned, but it has been surmised by certain historians that more Canadians would have responded to the British proclamation as they realized that the British were soon to become their governing entity.
A British soldier was taken prisoner near Trois-Rivieres, and being interrogated by General Levis, he disclosed that Murray and Rollo commanded a force of about 3,500 troops, and that about four hundred additional troops had arrived at Quebec just a few days previously.
Murray approached Trois-Rivieres on 04 August, where the French forces under Adjutant Jean-Daniel Dumas had established entrenchments to guard the village. Murray hurriedly drew his floating batteries up in front of the flotilla. A brief bombardment by the floating batteries forced the French forces to leave the defences.
On the 7th, General Levis visited the region around the village of Sorel and directed the construction of defences on the Ile Saint-Helene and along the north shore of the St. Lawrence near Saint-Marie.
Lake Saint-Pierre is an open body of water on the Saint Lawrence River midway between Sorel and Trois-Rivieres. On 11 August, Murray's ships arrived at Lake Saint-Pierre. Seeing those ships entering the lake, Brigadier Bourlamaque made the decision to withdraw his 2,500 troops; the defensive works had not yet been completed.
Bourlamaque pulled his troops back to Sorel and dug in, in defensive trenches, to wait for the British flotilla. Dumas, with his 1,500 men, arrived and dug in on the north shore near the village of Berthier.
On the 14th, General Levis arrived at Dumas' camp and discussed the situation with the Adjutant. While he was at the encampment at Berthier, on the 17th, Levis received word that Amherst's fleet had engaged the remainder of the French ships on Lake Ontario, and that the French fleet there existed no more. Sensing that Amherst's imminent arrival negated the ability for the French army to deal individually with each arm of the three-fold British campaign, Levis' instructions were for Dumas to not engage the British, but instead to move on to Montreal as Murray advanced in that direction.
Expecting an engagement, the British were probably surprised when it was discovered that Bourlamaque and Dumas had fallen back toward Montreal without a fight. The British army moved to Ile Saint-Therese, just down-river from Montreal, and there established a camp as Bourlamaque and Dumas joined the other French armies occupying Montreal.
By 01 September, the vanguard of murray's fleet landed at Varennes, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, directly to the east of Ile Saint-Therese, about fifteen miles from Montreal. On the 3rd, Murray moved his troops across the water to establish a camp on Ile Saint-Therese.
General Murray settled in to await the arrival of Haviland and Amherst.
Colonel Haviland's advance from Crown Point would basically follow the route taken the previous year by Amherst. More than simply delivering a body of troops to Montreal, Haviland's advance was intended to occupy the attention of the French at Ile-aux-Noix, on the Chambly River, thereby diverting attention away from Amherst's advancing army.
The French garrison at Ile-aux-Noix consisted of only four hundred and fifty men in mid-June. Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville requested reinforcements from the army at Montreal. In response, Levis sent the Second Battalion of the Berry Infanterie along with a couple hundred militiamen. By the end of June, Bougainville would have 1,700 soldiers at Ile-aux-Noix. About twelve miles down-river, at Saint-Jean, there were between twelve and thirteen hundred men, including the La Reine Infanterie and the Royal Roussillon Infanterie, under the command of M. de Roquemaure.
Haviland's force of 3,400 consisted of two battalions of regular army, provincial troops and some Indians. They embarked on transport vessels on 11 August. On 14 August, Haviland landed and disembarked in a swamp at Ile-aux-Noix. By the 23rd, the British had constructed batteries in the swampy land, installed cannon, and began firing on the French fortification.
Additional cannon were towed across land through the surrounding woods and, with the help of Rogers' Rangers, placed in position to fire on a small French naval squadron defending the mouth of the Riviere du Sud. These cannon, commanded by Major Darby, began to fire upon the four or five vessels. One of them, the closest to where the British guns were positioned, cut her cables and attempted to escape from the brisk cannon fire. As her captain and most of the crew were instantly killed, the ship was driven ashore by the wind allowing the British to get possession of her. The other ships, in the meantime, were able to get their sails furled in time to escape from the mouth of the Riviere du Sud, in a mad dash to make it to Saint Jean. They all soon became stranded in the river at a bend, and a number of the rangers swam out to them, and boarding one and overpowering its crew, the other ships' crews quickly surrendered. The British then moved a number of their own vessels to the mouth of the Riviere du Sud. Bougainville's line of communication with Roquemaure was effectively destroyed.
In view of the course of events on Ile-aux-Noix, Governor Vaudreuil directed Bougainville to remove the majority of his men from the island on the evening of 27 August. Only a force of fifty men and the wounded were to remain at the fort, and they were given orders to surrender the following day. Bougainville led his troops from Ile-aux-Noix as instructed, and they made their way through the forest that bordered the river to join the garrison at Saint-Jean.
On the following day, 28 August, Bougainville arrived in the vicinity of the fortification at Saint-Jean, only to find that Roquemaure had been obliged to remove his troops from the fort. British bateaux, serving as floating batteries, had positioned themselves within firing range of the fort, and had proceeded to bombard the French therein. Bougainville and Roquemaure met and made plans on how they should best deal with the advancing British force under Haviland. A company of French soldiers were sent to the garrisons of Fort Chambly and Sainte-Therese with instructions for the Sainte-Therese fortification to be burned, and the garrison transferred to Fort Chambly.
Many of the Canadians in Bougainville's and Roquemaure's armies began to desert at this time, reducing the number greatly.
During the night of 29 to 30 August, Colonel Haviland arrived at Saint-Jean, and as they pushed toward the town, Roquemaure set fire to the village. M. de Roquemaure and his troops remained at Saint-Jean as Bougainville led his troops toward LaPrairie, and from there on to Chambly, where they picked up the garrison, and moved on to join Francois-Charles Bourlamaque who was encamped along the St. Lawrence.
On 01 September, General Duc de Levis arrived at Saint-Jean and conferred with M. de Roquemaure, encouraging him to quit the area and retire to LaPrairie immediately. Colonel Haviland wasted no time at Saint-Jean, and as Levis was meeting with Roquemaure, the British army was already making its way toward Chambly.
On the 2nd of September, Levis met with the sachems of his Indian allies near LaPrairie, to request their continued assistance. In a quirk of fate, while the meeting was taking place, an Indian warrior arrived with news that the tribes in the region had made peace with the British. On hearing the news, the Indian leaders declared there was nothing further to discuss with the French, and they immediately departed.
Colonel Haviland and his troops took possession of Fort Chambly without a fight.
In May, the various segments of General Jeffrey Amherst's army began marching to Oswego. Through the summer, the army was assembled at the fort on the south shore of Lake Ontario. General Amherst moved his headquarters to Oswego on 09 July. Between 05 August and the 10th, the army had embarked on transport vessels beginning their journey down-river toward Montreal. The force under Amherst consisted of ten thousand, one hundred and forty-two soldiers, most of whom were regular army, but some of which were New York, New Jersey and Connecticut provincials. William Johnson, leading approximately seven hundred Indians, joined Amherst. They embarked on approximately eight hundred vessels, including bateaux and whale boats.
General Duc de Levis received news of the assembling of Amherst's army on 11 June. Anticipating an assault by the British from the direction of the Mohawk Valley, Levis had, in March, chosen Captain Pierre Pouchot to take a company of soldiers up the St. Lawrence River with the purpose of constructing a fortification at the river's first set of rapids near the village of La Galette. Close to the Indian mission of La Presentation on the low island of Ile Royale (variously, Galop Island) stood a fort, named Fort Levis. Pouchot proceeded to increase the size of the fortifications to accommodate his force of 316 men. In the end, the new Fort Levis would encompass nearly two-thirds of the island.
General Levis urged Captain Pouchot to simply attempt to stall the advance of Amherst. Knowing that the fort and its garrison of three hundred men would not be able to prevent the British from their advance on Montreal, Levis would be satisfied to have a bit more time to deal with the armies led by Haviland and Murray before having to deal directly with Amherst. In a letter to Bourlamaque, Levis wrote: "We shall be fortunate if the enemy amuse themselves with capturing it [Fort Levis]. My chief anxiety is lest Amherst should reach Montreal so soon that we may not have time to unite our forces to attack Haviland or Murray."
The flotilla of vessels transporting the British troops and their supplies across Lake Ontario were three days in traversing the lake. They entered the region known as the Thousand Islands and cautiously made their way between them, allowing the current to carry them northward.
On the morning of 17 August, as the vanguard of the squadron was approaching within a couple miles of Fort Levis, the last ship of the French fleet on the lakes, the brig, L'Outaoais (in English, the Ottawa) engaged the British ships. For three hours, the ships exchanged fire. The L'Outaoais was manned by one hundred French sailors and carried ten cannon. She put up a good fight, but eventually the commander of the L'Outaoais signalled the ship's surrender. Rather than destroy the French ship, it was simply taken over by a British crew and put into service in the British fleet.
In anticipation of an engagement with the British at Fort Levis, four hundred men under Captain Saint-Luc de La Corne were sent to supplement the fort's garrison.
Amherst drew near to Fort Levis, established gun batteries on the opposing shore and on the neighboring islands, and on 23 August, began a bombardment of the fort. The fort, being constructed only of wood which splintered as the bombs struck, was reduced to ruins during three days of British cannon fire. Twelve French soldiers died, and forty more were wounded, defending the fort. Captain Pierre Pouchot, who had been obliged to surrender Fort Niagara during the previous year, was once again unable to prevent another fortification from falling into the hands of the British army.
With the surrender of the fort, La Corne withdrew his troops and headed toward The Cedars, but enroute, his force simply fell apart. Having been composed primarily of Canadian militia from Ile Perrault and Montreal, they took off for their homes.
The Indians marching with the British army, upon the surrender of the French garrison, made known their intentions to sack the fort, and either take possession of, or kill and scalp, the French prisoners. Johnson argued for the Indians with the argument that such was their customary reward for helping the British army. Amherst refused to allow them to commit such an act of cruelty, and in a rage, about six hundred, or nearly three-quarters, of the Indians deserted from the campaign.
Despite the fact that the taking of Fort Levis lasted only three days, Amherst gave General Duc de Lavis a few extra days of respite when he decided to tarry a bit to rebuild the fortification. He christened the new British fortification: Fort William Augustus.
Beginning the descent of the St. Lawrence, through the rapids, was undertaken by Amherst on 31 August. The passage through the treacherous waters was difficult but relatively easy as the flotilla passed the villages of Galops, Rapide Plat, Long Saut, and Coteau du Lac. But when the British ships reached the region between The Cedars (Les Cedres), and the Cascades, the rapids wreaked havoc on the ships. Forty-six ships were wrecked beyond repair and eighteen sustained damage as they were tossed about in the cataracts. Worse than the damage to the ships was the fact that eighty-four men drowned in the passage.
On 02 September, General Levis received another piece of news that was disconcerting. La Corne reported to General Levis that Amherst had taken Fort Levis near La Galette, and was by now at Les Cedres. He was probably only a day's march away from Montreal. In light of that bit of news, Levis ordered Bougainville and Roquemaure to depart at once for Montreal.
Finally, on 05 September, the British fleet passed through the last of the rapids and reached the calm waters of Lake St. Louis. They made landfall at Ile Perrot and, after taking a short rest from the turmoil they had just gotten through, they set about repairing the boats. The next morning found the British again moving down the St. Lawrence River. Later that day they finally reached Amherst's intended destination of LaChine, nine miles from the city of Montreal. There were no French troops to oppose their landing. And so as soon as they landed, around 11:00am, Amherst directed his army to march overland the nine miles. That same day, they established an encampment about a mile to the west of the city's walls.
On 03 September, while the British were still biting their nails as they passed through the rapids above Montreal, General Duc de Levis called on all of the French forces in the region to converge at Montreal. According to some historians, less than three thousand regular French troops would come to be on hand over the next few days to defend the city. Others place the number of French troops at 2,200. Practically all, if not all, of the Canadian militia had deserted. The Indians confederated to the French army had likewise deserted their French allies.
As the morning of September 07 dawned, nearly seventeen thousand British troops surrounded the city of Montreal. Amherst's army was encamped to the west of the city, with Murray's troops occupying the eastern side. Across the St. Lawrence, on that river's south shore, Colonel Haviland's forces were encamped.
Cannon, that had been unloaded from Amherst's bateaux during the past couple of days, was being hauled from LaChine. The French commanders knew that when they arrived, there would be little defence possible as the town was not constructed to withstand a bombardment.
As the evening of 07 September came on, Governor Vaudreuil realized that, without any prospects of reinforcements arriving from France, he could not perpetuate a stand against the British. He called a council of war with his officers: Levis, Bougainville, Bourlamaque and Roquemaure. Before holding the council, Vaudreuil sent Colonel Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville as a liaison to General Jeffrey Amherst to request a suspension of arms, a cease-fire, for a period of one month. Amherst outright rejected the idea and instead gave Bougainville the message to take back to his leader that the French would have six hours to make a decision on whether or not they would surrender. There would be no more waiting. Vaudreuil held his council and it was unanimously agreed that capitulation was necessary to prevent any further bloodshed in what was clearly a hopeless situation. Vaudreuil had already written a document in which he outlined fifty-five articles of capitulation, which he laid before his officers. There was no dissention in the group. The next morning, around 10:00am, Bougainville returned to Amherst's camp to deliver the document for the British General's consideration.
Also at 10:00am that morning of the 8th, Murray's army began to arrive at the doorstep of the city of Montreal ~ Pointe-aux-Trembles ~ and began to assemble between there and Longue-Pointe. The French army lined the walls of the town. Undoubtedly, there would have been some tense moments as the opposing armies waited to find out what their superiors were planning.
Amherst refused to allow twenty-three of the articles, but granted the remaining articles, some with conditions. Amherst's answers to the first three articles infuriated the French Governor and his officers. The first article, which included the line: "…and the British Garrison shall not enter the place till after the French troops shall have evacuted it.", received Amherst's response: "The whole Garrison of Montreal must lay down their arms, and shall not serve during the present war…". Then, the next two articles dealing with the garrisons of the town of Montreal along with those at Jacques-Cartier and the Island of St. Helen being permitted to retire "with all the honours of war" were tersely answered with "All these troops are not to serve during the present war, and shall likewise lay down their arms…"
Major General Francois de Gaston, Duc de Levis immediately submitted a letter of protest to Governor Vaudreuil. The content of that letter follows:
Vaudreuil was not as verbose in his response:
The primary reason cited by General Amherst for his refusal to allow the French the dignity of 'all the honours of war' was because the French had agitated "the savages to perpetrate the most horrid and unheard of barbarities."
Utimately, on 08 September 1760, the French Governor of Canada, Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, Marquis de Vaudreuil, surrendered the entire province of Canada to the British General Jeffrey Amherst. General Levis sent the command for the French soldiers to stand down.
In a last act of bravado, General Levis ordered the burning of the French regimental colours. Amherst was appalled at the act. He was being deprived of being able to present the captured enemy flags and banners to his king. So Amherst threatened to search all of the personal baggage of the French officers before they would be permitted to depart. Levis objected to what amounted to a major insult. In the end, Amherst gave in and withdrew his threat to inspect the officers personal effects.
On September 09, a detachment of British soldiers entered the city of Montreal, took up a position on the Place d'Armes, and accepted, one by one, the arms of the soldiers of the French army.
Two days later, the French forces began boarding transport vessels to be taken back to France. On 14 September the Berry Infanterie, the Compagnies Franches de la Marine, and the Languedoc Infanterie embarked for their homeland. On 15 September the Guyenne Infanterie, the La Sarre Infanterie, and the Royal Roussillon Infanterie embarked. And finally, on 16 September the Bearn Infanterie and the La Reine Infanterie set sail for France.
As for the French officers, Levis and Bourlamaque left for Quebec on 17 September, while Vaudreuil followed on 20 September, and Bigot the following day. The transport vessels arrived at Quebec on 10 and 11 October, and from there they continued on down the St. Lawrence during the entire month of October. General Levis arrived in Paris on 06 December 1760.
The Articles of Capitulation Between their Excellencies Major General Amherst, Commander in Chief of his Britannic Majesty's troops and forces in North America, on the one part, and the Marquis de Vaudreuil, &c. Governor and Lieutenant-General for the King in Canada, on the other.
| Article I | Twenty-four hours after the signing of the present capitulation, the British General shall cause the troops of his Britannic Majesty to take possession of the Gates of the town of Montreal: and the British garrison shall not enter the place till after the French troops shall have evacuated it. ---"The whole Garrison of Montreal must lay down their arms, and shall not serve during the present war. Immediately after the signing of the present capitulation, the King's troops shall take possession of the gates, and shall post the guards necessary to preserve good order in the town. |
| Article II | The troops and the Militia, who are in garrison in the town of Montreal shall go out by the gate of [Quebec] with all the honors of war, six pieces of cannon, and one mortar, which shall be put on board the vessel where the Marquis de Vaudreuil shall embark, with ten rounds for each piece, and the same shall be granted to the garrison of Three Rivers, as to the honours of war. |
| Article III | The troops and Militia who are in garrison in the fort of Jacques Cartier, and in the island of St. Helen and other forts, shall be treated in the same manner and shall have the same honors ; and these troops shall go to Montreal, or Three Rivers, or Quebec, be there embarked for the first sea-port in France by the shortest way. The troops, who are in our posts, situated on our frontiers, on the side of Acadia, at Detroit, Michilimakinac, and other posts, shall enjoy the same honors, and be treated in the same manner. ---"All these troops are not to serve during the present war, and shall likewise lay down their arms. The rest is granted." |
| Article IV | The Militia, after evacuating the above towns, forts and posts, shall return to their habitations, without being molested on any pretence whatever, on account of their having carried arms. ---"Granted." |
| Article V | The troops, who keep the field, shall raise their camp, march, drums beating, with their arms, baggage and artillery, to join the garrison of Montreal, and shall be treated, in every respect, the same. ---"These troops, as well as the others, must lay down their arms." |
| Article VI | The subjects of his Britannic Majesty, and of his most Christian Majesty, soldiers, Militia, or seamen, who shall have deserted or left the service of their sovereign, and carried arms in North America, shall be, on both sides, pardoned for their crime ; they shall be respectively returned to their country; if not, each shall remain where he is without being sought after or molested. ---"Refused." |
| Article VII | The magazines, artillery, firelocks, sabres, ammunition of war, and, in general, everything that belongs to his most Christian Majesty, as well in the towns of' Montreal and Three Rivers, as in the forts and posts mentioned in the third Article, shall be delivered up, according to exact inventories, to the Commissaries, who shall be appointed to receive the same in the name of his Britannic Majesty. Duplicates of the said inventories, in due form, shall be given to the Marquis de Vaudreuil. --- "This is everything that can be asked on this article." |
| Article VIII | The officers, soldiers, militia, seamen, and even the Indians, detained on account of their wounds or sickness, as well as in the hospital as in private houses, shall enjoy the privileges of the cartel, and be treated accordingly. --- "The sick and wounded shall be treated the same as our own people." |
| Article IX | The British General shall engage to send back, to their own homes, the Indians and Moraigans, who make part of his armies, immediately after the signing the present Capitulation. And, in the mean time, the better to prevent all disorders on the part of those who may not be gone away, the said Generals shall give safeguards to such persons as shall desire them, as well in the town as in the country.--- "The first part refused. There never have been any cruelties committed by the Indians of our army; and good order shall be preserved." |
| Article X | His Britannic Majesty's General shall be answerable for all the disorders committed on the part of his troops, and shall oblige them to pay the damages they may commit as well in the towns as in the country.--- "Answered by the preceding Article." |
| Article XI | The British General shall not oblige the Marquis de Vaudreuil to leave the town of Montreal before ------------------------, and no person shall be quartered in his house till he is gone. The Chevalier de Levis, Commander of the land forces and Colony troops, the Engineers, Officers of the Artillery, and Commissary of War, shall also remain at Montreal till the said day, and shall keep their lodgings there. The same shall be observed with regard to M. Bigot, Intendant, the Commissaries of Marines and Writers, whom the said M. Bigot shall have occasion for, and no person shall be lodged at the Intendant's house before he shall take his departure.---"The Marquis de Vaudreuil, and all these gentlemen, shall be masters of their houses, and shall embark when the King's ships shall be ready to sail for Europe; and all possible conveniences shall be granted them." |
| Article XII | The most convenient vessel that can be found shall be appointed to carry the Marquis de Vaudreuil, the Marchioness de Vaudreuil, M. de Rigaud, the Governor of Montreal, and that General's suite by the most direct passage to the first sea-port in France; and every necessary accommodation shall be made for them. This vessel shall be properly victualed at the expense of his Britannic Majesty; and the Marquis de Vaudreuil shall take with him his papers, without their being examined; and his equipages, plate, baggage, and also those of his retinue.--- "Granted, except the archives which shall be necessary for the government of the country." |
| Article XIII | If before, or after, the embarkation of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, news of peace should arrive, and that by treaty, Canada should remain to his most Christian Majesty, the Marquis de Vaudreuil shall return to Quebec, or Montreal ; everything shall return to its former state under the dominion of his most Christian Majesty, and the present capitulation shall become null and of no effect.--- "Whatever the King may have done on this subject shall be obeyed." |
| Article XIV | Two ships shall be appointed to carry to France le Chevalier de Levis, the principal officers, and the staff of the land forces, the Engineers, officers of Artillery, and their domestics. These vessels shall likewise be victualled, and the necessary accommodations provided in them. The said officers shall take with them their papers, without being examined, and also their equippages and baggage. Such of said officers as shall be married shall have liberty to take with them their wives and children, who shall also be victualed.--- "Granted, except that the Marquis de Vaudreuil, and all the officers, of whatever rank they may be, shall faithfully deliver to us all the charts and plans of the country." |
| Article XV | A vessel shall also be appointed for the passage of M. Bigot, the Intendant, with his suite; in which vessel the proper accommodation shall be made for him, and the persons he shall take with him: he shall likewise embark with him his papers, which shall not be examined; his equipages, plate, baggage, and those of his suite; this vessel shall be victualled as before mentioned.--- "Granted, with the same reserve as in the preceding article." |
| Article XVI | The British General shall also order the necessary and most convenient vessels to carry to France, M. de Longueuil, Governor of Three Rivers, the staff of the Colony and the Commissaries of the Marine; they shall embark therein their families, servants, baggage and equipages during the passage, at the expense of his Britannic Majesty.--- "Granted." |
| Article XVII | The officers and soldiers, as well of the land forces as of the Colony, and also the Marine officers and seamen who are in the Colony, shall be likewise embarked for France, and sufficient and convenient vessels shall be appointed for them. The officers of the land and Marine troops who shall be married, shall take with them their families, and all of them shall have liberty to embark their servants and baggage. As to the soldiers and seamen, those who are married shall take with them their wives and children, and all of them shall have their haversacks and baggage; these vessels shall be properly and sufficiently victualed at the expense of his Britannic Majesty. ---"Granted" |
| Article XVIII | The officers, soldiers and all the followers of the troops who shall have their baggage in the fields, may send for it before they depart, without any hindrance or molestation. ---"Granted" |
| Article XIX | An hospital ship shall be provided by the British General for such of the wounded and sick officers, soldiers and seamen as shall be in a condition to be carried to France, and shall likewise be victualed at the expense of his Britannic Majesty. It shall be the same with regard to the other wounded and sick officers, soldiers and sailors, as soon as they shall be recovered. They shall have liberty to carry with them their wives, children, servants and baggage, and the said soldiers and sailors shall not be solicited nor forced to enter into the service of his Britannic Majesty. ---"Granted" |
| Article XX | A Commissary and one of the King's Writers shall be left to take care of the hospitals, and whatever may relate to the service of his most Christian Majesty.---"Granted" |
| Article XXI | The British General shall also provide ships for carrying to France the Officers of the Supreme council, of justice, police, admiralty, and all other officers having commissions from his most Christian Majesty, for them, their families, servants and equipages, as well as for the other officers; and they shall likewise be victualed at the expense of his Britannic Majesty. They shall, however, be at liberty to stay in the Colony, if they think proper to settle their affairs, or to withdraw to France whenever they think fit.---"Granted ; but if they have papers relating to the government of the country, they are to be delivered up to us." |
| Article XXII | If there are any military officers whose affairs should require their presence in the Colony till the next year, they shall have liberty to stay in it, after having obtained the permission of the:Marquis de Vaudreuil for that purpose, and without being reputed prisoners of war.---"All those whose private affairs shall require their stay in the country, and who shall have the Marquis de Vaudreuil's leave for so doing, shall be allowed to remain till their affairs are settled." |
| Article XXIII | The contractor for the King's provisions shall be at liberty to stay in Canada till next year, in order to be enabled to answer the debts he has incurred in the Colony, on account of what he has furnished; but, if he should prefer to go to France this year, he shall be obliged to leave, till next year, a person to transact his business. This private person shall preserve, and have liberty to carry off all his papers, without being inspected. His clerks shall have leave to stay in the Colony or go to France; and, in this last case, a passage and subsistence shall be allowed them on board the ships of his Britannic Majesty, for them, their families and their baggage.---"Granted." |
| Article XXIV | The provisions and other kind of stores, which shall be found in the magazines of the Commissary, as well as in the towns of Montreal and of Three Rivers, as in the country, shall be preserved to him, the said provisions belonging to him, and not to the King; and he shall be at liberty to sell them to the French and English.---"Everything that is actually in the magazines, destined for the use of the troops, is to be delivered to the British Commissary, for the King's forces." |
| Article XXV | A passage to France shall likewise be granted, on board of his Britannic Majesty's ships, as well as victuals to such officers of the India company as shall be willing to go thither, and they shall take with them their families, servants and baggage. The chief agent of the said company, in case he should choose to go to France, shall be allowed to leave such person as he shall think proper till next year, to settle the affairs of the said company, and to recover such sums as are due to them. The chief agent shall take possession of all the papers belonging to the said company, and they shall not be liable to inspection.---"Granted." |
| Article XXVI | This company shall be maintained in the property of the scarlet cloths and beavers they may have in the town of Montreal; which shall not be touched under any pretence whatever, and the necessary licences shall be given to the chief agent, to send this year his beavers to France, on board his Britannic Majesty's ships, paying the freight on the same footing as the British would pay it.---"Granted, with regard to what may belong to the company, or to private persons; but if his most Christian Majesty has any share in it, that must become the property of the King." |
| Article XXVII | The free exercise of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religion, shall subsist entire, in such manner that all the states and the people of the towns and countries, places and distant posts, shall continue to assemble in the churches, and to frequent the sacraments as heretofore, without being molested in any manner, directly or indirectly. These people shall be obliged by the English government to pay their priests the tithes, and all the taxes they were used to pay under the government of his most Christian Majesty.---"Granted, as to the free exercise of their religion; the obligation of paying the tithes to the priests will depend on the King's pleasure." |
| Article XXVIII | The Chapter, Priests, Curates and Missionaries, shall continue with an entire liberty, their parochial duties and functions in the town and country parishes.---"Granted." |
| Article XXIX | The Vicars-general named by the Chapter to administer the diocese during the vacancy of the Episcopal See, shall have liberty to dwell in the town or country parishes, as they shall think proper. They shall, at all times, be free to visit the different parishes of the diocese, with the ordinary ceremonies and exercise all the jurisdiction they exercised under the French dominion. They shall enjoy the same rights in case of the death of the future Bishop, of which mention will be made in the following article.---"Granted, except what regards the following article." |
| Article XXX | If by the treaty of peace, Canada should remain in the power of his Britannic Majesty, his most Christian Majesty shall continue to name the Bishop of the Colony who shall be of the Roman communion, and under whose authority the people shall execute the Roman Religion.---"Refused." |
| Article XXXI | The Bishop shall, in case of need, establish new parishes, and provide for the rebuilding of his cathedral and his Episcopal palace; and, in the mean time, he shall have liberty to dwell in the towns or parishes as he shall judge proper. He shall be at liberty to visit his diocese with the ordinary ceremonies, and exercise all the jurisdiction which his predecessor exercised under the French Dominion, save that an oath of fidelity, or a promise to do nothing contrary to his Britannic Majesty's service may be required of him.---"This article is comprised under the foregoing." |
| Article XXXII | The communities of Nuns shall be preserved in their constitutions and privileges; they shall continue to observe their rules; they shall be exempted from lodging any military; and it shall be forbid to molest them in their religious exercises, or to enter their convents: safe-guards shall even be given to them, if they desire them.---"Granted." |
| Article XXXIII | The preceding article shall likewise be executed, with regard to the communities of Jesuits and Recollects, and of the house of the Priests of St. Sulpice, at Montreal; these last and the Jesuits, shall preserve their right to nominate to certain parishes and missions, as heretofore.--- "Refused till the King’s pleasure be known." |
| Article XXXIV | All the communities and priests, shall preserve their movables, the property and revenues of the Seignories, and other estates which they possess in the Colony of what nature soever they may be; and the same estates shall be preserved in their privileges, rights, honors and exemptions.---"Granted." |
| Article XXXV | If the Canons, Priests, Missionaries, the Priests of the Seminary of the foreign missions, and of St. Sulpice, as well as the Jesuits and the Recollects, choose to go to France, a passage shall be granted them in his Britannic Majesty's ships; and they shall have leave to sell, in whole, or in part, the estates and movables they possess in the Colonies, either to the French or to the English, without the least impediment or obstacle from the British government. They shall be at liberty to take with them, or send to France, the produce, of what nature soever it may be, of the goods sold, paying the freight, as mentioned in the 26th Article. And such of the said Priests, who choose to go this year, shall be victualed, during the passage at the expense of his Britannic Majesty; and they shall take with them their baggage.---"They shall be masters to dispose of their estates, and to send the produce thereof, as well as their persons, and all that belongs to them, to France." |
| Article XXXVI | If, by the treaty of peace, Canada remains to his Britannic Majesty, all the French, Canadians, Acadians, merchants, and other persons, who choose to retire to France, shall have leave to do so from the British General, who shall procure them a passage; and, nevertheless, if, from this time to that decision, any French or Canadian merchants, or other persons, shall desire to go to France, they shall likewise have leave from the British General. Both the one and the other of them shall take with them their families, servants and baggage.---"Granted." |
| Article XXXVII | The Lords of Manors, the Military and Civil officers, the Canadians as well in the towns as in the country, the French, settled, or trading in the whole extent of the Colony of Canada, and all other persons whatsoever, shall preserve the entire peaceable property and possession of the goods, noble and ignoble, movable and immovable, merchandises, furs, and other effects, even their ships; they shall not be touched, nor the least damage done to them, on any pretence whatever. They shall have liberty to keep, let or sell them, as well to the French as to the British; to take away the produce of them in bills of exchange, furs, specie or other returns, whenever they shall judge proper to go to France, paying their freight, as in the 26th Article. They shall also have the furs which are in the posts above, and which belong to them, and may be on the way to Montreal; and, for this purpose, they shall have leave to send, this year, or the next, canoes, fitted out, to fetch such of the said furs as shall have remained in those posts.---"Granted, as in the 26th Article." |
| Article XXXVIII | All the people who have left Acadia, and who shall be found in Canada, including the frontiers of Canada on the side of Acadia, shall have the same treatment as the Canadians, and enjoy the same privileges.---"It is for the King to dispose of his ancient subjects; in the meantime, they shall enjoy the same privileges as the Canadians." |
| Article XXXIX | None of the Canadians, Acadians or French, who are now in Canada and on the frontiers of the Colony on the side of Acadia, Detroit, Michillimaquinac, and other places and posts of the countries above, nor the married and unmarried soldiers remaining in Canada shall be carried or transported into the British Colonies or to Great-Britain, and they shall not be troubled for having carried arms.---"Granted, except with regard to the Acadians." |
| Article XL | The Savages or Indians, allies of his Most Christian Majesty, shall be maintained in the lands they inhabit; if they choose to remain there, they shall not be molested, on any pretence whatsoever, for having carried arms, and served his Most Christian Majesty. They shall have, as well as the French, freedom of religion, and shall keep their Missionaries. The actual Vicars-general and the Bishop, when the Episcopal See shall be filled, shall have leave to send to them new Missionaries when they shall judge it necessary.---"Granted, except this last article, which has been already refused." |
| Article XLI | The French, Canadians and Acadians, of what state and condition soever, who shall remain in the Colony, shall not be forced to take arms against his Most Christian Majesty or his allies, directly or indirectly, on any occasion whatsoever; the British Government shall only require of them an exact neutrality.---"They become subjects of the King." |
| Article XLII | The French and Canadians shall continue to be governed according to the customs of Paris, and the laws and usages established for this country; and shall not be subject to any other imposts than those which were established under the French dominion.---"Answered by the preceding articles, and particularly by the last." |
| Article XLIII | The papers of the government shall remain, without exception, in the power of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, and shall go to France with him. These papers shall not be examined on any pretence whatsoever.---"Granted, with the reserve already made." |
| Article XLIV | The papers of the Intendant, of the officers of the Comptroller of the Marine, of the ancient and new Treasurers, of the King's Magazines, of the offices of the Revenues and Forges of St. Maurice, shall remain in the power of M. Bigot. the Intendant, and shall be embarked for France in the same vessel with him; these papers shall not be examined.---"The same as to this article." |
| Article XLV | The registers and other papers of the Supreme Council of Quebec, of the Prevote, and admiralty of the said city; those of the Royal Jurisdictions of Three Rivers and of Montreal; those of the Seignorial Jurisdictions of the Colony; the minutes of the acts of the Notaries of the towns and of the rural districts, and, in general, the acts, and other papers that may serve to prove the estates and fortunes of the citizens, shall remain in the Colony, in the rolls of the jurisdictions on which these papers depend.---"Granted." |
| Article XLVI | The inhabitants and merchants shall enjoy all the privileges of trade, under the same favors and conditions granted to the subjects of his Britannic Majesty, as well in the Upper countries, as in the interior.---"Granted." |
| Article XLVII | The Negroes and Panis of both sexes shall remain in their quality of slaves, in the possession of the French and Canadians to whom they belong; they shall be at liberty to keep them in their service in the Colony, or to sell them; and they shall also continue to bring them up in the Roman religion.---"Granted; except those who shall have been made prisoners." |
| Article XLVIII | The Marquis de Vaudreuil, the General and the Staff Officers of the land forces, the Governors and Staff Officers of the different places of the Colony, the Military and Civil Officers, and all other persons who shall leave the Colony, or who are already absent, shall have leave to name and appoint Attorneys to act for them, and in their name, in the administration of their effects, movable, and immovable, until the peace; and if by the treaty between the two Crowns, Canada does not return under the French dominions, these officers or other persons, or Attorneys for them shall have leave to sell their manors, houses, and other estates, their movables and effects, &c., to carry away or send to France the produce thereof, either in bills of exchange, specie, furs, or other returns, as is mentioned in the 37th Article.---"Granted." |
| Article XLIX | The inhabitants and other persons who shall have suffered any damage in their goods, movable or immovable, which remained at Quebec, under the faith of the capitulation of that city, may make their representations to the British Government, who shall render them due justice against the person whom the same shall concern.---"Granted." |
| Article L and last |
The present capitulation shall be inviolably executed in all its articles, and bona fide on both sides, notwithstanding any infraction, and any other pretence, with regard to preceding capitulations, and without making use of reprisals.---"Granted." |
POSTSCRIPT
| Article LI | The British Generals shall engage, in case any Indians remain after the surrender of this town, to prevent their coming into the towns, and that they do not in any manner insult the subjects of his Most Christian Majesty.---"Care shall be taken that the Indians do not insult any of the subjects of his Most Christian Majesty." |
| Article LII | The troops and other subjects of his Most Christian Majesty who are to go to France shall be embarked, at latest, fifteen days after the signing of the present capitulation.---"Answered by the 11th article." |
| Article LIII | The troops and other subjects of his Most Christian Majesty who are to go to France, shall remain lodged and encamped in the town of Montreal and other posts which they now occupy, until they shall be embarked for their departure; passports, however, shall be granted to those who shall want then., for the different places of the Colony, to go and attend to their affairs.---"Granted." |
| Article LIV | All the officers and soldiers of the troops in the service of France, who are prisoners in New England, and who were taken in Canada, shall be sent back as soon as possible to France, where their ransom or exchange shall be treated of, agreeable to the cartel; and, if any of these officers have affairs in Canada, they shall have leave to come there.---"Granted." |
| Article LV | As to the officers of the Militia, the Militia-men and the Canadians, who are prisoners in New England, they shall be sent back to their countries.---"Granted, except what regards the Canadians." | Done in the camp before Montreal, this 8th of September 1760. (Signed), JEFF. AMHERST. Certified to be true, according to the original signed by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, and collated by M. Appy, Secretary of M. Amherst. True Copy. (Signed), VAUDREUIL. |
A week after the capitulation, on 15 September, Major Robert Rogers captured Fort Detroit and other Great Lakes posts. The French and Indian War, the American theatre of the Seven Years War, was finally over.
