Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm
Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm (1712-1759), lieutenant-general in the French army began his military career at the age of nine when he was commissioned an ensign in the army. He gained significant military experience in the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and was sounded several times.
In May 1756 Montcalm was appointed major general and commander of French forces in New France. Over the next three years, the forces under Montaclm’s leadership enjoyed considerable success in North America forcing the English at Oswego to surrender on August 14, 1756 and capturing Fort William Henry after a six-day siege ending on August 9, 1757.
In the summer of 1758 General Montcalm commanded a force of 3,700 French soldiers at Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga). On July 7, as a British force of 17,000 troops were preparing to attack the Fort, Montcalm set his army to work constructing a thick log defensive wall about a half mile to the west of the Fort. On the morning of July 8th, his defensive works were attacked. At the end of the day, his army held strong repelling the British and securing for France its greatest victory of the French & Indian War.
At the end of the 1758 campaign season, Montcalm returned to Québec to prepare the city for an expected attack the following year. On September 13, 1759 the British forces laid siege to the city culminating in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. General Montcalm was mortally wounded during the battle and died early the next morning.
