It's the Plains of Abraham, Round 2, as PQ and Ottawa square off

by Barry ORegan | January 22, 2009 at 07:14 am

728 views | 1 Recommendation | 0 comments

Barry Artiste Op/Ed
The Battle of Quebec City in 1750, 1760, 1775 certainly was historic for not just the French and English Canadians, First Nations Aboriginals and British, but helped in the forming of the United States of America War of Independence. For expediency as I have to get to work, I will cut and paste Historical text from Wiki below

The Battle of Quebec was an attempt on December 31, 1775, by American colonial forces to capture the city of Quebec and enlist French Canadian support for the American Revolutionary War. The British commander, General Guy Carleton, could not get significant outside help because the St. Lawrence River was frozen, so he had to rely on a relatively small number of regulars along with local militia that had been raised in the city.

Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold led a force of about 1,000 American army forces and Canadian militia in a multi-pronged attack on the city, which, due to bad weather and bad timing, did not start well, and ended with Montgomery dead, Arnold wounded, and Daniel Morgan and over 350 others captured.

Following a somewhat ineffectual 5-month siege, the American forces were driven to retreat by the arrival of ships from England carrying British troops in early May 1776.

In the battle and the following siege, French-speaking Canadians participated on both sides of the conflict. American forces received supplies and logistical support from local Quebec french speaking residents, and the city's defenders included locally-raised militia. Some (Quebec Citizens) of those that supported the American cause were subjected to a variety of punishments after the Americans retreated.

So you see Now Public Readers, the initial Battle on the Plains of Abraham is just a small slice of History and part of a much bigger picture in the eventual fall of the British Empire in the United States, assisted in a big part by French and English, Irish, Scottish, German, First Nations Aboriginal Canadians adverse to living under British Rule. This of course is something ancestors from the Battle of the Plains of Abraham can be quite proud of, granted 250 years is a long time, but armies from the French, British and US Colonial Forces whose ancestors live on today can be proud their ancestors who fought and died in forming our two great Nations. Political pandering by Politicians has no merit in what is a Historical Moment in Time. Here are two links to what is a great moment in time, the re-enactment of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Americans celebrating July 4th, who live along the Ontario, Quebec Border should take the opportunity to visit Historic Quebec City, 450 years old and counting.

http://www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca/_en/batailles.php?section=2

http://www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca/_en/index.php

How long does it take for old wounds to heal? Apparently, when the injury came at the hands of the British on the Plains of Abraham, 250 years is not long enough.

Agnès Maltais, Parti Québécois MNA for the Quebec City riding of Taschereau, shares with Le Soleil her outrage that federal Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Josée Verner plans to attend a re-enactment this summer of the battle of the Plains of Abraham. The skirmish will mark the 250th anniversary of the battle, in which the British under General Wolfe defeated General Montcalm's French forces, bringing an end to French rule over what is now Quebec.