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Battle of the Plains of Abraham 1759

Battle of the Plains of Abraham: Benjamin West
Image: Benjamin West, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date13 September 1759Wikidata
Year1759Wikidata P585 (point in time)
EraEarly modern (1500–1799)derived from year
LocationCanadaNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentNorth AmericaNatural Earth
War / conflictSeven Years' WarWikidata P361
ParticipantsKingdom of France, Kingdom of Great Britain, New FranceWikidata P710
Coordinates46.8017, -71.2200Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the First Battle of Quebec (French: Bataille des Plaines d'Abraham, Première bataille de Québec), was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War—whose North American theatre is referred to by Americans as the French and Indian War. The battle, which took place on 13 September 1759, was fought by the British Army and Royal Navy against the French Army on the Promontory of Quebec, a plateau just outside the walls of Quebec City on land that was originally owned by a farmer named Abraham Martin, hence the name of the location. The battle involved fewer than 10,000 troops in total, but proved to be a deciding moment in the conflict between France and Britain over the fate of the French colony of Canada or New France, influencing the history of Canada.

The culmination of a three-month siege by the British, the battle lasted about an hour. British troops commanded by General James Wolfe successfully resisted the column advance of French troops and Canadian militia under General Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm, employing new tactics that proved extremely effective against standard military formations used in most large European conflicts.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Plains of Abraham (revision 1379564436), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

46.8017, -71.2200 · Canada

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Nearby battles

Other battles of the Seven Years' War

All 102 battles of the Seven Years' War →

Browse more: battles in Canada · North America · Early modern battles

Further reading