Now this is Good Use of History to Inform

[marct]

Bonjour JMM99,

But, between those surrenders, another important event took place. That was the battle of Sainte-Foy (28 Apr 1760), which was a French-Canadian victory (with the help of the French regulars, one must add). Thus, its "battle of the windmill", where d'Aiguebelle's grenadiers went "bayonet to bayonet" with Murray's Highlanders. But, by then, at least one of those grenadiers (my 4g-grandfather Nicolas Aubry-Francoeur) had more at stake than "duty, honor, country". He had a wife and family started at nearby St.-Augustin.

One of my ancestors fought there as well - in Murray's Highlanders .

Although Sainte-Foy ended well for us, the end came when a Brit fleet sailed into the Kebec Narrows. The expected relief from France did not come - thus, culminating 150 years of France's "do it on the cheap" approach to Nouvelle France. So, there was a sense of betrayal by France that lurked in F-C hearts; despite a sometimes over-emphasis on the motherland, its culture and language.

Yup. From what I can tell, pretty much everything was stalemated and held until whichever fleet showed up first. I often thought that the way that war ended really set the scene for how Canada would evolve as a culture. I was chatting with a friend of mine, who is also descended from a survivor at the Battle of the Windmill (on the French side) and we realized that our talk was more of a friendly bicker than anything else - a common experience shared by our families but, at its heart, something that brought us together rather than pulled us apart.

Having read through the entire Declaration, I conclude that Hull was full of hubris (kindly stated). By then, he was going to have little if any support from the F-Cs in Québec; and no support from the UEL (United Empire Loyalists) who fled the Americans for Ontario. There is more on Hull and that American defeat in a book on Tecumsah (forget the name & author - I'm at the office and not at home).

I had a number of ancestors and relatives fighting against Hull in that campaign (both UEL and Iroquois). Honestly, when you look at how Hull's campaign played out, I am truly amazed at how quickly he was defeated.

Marc