of the justice of their cause, & relying on that Providence which has uniformly protected them, will advance with alacrity to the attack of works incapable of being defended by the wretched Garrison posted behind them, consisting of Sailors unacquainted with the use of arms, of Citizens incapable of Soldiers’ duty, & of a few miserable Emigrants.  The General is confident that a vigorous & spirited attack must be attended with success.  The Troops shall have the effects of the Governor, Garrison, & of such as have been active in misleading the Inhabitants & distressing the friends of liberty, equally divided among them, except the 100th share out of the whole, which shall be at the disposal of the General to be given to such soldiers as distinguished themselves by their activity & bravery, to be sold at public auction:  the whole to be conducted as soon as the City is in our hands and the inhabitants disarmed.

It was a week after these orders had been written before the first positive news of the threatened assault was brought into town by an escaped British prisoner who, strangely enough, bore the name of Wolfe.  Wolfe’s escape naturally caused a postponement of Montgomery’s design and a further council of war.  Unlike most councils of war this one was full of fight.  Three feints were to be made at different points while the real attack was to be driven home at Cape Diamond.  But just after this decision had been reached two rebel Montrealers came down and, in another debate, carried the day for another plan.  These men, Antell and Price, were really responsible for the final plan, which, like its predecessor, did not meet with Montgomery’s approval.  Montgomery wanted to make a breach before trying the walls.  But he was no more than the chairman of a committee; and this egregious committee first decided to storm the unbroken walls and then changed to an attack on the Lower Town only.  Antell was Montgomery’s engineer.  Price was a red-hot agitator.  Both were better at politics than soldiering.  Their argument was that if the Lower Town could be taken the Quebec militia would force Carleton to surrender in order to save the warehouses, shipping, and other valuable property along the waterfront, and that even if Carleton held out in debate he would soon be brought to his knees by the Americans, who would march through the gates, which were to be opened by the ‘patriots’ inside.

Another week passed; and Montgomery had not eaten his Christmas dinner either in Quebec or in the other place.  But both sides knew the crisis must be fast approaching; for the New Yorkers had sworn that they would not stay a minute later than the end of the year, when their term of enlistment was up.  Thus every day that passed made an immediate assault more likely, as Montgomery had to strike before his own men left him.  Yet New Year’s Eve itself began without the sign of an alarm.

Carleton had been sleeping in his clothes at the Recollets’, night after night, so that he might be first on parade at the general rendezvous on the Place d’Armes, which stood near the top of Mountain Hill, the only road between the Upper and the Lower Town.  Officers and men off duty had been following his example; and every one was ready to turn out at a moment’s notice.