Montcalm, still on horseback, was borne with the tide of fugitives towards the town.  As he approached the walls a shot passed through his body.  He kept his seat; two soldiers supported him, one on each side, and led his horse through the St. Louis Gate.  On the open space within, among the excited crowd, were several women, drawn, no doubt, by eagerness to know the result of the fight.  One of them recognized him, saw the streaming blood, and shrieked, “O mon Dieu! mon Dieu! le Marquis est tue!” “It’s nothing, it’s nothing,” replied the death-stricken man; “don’t be troubled for me, my good friends.” ("Ce n’est rien, ce n’est rien; ne vous affligez pas pour moi, mes bonnes amies.")

NOTE:  There are several contemporary versions of the dying words of Wolfe.  The report of Knox, given above, is by far the best attested.  Knox says that he took particular pains at the time to learn them accurately from those who were with Wolfe when they were uttered.

The anecdote of Montcalm is due to the late Hon. Malcolm Fraser, of Quebec.  He often heard it in his youth from an old woman, who, when a girl, was one of the group who saw the wounded general led by, and to whom the words were addressed.

Force of the English and French at the Battle of Quebec.—­The tabular return given by Knox shows the number of officers and men in each corps engaged.  According to this, the battalions as they stood on the Plains of Abraham before the battle varied in strength from 322 (Monckton’s) to 683 (Webb’s), making a total of 4,828, including officers.  But another return, less specific, signed George Townshend, Brigadier, makes the entire number only 4,441.  Townshend succeeded Wolfe in the command; and this return, which is preserved in the Public Record Office, was sent to London a few days after the battle.  Some French writers present put the number lower, perhaps for the reason that Webb’s regiment and the third battalion of Royal Americans took no part in the fight, the one being in the rear as a reserve, and the other invisible, guarding the landing place.  Wolfe’s front line, which alone met and turned the French attack, was made up as follows, the figures including officers and men:—­

/$ Thirty-fifth Regiment .... 519 Twenty-eighth Regiment 421 Fifty-eighth " .... 335 Forty-seventh " . 360 Seventy-eighth " .... 662 Forty-third " .. 327 Louisbourg Grenadiers 241 Light Infantry ........ 400 Making a total of 3,265. $/

The French force engaged cannot be precisely given.  Knox, on information received from “an intelligent Frenchman,” states the number, corps by corps, the aggregate being 7,520.  This, on examination, plainly appears exaggerated.  Fraser puts it at 5,000; Townshend at 4,470, including militia.  Bigot says, 3,500, which may perhaps be as many as actually advanced to the attack, since some of the militia held back.  Including Bougainville’s command, the militia and the artillerymen left in the Beauport camp, the sailors at the town batteries, and the garrison of Quebec, at least as many of the French were out of the battle as were in it; and the numbers engaged on each side seem to have been about equal.