A few hundred yards further, another sentry challenged them.  The same officer replied in French, “Provision boats.  Don’t make a noise; the English will hear us.”

A few minutes later, the boats rowed up to the strand, at the foot of the heights.  Vergor had placed no sentry on the shore, and the troops landed unchallenged.  Guided by James Walsham, Colonel Howe, with his twenty-four volunteers, led the way.  As silently as they could, they moved up the pathway, until they gained the top, and saw before them the outline of the tents.  They went at them with a rush.  Vergor leaped from his bed, and tried to run off, but was shot in the heel and captured.  His men, taken by surprise, made little resistance.  One or two were caught, but the rest fled.

The main body of the troops were waiting, for the most part, in the boats by the edge of the bank.  Not a word was spoken as the men listened, almost breathlessly, for a sound which would tell them whether the enterprise had succeeded.  Suddenly the stillness was broken by the musketry on the top of the heights, followed by a loud British cheer.  Then all leapt from the boats, and each man, with his musket slung at his back, scaled the rocks as best he might.  The narrow path had been made impassable by trenches and abattis, but the obstructions were soon cleared away, and the stream of soldiers poured steadily up.

As soon as a sufficient number had gained the plateau, strong parties were sent off to seize the batteries at Samos and Sillery, which had just opened fire upon the boats and ships.  This was easily done, and the English footing on the plateau was assured.  As fast as the boats were emptied of the men, they rowed back to the ships to fetch more, and the whole force was soon on shore.  The day began to break a few minutes after the advanced troops had gained the heights, and, before it was fairly daylight, all the first party were drawn up in line, ready to resist attack.  But no enemy was in sight.  A body of Canadians, who had sallied from the town on hearing the firing, and moved along the strand towards the landing place, had been quickly driven back, and, for the present, no other sign of the enemy was to be seen.

Wolfe reconnoitred the ground, and found a suitable place for a battle, at a spot known as the Plains of Abraham, from a pilot of that name who had owned a piece of land there, in the early days of the colony.  It was a tract of grass, with some cornfields here and there, and studded by clumps of bushes.  On the south, it was bounded by the steep fall down to the Saint Lawrence; on the north, it sloped gradually down to the Saint Charles.