The battle of the Plains of Abraham was a decisive British victory that paved the way for the capitulation of Montreal and the conquest of all of Canada for Britain. Beginning in June 1759, 320 British ships, 49 of which were warships with 1,871 guns, set siege to Quebec City for eleven weeks, pummelling the city’s fortifications and blockading it.
View of Quebec City 
Martello Tower
On the night of September 12 and 13, 1759, General James Wolfe led the British army onto the Plains of Abraham and scared the cliff near the city. The French were taken by surprise and a battle began at ten in the morning when the French attacked the British positions. While the French advanced in a disorderly manner, the British held their ground in formation. When the French got close, the British fired simultaneously to cause a number of casualties. The French were so disoriented that many retreated to Quebec City. The battle was won in less than 30 minutes.
Plains of Abraham Museum 
Armoury
The French officially retreated at six in the evening and the garrison’s commander, Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas Roch de Ramazay convened a war council to decide what to do. After suffering heavy losses during a bombardment by a quarter of the British Navy and starving from a corrupt French administration, residents were very keen to surrender. In the end 13 of 14 council members were in favour of surrender and the French sent the British a proposal to give up Quebec City on September 17, it was agreed to the next morning.
François Lévis (the city on the opposite side of the St. Lawrence River was named after him), commander of the French forces in New France, took control of the confused army on September 17 and made his way to Quebec City the next day, but was too late to reverse the surrender of the city. By the time the British took control, a third of all the houses were destroyed and nearly all public and religious buildings were damaged by the bombardment.
