Richard Caton Woodville

Catalogue entry

N05203 GENERAL WOLFE CLIMBING THE HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM ON THE MORNING OF THE BATTLE OF QUEBEC 1906

Inscr. ‘R. Caton Woodville 1906’ b.l.
Ink and watercolour, heightened with white, 17×27 (43×68·5).
Presented by Charles Pratt 1940.
Coll: (?) Dr Hastings Stewart; Henry Graves & Co.; acquired by Charles Pratt c. 1917.
Exh: Coronation Exhibition, Fine Arts Palace, Shepherd's Bush, 1911 (1095).

After several desultory attacks from various points around Quebec during the late summer of 1759, General Wolfe conceived the bold plan of attacking the town a mile and a half upstream by sending troops up the steep cliffs near the Plains of Abraham. The attack began at two o'clock in the morning of 13 September and the small French guard post was taken by surprise; by ten o'clock the heights above Quebec were taken and battle with the main body of Montcalm's forces had begun a mile outside the town. Quebec surrendered on 18 September, but Wolfe and Montcalm were killed within a few hours of each other on the first day.

Published in:
Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, London 1964, II

Read more