In a brief but decisive battle lasting less than 20 minutes, British troops scaled cliffs at night and confronted General Montcalm's French forces outside Quebec's walls. Both commanding generals died from wounds sustained in the fighting. The British victory paved the way for the fall of New France and reshaped the map of North America.
Wolfe's plan bordered on reckless: he ferried roughly 4,500 troops up the St. Lawrence River under cover of darkness and had them scale a narrow, nearly vertical path up the cliffs known as the Anse au Foulon, catching the French completely by surprise at dawn.
Montcalm, believing he faced only a diversionary force, rushed his men into battle without waiting for reinforcements from nearby militia and Indigenous allies. The British held disciplined firing lines and unleashed devastating volleys at close range, routing the French in minutes. Wolfe was shot three times and died on the field; Montcalm, mortally wounded, died the next morning, reportedly relieved he would not live to see Quebec surrendered.
The battle did not end the war, but it doomed French hopes of holding Canada. Four years later, the Treaty of Paris formally ceded New France to Britain, permanently altering the linguistic and political map of North America.