When Montcalm finally grasped what had happened, the only possible explanation that came to him was that God himself had intervened to preserve His Most Christian Majesty's dominions in North America. In late August he ordered a huge red cross to be raised on the hilltop above the abatis where Abercromby's troops had poured out their lives for nothing. On the cross Montcalm directed that a Latin couplet of his own composition be inscribed, along with its paraphrase:
Chretien! Ce ne fut point Montcalm et la prudence, |
Whether one agrees or disagrees with Montcalm's attribution to God, one must recognize conviction and humility - two traits that we could use more of in here in the 21st century.
I am reading this volume to help me prepare for a week-long Teacher Institution at Fort Ticonderoga,
on the east bank of Lake Champlain in upstate New York, this summer.