Last weekend saw the annual trip up to 'Deepest-Darkest - North Devon' to join Chas and the boys for another excursion into a new historical theme, a fixture on my wargames calendar that, precluding the odd trip to the antipodes or the occasional 'plandemic', has been a regular summer adventure, where the team is looking a bit older these days but the themes continue to be varied and interesting, and I have attached links at the bottom of this post to previous games reported here on JJ's, going back to 2013 and the Battle of Balaclava.
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| The Battle of Sainte-Foy, painted c. 1854 - Joseph Légaré |
This year, Steve M. took point to organise our game, which saw us recreating events at the Battle of Sainte Foy fought on the 28th April 1760 and marking the end of the French attempt to recapture Quebec and their territory in Canada following its surrender the previous year in September 1759, following the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
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Our table for battle takes shape, complete with Dumont's Mill, the very nice Spanish windmill from Renedra that Andy built for our game.
Renedra Windmill - Renedra Ltd |
On the 18th September 1759, the day after the capitulation of Quebec City, both the French and British armies found themselves in a precarious situation. The Battle of the Plains of Abraham (which had taken place several days earlier) had led to the death of the two opposing generals, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and James Wolfe, leaving their respective staffs to assume command.
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The Death of General Wolfe - Royal Museums Greenwich.
Back in the days when British schooling made sure youngsters learnt British history, the death of General Wolfe at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, alongside 1066 and the Battle of Hastings and the death of Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar were key moments that every school boy could recount.
Major-General James Wolfe (1727-59) became the first British 'imperial' hero by his defeat of the French on the 'Heights of Abraham', outside Quebec, on 13 September 1759. Wolfe and the French commander, Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm, were both killed in the battle. The city's surrender, on 17 September 1759, was the critical event in the Franco-British struggle for dominion in North America during the Seven Years War (1756-63) and though French resistance continued, their control of Canada was permanently lost by the time it ended. |
While the British had conquered the city, it had been partially destroyed by the intensive naval and shore based shelling it was subjected to during the summer, and in addition, the British had looted the crops and livestock in the surrounding area during the siege of Quebec City, worsening the famine which was already ravaging the colony.
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| Colonel James Murray |
Leaving only a few ships behind, the British fleet withdrew to Halifax, leaving a garrison of 7,000 men in Quebec City under the command of Colonel James Murray, who became the British commander of the city. The winter was difficult for these men, whose numbers were decimated by scurvy, fever and dysentery, and the number of able-bodied soldiers dropped to 4,000. Despite the losses, James Murray used what forces he had to improve the city’s defences with additional fortifications, including a series of small wooden forts called blockhouses.
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| The French troops under my command, out on the French right flank are mustered in readiness for their approach march through the woods. |
For the French, the situation was difficult, but promising. Troop morale was low following the defeat at the battle of the Plains of Abraham and the army was disorganised, yet although weakened, the French army remained a force to be reckoned with.
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| Chevalier François-Gaston de Lévis |
Following the death of General Montcalm, the command of the troops fell to Chevalier François-Gaston de Lévis, a skilled, ambitious officer, who as soon as he was promoted, reassembled the routed army and had it march on the city. It was then that he learned of the city’s surrender, and had to resign himself to turning back and spend the winter in Montreal with his troops.
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| French Troupes de la Marine and the Canadian militia formed the centre of the French line. |
On the 20th April 1760, Lévis gathered his army and marched on Quebec City, with approximately 7,000 men, half of whom were regular soldiers, while the remainder were militiamen and Indian allies, with the intent to surprise the British garrison and take the city quickly, before the spring thaw.
However Murray got wind of the French advance and recalled his advance detachments from Lorette and Sainte-Foy to concentrate his forces in Quebec City, but was only able to deploy 3,400 men against the French, offset with the support of 22-guns, which he positioned on the Buttes-à-Neveu bluffs, the highest point in the area.
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| Map of the battle from the Osprey Combat Series 'British Redcoat v French Fusilier' - Stuart Reid. |
The battle took place slightly to the west of where the Battle of the Plains of Abraham was fought, this time, however, with the situation reversed and the British defending Quebec City.
On the 28th April 1760, the first columns of the French army emerged onto the battlefield from the woods of Sillery, to find the British army waiting for them.
Murray was impatient and wanted to attack before the French could deploy, thus hoping to thwart his adversary, and seeing an opportunity to attack the French in detail as they deployed from the treeline, he ordered an immediate attack. However, he lost a major tactical advantage by placing his men in the line of fire of his cannons, forcing them to redeploy forward with the infantry through boggy ground, with insufficient tows for his guns, made worse by having limited ammunition.
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| In the centre and advance party of French Canadian Militia hold a slight rise in the ground as the British line ahead prepares to advance. Note the stream between them that was a slight hurdle on the British march, with the waterlogged ground making the deployment of the British artillery somewhat problematic. |
This strategy was however somewhat successful, as it caught François-Charles de Bourlamaque (the officer commanding the vanguard of the French army) off guard, and he was unable to deploy his troops correctly, suffering heavy losses.
However, once the initial confusion had subsided, the situation improved, and the Troupes de la Marine and the Canadian militia (who were very familiar with the local trails) arrived to reinforce them and threw themselves into the fray, charging the enemy with bayonets. The shock broke the British momentum, with the two armies gradually forced to regroup.
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| The British command, left to right, John, Vince and Andy make final adjustments to their line prior to beginning their advance. |
North of the battlefield, near the Dumont mill on Chemin Sainte-Foy, the fighting was especially fierce, where the mill, over 30 feet in height and with its thick walls, was a coveted strategic location. The French grenadiers rushed to take it at the outset of the battle but were quickly forced out by the British Light Infantry, then the troops from the Béarn Regiment stormed the mill again, only to be driven back by the grenadiers of the 35th Regiment of Foot.
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Dumont's Mill - Peter Dennis (Osprey British Redcoat vs French Fusilier)
The fight for Dumont's Mill and tannery was acknowledged by both sides to have been particularly savage, with the strongpoint changing hands several times.
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While his men kept the British occupied on his left flank, Lévis went on the attack on his right and began an encircling manoeuvre. The attack by the French army was so intense that the British front began to buckle under the pressure, and after three hours of fierce fighting Murray finally had to give up the struggle and sound the retreat, with the British taking shelter inside Quebec's city walls, leaving the French with a costly victory.
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| On the French left flank, a company of French grenadiers have made themselves at home in the Dupont Mill, awaiting support from the French army preparing to advance to them. |
The toll of the Battle of Sainte-Foy was higher than that of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, with the French losing 193 soldiers killed and 640 wounded, whilst the British suffered, 229 killed, 857 wounded and 53 taken prisoner.
Lévis ordered a siege of the city, and trenches were dug whilst gun batteries were aimed at the ramparts, with Lévis being very familiar with the weaknesses of the fortifications using his knowledge to concentrate his fire on the Glacière bastion. However, his cannons were not powerful enough to breach the walls, and coupled with a lack of powder, he could only fire his cannons twenty times a day.
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| Similarly on the French right flank, a company of French marines occupy an old British earthwork, with the open entrance facing the British lines. |
From the ramparts, the British bombarded the French positions and inflicted substantial damage, with the deadlock finally ended with the arrival of British ships carrying supplies of food, munitions and reinforcements that completely extinguished the hopes of Lévis, forcing him to raise the siege and retreat towards Montreal.
Three British armies numbering 18,000 men would eventually converge on Montreal, forcing it to capitulate on the 8th September 1760.
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| British regulars with Light Infantry to their front advance over the stream towards Dupont's Mill as beyond French marines and Canadian militia deploy from the tree line. |
Following a quick briefing by Steve outlining the historical setup and a run through of how we would model the battle using Black Powder we got down to business with both lines intent on getting forward quickly to stake out the best ground to begin the fight.
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| French troops emerge from the treeline. |
Taking command of the French left flank on the road towards Dupont's Mill, I arranged my four battalions of regulars in march columns together with their attached Canadian militia skirmish companies and a group of Indians intent on making quick progress through the tree line ahead and to quickly deploy into line in the open ground on the other side, with my fellow French commanders opting for a similar approach march.
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| I managed a good run on the command dice allowing my French regulars to rapidly clear the tree line and deploy from column to lines, seen here coming up in support of the grenadiers in the mill. |
On the other side of the hill or perhaps more appropriately, the other side of the stream, our British opposite numbers were struggling to coordinate their line moving forward and crossing the boggy ground and stream as a coherent force, although at least having the advantage of not having to deal with a tree line in their way and thus able to move forward in line and ready to fight.
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| Two opposing divisions start to meet on the French left and centre from Dupont's Mill. |
However as the two forces closed on each other, our battle started to take a distinct shape, with two opposing divisions meeting on the French left and centre from Dupont's Mill and with a separate and distinct struggle developing around the old British earthwork between Andy and Clive, out on the French right flank.
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| Out on the British left flank, Andy's division of British regulars, highlanders and rangers advance on the old earthwork. |
With both lines arrayed, although with the British still attempting to get their guns forward in the centre, both sides started to pop away with the first rounds of musketry, hoping to inflict those early hits to force commands to be used to rally rather than manoeuvre and with both sides hoping to capitalise on hits inflicted with a charge to contact as a follow up.
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| Clive's French division arrayed around the old earthwork as a distinct little battle breaks out on this side of the line. |
The two strongpoints on either side of the French line were key objectives for both sides, but with them initially in French possession, they anchored the French advance and the early exchanges of musketry continued into the next few moves, as forward units were forced to drop back and be rallied as rearward units attempted to move forward and take their place.
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| Our battle taking shape as both the opposing lines advance on each other. |
On the French left both Chas and I opted for a full out attack and pushed our lines right into the face of the opposing British line, with the large French marine battalions bringing their numbers to bear with extra dice in the exchanges of fire and with my own French Canadian militia combining their fire to drive the British light infantry back behind the stream in disorder as John was forced to bring regulars forward to replace them in his line.
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| The British line formed up on their right flank with light infantry to the fore, and guns protecting their end of the line. |
The French pressure started to have effect as a British regular battalion in the centre was forced back in disorder to join the light infantry behind the stream and needing to rally, however the British advance on the French right saw the French marine company in the earthwork driven out under the heavy fire received from several British units including the strong battalion of highlanders.
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| The opposing lines seen from the French left flank, with the two nearest French battalions painted for Steve's collection in time for this game by Yours Truly. |
The game play with Black Powder follows a predictable sequence as both sides aim to bring as much concentrated firepower to bear on specific target units in an opposing line, aiming to inflict hits, with a usual 4, 5 or 6 indicating a potential success, and with a similar die roll in response to indicate a save, with any factors such as range and cover affecting said rolls.
A small unit such as a Canadian militia skirmisher unit could soak up two hits, moving it into the shaken category, with a morale check to follow, and given a red die to mark the casualties, as various units will be seen so marked in the pictures. The larger units of line infantry up to three hits, and the really large units such as the French marine battalions, or the British highlanders able to take four hits.
Needless to say, the preferred tactic was to lead with the big units spearheading an assault, covered by smaller skirmish units, used to buy them in on the approach, cause as much damage with some close in shooting, and then with a bit of luck, follow matters up with a charge; hopefully seeing a melee where your negative factors for casualties or disorders are less than the opposition’s and with a few positive ones such as supports and the dice roll to produce an overall positive score for the attackers which either breaks the enemy formation or sees them recoil in utter confusion.
Of course a wise strategy in response to suffering a bit of a battering was to pull back the battered units behind a second line of fresh units able to take up the contest as their comrades rallied, but of course command and control can be a bit of an issue sometimes when matters are getting serious, and such a tactic is not always possible to carry out in a timely fashion.
So our game reached its crescendo just after lunch as French marines charged up the slight rise anchoring the British line determined to press the advantage against a large skirmish battalion of British light infantry, whilst on the French right, Andy pressed forward with his British line, seeing his highlanders take possession of the old redoubt, and forcing Clive's French line back towards the treeline.
Alongside the French marines, my four battalions of French regulars were hotly engaged with John's British regulars, not able to close for a decisive encounter as John reacted to the casualties his units were taking by withdrawing his line back to the stream, looking to open a more productive field of fire for his gunners.
At first it seemed the French marines might move the battle irrecoverably in favour of General Levi, forcing the light infantry back, but not breaking them, but suffering heavy casualties themselves on the way in. However in the process Vince had moved his British regulars forward of the rise and onto the open flank of the other French marine unit and skirmishers looking to support their comrades.
The subsequent volleys delivered by Vince's British flanking attack saw off the French Canadian militia, and broke the second battalion of French marines, forcing a brigade morale check that was failed.
Oh dear, how sad, never mind, but it spelled the end of French dreams to retake Quebec as with the centre of the line gone, myself and Clive's flank divisions were left with little alternative than to plan our withdrawal to Montreal and concede the game.
Never the less much fun was had by all and our battle had produced a tense little struggle, fought and played in the usual good humour and banter that accompanies these gatherings as we enjoy the company as well as the history being recreated along with our own game-narrative.
This was a labour of love for Steve pulling this game together as he has held a long interest in the French Indian War, and he very much recommended the book 'Backs to the Wall' by D. Peter MacLeod, offering a forensic study of this pivotal battle in the history of Canada, and the events surrounding it.
D. Peter MacLeod is the pre-Confederation historian at the Canadian War Museum, where he curated the permanent exhibits on the Seven Years' War and The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, and his previous books include The Canadian Iroquois and the Seven Years' War (Dundurn, 2012), and Northern Armageddon (Douglas & McIntyre, 2008).
One of the nicest aspects of our hobby, especially if you do it long enough, is that you get to make firm friends of the chaps and occasional ladies that you get to play these games with over the years, and I have been blessed with such association and would heartily recommend our hobby to anyone thinking of taking it up on that aspect alone, but when combined with all the other bits make it a very special pastime.
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| Our Sainte Foy team for 2026, left to right, JJ, John, Clive, Chas, Vince, Andy and Steve. |
As mentioned in the preamble, our annual gathering has generated lots of interesting historical refights, and I've attached links below to some of them we have played over the years.
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2022I hope you've enjoyed this post covering our game for 2026, and thankyou to Chas, Clive, Vince, Andy and John for producing a fun game, together with our 'gamemeister' Steve M for pulling things together and herding the cats, and of course Sue and Derek for hosting and feeding us for another year in their historic former chapel that provides the gothic backdrop to our games.
Next up, the work continues with the American War of Independence collection, 'The World Turned Upside Down' as two more units conclude work on an American and a British brigade as I showcase His Majesty's 44th Regiment of Foot, and the 11th Virginia Continental Regiment.
As always more anon.
JJ
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