- Reaction score
- 20
- Points
- 430
Website National Battlefields Commission :
Welcome to the Plains of Abraham/Bienvenue sur les plaines d'Abraham
Commemorative activities : Québec City, a town under siege, From July 30 to August 2
Free admission
* Four days of intensive siege.
* From 2000 to 3000 re-enactors will set up period camps to be visited by the public.
* Two showdowns played in front of the generals’ descendants.
* A spectacular historic gathering, the premiere summer event in Québec City.
* On the agenda: skirmishes, gun fire and other historical reminders of the siege, in Québec City and
its surroundings, ascent of the cliff, military parade, visit of the camps, old-style marketplace, Seven Years’ War
museum fair, battles of the Plains of Abraham (1759) and Sainte-Foy (1760).
Article :
Old wounds slow to heal on Plains of Abraham, CBC News
Plans to commemorate a pivotal conflict that shaped Canadian history are stirring up
political controversy in Quebec.
The National Battlefields Commission is preparing to re-enact the Battle of the Plains of
Abraham this summer to mark the 250th anniversary of the 1759 British victory over
the French at Quebec City. The re-enactment, which will take place over a four-day period,
is expected to draw more than 2,000 history buffs from around the world.
But Quebec sovereigntists consider the battle a humiliating defeat and the start of English
domination over French-speaking people in North America — and question the government's
role in the re-enactment. "This battle put an end to the New France, as it was known then,
and it was the beginning of the British experience here," said Bernard Drainville, Parti Québécois
member of the Quebec national assembly. "We don't think there's any reason to celebrate that."
Charest won't attend
Liberal Premier Jean Charest has already indicated he won't attend the event, but federal
Heritage Minister Josée Verner has said she will, to the PQ's dismay.
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham has a particular negative significance in the French-Canadian
collective consciousness, and Verner's intention to attend the event is a "terrible mistake," said
Agnes Maltais, another member of the sovereigntist PQ in the provincial legislature.
The battle is a sensitive subject for Quebecers, she said. "This was a war, and a lot of people were
hurt," she said. "In our collective memory, [Marquis de] Montcalm represents the defeat. But he
was a great general."
If the event included other conflicts such as the Battle of Ste.-Foy in 1760, which the French troops
won over the British, the re-enactment could offer a more balanced history lesson for Quebecers,
Maltais said. The conquest re-enactment offers an opportunity for Quebecers to revisit and learn
from their history as a people, said Denis Vaugeois, a former PQ member of the legislature.
"Everything that helps us review the past is useful, in my opinion," said Vaugeois, who is also
a historian.
The showdown between French and English armies, headed respectively by generals Marquis
de Montcalm and James Wolfe, was fought on a wide expanse of land outside Quebec City's fortified
walls that became known as the Plains of Abraham. The battle, involving more than 10,000 troops,
lasted less than an hour.
Wolfe was killed in the fight and Montcalm died of his wounds the next day.
French thread about the subject here: Commémoration du 250e de la bataille des plaines d'Abraham - PC
Welcome to the Plains of Abraham/Bienvenue sur les plaines d'Abraham
Commemorative activities : Québec City, a town under siege, From July 30 to August 2
Free admission
* Four days of intensive siege.
* From 2000 to 3000 re-enactors will set up period camps to be visited by the public.
* Two showdowns played in front of the generals’ descendants.
* A spectacular historic gathering, the premiere summer event in Québec City.
* On the agenda: skirmishes, gun fire and other historical reminders of the siege, in Québec City and
its surroundings, ascent of the cliff, military parade, visit of the camps, old-style marketplace, Seven Years’ War
museum fair, battles of the Plains of Abraham (1759) and Sainte-Foy (1760).
Article :
Old wounds slow to heal on Plains of Abraham, CBC News
Plans to commemorate a pivotal conflict that shaped Canadian history are stirring up
political controversy in Quebec.
The National Battlefields Commission is preparing to re-enact the Battle of the Plains of
Abraham this summer to mark the 250th anniversary of the 1759 British victory over
the French at Quebec City. The re-enactment, which will take place over a four-day period,
is expected to draw more than 2,000 history buffs from around the world.
But Quebec sovereigntists consider the battle a humiliating defeat and the start of English
domination over French-speaking people in North America — and question the government's
role in the re-enactment. "This battle put an end to the New France, as it was known then,
and it was the beginning of the British experience here," said Bernard Drainville, Parti Québécois
member of the Quebec national assembly. "We don't think there's any reason to celebrate that."
Charest won't attend
Liberal Premier Jean Charest has already indicated he won't attend the event, but federal
Heritage Minister Josée Verner has said she will, to the PQ's dismay.
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham has a particular negative significance in the French-Canadian
collective consciousness, and Verner's intention to attend the event is a "terrible mistake," said
Agnes Maltais, another member of the sovereigntist PQ in the provincial legislature.
The battle is a sensitive subject for Quebecers, she said. "This was a war, and a lot of people were
hurt," she said. "In our collective memory, [Marquis de] Montcalm represents the defeat. But he
was a great general."
If the event included other conflicts such as the Battle of Ste.-Foy in 1760, which the French troops
won over the British, the re-enactment could offer a more balanced history lesson for Quebecers,
Maltais said. The conquest re-enactment offers an opportunity for Quebecers to revisit and learn
from their history as a people, said Denis Vaugeois, a former PQ member of the legislature.
"Everything that helps us review the past is useful, in my opinion," said Vaugeois, who is also
a historian.
The showdown between French and English armies, headed respectively by generals Marquis
de Montcalm and James Wolfe, was fought on a wide expanse of land outside Quebec City's fortified
walls that became known as the Plains of Abraham. The battle, involving more than 10,000 troops,
lasted less than an hour.
Wolfe was killed in the fight and Montcalm died of his wounds the next day.
French thread about the subject here: Commémoration du 250e de la bataille des plaines d'Abraham - PC
