rch of eighteen miles over all most impassable roads lay ahead. Lvis was well aware of the obstacles that lay ahead, decided to cross the river two miles above the mouth. An advance guard of grenadiers and Indians, with a small detachment of artillery, were sent on ahead to repair those bridges destroyed by the English. By two o’clock that afternoon, two narrow bridges were made ready for the army to cross. No sooner did word reach de Lvis, than the army was ordered to march. Officers, and men alike set out on foot in ankle deep mud, in a cold rain. As the French army advanced, under these severe conditions, scouts reported that the English had recently abandoned their positions at Lorette, and had pulled back to Ste. Foy. With this news, de Bourlamaque was ordered to seize these positions and the houses overlooking the road. When the positions were secured, a brigade was sent to relieve the grenadiers, and de Bourlamaque was ordered to advance " as far as he possibly could without, however, compromising himself" until the main army could advance. Crossing the Suete marsh, he managed to set up positions in some houses less that a mile from the British garrison on the heights of Ste. Foy. The French army advanced under terrible conditions as described by Lvis: "It was a frightful night, terribly cold and stormy, and the army, which only finished crossing at a very late hour in the night, suffered enormously. The bridges were broken, and the men had to wade through the water. Had it not been for lightning we should have had to stop he howling wind, shook the houses as if to blow them down. Then the gale subsided only to be followed by more intense cold and rain mixed with snow." When the British had taken Quebec on September 18, 1759, the city had been devastated from the siege. Brigadier General James Murray, and the garrison of seven thousand troops within its walls, had few rations and rapidly became victim to illness, particula...
