French and Indian War, General Wolfe's Death, 1759
Illustration showing General James Wolfe, lying mortally wounded on field, surrounded by soldiers and a Native American, during the siege of Quebec in 1759. Major General James Peter Wolfe (1727-1759) was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada. Wolfe was commander of a force designated to sail up the Saint Lawrence River to capture Quebec. After a lengthy siege Wolfe defeated a French force under Montcalm allowing British forces to capture the city. Wolfe was killed at the height of the battle due to injuries from three musket balls. The French and Indian War was fought by Great Britain and France over disputed territories in North America from 1754 to 1763. Struggles for supremacy had been going on for many decades between France and England in the New World, but hostilities intensified in the early 1750s as both English and French settlers attempted to colonize land in the Ohio River Valley and each thought they owned the rights to the land. Both France and England wanted to extend their world empires into the Ohio River Valley and each recruited Native American tribes to fight on their side
