James Wolfe, was destined it seems to make a name for himself at Louisbourg and
Quebec. A professional soldier in the fullest meaning of the term, he was born into a military
family. His father and grandfather were officers of the army. The military was in his heart,
and from an early age he had followed the drum. Never doubting his goal in life, he was
determined to succeed in his chosen career.
His father, Edward, was born in I685 and at the age of sixteen was given a commission in a
regiment of Marines. He served in Flanders under Marlborough, had become a lieutenant
colonel by the age of thirty-two. He died having earned the rank of lieutenant general in
1759, six-months before his elder son James.
Edward Wolfe married Henrietta, daughter of Edward Thompson of Long Marston,
Yorkshire. They had two sons, both of whom become soldiers. James Wolfe was born at
Westerham on 2 January 1727, Edward Wolfe a year later. Edward became a lieutenant in
the12th Regiment of Foot, and died on active service in Flanders at the age of sixteen.
The early 18th century offered many opportunities for campaigners, and youth was no bar
to advancement at the front. James's rise showed that the more glittering appointments fell
to those of higher social status than that of the Wolfes. After some schooling at Greenwich,
where his parents then lived, at the age of fourteen he was appointed second-lieutenant in
his father's regiment of Marines . In 1742, he transferred into the 12th Regiment of Foot,
where he served in active service against the French in the War of the Austrian Succession.
In 1743, when not much over sixteen, he had become adjutant of his battalion. On 12 June
he took part in his first battle. It was at Dettingen, where he had a horse shot from under
him. It was here also that he came under the favorable notice of the Duke of Cumberland. A
year later he was a substantive captain in the 45th Foot. Within twelve months be was
serving as a brigade major. He was then sent home to take part against the Jacobite uprising
under Prince Charles Edward Stuart the Young Pretender. James Wolfe was at Falkirk and
Culloden as Aid de Camp to General Hawley. Afterwards he remained in Scotland with his
regiment, where he had to be prepared to take women and children as hostages, lay waste
the country, burn houses, and seize livestock.
From Scotland Wolfe returned to the Continent and in July 1747, was present at the battle
of Lauffeld, serving under general Sir James Mordaunt, who was to be of some importance
his life. He was wounded, and for the second time received the thanks of Cumberland for his
conduct.
Wolfe had an explosive temper. Of this, he later wrote frankly to his mother:
It is my misfortune to catch fire on a sudden, to answer letters the moment I receive
them. The next day perhaps would have carried more moderation with it; every ill turn
through my whole life has had this haste, and the first impulse of resentment for its true
cause, and it proceeds from pride.
This confession is of great importance to the understanding of Wolfe's personality, and it
explains sonic of the difficulties he encountered during his last campaign, particularly among
those who did not know him well, or who were not prepared to make allowances.
In general, and despite such set-backs as were to be expected in the career of one who
had no powerful influence behind him, Wolfe was content, not with himself, but with his lot in
life and with his family. 'Nobody,' he wrote to his father, 'perhaps has more reason to be
satisfied with his station and success in the world than myself. Nobody can have better
parents, and I have hitherto never wanted friends; but happiness or ease, which is all we can
pretend to, lies in the mind or nowhere.'
His passion for self-improvement was ceaseless. It was not every rising officer of Foot
who, in his early twenties, would engage a tutor in mathematics, and another in Latin, and
slave away so hard that, as he reported, the hours of toil 'have not even left me with the
qualities of a coxcomb; for I can neither laugh nor sing, nor talk an hour upon nothing. The
latter is a sensible loss, for it excludes a gentleman from all good company, and makes him
extremely unfit for the conversation of the polite world.'
Not long after writing this, Wolfe spent a happy interlude of leave in Paris, where he did
his best to master colloquial French, and in time came to speak it with ease. There he was
given a view of the world which extended far beyond the confines of military camps and
garrison society. Looking at mankind in general, and at times French and English in
particular, he was moved to note:
Wolfe's rise as a soldier would in some later periods have seemed spectacular, though it
never appeared so to himself. He had become a substantive major in the 20th Foot by the
age of twenty-two, with the acting rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was confirmed in his acting
rank in March I75O. This was much faster promotion than his father had received, but
James Wolfe had seen much fighting. He was with his regiment, often in Scotland, until the
outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756.
By the age of thirty, he could consider himself seasoned, far more so than most of his
contemporaries. He had been present at four full-scale battles and a score of lesser
engagements; he had trained his regiment to a point of efficiency which was handsomely
acknowledged by his superiors, and he had taken note of how independent command should
be exercised. Willing to learn and eager to lead, Wolfe now only awaited the right
opportunity to show his capacity.
In the earlier months of 1757, shortly after the outbreak of the Seven Years War, the
question of further promotion came up. This was one of extreme importance professionally,
since the step in rank between lieutenant-colonel and full colonel was significant beyond the
ordinary. A lieutenant-colonel saw to the training and administration of a regiment, but in the
case of a full colonel, the unit belonged to him in every practical sense, and it bore his name.
James Wolfe was a tall, gangling man, awkward, hatchet-faced, with a receding chin.
Sometimes he wore a wig, and when he did it was likely to be slightly askew; and at other
times he wore his own hair, which was red. He was highly emotional and given to reciting
poetry, especially Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard," his favorite. He was
intense, passionate, and had no sense of humor. He was unorthodox as an army officer.
Wolfe disapproved of flogging, a practice that well established and was thought to be the only
thing that held an army together. When he didn't like a man or a thing, of which there was no
shortage, he emphatically said so. He held in low opinion all Americans as cowardly and
contemptible, as did most English officers. Wolfe was not prone to boasting, he did not have
to. His regiment was one of the best, and he never spared himself. Though he was not well
liked, he was respected by all who knew him.
My temper is much too warm, and sudden resentment forces out expressions and even
actions that are neither justifiable nor excusable, but you must have observed that people
are apt to resent what they take for injuries with more than common quickness when they
come from an unexpected quarter. When once I know that people have entertained a very ill
opinion I imagine they never change, and though I flatter myself that I have a sense of
justice strong enough to keep me from doing wrong, even to an enemy, yet there lurks a
hidden poison in the heart.
There are men that only desire to shine, and that had rather say a smart thing than do a
great one; there are others - rare birds - that had rather be than seem to be. Of the first kind
this country is a well stored magazine; of the second, our own has some few examples.