James Wolfe
1727–1759 · British · Seven Years' War
Known for: Captured Quebec in 1759, winning the French and Indian War and ending French power in North America
James Wolfe was the British general whose daring night assault on the cliffs above Quebec in 1759 was one of the most audacious operations in military history. His men scaled the supposedly impassable cliffs in darkness, formed up on the Plains of Abraham, and defeated the French in a battle that lasted less than an hour.
Wolfe was physically frail—thin, red-haired, and plagued by illness—but possessed extraordinary courage. He was killed at the moment of victory, aged only 32. His death in triumph made him a romantic icon, immortalized in Benjamin West's famous painting.
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