The attack conducted by the British against the French defense line of Beauport, some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of Quebec was checked, and the army of General James Wolfe retreated with 443 casualties and losses.

William Pitt continued the aggressive policy in 1759, again organizing large campaigns aimed at the heartland of New France, the Canadien communities of Quebec and Montreal on the St. Lawrence River.

In a letter to Brigadier Robert Monckton, Wolfe wrote that he had hoped to capture one of the French redoubts, the second one counting from the east end of the Beauport line, in order to force the enemy out of their entrenchments.

The plan involved an attack by the Navy, an important landing force transported from Île d'Orléans, as well as a body of troops crossing the river Montmorency on rafts and marching westward to the battle site.

[8] It is possible that the circumstance he alluded to was a French counteroffensive in which a newly built battery at Samos (near Sillery) damaged the Squirrel.

On the morning of 31 July the war vessel Centurion positioned itself by les Chutes Montmorency to attack the easternmost French batteries.

He immediately realized his mistake: the redoubt he hoped to seize to force the French out of their entrenchments was within range of enemy fire.

At around 11:00, the transport ships (Russell and Three Sisters) reached the north shore where the body of troops mobilized to take the redoubt landed.

An unforeseen difficulty caused the landing planned a little to the west of the Montmorency Falls to be suspended: the boats met with a shoal preventing them from reaching the shore.

[15] Shortly after the firing began, a summer storm broke out, causing gunpowder to become wet and rendering firearms unusable.

[17] While the news of the victory was celebrated in the French camp, General Montcalm remained lucid, writing to Bourlamaque that in his opinion this attack was only a prelude to a more important one, which they could do nothing but patiently wait for.

[15] The attack did eventually arrive, when on 13 September the British landed west of Quebec and defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham in a battle that claimed the lives of both Montcalm and Wolfe.