It is the morning of September 13, 1759, chill and dark. Two hostile armies are drawn up on a mile-wide plateau outside the French city of Quebec. Across the rain-soaked grass the blue-and-white uniformed troops of French King Louis XV face the red- coated army of England's George II. Both forces are well-trained regulars, brightly attired and battle hardened. Skirmishers and sharpshooters fire sporadically as the French form for attack. Six hundred paces to the west, the British are rigidly aligned, waiting to receive the blow.

At ten o'clock, the French begin their advance, shouting and firing as they move steadily forward. British lines are motionless except for the closing of . . .