Letter from Lieutenant Henry Browne to his father, John Browne, recounting the death of Major General Wolfe, addressed from Louisbourg, 17 November 1759

Major General James Wolfe was fatally wounded in action during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Quebec City, on 13 September 1759 during the Seven Year's War (1756-1763). Lieutenant Henry Browne of the 22nd Regiment of Foot and Louisbourg Grenadiers was one of four men known have attended Wolfe when he was wounded and held him in his arms as he lay dying. He recounted this profound experience in a letter to his father written a few months later:

'The Poor Genl [General] after I had his wounds dressed, died in my arms, before he died he thanked me for my care of him, & asked me whether we had totally defeated the enemy, upon my answering him we had killed numbers, taken a number of officers & men prisnr [prisoner]. He thanked God & begged I would then let him die in peace, he expired in a minuet [minute] - afterwards, without the least struggle or groan. You can't imagine Dr [dear] Father the sorrow of every individual in the army for so great a loss, even the soldiers dropt [dropped] tears, who were but the minuet before driving their bayonets through the French. I can't compare it to anything better, than to a family in tears & sorrow which had just lost their father, their friend & their whole Dependences.