1757 Wolfe accepted the post of quartermaster-general in Ireland, which was usually held by a colonel, in the hope of obtaining that rank; but he was still judged too young. The appointment (which he resigned in January 1758) did not take him away from his regiment, to which a second battalion was added in the spring of 1757. It was then stationed in Dorset, and a few months before part of it had been sent to Gloucestershire under Wolfe, on account of riots. He shared the general discontent at the mismanagement of affairs at this time: ‘We are the most egregious blunderers in war that ever took the hatchet in hand’ (17 July 1756); ‘this country is going fast upon its ruin by the paltry projects and more ridiculous execution of those who are entrusted’ (undated). He begged his mother ‘to persuade the general (his father) to contribute all he can possibly afford towards the defence of the island—retrenching, if need be, his expenses, moderate as they are’ (23 Feb. 1757).
At the end of June 1757 Pitt entered on his great administration, and in September an expedition was sent against Rochefort at his instance. The troops were commanded by Wolfe's friend, Sir John Mordaunt [q. v.] Both battalions of the 20th went, and Wolfe was made quartermaster-general of the force. It arrived off the French coast on 20 Sept., and remained there ten days, effecting nothing except the occupation of the Ile d'Aix. Wolfe came home very indignant: ‘We blundered most egregiously on all sides—sea and land’ (24 Oct.); ‘the public could not do better than dismiss six or eight of us from the service. No zeal, no ardour, no care and concern for the good and honour of the country’ (17 Oct.) There was much to be said on the other side, and it is doubtful if a landing would have fared better than that of Tollemache in 1694 (see Report of the Court of Inquiry, 1758, Wolfe's evidence is given at pp. 28–31 and 46–8; cf. Mémoires de Luynes, xvi. 189, 201). But Wolfe held that in such cases ‘the honour of our country is to have some weight, and that in particular circumstances and times the loss of a thousand men is rather an advantage to a nation than otherwise, seeing that gallant attempts raise its reputation and make it respectable; whereas the contrary appearances sink the credit of a country, ruin the troops, and create infinite uneasiness and discontent at home’ (5 Nov.)
In the same letter he says: ‘I am not sorry that I went; one may always pick up something useful from amongst the most fatal errors;’ and he went on to develop the lessons he had learnt. He profited, too, in another way. His own zeal and ardour had been conspicuous, and the admiral, Sir Edward Hawke, gave the king a good opinion of him. He made him brevet colonel on 21 Oct.; and afterwards said to Newcastle: ‘Mad, is he? then I hope he will bite some others of my generals’ (Wright, p. 487). Above all, Pitt welcomed evidence that the failure of the expedition was due to faults of execution, not of conception, and he marked Wolfe as a man to be employed. He was, in fact, as Walpole said, ‘formed to execute the designs of such a master as Pitt.’
On 7 Jan. 1758 he was summoned from Exeter to London, and made the journey, 170 miles, in thirty-two hours. He was offered the command of a brigade in the force which was to be sent against Louisbourg, and he accepted; ‘though I know the very passage threatens my life, and that my constitution must be utterly ruined and undone’ (12 Jan.) His letter of service as brigadier in America was dated 23 Jan. He embarked on 12 Feb. and reached Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 8 May. On the 28th the expedition left Halifax, the fleet commanded by Boscawen; the land forces, consisting of more than eleven thousand regulars and five hundred provincials, by Jeffrey (afterwards Baron) Amherst [q. v.] Louisbourg was sighted on 1 June, but for a week the weather prevented a landing. On the 8th, at dawn, the boats rowed for the shore of Gabarus Bay in three divisions, two of which were meant to distract the attention of the enemy. The third, under Wolfe, was to force a landing at Freshwater Cove, a crescent-shaped beach a quarter of a mile long, with rocks at each end. Wolfe had twelve companies of grenadiers, 550 light infantry, Fraser's regiment of Highlanders, and some New England rangers. The cove was guarded by nearly a thousand French troops, behind intrenchments and abatis, and eight guns in masked batteries swept the beach and the approaches. These guns opened fire upon the boats at close range, and with such effect that Wolfe signalled to retire; but some of the boats that were less exposed kept on, and landed their men on the rocks at one end. Wolfe followed with the rest, and, climbing the cliff, stormed the nearest battery with the bayonet. One of the other divisions landed soon afterwards at the other end of the beach, and the French, fearing they would be cut off from their fortress, left their intrenchments and fled. The British loss was only 109.
The siege of Louisbourg followed. Wolfe
