It was only in the last years of the French regime that large numbers of troops, armaments and supplies made it possible in North America to wage war in the classic European manner. Before that, a strategy of ambush and surprise from the cover of the forest, rather than combat in the open, imposed itself on both sides in the conflict.
This engraving illustrates a decisive moment in the battle of the Plains of Abraham. We see the action as the French line (right) begins to break. On the British side, the battalions remain in rigid order as they advance in pursuit of the retreating French. Canadian militiamen (lower centre) snipe at the British flanks from the forest cover. By the time of this engagement the Canadian irregulars and their Amerindian allies had been reduced to the status of an auxiliary force.
