The Past Speaks

Christopher Moore has commented on my proposal that the Government of Canada invite the descendants of Wolfe and Montcalm to the 2009 Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa.

He had this to say : “Andrew’s well worth a read. But the dead of 1759 who continue to resonate for me are the townspeople killed as their houses crumbled under shellfire during the siege of Quebec, the civilians shot down in skirmishes with the British, the militia who died in their thousands during the whole of the war, even the elderly and the children who died of malnutrition and fevers during the grim winters of that struggle. And that’s not to mention the Acadians, the people of Louisbourg…  It would be too bad if our understanding of that became caught up in honouring a French and a British general — or wrangling whether to honour them. Could we not honour an unknown soldier of the Canadian War of the Conquest?”

I certainly agree with Christopher  that we should remember all those who died in that battle—my proposal to invite the descendants of the two best-known casualties is intended to raise awareness of all those of who perished, white and Native, general and privates, civilians and military.