Atlas of Battles

battle, major, early modern

Battle of the Plains of Abraham

Battle of the Plains of Abraham was a battle fought on 13 September 1759 at Quebec City, in what is now Canada. It was part of the Seven Years' War, which ran from 1756 to 1763. The recorded result: British victory. Recorded strength: 4,400 regulars and colonial rangers against 3,400 men; 1,900 regulars; 1,500 colonial militia and natives.

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Battle of the Plains of Abraham
Benjamin West, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought13 September 1759
WhereQuebec City, Canada46.802N, 71.220W
OutcomeBritish victory
BelligerentsKingdom of Great Britain; British AmericaagainstKingdom of France; French CanadaMi'kmaq; Maliseet; Abenaki; Potawatomis; Odawa; Wendat
Casualties and losses58 killed; 600 woundedand116 killed; 600 wounded; 350 captured
Part ofSeven Years' War1756 to 1763

Where it sits in the Seven Years' War

Battle of Fort Beauséjour, 1755Battle of the Monongahela, 1755Battle of Petitcodiac, 1755Battle of Lake George, 1755Battle of Fort Bull, 1756Siege of Fort St Philip, 1756Battle of Minorca, 1756Battle of Fort Oswego, 1756Siege of Pirna, 1756Battle of Lobositz, 1756Siege of Schweidnitz, 1757Battle of Chandannagar, 1757Battle of Reichenberg, 1757Battle of Prague, 1757Battle of Kolín, 1757Battle of Studencem, 1757Battle of Hastenbeck, 1757Siege of Fort William Henry, 1757Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf, 1757Raid on Rochefort, 1757Battle of Moys, 1757Battle of Cap-Français, 1757Battle of Rossbach, 1757Battle of Breslau, 1757Battle of Leuthen, 1757Siege of Olomouc, 1758Capture of Senegal, 1758Siege of Küstrin, 1758Siege of Neisse, 1758Siege of Schweidnitz, 1758Battle of Cartagena, 1758Siege of Minden, 1758Battle of Cuddalore, 1758Action of 29 April 1758, 1758Raid on St Malo, 1758Battle of Rheinberg, 1758Battle of Krefeld, 1758Battle of Domstadtl, 1758Battle of Carillon, 1758Battle of Ostřetína, 1758Battle of Přepych, 1758Battle of Negapatam, 1758Battle of Mehr, 1758Raid on Cherbourg, 1758Battle of Zorndorf, 1758Battle of Fort Frontenac, 1758Battle of Saint Cast, 1758Battle of Fort Duquesne, 1758Battle of Tornow, 1758Siege of Kolberg, 1758Battle of Lutterberg, 1758Battle of Fort Ligonier, 1758Battle of Hochkirch, 1758Siege of Madras, 1758Capture of Gorée, 1758Battle of Condore, 1758Sieges of Kolberg, 1759Battle of Fulda, 1759Invasion of Martinique, 1759Invasion of Guadeloupe, 1759Siege of Masulipatam, 1759Battle of Bergen, 1759Battle of Peterswalde, 1759Battle of Himmelreich, 1759Siege of Quebec, 1759Raid on Le Havre, 1759Battle of Kay, 1759Battle of Ticonderoga, 1759Battle of Beauport, 1759Battle of Minden, 1759Battle of Kunersdorf, 1759Battle of Lagos, 1759Battle of Pondicherry, 1759Battle of Frisches Haff, 1759Battle of the Plains of Abraham, 1759Battle of Hoyerswerda, 1759Siege of Münster, 1759Battle of Quiberon Bay, 1759Battle of Maxen, 1759Battle of Chinsurah, 1759Battle of Meissen, 1759Battle of Wandiwash, 1760Battle of Udgir, 1760Battle of Carrickfergus, 1760Battle of Sainte-Foy, 1760Battle of Neuville, 1760Siege of Glatz, 1760Battle of Landeshut, 1760Battle of Restigouche, 1760Battle of Corbach, 1760Siege of Dresden, 1760Battle of Emsdorf, 1760Battle of Warburg, 1760Battle of Liegnitz, 1760Battle of Oschatz, 1760Battle of the Thousand Islands, 1760Siege of Kolberg, 1760Siege of Pondicherry, 1760Battle of Rhadern, 1760Raid on Berlin, 1760Battle of Kloster Kampen, 1760Battle of the Windward Passage, 1760Battle of Langensalza, 1761Siege of Cassel, 1761Battle of Grünberg, 1761Capture of Belle Île, 1761Battle of Villinghausen, 1761Action of 17 July 1761, 1761Battle of Cape Finisterre, 1761Siege of Kolberg, 1761Battle of Ölper, 1761Invasion of Martinique, 1762Bombardment of Arnsberg, 1762Battle of Wilhelmsthal, 1762Battle of Burkersdorf, 1762Battle of Lutterberg, 1762Siege of Almeida, 1762Battle of Grüningen, 1762Battle of Valencia de Alcántara, 1762Battle of Nauheim, 1762Battle of Signal Hill, 1762Battle of Brücker Mill, 1762Siege of Cassel, 1762Battle of Vila Velha, 1762Battle of Freiberg, 1762Siege of Fort Detroit, 1763Battle of Devil's Hole, 176317551763Battle of the Plains of Abraham, 1759
127 placed engagements of the Seven Years' War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date13 September 1759
PlaceQuebec City, Canada
46.802N, 71.220W
KindBattle, early modern
Strength4,400 regulars and colonial rangers3,400 men; 1,900 regulars; 1,500 colonial militia and natives
Casualties and losses58 killed; 600 wounded116 killed; 600 wounded; 350 captured
Commanders
Battle of the Plains of AbrahamBattle of the Plains of AbrahamSiege of QuebecSiege of QuebecBattle of Sainte-FoyBattle of QuebecBattle of BeauportBattle of BeauportTrois-RivièresShawiniganVictoriavilleSaint-GeorgesDrummondvilleJolietteRivière-du-Loup100 km46.802N, 71.220W
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of the Plains of Abraham
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of the Plains of Abraham today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-10-18. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 101 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from -2 to 124 m, 126 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 38% built-up, 34% water, 19% tree cover.

built-up: 38%water: 34%tree cover: 19%grassland: 5%built-up 38%water 34%tree cover 19%grassland 5%
west to east, 10.0 km0 to 119 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 120 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 5 times between 1759 and 1775.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1759

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: FR ARMYDefender: BR ARMY
Strength4,5004,800
Casualties1,500 (33.3%)650 (13.5%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1039
Outcomedefender won
Duration1 day
Front width1 km1.2 km
Attacker advanced-0.8 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 77), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of the Plains of Abraham is one of 2,009 engagements of the 18th century in the atlas and one of 128 in present-day Canada.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q311726, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of the Plains of Abraham, revision 1379564436, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.