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A Soldier's Account Of The Campaign On Quebec, 1759

Diary Entry:
A Soldier's Account of the Campaign on Quebec, 1759

Dear Diary,
Louisbourg May 1st,1759: I have just been called for duty by the British naval army. I am in the 40th regiment of the Louisbourg Grenadiers. I really do not want to leave my family to go up north to Upper Canada, especially since my wife is pregnant with my 5th child. Dylan will be the man of the house while I am gone. I have my mother checking up on them as well. Although I do not want to leave my family, I am kind of excited to fight those damn French frogs, who think they can just take Britains land without a fight.
Louisbourg May 2nd, 1759: We got our uniforms today and we are starting to get trained. We wore red coats falling to the knee with the skirts, lapels and cuffs turned back to reveal a wide expanse of the lining of the regiment's colour. They feel a little uncomfortable, I think I just need time to get used to it. The main head wear for us was the black tricorne hat, a wide brimmed hats with the brim turned up and fastened to form three angles. I thought these looked kind of silly. Each of us was assigned a musket, 24 rounds of ammunition carried in a pouch slung from a shoulder belt, a short sword and a bayonet that I fixed to the muzzle of my musket. Many threw away their swords because many thought it was useless. I have used a musket once before but never had to reload it. Each round of ammunition comprised a charge of gunpowder and a lead ball wrapped in cartridge paper. When I was ordered to load the gun, I took a cartridge and ripped it open, many of my fellow soldiers often opened it with their teeth. I had to pour a sufficient amount of powder into the pan of the firing mechanism to fill it. I poured the main portion of powder down the barrel, folded the paper and pushed it into the barrel and dropped the ball on top. I used the ramrod carried under the barrel of the musket to push the whole charge to the bottom of the barrel next to the hole leading to...