Founded in 1608, Québec City was designed as a military defence post for the French colony. Québec City’s military vocation continued for several more decades during the English Regime, which began in 1759. After the War of 1812, British authorities reinforced the city’s defences, earning it the nickname “the Gibraltar of North America.” Québec City’s military role gradually diminished thereafter, but the city retained a military omnipresence. Several artworks of the period bear witness to this.
John Grant
This illustration by John Grant highlights the predominance in 19th-century Québec City of the symbols of British rule. Troops were still posted in town. The first monument to Wolfe was erected at the site of his death in 1832. The one pictured here dates from 1848 and is a Doric column surrounded by a fence.
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