'Grenadiers March' a Bittersweet Pill

I watched the Canada Day ceremony from Ottawa and like most Canadians I was brimming with pride at the truly magnificent spectacle put on by the Feds, an extra measure of mustard added to celebrate the presence of the Royal couple William and Kate.
The government spared no expense, knowing full well that the event, or highlights thereof, would be broadcast around the world, with hundreds of foreign correspondents covering the Royal visit with the vim and vigour of Hollywood paparazzi.

It's hard not to swell up with pride watching the pageantry of the smartly uniformed, handsome (and now fetching as well, because of the female element) soldiers parade in perfect cadence to the tune of catchy military music.

As the soldiers marched past the adoring crowds, I caught a few bars of a military band's rendition of the 'March of the Grenadiers.'  
Take a listen, you'll recognize it instantly;

It sent chills down my spine..... but not in a good way.

You see, I recently finished screening Dan Snow's 'Battle for North America," the documentary of Great Britain's victory at the Plains of Abraham which of course led to British control of Canada.
You can catch the documentary, if so inclined, in four parts on YouTube, by starting HERE. It is indeed fascinating.

The documentary brought to life the events of the Battle of Quebec in way that the dry history books we studied in high school never did. The human drama and suffering depicted so honestly by Mr. Snow, gave me a perspective of the war that I never had before.

A few months before the famous Battle on the Plains of Abraham, General Wolfe, the commander of British forces was encamped on the east side of the Montmorency river with the French defending the other side. Wolfe hoped to launch a ground assault on the city of Quebec, but would first have to take out that local French garrison. The Montmorency river drains into the St. Lawrence River via the famous Montmorency Falls and Wolfe's plan was to sail around the Falls on the St. Lawrence and then land back ashore to attack the French.

The preparation for the assault was a testament to poor planning  with the attackers landing far from shore because of the failure to allow for the tide. The execution of the plan was no better, a testament to poor discipline.
The Louisburg Grenadiers, having been cooped up in camp for months, scrambled to shore with gusto. Whipped into a frenzy by the beating of the drums and the piping of the "March of the Grenadiers" they imprudently ignored their officers' orders, attacked the heights foolishly and were cut down by the French rather easily. In minutes, over 450 were dead or injured. The attack failed miserably and a furious James Wolfe was forced to abandon the attack and retreat unceremoniously.

Here is a passage from a soldier's account of the battle by the Serjeant-Major of Gen. Hopson’s Grenadiers. LINK

" The First Push we made was on the 31st of July: with 13 Companies of Grenadiers, supported by about 5 Thousand Battalion-men;-- as soon as we landed we fixed our Bayonets and beat our Grenadier's-March, and so advanced on ; during all this Time their Cannon play'd very briskly on us; but their Small-Arms, in their Trenches, lay cool 'till they were sure of their Mark; then they pour 'd their Small-Shot like Showers of Hail, which caus'd our brave Grenadiers to fall very fast: Brave Gen. Wolfe saw that our attempts were in vain, so he retreated to his Boats again: The number of kill'd and wounded that Day was about 400 Men; ...;"

Forced to change plans Wolfe plotted a new attack, but not before taking revenge for the defeat on the local French villages in the surrounding area. Saint-Paul, L’Ange-Gardien, Château-Richer, Saint-Joachim were all burnt to the ground with hundreds killed.

"The most inhuman revenge was perpetrated by Captain Alexander Montgomery, an officer of the 43rd. He was responsible for a terrible incident near the village of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. A small group managed to keep the British at bay by taking refuge in a stone farmhouse.... Rather than take them prisoner, Captain Montgomery ordered their execution in cold blood and shot all the citizens after raping the women and girls (the crime reported by Scottish Fraser in his diary). At Chateau-Richer, several farmers barricaded themselves in the church. The English brought them out by promising them that they'd be spared, then slaughtered and scalped them in the Indian fashion. Link{FR}

Not their finest hour.
Some British officers were so appalled by Wolfe's cruelty that they recorded accounts of the barbarism in their personal journals.

The Battle for Quebec itself was no less savage. The British, using superior technology launched an artillery barrage from the opposite side of the St. Lawrence, that for weeks pounded the city to the point that when Quebec surrendered, there was hardly a building standing.

These are the unfortunate truths of war. Not very pretty.

Although the Grenadiers faced a humiliating defeat at Montmorency, it was they who marched victoriously into Quebec to accept its surrender.  No doubt, the chilling notes of the March of the Grenadiers sent fear and loathing down the spine of the defeated.  

Although the Battle at the Plains of Abraham was a great victory for one side, it was also a terrific defeat for the other.

And so the "March of the Grenadiers" proudly played in Ottawa on Canada Day by our military in front of the Royals, represents a direct link to the past and a celebration of those sad events in 1759, a historical reality that we should acknowledge, but not celebrate.

Considering that Francophones and Anglophones are partners in this great country, I question the wisdom of retaining the "March of the Grenadiers."

Tradition is tradition, but just as the Confederate flag was retired, isn't it high time the regiment picked a new ditty?