On September 13, 1759, during the Seven Years’ War (1756-63), a worldwide conflict known in the United States as the French and Indian War, the British under General James Wolfe (1727-59) achieved a dramatic victory when they scaled the cliffs over the city of Quebec, defeating the French forces under Louis-Joseph de Montcalm (1712-59) on the Plains of Abraham. Wolfe was fatally wounded during the battle, but his victory ensured British supremacy in Canada. In the early 1750s, French expansion into the River valley repeatedly brought France into armed conflict with the British colonies. In 1756, the first official year of fighting in the Seven Years’ War, the British suffered a series of defeats against the French and their broad network of Native American alliances. However, in 1757, British Prime Minister William Pitt (17081778), often called William Pitt the Elder, recognized the potential of imperial expansion that would come out of victory against the French and borrowed heavily to fund an expanded war effort. Pitt financed Prussia’s struggle against France and its allies in Europe and reimbursed the colonies for the raising of armies in North America.