It was he and not Montcalm
who had the supreme military command, and he regarded as an
unnecessary intruder this general officer sent out from France.
Now that Montcalm was come, Vaudreuil showed a malignant
alertness, born of jealousy, to snub and check him. Outward
courtesies were, of course, maintained. Vaudreuil could be bland
and Montcalm restrained, in spite of his southern temperament,
but their dispatches show the bitterness in their relations. The
court of France encouraged not merely the leaders but even
officers in subordinate posts to communicate to it their views. A
voluble correspondence about affairs in Canada has been
preserved. Vaudreuil himself must have tried the patience of the
French ministers for he wrote at prodigious length, exalting his
own achievements to the point of being ludicrous. At the same
time he belittled everything done by Montcalm, complained that he
was ruining the French cause in America, hinted that he was in
league with corrupt elements in Canada, and in the end even went
so far as to request his recall in order that the more pliant
Levis might be put in his place.
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