Amherst ordered two companies to march from The Grove to Quidi Vidi that night and surprise the enemy.
At dawn on the 15th, under heavy fog, they attacked the French on the summit from the direction of Cuckhold’s Cove.
The offensive lasted minutes, with the French pulling back down the hill.
Both sides suffered roughly two dozen casualties, including four or five deaths each.
David Perry, who fought with one of the companies, detailed what happened next in his memoirs, “Recollections of An Old Soldier: The Life of Captain David Perry (1741-1826).”
“It pretty soon commenced raining exceedingly hard, and continued to rain until about midnight of the next night, when it cleared away. We remained masters of the hill, and were obliged to remain on it without a mouthful of food or drink of any sort, until morning of the second day after we started.”
Six hundred French infantry had retreated to Fort William.
Some of their naval officers, including de Ternay, took advantage of a heavy fog that night, cutting a boom they had deployed across The Narrows and shipping out into the Atlantic.
Amherst was told some French ships were leaving but didn’t share the information with Colville.
He did feared the French would destroy Fort William and sent a letter to the commanding officer, d’Haussonville, on the 16th, warning “every man should be put to the sword” if they damaged it.
Cont'd...
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