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A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

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1745.] FRENCH CANNON. 101he got a letter from Thierry, the capta<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> comm<strong>and</strong><strong>of</strong> the Royal Battery, advis<strong>in</strong>g that the cannon shouldbe spiked <strong>and</strong> the works blown up. It was then,accord<strong>in</strong>g to the governor, that the council was called,<strong>and</strong> a unanimous vote passed to follow Thierry'sadvice, on the ground that the defences <strong>of</strong> the batterywere <strong>in</strong> bad condition, <strong>and</strong> that the four hundredmen posted there could not st<strong>and</strong> aga<strong>in</strong>st three orfour thous<strong>and</strong>.^ The eng<strong>in</strong>eer, Verrier, opposed theblow<strong>in</strong>g up <strong>of</strong> the works, <strong>and</strong> they were therefore leftuntouched. Thierry <strong>and</strong> his garrison came <strong>of</strong>f <strong>in</strong>boats, after spik<strong>in</strong>g the cannon <strong>in</strong> a hasty way, withoutstopp<strong>in</strong>g to knock <strong>of</strong>f the trunnions or burn thecarriages. They threw their loose gunpowder <strong>in</strong>tothe well, but left beh<strong>in</strong>d a good number <strong>of</strong> cannoncartridges, two hundred <strong>and</strong> eighty large bombshells,<strong>and</strong> other ord<strong>in</strong>ance stores, <strong>in</strong>valuable both to theenemy <strong>and</strong> to themselves. Brigadier Waldo wassent to occupy the battery with his regiment, <strong>and</strong>Major Seth Pomeroy, the gunsmith, with twentysoldier-mechanics, was set at drill<strong>in</strong>gout the spikedtouch-holes <strong>of</strong> the cannon. There were twentyeightforty-two-pounders, <strong>and</strong> two eighteen-pounders.^1 Duchambon au Miriistre, 2 Septembre, 1745. This is the governor's<strong>of</strong>ficial report. " Four hundred men," is perhaps a copyist'serror, the actual number <strong>in</strong> the battery be<strong>in</strong>g not above twohundred.2 Waldo to Shirley, 12 May, 1745. Some <strong>of</strong> the French writerssay twenty-eight thirty-six pounders, while all the English callthem forty-twos, — which they must have been, as the forty-twopoundshot brought from Boston fitted them.Mr. Theodore Roosevelt draws my attention to the fact that can-

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