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

108 LOUISBOURG BESIEGED. [1745.enemy. The danger of this appears to have beensmall. Warren speaks with wonder in his letters ofthe rarity of desertions, of which there appear tohave been but tlrree during the siege, — one beingthat of a half-idiot, from whom no information couldbe got. A bolder commander would not have stoodidle while his own cannon were planted by the enemyto batter down his walls ; and whatever the risks ofa sortie, the risks of not making one were greater."Both troops and militia eagerly demanded it, andI believe it would have succeeded," writes the intendant.Bigot. ^ The attempt was actually made morethan once in a half-hearted way, — notably on theeighth of May, when the French attacked the mostadvanced battery, and were repulsed, with little losson either side.The Habitant de Louisbourg says :" The enemy didnot attack us with any regularity, and made nointrenchments to cover themselves." This last isnot exact. Not being wholly demented, they madeintrenchments, such as they were, — at least, at theadvanced battery ;2 as they would otherwise havebeen swept out of existence, being under the concentredfire of several French batteries, two of whichwere within the range of a musket-shot.The scarcity of good gunners was one of the chiefdifficulties of the besiegers. As privateering, andpiracy also,against Frenchmen and Spaniards was a1 Bi(jot au Ministre, 1 Aout, 1745.2 Diary of Joseph Sherburn, Captain at the Advanced Battery.