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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.] THE "VIGILANT" CAPTURED. 123battery aga<strong>in</strong>st it at Lighthouse Po<strong>in</strong>t, on the easternside <strong>of</strong>the harbor's mouth, at the distance <strong>of</strong> a short<strong>half</strong>-mile. The neighbor<strong>in</strong>g shore was rocky <strong>and</strong>almost <strong>in</strong>accessible. Cannon <strong>and</strong> mortars were carried<strong>in</strong> boats to thea steep cliff,nearest l<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g-place, hauled up<strong>and</strong> dragged a mile <strong>and</strong> a quarter to thechosen spot, where they were planted under theorders <strong>of</strong> Colonel Gridley, who thirty years afterdirected the earthworks on Bunker Hill.battery soon opened firewith deadly effect.The newThe French, much encouraged by their late success,were plunged aga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>to despondency by a disasterwhich had happened a week before the affair <strong>of</strong>the Isl<strong>and</strong> Battery, but did not come to their knowledgetill some time after.On the n<strong>in</strong>eteenth <strong>of</strong> Maya fierce cannonade was heard from the harbor, <strong>and</strong> alarge French ship-<strong>of</strong>-war was seen hotly engagedwith several vessels <strong>of</strong> the squadron. She was the"Vigilant," carry<strong>in</strong>g 64 guns <strong>and</strong> 560 men, <strong>and</strong>comm<strong>and</strong>ed by the Marquis de la Maisonfort. Shehad come from <strong>France</strong> with munitions <strong>and</strong> stores,when on approach<strong>in</strong>g Louisbourg she met one <strong>of</strong> theEnglish cruisers, — some say the "Mermaid," <strong>of</strong> 40guns, <strong>and</strong> others the "Shirley," <strong>of</strong> 20. Be<strong>in</strong>g nomatch for her, the British or prov<strong>in</strong>cial frigate keptup a runn<strong>in</strong>g fight <strong>and</strong> led her towards the Englishfleet. The " Vigilant " soon found herself beset byseveral other vessels, <strong>and</strong> after a gallant resistance<strong>and</strong> the loss <strong>of</strong> eighty men, struck her colors.Noth<strong>in</strong>gcould be more timely for the New Engl<strong>and</strong> army,

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