Chapter 4

[_H_] The Admiral had sent several Officers in to sound, and try if Ships might come near enough to batter, who all gave it, as their Opinions, that there could not more than three Ships possibly anchor at the upper End of the Harbour; and if they were laid but in a Foot Water more than they drew, they would not be in a Point-Blank-Shot, and consequently could do no material Execution; however, to convince the General, that Ships could be of no manner of Service to him, the Admiral caused the _Galicia_ (one of the _Spanish_ Ships) to be fitted proper for battering, by forming, between each Port, Merlons (or Cases) of six Foot thick, and filled with rammed Earth or Sand, and sent her in to cannonade the Town; but it was soon found, she could not come hear enough to do any Service; for the enemy had demolished her so, in two or three Hours, that she would have sunk in half an Hour more, if she had not been drawn off; and it may be established as a general Rule, for Ships to go by, that unless they can come within half a Musket or Pistol Shot of a Fortification, it will have the Advantage of them, for the further you lye off, the more Guns they can bring to bear against you; whereas, when you go so near, there can no more Guns annoy you, than are mounted within the Length of your Ship; and the Difference of Briskness in firing, betwixt a Ship and a Fort, is so great, besides the Odds in Number of Guns, that it is impossible to withstand a Ship long. After this Experiment the _Galicia_ was burned.

[_I_] After the famous Battle of _St. Lazare_, the Troops sickened very fast, insomuch, that by Account delivered in (and the General's Report) between _Thursday_ Morning and _Friday_ Night, they had dwindled away from 6645 to 3200, and 1200 of these were _Americans_, and not esteemed fit for Service.

[_K_] When the Council of War agreed to the Forces being embarked, the General urged, that they might come off in the Night, lest the Enemy should make a Sortie, so that the Boats were ordered ashore about nine o'Clock, and from the Apprehensions they were in of the Enemy's being at their Heels, many of them left their Baggage, and Numbers of them their Tents and Arms, which the Enemy came the next Morning and picked up. The Tents they pitched upon _St. Lazare_ Hill, and other Places, where they might best be seen, and by a Flag of Truce that had Occasion to pass the next Day, about Exchange of Prisoners, they failed not to express their Astonishment at the precipitate Retreat of the Army. Thus ended this famous Expedition, that was the greatest and most expensive that ever entered the _American_ Seas, and which _Europe_ gazed on with Admiration and Attention.