The British had some charts of the river showing the course taken by the French vessels, for in a note to the orders issued by Saunders on 15th May to the Masters of Transports, special attention is called to "a plan or chart showing the route which His Excellency intends to make from Louisburg Harbour to the Island of Bic"; and this chart was most probably taken from one captured by Boscawen in 1755, and published in September 1759 by T. Kitchen in the London Magazine having the Traverse shown on a larger scale. The soundings taken at the time Durell was waiting would be to verify those shown on this chart.
After a short delay in Halifax, Saunders left for Louisburg to gather up the remainder of the forces and stores, and on his arrival still found the port hampered by ice; in fact, Major Knox, of the 43rd Regiment, relates that even so late as 1st June men were able to get ashore from their ships, stepping from one piece of ice to another. There was also further cause for dissatisfaction, delay in the arrival of the ships with soldiers and stores. Some of the troops had been directed to other work without any intimation to Wolfe, whilst others were in a very bad state from scurvy and measles; some had lost their entire equipment, and it was with the greatest difficulty replaced; the supply of money was criminally small, and yet it is pleasant to read on the authority of Major Knox that:
"I had the inexpressible pleasure to observe at Louisburg that our whole armament, naval and military, were in high spirits; and though, by all accounts, we shall have a numerous army and a variety of difficulties to cope with, yet, under such Admirals and Generals, among whom we have the happiness to behold the most cordial unanimity, together with so respectable a fleet and a body of well-appointed regular troops, we have every reason to hope for the greatest success."
ORDERS TO TRANSPORTS.
Before leaving, Saunders issued his instructions as to the order of sailing. He divided the transports into two divisions, the Starboard flying a red flag, and the Larboard a white one: he assigned to each vessel its position and duties, and pointed out to each Master of a hired transport that if the orders of his officers were not promptly and exactly carried out they would be fired on, adding with a touch of grim humour that the cost of the powder and shot so expended would be carefully noted and charged against the hire of the offending ship. On the 6th June Saunders was off Newfoundland with 22 men-of-war and 119 transports, and the cold winds blowing off the snow-covered hills of that island were severely felt by the troops. On the 18th, when off the Island of Bic, they were joined by Wolfe in the Richmond, and five days after picked up Durell at the Ile aux Coudres. Here Saunders transferred his flag to the Stirling Castle, which he had selected in England for the purpose, owing to her handiness (Cook's friend, Mr. Bissett, was still on board), and leaving Durell with eleven of the deepest draught to guard against any interference from a French fleet, he proceeded up the river with the remainder. The work was hard, constantly anchoring and weighing to take every advantage of wind and tide, and the progress was slow; but at length the whole of the ships passed the Traverse, and on the 26th the fleet anchored off St. Laurent, on the Ile d'Orleans, and the troops were landed on the following day. Thus the much-dreaded passage up the St. Lawrence had been carried out, and the fact that no loss of any kind had occurred to either man-of-war or transport, reflects the very greatest credit on all engaged in the operation. Knox relates how the Master of the transport he was on, a Brother of Trinity House and Thames pilot, named Killick, refused the services of a French prisoner as pilot, and observing, "Damme, I'll show them an Englishman can go where a Frenchman dar'n't show his nose," took his ship up himself, chaffing the occupants of the mark boats as he passed, and in the end declared that it was no worse than the Thames.
The wonderful success of their passage was emphasised the afternoon after their arrival at St. Laurent when a heavy gale struck the fleet, driving several ships into collision or ashore, and causing considerable loss in anchors and cables. As soon as possible the men-of-war boats were out rendering every assistance, and all the vessels were secured but two, which were too firmly fixed to be towed off shore, and these were soon afterwards burnt by the enemy.
FIREWORKS.
Thinking to profit by the disorder which must necessarily have been caused by the storm, the French made a determined attempt to destroy the fleet by means of eight fireships which were floated down stream on the unsuspecting British. Fortunately they were ignited prematurely, and the boats of the Pembroke and other ships were again out, employed in the hazardous task of towing these undesired visitors into such places as would permit them to burn themselves out without danger to the shipping. Six were quickly got into safety, whilst the other two grounded and burnt out without causing further inconvenience. Captain Knox describes the scene as a display of "the grandest fireworks that can possibly be conceived." The only result was to cause the retirement of a picket at the western end of the Ile d'Orleans, and the officer in command, who thought he was about to be attacked in force, was to have been tried by court-martial, but being advised to throw himself on Wolfe's mercy, was pardoned for his error of judgment. To guard against a repetition of such an attack, a system of guard boats, some moored across the river and some patrolling, was established, entailing considerable extra work on the sailors.
An examination of the position showed Admiral Saunders that the safety of the fleet, and therefore the interests of the army, would be best consulted if he proceeded into the Basin of Quebec, as to remain cooped up in the south channel added to the danger if a further attempt should be made to fire the fleet. He therefore pointed out to Wolfe that the small battery established by the French on Point Levi, which threatened any ship entering into the Basin, should be taken, and the Point occupied. This was at once carried out by Monckton's brigade, and a battery was established which did serious damage to the town. When too late the French sent over three floating batteries to aid in repulsing the English, but they were driven back by one broadside from a frigate Saunders moved up for the purpose.
Montcalm had entrenched his army on the north bank of the St. Lawrence, between the rivers Charles and Montmorenci, and Wolfe determined to seize on a piece of high ground to the east of the Montmorenci, to form a camp there, and endeavour to force on a general action. In pursuance of this design, a body of about 3000 men were landed successfully on 9th July, under the protecting fire of some of the fleet, and a camp was formed, and the next few days provided employment for the boats of the Pembroke and other ships in landing men, stores, and artillery. The bombardment of the town opened on 12th July from the batteries erected at Point Levi and a portion of the fleet, and continued with little intermission till 13th September. When fire was opened on the town other ships in the Basin and guns at the camp at Montmorenci opened on Montcalm's lines at Beauport. On the 18th two men-of-war, two armed sloops and two transports succeeded in passing the town without loss, but a third ship, the Diana, ran aground in trying to avoid collision with a transport, and was attacked by the enemy's boats, but was brought off by the Pembroke and Richmond. She was so seriously damaged that she had to be sent to Boston for repairs and then returned to England. On the 20th Wolfe joined the up-river squadron in a barge, and in passing the town had his mast carried away by a shot from the Sillery Battery, but no further damage was done. He made a short reconnaissance which led to nothing at the time, but may have had an important influence in the choice of a landing-place afterwards.