hed for that purpose, was equal to the occasion, and displayed
qualities which designated him as the future conqueror of Quebec. After
an obstinate siege from the 8th of June to the 26th of July, the
fortress was surrendered at discretion, and the whole of Cape Breton,
including St. John Island (since Prince Edward Island), came into
possession of Great Britain. The loss on the part of the English was
about 400 killed and wounded; the garrison lost upwards of 1,500 men,
and the town was reduced to a heap of ruins. The conquerors took 221
pieces of cannon, 16 mortars, and an immense quantity of stores and
ammunition, and 5,637 prisoners, including naval officers, sailors, and
marines.[243]

Admiral Boscawen, after taking possession of the Island of St. John,
included in the capitulation of Louisburg, sailed with the fleet for
England, with General Wolfe, conveying the French prisoners to England,
and the trophies of victory. General Amherst embarked, with about
thirty transports filled with the victorious troops, and encamped on the
common at Boston near the end of August, on his march, which he pursued
after three days' rest, to the western forts; for a part of the plan of
operations was, after the conquest of Cape Breton, for General Amherst,
with 12,000 men, to destroy the enemy's fort at Ticonderaga (so
unsuccessfully attacked by Abercrombie the year before), in order to
open a way into Canada by the Lakes George and Champlain, and the River
Sorell down to Quebec, the capture of which, by advancing up the St.
Lawrence, was assigned to the fleet under Admiral Saunders, and to
General Wolfe, in command of 9,000 men. It was intended that the armies
under Generals Amherst and Wolfe should meet and join in the taking of
Quebec; but the junction was not effected, and the two armies operated
separately and successfully. The taking of the fortress of Niagara,
which was regarded as "the throat of the north-western division of the
American continent," was assigned to Brigadier-General Prideaux, aided
by Sir William Johnson, who commanded the Provincials and Indians.
General Prideaux conducted the expedition and planned the mode of
attack; but on the 19th of July, while walking in his trenches, he was
killed by the carelessness of his own gunner in firing a cannon.

"Luckily," says Hutchinson, "for Sir William Johnson, who, as next
officer, took the command on Prideaux's death, a body of 1,200 men from
Detroit, etc., making an