r a breastwork
was thrown up, four hundred yards distant from the walls and opposite
to the gate of St. Louis, which is nearly in the centre. It was formed
of gabions, ranged side by side, and filled with snow, over which
water was thrown until thoroughly frozen. Here Captain Lamb mounted
five light pieces and a howitzer. Several mortars were placed in the
suburbs of St. Roque, which extends on the left of the promontory,
below the heights, and nearly on a level with the river.

From the "Ice Battery" Captain Lamb opened a well-sustained and
well-directed fire upon the walls, but his field-pieces were too light
to be effective. With his howitzer he threw shells into the town and
set it on fire in several places.

On the evening of the fifth day, Montgomery paid a visit to the ice
battery. The heavy artillery from the wall had repaid its ineffectual
fire with ample usury. The brittle ramparts had been shivered like
glass; several of the guns had been rendered useless. The general saw
the insufficiency of the battery, and, on retiring, gave Captain Lamb
permission to leave it whenever he thought proper. The veteran waited
until after dark, when, securing all the guns, he abandoned the ruined
redoubt.

Nearly three weeks had been consumed in these futile operations. The
army, ill-clothed, and ill-provided, was becoming impatient of the
rigors of a Canadian winter; the term for which part of the troops had
enlisted would expire with the year, and they already talked of
returning home. Montgomery was sadly conscious of the insufficiency of
his means; still he could not endure the thoughts of retiring from
before the place without striking a blow. He determined, therefore, to
attempt to carry the place by _escalade_. Colonel Livingston was to
make a false attack on the gate of St. Johns and set fire to it; Major
Brown, with another detachment, was to menace the bastion of Cape
Diamond. Arnold with three hundred and fifty of the hardy fellows who
had followed him through the wilderness, strengthened by Captain Lamb
and forty of his company, was to assault the suburbs and batteries of
St. Roque; while Montgomery, with the residue of his forces, was to
pass below the bastion at Cape Diamond, defile along the river, carry
the defences at Drummond's Wharf, and thus enter the lower town on one
side, while Arnold forced his way into it on the other. These
movements were all to be made at the same time, on the discharge of
signal