and bogs of the surrounding country, the difficulties of
entering a narrow-necked harbour under a combination of
end-on and broadside fire, the terrible lee shore off
the islands, reefs, and Lighthouse Point, the commonest
vigilance of the most slovenly garrison, and even the
offensive power of the guns on the walls of Louisbourg
itself. Shirley's plan was that Pepperrell should arrive
in the offing too late to be seen, land unobserved, and
march on Louisbourg in four detachments while the garrison
was wrapped in slumber. Two of these detachments were
to march within striking distance and then 'halt and keep
a profound silence.' The third was to march 'under cover
of said hills' until it came opposite the Royal Battery,
which it was to assault on a given signal; while the
'profound silence' men rushed the western gate. The fourth
detachment was to race along the shore, scale a certain
spot in the wall, 'and secure the windows of the Governor's
Apartments.' All this was to be done by raw militia, on
ground they had never reconnoitred, and in the dead of
night.

Needless to say, Pepperrell tried something quite different.
At daybreak of the 12th the whole fleet stood into Gabarus
Bay, a large open roadstead running west from the little
Louisbourg peninsula. The Provincials eyed the fortress
eagerly. It looked mean, squat, and shrunken in the dim
grey light of early dawn. But it looked hard enough, for
all that. Its alarm bells began to ring. Its signal cannon
fired. And all the people who had been living outside
hurried in behind the walls.