July 11. By now the powerful concern of the townspeople is with the siege batteries being built just across the river narrows, and almost ready to commence firing upon the town. Today the principal merchants and tradesmen of the town present a petition to Governor Vaudreuil, volunteering to serve in a raiding party that would cross the river to seize and destroy the enemy batteries before they begin firing.
By nightfall the force is ready. Jean-Baptiste Dumas, a veteran officer of the colonial regular troops who has been given responsibility for the town militia, takes the lead. "This detachment must have twelve hundred to fifteen hundred men, both regular troops and Canadians and Indians, who are all volunteers…," writes the anonymous author of the Journal du Siège. "We are counting heavily on this detachment. God will that they succeed; we definitely need them to.
