The French kept up a warm fire from the fort upon the position where the British lay encamped, but the great height and strength of the breast-works erected for their own defense now sheltered their enemies, and rendered the shower of shot and shells perfectly harmless. The preparations for the siege rapidly progressed, and the garrison were apparently equally vigorous in dispositions for defense; but M. de Bourlemaque soon perceived that the English general possessed the skill and determination, as well as the necessary force, to insure success; he therefore silently abandoned the fort on the night of the 23d, leaving 400 men to continue such a resistance as might mask the retreat of his army. This small but gallant band, while their countrymen filed cautiously down toward the lake, made a sudden attack upon the advanced guard in the besiegers' trenches, killed and wounded sixteen men, and caused such confusion that in the darkness of the night the British fired upon each other.
On the 24th and 25th, the remaining French in the fort kept up a continuous fire upon the besiegers' camp, and, having ascertained the range, caused much annoyance and some loss. Colonel Townshend, a brave and beloved officer--the Lord Howe of Amherst's army--was struck down by a cannon shot in the trenches, and he instantly expired, to the great grief of all who knew him. Meanwhile the English approaches were advanced within 600 yards of the fort, and the Indians, under Major Rogers, harassed the defenders with a continuous fire from the advanced works. At ten o'clock on the night of the 26th some deserters to the British camp informed the general that the French had abandoned the fort, but that they had left every gun loaded and pointed, several mines charged for the utter destruction of the defenses, and a lighted fuse communicating with the well-stored powder magazine. While they yet spoke, an awful explosion, bursting upon the silence of the night, confirmed the tale; then, from under the dense cloud of smoke and dust, and the shower of burning embers, arose the flames of the wooden breast-works, barracks, and stores, while at intervals, from the mass of fire, the yellow flash of the bursting guns and the exploding mines varied the tints of the light that fell far and near upon the lake and the surrounding forest.