1690.] THE LAND ATTACK. 275 



should have entered the mouth of the St. Charles 

 and aided him to cross it. But he waited for them 

 in vain. Every vessel that carried a gun had busied 

 itself in cannonading, and the rest did not move. 

 There appears to have been insubordination among 

 the masters of these small craft, some of whom, be- 

 ing owners or part-owners of the vessels they com- 

 manded, were probably unwilling to run them into 

 clanger. Walley was no soldier ; but he saw that to 

 attempt the passage of the river without aid, under 

 the batteries of the town and in the face of forces 

 twice as numerous as his own, was not an easy task. 

 Frontenac, on his part, says that he wished him to 

 do so, knowing that the attempt would ruin him. 1 

 The New England men were eager to push on ; 

 but the night of Thursday, the day of Phips's re- 

 pulse, was so cold that ice formed more than an 

 inch in thickness, and the half-starved militia suf- 

 fered intensely. Six field-pieces, with their ammu- 

 nition, had been sent ashore ; but they were nearly 

 useless, as there were no means of moving them. 

 Half a barrel of musket powder, and one biscuit for 

 each man, were also landed ; and with this meagre 

 aid Walley was left to capture Quebec. He might, 

 had he dared,- have made a dash across the ford on 

 the morning of Thursday, and assaulted the town 

 in the rear while Phips was cannonading it in front ; 

 but his courage was not equal to so desperate a 

 venture. The firing ceased, and the possible op- 

 portunity was lost. The citizen soldier despaired 

 of success ; and, on the morning of Friday, he went 



1 Frontenac au Ministre, 12 et 19 Nov., 1690. 



