All was silent till
eleven o'clock, when a broad, fierce glare burst on the night, and a
roaring explosion shook the promontory; then came a few breathless
moments, and then the fragments of Fort Ticonderoga fell with clatter
and splash on the water and the land. It was but one bastion, however,
that had been thus hurled skyward. The rest of the fort was little
hurt, though the barracks and other combustible parts were set on fire,
and by the light the French flag was seen still waving on the
rampart.[727] A sergeant of the light infantry, braving the risk of
other explosions, went and brought it off. Thus did this redoubted
stronghold of France fall at last into English hands, as in all
likelihood it would have done a year sooner, if Amherst had commanded in
Abercromby's place; for, with the deliberation that marked all his
proceedings, he would have sat down before Montcalm's wooden wall and
knocked it to splinters with his cannon.
[Footnote 727: _Journal of Colonel Amherst_ (brother of General
Amherst). _Vaudreuil au Ministre, 8 Nov. 1759. Amherst to Prideaux, 28
July, 1759. Amherst to Pitt, 27 July, 1759_. Mante, 213. Knox, I.,
397-403. _Vaudreuil a Bourlamaque, 19 Juin, 1759_.]
He now set about repairing the damaged works and making ready to advance
on Crown Point; when on the first of August his scouts told him that the
enemy had abandoned this place also, and retreated northward down the
lake.
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