The Siege of Louisbourg started by Warren's and Pepperrill's demand
that the fortress surrender, and the historic answer of Duchambon,
the French commander, that they should have their answer from the
cannon's mouth. It is not my purpose to tell of it in detail, for it
lasted forty-seven days and strained the nerves of everyone to the
breaking point. But one or two things happened in the time which, to
my mind, make our Captain seem a very human person. There was, for
instance, his amazing kindness, as unfailing to his captives as to his
own men. When the great French man-of-war _Vigilant_ came to the aid
of the beleaguered fortress, Warren joyously captured the monster, in
full sight of Louisbourg and under the big guns there. It was this
incident, by the bye, for which he was knighted afterwards. The French
captain, Marquis de la Maisonfort, who was Warren's prisoner, wrote in
a letter to Duchambon: "The Captain and officers of this squadron
treat us, not as their prisoners, but as their good friends."