“In the evening of the 5th scouts which we had on Lake Saint Sacrement informed us that they had seen large numbers of barges which might be and were, in fact, the vanguard of the enemy’s army. At once the order was given to the troops of the Portage and the Chute camps to take their armaments, to spend the night at the bivouac, and to clear the equipages. The volunteers of Duprat were sent to take position on a creek called the Bernetz which, flowing between the mountains that cover this part of the country, runs into the Chute River. The enemy could pass around us by the back of these mountains. It was essential to be aware of such a movement. 350 men under the command of the Sieur de Trepezec, captain in the Bearn Regiment, were detached to take a position between the Pelee Mountain and the left bank of Lake Saint Sacrement and the volunteers of Bernard occupied another post intermediary between the Pelee Mountain and the Portage camps. Measures were taken also to throw light on a possible disembarkment which the enemy might make on the right bank of the lake. “The 6th. At four o’clock in the morning, the vanguard of the opponent’s army was located in sight of the portage. At once the Marquis de Montcalm sent orders to the Sieurs de Pontleroy and Désandrouins to lay out, in front of Carillon on the ground already marked, trenches and abatis and to the 2nd Battalion of Berry to work at them with its ensigns. [Illustration: Major General Israel Putnam] “The enemy began to disembark at nine o’clock; the Sieur de Bourlamaque retreated then in their presence with the 3rd battalion from the portage and in the best of order. He joined the Marquis de Montcalm who was waiting for him, formed for battle, on the heights at the right bank of the Chute, with Roussillon Regiment and the first Berry Battalion; these five battalions passed the river, destroyed the bridge and combined with La Sarre and Languedoc Regiments occupied the heights which edge the left bank. This retreat would have been carried out without the loss of a single man, if the detachment of the Sieur de Trepezec had not lost its way. Abandoned by the few savages that acted as guides, it strayed in those wood-covered mountains and came, after walking 12 hours, upon an English column bound for the Chute River. Of this detachment 6 officers and about 150 soldiers were killed or made prisoners. They defended themselves a long time, but they had to retreat before a superior force. The English made an important loss in the person of Lord Howe, quartermaster general of their army and Colonel of one of the Regiments of old England.