This ignorant and self-satisfied recklessness might have cost the besiegers dear if the French, instead of being perplexed and startled at the novelty of their proceedings, had taken advantage of it; but Duchambon and some of his officers, remembering the mutiny of the past winter, feared to make sorties, lest the soldiers might desert or take part with the enemy. The danger of this appears to have been small. 108 Warren speaks with wonder in his letters of the rarity of desertions, of which there appear to have been but three during the siege,--one being that of a half-idiot, from whom no information could be got. A bolder commander would not have stood idle while his own cannon were planted by the enemy to batter down his walls; and whatever the risks of a sortie, the risks of not making one were greater. “Both troops and militia eagerly demanded it, and I believe it would have succeeded,” writes the intendant, Bigot.[112] The attempt was actually made more than once in a half-hearted way,--notably on the eighth of May, when the French attacked the most advanced battery, and were repulsed, with little loss on either side. The _Habitant de Louisbourg_ says: “The enemy did not attack us with any regularity, and made no intrenchments to cover themselves.” This last is not exact. Not being wholly demented, they made intrenchments, such as they were,--at least, at the advanced battery;[113] as they would otherwise have been swept out of existence, being under the concentred fire of several French batteries, two of which were within the range of a musket-shot. [Illustration: LOUISBOURG. 1745 From a Plan of R. GRIDLEY Reference: _A. Dauphin’s Bastion and West Gate._ _B. King’s Bastion, or Citadel._ _C. Queen’s Bastion._ _D. Princess’s Bastion and South Gate._ _E. Maurepas Bastion and East Gate._ _1111. Glacis._ _222. Ditch._] The scarcity of good gunners was one of the chief difficulties of the besiegers. As privateering, and piracy also, against Frenchmen and Spaniards was a favorite pursuit in New England, there were men in 109 Pepperrell’s army who knew how to handle cannon; but their number was insufficient, and the general sent a note to Warren, begging that he would lend him a few experienced gunners to teach their trade to the raw hands at the batteries. Three or four were sent, and they found apt pupils.