The enemy besieged _Quebec_, and the FIFTEENTH regiment had the honour of taking part in a successful defence of that important fortress. The governor stated in his despatch,--'I flatter myself the extraordinary performances of the handful of brave men I had left, will please His Majesty as much as they surprised us, who were eye-witnesses of them.' While the garrison was making a resolute defence, a British naval force arrived in the river, destroyed the enemy's vessels near the town, and cannonaded their lines. On the morning of the 17th of May, the FIFTEENTH were under arms, to make a sally on the besieging force; but the French camp was found empty, and the tents standing. A pursuit was ordered, and some prisoners and baggage were captured. In June a detachment of the regiment advanced up the river, in vessels, to co-operate with the troops under General Sir Jeffery Amherst, in an attack on the French army at _Montreal_. The British advanced upon Montreal from three different points, and by a well-arranged combination the whole were united before that place in the early part of September. The French governor, the Marquis of Vaudreuil, being unable to withstand the British arms, surrendered; and the conquest of Canada was thus accomplished. After this success, the regiment was assembled at Montreal, and it was one of the corps which occupied that place for several months. [Sidenote: 1761] In the spring of 1761, the regiment proceeded up Lake Champlain in boats, marched from the shore of the lake to Albany, and afterwards sailed down the Hudson river to New York. In June it was encamped on Staten Island, and in October sailed for Barbadoes, where an expedition was assembled under Major-General Monckton, for an attack on the French island of _Martinique_, and the FIFTEENTH was one of the corps selected for this service. [Sidenote: 1762] The expedition sailed from Carlisle-bay on the 5th of January, 1762, and a landing was effected on the island of Martinique in the middle of that month. The FIFTEENTH were actively employed in the operations necessary to bring the enemy to submission, and some severe fighting took place, in which the regiment had several men killed and wounded; Captain Prescott and Lieutenant Leslie, being among the latter. The governor, M. Le Vassor de la Touche, surrendered the island in February.