In the early part of the year 1711 it was resolved to make an attack on the town of _Quebec_, the capital of the French possessions in Canada, for which service Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker and Major-General John Hill were appointed Commanders-in-Chief; a large fleet of ships of war formed part of the armament, which was to be further strengthened by troops from the American colonies; they were directed to proceed to Boston in New England, and to make arrangements for this undertaking. They reached Naerlaskel near Boston on the 24th of June, and having collected the provincial corps, and withdrawn the Marines from Anna-polis Royal, which had been occupied by these corps since its surrender in 1709, they sailed for the object of their destination, after many delays, on the 30th of July. The expedition did not reach the River St. Lawrence until the 21st of August, when it encountered storms, and being furnished with pilots who were unacquainted with the navigation of that river, eight transports, a store ship, and a sloop were lost by shipwreck, and upwards of eighty persons, including officers, soldiers, and women, principally belonging to Colonel Kane’s fourth regiment, and Colonel Clayton’s thirty-seventh regiment, perished in this fatal service. A scarcity of provisions had arisen, and it was then determined by a council of war that further operations should be abandoned. Some of the corps proceeded to Anna-polis Royal, and the squadron returned to England in the month of October, 1711, after having left the provincial auxiliaries upon their own coast. On the 17th of April, 1711, the decease of Joseph I., Emperor of Germany, occurred, and Charles III., of Spain, was elected Emperor of Germany at Frankfort, by the name of Charles IV., on the 12th October following. Further attempts on the part of the British Government, in the cause of King Charles were now unnecessary, as he was called upon to assume the Imperial throne of his country. His Majesty embarked at Barcelona, on the 27th of September, on board of the confederate fleet, and sailed for Italy. [Sidenote: 1712] [Sidenote: 1713] In the year 1712 negotiations were entered into by Great Britain and France, and peace was restored by the treaty of Utrecht on the 31st of March, 1713. By this treaty it was settled, that Great Britain should retain possession of Gibraltar, Minorca, and Nova Scotia, which had been conquered during the late war, and in effecting which, the Marine corps, which had been formed during the reign of Queen Anne, greatly contributed. [Sidenote: 1714]