When the flight of the light troops opened the front of battle, a column of French Infantry was seen winding up through the suburbs of St. Roch, so as to threaten Murray's right. Major Morris, with the 35th from the reserve, were quickly called into action, and they checked this movement. But, in the mean time, the British left was altogether over-matched. Fraser, with his brigade, had boldly attacked the French right, and at first gained some advantage, having, by an impetuous charge, driven Bourlemaque from two redoubts; but the superior weight of the enemy's fire soon told upon his weak battalions, and they were speedily reduced to a mere handful of men. The 43d from the center and the 3d battalion of the 60th from the reserve, now came to his aid, and still he bravely held his own ground against the overwhelming numbers of the French. At this critical time the Royal Roussillon from De Levi's center, who had not, as yet, fired a shot, charged in upon the British left, and bore down all resistance. The whole of Fraser's brigade then gave way, and retired in confusion; Burton's men, on the right, already hardly pressed, soon followed; all the artillery was lost; and, had it not been for the firm front presented by the 15th and 58th, the disaster might have proved irreparable. Even as it was, the carnage was almost unexampled in proportion to the numbers engaged: Murray left no less than 300 dead upon the field, and upward of 700 more of his men were wounded.[196] The triumph of the French was sullied by unusual cruelty to their gallant but unfortunate foes. Quarter was in vain asked by some of the British officers: four of them, being conducted to the officers of the Regiment of La Sarre, were received with a wave of the hand, and "Allez-vous-en," which speedily decided their bloody fate. Of the great number of wounded Englishmen who were unavoidably abandoned in the retreat, twenty-eight only were sent to the hospitals; the rest were given up to glut the rage of the Indians. Murray's artillery, and the steady fire of his veterans, caused the French to purchase victory at a very heavy cost: by their own computation, 1800 of their men were killed and wounded. De Levi followed up his success by intrenching himself before the city and preparing for the siege. Murray was not idle. No more than 2200 of the British troops were now fit for duty; but even the wounded assisted as far as they were able; nearly 600 men, unable to walk without crutches, seated themselves on the ramparts, made sand-bags for the works, and cartridges for the cannon. The women were also active in tending the wounded, and cooking rations for the soldiers, who were now too much occupied to perform those offices for themselves. By unremitting exertion, 132 guns were soon mounted on the ramparts; and, as many of the Infantry had during the winter been trained by the artillerymen, Murray was enabled to keep up a fire which altogether overpowered that of the French.