In 1782 the town had been half destroyed by an incessantly renewed bombardment, the fortifications had not been touched.
Every morning, when he awoke, Charles III.

would ask anxiously, "Have we got Gibraltar ?" and when "No" was answered, "We soon shall," the monarch would rejoin imperturbably.

The capture of Fort Philip had confirmed him in his hopes; he considered his object gained, when the Duke of Crillon with a corps of French troops came and joined the besiegers; the Count of Artois, brother to the king, as well as the Duke of Bourbon, had come with him.

The camp of St.Roch was the scene of continual festivities, sometimes interrupted by the sallies of the besieged.

The fights did not interfere with mutual good offices: in his proud distress, General Eliot still kept up an interchange of refreshments with the French princes and the Duke of Crillon; the Count of Artois had handed over to the English garrison the letters and correspondence which had been captured on the enemy's ships, and which he had found addressed to them on his way through Madrid.
Preparations were being made for a grand assault.