The masonry of the ramparts was shaken, and the breaches were almost complete.

A fourth of the garrison were in hospital, and the rest were worn out by toil.
Every house in the place was shattered by the English artillery, and there was no shelter either for the troops or the inhabitants.
On the 26th, the last French cannon was silenced, and a breach effected in the wall; and the French, unable longer to resist, hung out the white flag.

They attempted to obtain favourable conditions, but Boscawen and Amherst insisted upon absolute surrender, and the French, wholly unable to resist further, accepted the terms.
Thus fell the great French stronghold on Cape Breton.

The defence had been a most gallant one; and Drucour, the governor, although he could not save the fortress, had yet delayed the English so long before the walls, that it was too late in the season, now, to attempt an attack on Canada itself.
Wolfe, indeed, urged that an expedition should at once be sent against Quebec, but Boscawen was opposed to this, owing to the lateness of the season, and Amherst was too slow and deliberate, by nature, to determine suddenly on the enterprise.

He, however, sailed with six regiments for Boston, to reinforce Abercromby at Lake George.
Wolfe carried out the orders of the general, to destroy the French settlements on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence--a task most repugnant to his humane nature.