Battle of Signal Hill
Part of the Seven Years' War French and Indian War
Signal Hill
Date September 15, 1762 Location St. John's, Newfoundland Result British victory
Belligerents
France	Great Britain
Commanders
Guillaume de Bellecombe	William Amherst
Strength
295 regulars	200 regulars and provincials
Casualties and losses
20–40 dead or wounded	4–5 dead 19 wounded

v • d • e Seven Years' War in North America: The French and Indian War Jumonville Glen – Great Meadows – Fort Beauséjour – Monongahela – Lake George - Fort Bull - Fort Oswego - Kittanning – Fort William Henry – Bloody Creek - Louisbourg - German Flatts - Fort Carillon – Fort Frontenac - Fort Duquesne – Fort Ligonier – Ticonderoga – La Belle-Famille - Fort Niagara – Fort Saint-Jean (Quebec) – Beauport – Quebec – Sainte-Foy – Restigouche - Thousand Islands – Signal Hill

The Battle of Signal Hill (September 15, 1762) was a small skirmish, the last of the French and Indian War. The British under Lieutenant Colonel William Amherst forced the French to surrender St. John's.

French occupation

On June 27, 1762, French forces under Comte d'Haussonville forced the British capitulation of St. John's. During the following weeks, d'Haussonville, under the orders of the Chevalier de Ternay, was able to consolidate the French position in Newfoundland. His defence system consisted of several advanced posts, equipped with artillery, around Signal Hill.

On September 13, 1762, the British landed at Torbay, a few miles to the north. Ternay and Haussonville were unable to counter it, so to hamper the British advance, they dispatched a detachment to guard the bare summit of Signal Hill, a strategic point dominating the surroundings.

The battle

At dawn on September 15 1762, British troops climbed the hill held by the French. The surprise was total, and the engagement was brief but fatal. The commander of the French detachment, Guillaume de Bellecombe, was seriously wounded. On the British side, a bullet shattered the legs of one of Amherst's officers, MacDonell. The French withdrew to the fort.

Consequence

At the close of the battle, Signal Hill was in the hands of the British. Strengthened by this advantageous situation, they obtained the capitulation of the French garrison of St. John's 3 days later.¹

The French attack on Signal Hill

References

Further reading

• Georges Cerbelaud-Salagnac, La reprise de Terre-Neuve par les Français en 1762, revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer, tome LXIII, 1976, numéro 231
• Major Evan W. H. Fyers, The Loss and Recapture of St.John's, Newfoundland, in 1762, Army Historical Research, Volume XI, 1932
• André de Visme, Terre-Neuve 1762 : Dernier combat aux portes de la Nouvelle-France, Montréal, 2005 (ISBN = 2-9808847-0-7)