“I called a council of war. This was the first one I had called. Previously, the captains had arranged to meet and then informed me later of their decisions. We planned to attack from the south side and scale the walls of the fort.
“At 7 a.m. the trumpets were sounded, and the attack began. The English fought with great resistance. As fast as we put scaling ladders up to the walls, they attacked us with everything including cannons, firearms, axes, lances and even their bare hands. It was said at the time that there was so much artificial fire that the air seemed to be alight. But our soldiers seemed to think they were immortal and continued to attack in spite of the setbacks.
“We paused for a midday meal and then attacked again. I led the men back to the fort and was placing a scaling l
