page_title: Siege of St. John's
section_title: English defences
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of St. John's / Background / English defences
caption_attribution_description: A 1798 map of St. John's, Newfoundland. It has been annotated to highlight Fort William and the South Castle, locations important in battles for St. John's during the War of the Spanish Succession.
context_page_description: The Siege of St. John's was a failed attempt by French forces led by Daniel d'Auger de Subercase to take the fort at St. John's, Newfoundland during the winter months of 1705, in Queen Anne's War. Leading a mixed force of regulars, militia, and Indians, Subercase burned much of the town and laid an ineffectual siege against the fort for five weeks between late January and early March 1705. Subercase lifted the siege after running out of provisions and gunpowder.
  The siege was part of a larger-scale expedition that was an attempt to repeat the highly destructive expedition led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1696. Many outlying English communities were destroyed by Subercase's men, leading to reprisal raids by the English. Fishing activities on both sides suffered for the duration of the war, which ended with the French cession of its claims to Newfoundland.
context_section_description: St. John's was under the command of Lieutenant John Moody, with Lieutenant Robert Latham, a military engineer and mason, as his second in command.  The principal defences of St. John's were Fort William, a stone fortification on the north side of the harbour built after the French expedition of 1696, and the South Castle, a stone fort on the south side of The Narrows which commanded the harbour entrance.  Moody had put Latham in command of South Castle, while he commanded at Fort William. The combined defense force numbered between 50 and 60 men, with about a dozen under Latham's command.
caption: This 1798 map of St. John's includes defences that were erected in later years.  Fort William and the South Castle have been highlighted.
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