Captains Danks and Brewer were sent with their companies to burn some
houses near what is now Upper Gagetown. After burning the houses they
marched their troops down the "Neck" towards the village of Grimrose
and on their way came across three or four Frenchmen who were driving
off about forty head of cattle. The New Englanders made a dash for
this prize, the Acadians escaped, but most of the cattle were
destroyed.

Captain McCurdy was sent by Monckton across the river to Jemseg to
destroy all the houses and grain that he might find in that quarter
and to kill the cattle, and these orders were duly obeyed. Monckton
burnt the little settlement called Villeray's (about three miles below
Gagetown), and as he came down the river sent a small party on shore
to burn the historic settlement of the Sieur de Belleisle and his
sons-in-law, the brothers Robichaux, just above the mouth of Belleisle
Bay. On the 8th day of November, after an absence of ten days, he
arrived at the place above the falls where the troops had embarked.

Colonel Monckton evidently was not very much elated at the success of
his expedition, for a few days after his return he wrote to Lieut.
Governor De Lancey of New York: "I am sorry I can't give you a better
acct. of our Proceedings up this River. But it was attended with so
many unavoidable delays and impediments that we were only able to go
up about 23 Leagues, which is above 10 Leagues short of St.
Annes--where, if we had been able to have reached, it is by very
certain accounts of no consequence, being only a Village and not the
least signs of a fort.

"We burnt one village and some straggling Houses and destroyed
everything that could be the least serviceable to them, so that I
should think that they will in the spring be obliged to retire to
Canada. The River, after passing the Falls, is as fine a River as ever
I saw, and when you get up about 10 Leagues the country is level, with
fine woods of Oak, Beech, Birch and Walnut, and no underwood and the
land able to produce anything. We have just finished a pretty good
fort here, where the old French Fort stood, which will be a footing
for anything that may be thought proper to be undertaken hereafter."

The Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor general of Canada, was not ignorant
of Monckton's operations on the River St. John, but he was in no
position to make any effectual resistance. In his letter to the French
minister of November 5, 1758, he states