The plan of the attack was that a body of men should be landed on the Beauport flats to the north of the city, and endeavour to obtain access by crossing the river St. Charles; that the principal war vessels should take up their position in front of the city; that others should move further up so as to create the impression that troops were to be landed above Cape Diamond, in order to take the city in the rear; and that the bombardment should only begin when a signal had been received that the troops at the other side had made their entrance. The scheme was a good one, but it was not well carried out. On Wednesday forenoon about thirteen hundred men under Major Walley were landed, apparently without opposition, though there were troops in abundance--levies from Beauport and Beaupré, Indians from Lorette, as well as the forces within the city--who could have made the landing exceedingly difficult and costly in lives, had they been led to the spot; particularly as the enemy had to wade knee-deep, and even waist-deep, in icy water in order to get to land. The landing having been effected, Walley drew up his force in companies, selecting four to act as an advance guard, or, as he calls them, "forlorns," and then ordered a march for the higher ground. They had not gone a hundred yards before there was firing from cover on both flanks, particularly from the right; there, Walley says, "there was a party galled us considerably." A charge having been ordered the defenders gave way, but continued to fire from swamp and bush as they retreated.[48] In the pursuit Walley gained a position not far from the St. Charles River. He was expecting some vessels to come into the river with supplies, and for that reason, as well as for others, wished to be near it. One or two houses and barns gave a little shelter, but many of the men had to lie out all night. If we may trust his statement his loss in killed on that day was four, and in wounded sixty. Considering the nature of the landing, "it was a great mercy," he says, "we had no more damage done us." He judged that he had killed some twenty of the Canadians, but that was a vast over-estimate. The Chevalier de Clermont, an experienced and valuable officer, had been killed, and Juchereau de St. Denis, who commanded the Beauport militia, had been wounded; but the total of killed and wounded on the Canadian side did not probably exceed the figure mentioned.