Watteville. De Watteville's nominally Swiss regiment was made up of men from all over Europe, many of them former prisoners of war or deserters from the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the British commanders suspected their loyalty. On the approach march, the roll was called every hour to prevent desertion. Except for a few steady men, the entire column was ordered to remove their firearms' flints and take the enemy battery on the hill with the bayonet. The column encountered an American picket from the defenses. Surprise was nearly achieved but because of the rainy weather, the British troops' advance was betrayed by the loud swishing sound made as they passed through high grass. The picket opened fire, alerting the garrison, before hastily retreating. The leading attackers rushed forward to the abatis. As they reached it, Towson opened fire. The rate of fire from his battery would earn it the nickname "Towson's Lighthouse". After several attempts to storm the battery, many attackers broke and fled in panic, sweeping away the steady soldiers to their rear. Those who did try to scale the defenses found that many of the siege ladders built for the attack had been made without taking the ditches into account and were as much as too short to get over the wall. The light company of De Watteville's Regiment attempted to bypass the defenses by swimming in the Niagara River. The current proved to be too swift, and many of the men were swept away to their death; those who survived were quickly captured. Some of the attackers charged the battery five times before retiring. Some units, such as the light company of the 8th, lost two thirds of their strength. De Watteville's regiment had 144 casualties (although many were "missing" and actually hid in the woods before deserting the next morning). Ripley, commanding this section of the American defenses, reported taking 147 prisoners. His men suffered only a dozen casualties. Fischer's column reeled back in confusion and it was decided another attempt was impossible. Scott's attack Colonel Hercules Scott's column consisted of his own 103rd Regiment, less its light company. He launched his attack as soon as firing was heard from Snake Hill. Surprise was quickly lost when American pickets detected them and fired muskets to alert the defenders. Once the British had moved close enough, the guns of the fort and the Douglass Battery (loaded