resist a longer siege. On August 27, Bougainville had his troops silently leave the island in the middle of the night and headed to Montreal where he hoped his soldiers could help. The siege of Isle aux Noix ended on August 28, when a group of about forty French soldiers surrendered to the British forces. The last French governor-general of New France, Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, surrendered to British Major General Jeffrey Amherst on September 8, 1760. France finally ceded Canada to the British in the Treaty of Paris, signed on February 10, 1763. The strategic importance of Île aux Noix decreased as soon as the conquest of Canada was complete in 1760. Amherst had not thought it wise to preserve the French fortifications on Île aux Noix and therefore he ordered the razing of the entrenchments to salvage the construction materials, which might be reused at Crown Point. First British fortifications After New France became a British colony, there was not much use for Île aux Noix as a military post. The French fort was destroyed. Yet after the American invasion of the province of Quebec in 1775-1776 by means of the Richelieu River, the British authorities decided to build a new fort on the island in 1778. It was used during the War of 1812. That fort was demolished to make place for Fort Lennox. American occupation In 1775, the island was taken by American forces and used as a base by the American generals Philip Schuyler and Richard Montgomery for attacks on Montreal and Quebec. After being defeated at Quebec and abandoning Montreal, the Continental Army regrouped at the island in 1776 in its retreat from the province of Quebec. The site returned to British hands as an important frontier fort, now its southernmost on the Richelieu. Blockhouses were constructed in 1779 to resist further attack. A much more impressive fortification was built from 1779 to 1782. Images Second British fortifications During the War of 1812, the race for naval superiority in the area re-established the military importance of the island, which became the main support point for the British navy on this border. The flagship of the British squadron on Lake Champlain, , a 36 gun 5th rate frigate, became the largest vessel ever constructed at Île aux Noix. See Battle of Lake Champlain Postwar The postwar period provided another opportunity to rethink