Action of 17 July 1628 The Action of 17 July 1628 was the largest incident of the North American phase of the Anglo - French War of 1627 – 29 . The English force led by the Kirke brothers succeeded in capturing a supply convoy bound for New France , severely impairing that colony ' s ability to resist attack . Background . War between England and France broke out over English support for French Huguenots besieged in La Rochelle by the forces of Louis XIII . Charles I of England commissioned David Kirke of Dieppe to seize French shipping in North America and expand English trade in the St . Lawrence valley . The French on the other hand had established a permanent base at Quebec in 1608 and were looking to expand their title that territory . Cardinal Richelieu had been the driving force behind the formation of the Compagnie des Cent - Associés to manage the fur trade and encourage settlement , in order to consolidate the tentative hold the French had in Canada . Led by Samuel de Champlain , efforts were being made to improve conditions at Quebec in preparation for the arrival of the first convoy of supplies and colonists . Kirke and his fleet arrived off the coast of North America in the spring of 1628 , seized the French post of Tadoussac as his base , and proceeded to attack French fishing vessels . In the meantime the French convoy had departed from Dieppe on April 28 . It consisted of four large merchant vessels and a single barque under the command of Admiral Claude Roquement de Brison , carrying supplies and approximately 400 settlers for Quebec . It was the largest effort yet at populating New France . In June they arrived at Anticosti Island and learned of Kirke ' s presence . Prelude . In July Kirke sailed upriver from Tadoussac in order to seize Quebec . Champlain , who had been expecting badly needed supplies from France , did not know that Kirke had been in the St . Lawrence seizing vessels until just prior to the English arrival off Quebec on July 9 . Kirke sent a message to Champlain demanding the town ' s surrender the next day . Champlain sent a bold refusal , hoping the English would not discover his desperate straits . Kirke did not want to gamble on attacking such a formidable defense position , and withdrew back towards Tadoussac . Battle . Unaware of the events that had taken place at Quebec , Admiral Roquement made the decision to bypass the English at Tadoussac under the cover of fog and if necessary fight their way through . Kirke ' s force on the other hand was larger and better equipped , and also had the advantage of being upstream from Roquement . On July 17 the two forces sighted each other and began to manoeuvre into position . Roquement , with both the current and the weather gauge against him , could not make a move to pass Kirke , and realized he had to fight . Kirke made better use of his advantages and anchored at extreme range in order to batter the French into surrender . Roquement attempted to do the same , but he had fewer cannon and inferior range . Kirke bombarded the French for fourteen or fifteen hours , while Roquement ' s efforts fell short . When their supply of gunpowder ran out , Roquement surrendered . Aftermath . The surrender of the French fleet yielded a great deal of plunder for Kirke , and this alone made his expedition a tremendous success , despite the failure to capture Quebec . King Charles commissioned him to make a return trip the next year in order to fulfill that goal . Champlain and the residents of Quebec faced a winter deprived of much needed supplies and reinforcements , and when Kirke returned in the spring of 1629 surrender was the only option . All the residents of New France were deported back to the mother country and Quebec became an English post . Upon his return to France Champlain learned that the war had ended before Kirke took Quebec , making the seizure illegal . Champlain lobbied for the return of New France , but did not succeed until the signing of the Treaty of Saint - Germain - en - Laye in 1632 . He would return to New France the next year and oversee the establishment of substantial French settlement in Canada before his death in 1635 . Kirke would later become Governor of Newfoundland .