In the summer of 1696 France and England were opponents in King William's War.  Newfoundland's French Governor de Brouillon ordered a  French naval squadon under Chevalier Nesmond to lay  seige to St. John's.  The squadron of ships was massed at Plaisance and sailed to St. John's. The French seige of St. John's  was unsuccessful.

In the fall of the same year, French-Canadian officer Captain Pierre Le Moyne sieur de'Iberville arrived in Newfoundland under the direction of Quebec's Governor Frontenac.

The thirty five year old de'Iberville had been harrying English interests in Maine before arriving in Newfoundland with the mission to destroy every English settlement on the island.

In the fall of 1696, accompanied by a Catholic priest and  some 400 French and Indian troops, de' Iberville marched across the Avalon peninsula, sacking and burning English settlements.

Until the time of de"Iberville, no European was ever recorded to have walked across the Avalon. de'Iberville's approach was novel. By attacking communities from their unfortified, landward flanks de'Iberville was able to by pass the formadable gun batteries that protected St. John's and Ferryland.

By attacking from the landward side and using vessels to supply his force,  de' Iberville destroyed the vast majority of English settlements on the Avalon Peninsula including: Ferryland, Bay Bulls, Petty Harbour, St. John's, Holyrood, Harbour Grace, Old Perlican etc. Hundreds of people were killed or displaced. The French carried on a winter campaign. It was cold, wet damp and unglamorous.

As de'Iberville marched into St. John's from Petty Harbour, English residents marched out the Waterford Valley to meet and repel the French. A pitched battle occurred in the Waterford Valley and on the Heights of Kilbride. Of the 88 English defenders, 34 died in the battle. The English broke ranks and hastily retreated to St. John's with the French, led by de'Iberville - sword in hand - running after them.

As the French and indians approached St. John's,  English settlers scattered. Many sailed away, others escaped to the forests. However, a number of settlers and soldiers  took refuge in Fort William. 

For two days the French laid seige to Fort William. But de'Iberville was impatient and on the third day, in order to induce the English to surrender, ordered one of his Indian soldiers to scalp an English settler named William Drew. 

Drew was scalped and ordered to approach Fort William, scalp in hand, to warn the English settlers and soldiers, that surrender was their only option.

The English Commander, Governor Miners surrendered on condition that the English be granted free and unmolested  passage out of St. John's. To this de'Iberville agreed. 

Some 224 men, women and children were sent off in a ship and duly arrived in England. However a further 80 refugees were drowned when their ship floundered off of Spain. 

After destroying St. John's, the French marched on Torbay, Portugal Cove, Holyrood, Harbour main, Brigus, Port de Grave, Carbonear, Old Perlican, Bay de Verde and Hants Harbour before walking across the Avalon Peninsula isthmus and returning to Plaisance. 

The Battle of Carbonear island is worthy of mention. In the winter of 1696, the two hundred and some odd persons was the population of Carbonear. On the arrival of the French, these  residents withdrew to Carbonear Island where they did  successfully stave of the French and Indian soldiers. In 1696, only Bonavista and Trinity were spared war.

Soon after this campaign, Captain de'Iberville returned to Canada where he continued to soldier against English settlements and stations. After leaving Newfoundland, de' Iberville and his troops sailed north along the Labrador coast and into Hudson's Bay attacking English trading posts and settlements.

Captain Pierre Le Moyne de'Iberville never returned to Newfoundland. 

Captain Pierre Le Moyne sieur de'Iberville's influence on Newfoundland was to effectively set English settlement of the island back almost a full century. 

Records show that there was about an eighty percent turnover in the family names of settlers on census from circa 1680 - 1713.  This disturbing turnover is attributable, in no small part to the efficiency of de"Iberville in compromising English interests in Newfoundland during King William's  War.