[1] Noble was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of Col. Waldo's Regiment to be raised for the expedition to reduce the Fortress Louisbourg, one of the strongest forts in New France.

In it, he named as heirs his brothers, Francis and James, his daughter, Sarah (Noble) Lithgow, and his son Arthur II.

The arrival of French troops in the Minas Basin at the top of the Bay of Fundy, and their subsequent establishment at Beaubassin, suggested to the Governor of Nova Scotia, Maj. Gen. Paul Mascarene, that the fortification of Grand-Pré was in danger.

The French army was about a mile and a half from their destination, when the attack was planned by Coulon, who knew precisely the New England troop's disposition.

At two in the morning, on February 11, 1747, the French army left their bivouac, advancing through snow that had been falling for thirty hours, so that in certain areas, it was four feet (over one meter) deep.

Despite the storm, their Acadian guides were unerring in leading the French Canadian army to the houses where the English troops were posted.

However, Coulon's assault was so swift, the doors of the houses they attacked were easily forced opened, surprising Noble's troops in their beds.

Colonel Noble was killed early in the action, "fighting in his shirt", then mortally wounded by a musket ball to his forehead.

So complete was the French Canadian surprise attack that six officers, including all of the Noble brothers, were killed along with 70 of their men, 60 were wounded, and 54 taken prisoner.

According to William Kingsford, had the New England troops been accustomed to fight under such circumstances, and placed in the position to do so, the probability is that the French Canadians would have been exterminated.

[5] Both Arthur and his youngest brother, James, owned tracts of territory throughout the Walpole Settlement in the District of Maine, then just a small plantation of thirty able-bodied men.