A British force under Lieutenant Colonel William Amherst recaptured St. John's,[1][non-primary source needed] which the French had seized earlier that year in a surprise attack.

His defence system consisted of several advance posts equipped with artillery around Signal Hill, a strategic point dominating the surrounding area.

[3][non-primary source needed] St. John's, being the most easterly city in the Americas, excluding those of Greenland, was an important place for docking ships from Europe and preparing them for further inland river journeys.

Along the Atlantic coast and northeast of the Avalon Peninsula (southeastern Newfoundland), Signal Hill is located next to the inlet of the harbour of St. John's.

On 26 August, British warships dispatched by Amherst and under Captain Campbell had reached the now-British Halifax Harbour and hoped to recapture St. John's.

The French commanders, Count D'Haussonville and Bellecombe, were unable to prevent the British landing at Torbay and so they sent a battalion to guard Signal Hill as an important protection summit for its natural defences.

Strengthened by this gain, the British had numerous artillery pieces delivered to their position from Torbay and began to construct batteries to bombard the fort.