The attack took place between 10.00 and 11.00 p.m. that night. Two men armed with muskets had concealed themselves in a plantation 20 yards behind the house and fired them at 2 Hussars near to the guard house: the shots missed, and instead hit a tree. Sentries pursued the men, who were seen ascending a wall at the rear of the property and got away.
It's possible that this attack was a decoy for the main target. At virtually the same time as the shots from the rear, a shot was fired by one of up to five men at the front of the property, and aimed at the Colonel's son and another soldier who were at the south-east corner. The shot failed to find a human target, and again, the would-be assassins got away.
Campbell arrived home not long afterwards, and set about strengthening the guard.
In a letter to Lieutenant Colonel Grey the following day, Campbell explained that those at home knew something was amiss:
voices were heard all round about my house which stands detached from other buildings & persons I now find were seen all the early part of the night lurking about my house—I suppose watching for my return home
