On November 22, the two detachments, re-united, began their northwards march to St. John's. Two days latter, d'Iberville captured Bay Bulls, along with a 100-tonne merchant ship. On November 26, he went ahead with a few Canadiens and Indians in the direction of the capital, leaving the main body of troops behind. After a three-hour march, he met a group of 18 scouts who had been sent to study the approaches to St. John's. This advance party had encountered a detachment of 30 English soldiers posted on a hilltop near Petty Harbour. D'Iberbille Charged and the enemy surrendered immediately. By the time Sieur de Brouillan arrived, d'Iberville and his men were in command of the small port just eight kilometers south of St. John's. However, some Petty Harbour colonists managed to escape and reach St. John's , where they alerted residents.

On November 28, after uniting their forces once again, d'Iberveille and de Brouillan advance party of 30 Canadiens; the two commanders followed 500 paces behind with their troops. After a stopped by a group of 88 Englishmen hidden behind the rocks at the top of the mountain overlooking St. John's . He engaged them in combat until the rest of the troops came to his rescue. De Brouilan attacked head on; d'berville circled the enemy and attacked from the flank. Afraid of being cut off, the English retreated to St. John's and taken 36 prisoners.

English settlers and troops who managed to escape took refuge in Fort William, the largest of the three English strongholds, at the entrance to the harbour. This fort was defended by a few cannon and 160 men.

Deciding to lay siege to Fort William, d'Iberville and Governor de Brouillan laid bare the surrounding area by setting fire to all the houses, and sent to Bay Bulls for a mortar to bombard the fortifications. The besieged troops, well aware of their inability to withstand a long blockade, surrendered on November 30.

After the victory, the 330 English prisoners were crowded aboard two ships bound for England. Governor de Brouillan wanted to occupy St. John's, but d'Iberville would not give him the necessary troops, so the fort and all the houses were put to the torch and Sieur de Brouillan returned to Placentia with his booty: 110 fishing boats and 500,000 livres worth of cod .

The destruction of St. John's was only the first stage of d'Iberville's Newfoundland expedition. From the smoking ashes of Fort William he set out to raid English outposts all along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula. He captured Torbay, Quidi Vidi and St. Francois, a few Kilometres north of St. John's ; and on January 14, 1697, after destroying and plundering all the settlements north of the capital, d'Ibervelle led his troops to Harbour Main, at the foot of Conception Bay. His plan was to travel up the west coast of the bay to continue his pillaging of English outposts. To spare his troops, who were exhausted from crisscrossing the peninsula for over two months, d'Iberville put his men on boats and set off for Harbour Grace, There he took more than 100 prisoners and commandeered the settlers' livestock for fresh meat before setting fire to the settlement.

The next objective was Carbonear Island, where a number of English colonists, forced from their villages, had taken refuge, With no easily accessible place to land boats, the island was a veritable fortress, manned by about 300 refugees under the command of the merchant William Pynne. On January 31 , d'Iberville attempted a first assault, but he was beaten back. Convinced that he would never be able to take the island with so few men, the conqueror decided to continue his destructive raids along the Placentia, where the king's ships were expected in the spring.

Leaving a small detachment behind to keep more refugees from joining the band of English defenders on Carbonear Island, d'Iberville set off with the rest of his men to attack the settlements on the northern tip of the peninsula separating Conception and Trinity bays. In four days, he destroyed every English outpost on the coast as far as Bay de Verde.