LOUISBOURG: 
 
 AK 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 BV 
 
 JOSEPH PLIMiSOLL HOWARDS. 
 
 Read before the Nova Scotia Historical Society, 
 27th November, 1894. 
 
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LOUISBOURG 
 
 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 BY JOSEPH PLIMSOLL EDWARDS, LONDONDERRY, N. S. 
 Head before the Society, J7th November, .lSi>4. 
 
 UKW more romantic ami strau<5e episodes exist in North American 
 annals than the story of this fortress of He Royalc. A colony and 
 government removed to a lonely spot on the shore of a vast uninhabited 
 island ; a city, a naval depot, and a citadel of enormous strength spring- 
 ing up there under the flag of the most powerful militjiry nation in 
 Europe, and resulting in an armed metropolis whicli menaced all the 
 Atlantic coast, became one of the trade-centres of the continent, and 
 formed one of the great bulwarks of French power in America. 
 Suddenly and almost ignominiously it changes masters ; all its costly 
 works, buildings, and armament become the property of Great Britain. 
 In a year or two, with ecjual suddenness and grefiter ignominy, it reverts 
 to France, and for a few years more holds a dominant position. Again 
 it falls ; and its captors expunge the entire establishment from the face 
 of the earth ; searccly is one stone left above another. Its inhabitants 
 drift elsewhere, and in a few years it is apparently forgotten as if it 
 never had been. All this within half a century — a man's short life. 
 
 But it has left deep marks on the pages of the history of North 
 America ; and while in a sense less purely Canadian than continental, it 
 has been left chiefly to Canadian writers to tell its story with amplitude 
 of detail. The value of these histories is enhanced in that they give us 
 the annals of all Cape Breton from its discovery down to recent dates ; 
 yet this very comprehensiveness leaves room for a sketch confined to 
 the fortress which made the island famous. Such I have endeavored to 
 portray in the following pages. 
 
 Prior to that treaty which may be termed the legal beginning of 
 Anglo- Acadian history — signed at Utrecht in 1713, Louisbourg under 
 that name did not exist. The bay or harbour was known to the French 
 as Havre a I'Anglais — to the English as English Harbour. An early 
 
4 LOUISBOL'HCi : AN IIISTOKICAI. SKKTCII. 
 
 tnivollur, Capt. Ltiigli, lias left a vi-ry interesting account of liis voj'age 
 along these slior;^'< in 1597, and refers tf> the hay as Port Ingleese or 
 English P(»rt. Of thesi; early days there is little known in connection 
 with the [dace. Pontgrave, the conipanion of DeMonts in his memor- 
 able voyage of 16(H, landed there on his arrival on this side and biiilt a 
 boat : so far as we know this was the first vessel built by Kuropeans on 
 what is now Nova Scotian soil. A quarter of a century elapses liefore 
 we again hear of I'Havre si 1' Anglais, and this lime it is true to its 
 name. British colours had temporarily supplanted those of France over 
 all Acadie and Cape IJreton, thanks to the enterjjrise of a certain 
 Captain Argall. He, in the summer of 1613, set out from the newly 
 settled village of Jamestown in Virginia, and, in the informal method 
 of those days, attacked and beat off the few French tluin in this colony, 
 and proclaimetl the whole country as belonging to 15ritain. Fight years 
 later a grant of all Acadie, Cape Breton, and part of Canada, was made 
 by King James the first to Sir William Alexander, Secretary of State 
 for Scotland. That astute nobleman divided his huge grant into lots 
 and sold as many as possible to gentlemen anxious to go in for coloniza- 
 tion work on a large scale. Among the purchasers was Lord Ochiltree, 
 a Scottish nobleman, son of the Earl of Arran. With a following of 60 
 emigrants he sailed for Cape lireton in the spring of 1629, and settled 
 his little colony within a few miles of English Harbour ; tlu-y erected a 
 small fort and began to clear the land. Hut their residence there was 
 a short one. A Captain Daniel, in the service of the King of France, 
 had, or imagined he had, a grievance against my Lord Ochiltree for 
 alleged interference with French tishernK^n ; and, without warning or 
 explanation, landed a strong party on the 18th Sept. of that year, 
 (1G29,) took the little fort liy assault, razed it to the ground, and 
 deported the entire settlement, their arms, ammunition and stores — first 
 to the harbour of Ste Anne, near by, then across the Atlantic — 
 some to England, others to France. So bold a deed, in times of nominal 
 peace between the two Crowns, created no little excitement, and 
 voluminous charges and counter-statements were promptly forthcoming. 
 But the Stuarts ruled England in those days, and French influence had 
 great weight ; and it does not ai)pear that any of the settlers so 
 suddenly and unceremoniously thrust back on their native sliores received 
 redress. 
 
 By treaty signed on 29th March, 1632, Cape Breton was restored to 
 France ; but for more than three-quarters of a century thereafter, English 
 
LOUI8UOURO : AN IIISTOIIICAL HKETCH. 5 
 
 llftrbour reniained uiulistiirbe<l by tlu; hiiiu of conunercu, and the tleeper 
 notes of war with which the adjacent coast rusounded from time to time 
 throughout this long period. 
 
 Port Royal, the capital of Acadie, .surrendered to the Brititih Crown 
 — as represented by the Provincial General Nicholson, with four 
 regiments of New England troops and as many ships of war — on the 4th 
 of October, 1710. With its fall Acadie and Cape Breton became 
 nominally British possessions. Port Royal became Annapolis, in honour 
 of the reigning Sovereign ; and the name of Acadie was replaced by that 
 of Nova Scotia. Two and a half years hter the treaty of Utrecht was 
 signed, which conhrmed to Britain Nova Scotia and the Fr'^nch settle- 
 ments in Newfoundland, but restored Cape Breton to France. 
 
 The establishment of a strongly fortified harbour to be a rendezvous 
 and shelter for the French fleets on the North American station now 
 became an imperative mid immediate necessity. The treaty had cut off 
 from France all the sea coast on the northern part of the continent excei)t 
 that attbrded by Cape Breton, while inland the vast districts under her 
 sway stretched along the St. Lawrence, embraced the great lakes, reached 
 to the Rocky Mountain.s, and, s\veei»ing south, covered the rich and fertile 
 countries of the Ohio and Mississippi. Of all lier Atlantic possessions 
 Cape Breton alone remained, on guiird over this enormous territory. 
 
 But it was as the sentry-box without the sentinel. No garrison of 
 any strength existed on the island ; no fortified harbour ottered shelter 
 to friendly shipping. To these wants France gave immediate attention. 
 
 When the ratification of the treaty became a certainty — in fact 
 when it was still only a probability — Louis XLV. and his ministers took 
 the first steps towards strengthening this, his last remaining North 
 Atlantic pos.«ession. We learn that in 1712 an (.)rder-in-Council was 
 passeil ordering that a ship-of-war be sent to Plaisance — as Placcntia, 
 Newfoundland, was then called — thence, under directions from the 
 Governor of that place, M. de Costabe'le, to proceed to Cape Breton to 
 choose the most suitable harbour and site for the new capital. It w.is 
 not, however, until the following summer that these orders were carried 
 into ettect. The King's ship — named the Set/nefa;/, and coninjanrled V)y 
 M. de Contreville — sailed for PIai>:ance in August, 1713. She had a 
 double duty to perform — a mission of survey and of colonization, and 
 carried among her company officials and settlers for the new colony ; 
 chief among these being M. de Ste. Ovide de Brouillan, a naval officer, 
 and Major L'Hcrmite of the Engineers. In the name of the King 
 
I.OUISBOUUO : AN HWTOUICAI. SKKTCH. 
 
 they fornmlly took poHscssion of tl»« isliuitl ; mul, as incMlotcriiiiiicd Ity 
 the Home authorities, re-nametl it l\v Royalo In fact a general 
 rceliristeniiig of all tlie chief harhours of the island very Hoon 
 took place, preceding their aotual aettlenieiit. The harhoiir of Ste. 
 Anne became I'ort I)aii|ihin ; St. IVter's became Port Toulouse ; and 
 Havre a I'Anglais, Louishourg. Of all these changes the latter alone 
 survives ; hut its single greatness outweighs the lapse of the other 
 three. The brilliant period of active P'rench ruh^ in Americu, and 
 the valour of the New England inilili;'. and of liritish linesmen and 
 blue-jackets cannot be forgotten while the name of Louisbourg lives. 
 
 As to the most suitable harbnur t(t fortify and build up into a naval 
 capital tiiere had lieen a market! ditt'erence of opinion, the Governor of 
 Plaisance — backed uj) by no less a personage than the Viceroy of New 
 Fiance — favoring Ste. Anne's ; but the excellence of the harbour of 
 Louisbourg, the depth of water at the entrance, and its com|mrative 
 freedom from ice, carried the day, and that place was definitely chosen 
 as the metropolis of the island province. To Louisbourg the immi<!rant- 
 bearing ship of 1713 came, and on the .shores of its harbour most of 
 the new-conuMs settled. 
 
 On the r2th of June of the following year, M. de Co-stabelle formally 
 delivered up Plaisance to Colonel Moody, the British represertative, 
 and, with his staff, moved over to lie Hoyale, and fixed his head-i[uarters 
 at the embryo capital. The land in the vicinity was poor, but the fishing 
 was excellent, and a large additional number of colonists came over from 
 Newfoundland and from France, and settled in close proximity to the 
 harbour. Elaborate plans ot the proposed fnrtifications M-ere drawn up 
 and submitted to the Home authorities, and all looked promising for 
 the creation of a prosperous and progres.sive town, as well as a point 
 from which the /fcnr-de-fifs would extend its triumphs in the western 
 world. I)ut the ill-luck — to put it in the mildest form — which so 
 closely waited on the enterprise was apparent eveti in this its first year 
 of active life. Instead of the regular and systematic attention which 
 the i.s(»lated settlement demanded from the Ministry, signs of neglect 
 were already visible. The pay for the troops employed on the new 
 defences was not fortlicoming ; lack of discipline and a state not far 
 from mutiny were the results. The supply of jirovisions for the 
 settlers was painfully scanty, and misery and wretchedness naturally 
 followed To add to the troubles of the period, several ve.-sels were, 
 in November, 1714, lost in making the voyage from Plaisance to 
 He Royale. • 
 
LOUISUOUIUl: AN HlhTOHICAL SKETCH. 7 
 
 Aiul to tlie prnise of tliesa pooplo, then no^loctcd and ik»w utterly 
 forgotten, it shoulil be remenilwreil tlint ninny of them luiil voluntarily 
 left Vjehind them in Plnisiuice their liomes and holdings, and had 
 followed the flag of France over into the wilderness of He Royale. 
 Coercion may have been hinted at, and promises of work and fortune 
 held out ; doubtless such was the case ; but the fact remained that they 
 exchanged a certiinty for an uncertainty, chiefly for their country's 
 sake. (^ all the former French inhabitants of Plaisance, oidy four or 
 five remained and swore allegianc^e to the King of England. The rest, 
 true to their colours, de.«!erved better treatment than they received. 
 
 Over this infant settlement there was no lack of rulers and jyersons 
 in high authority ; in fact, as an over-governeil colony, its record is 
 j)erhaps unequalled. In addition to M. de Co.stabelle, the Governor-in- 
 Chief, there was M. ile Soubras, the Commis.sioner-Comi)troller, of almost 
 equal rank and power with de Costal)elle. There was a King's 
 Lieutenant, M. de 8t. Ovide de IJrouillan ; a commander of the troops, 
 M. du Ligoudez ; a King's Engineer, Major L'Herniite, temporarily 
 succeeded in 1715 by M. de Beaucour ; and a writer to the King, M. de 
 La Forest. There may have be(>n others ofe(pial note, but the foregoing 
 all appear as having Ijeen in active correspondence with the authorities 
 in France. 
 
 Of the life and doings at Louisbourg during the.se early years there 
 is little which is worth recording iJuildiug went on steadily, if not with 
 remarkable speed. Supplies of various sorts were sent out from France, 
 and from the French colonies, and all ch'ef business matters were regu- 
 lated from Versailles. Cut off, to a very great extent, from the French 
 po8.sessions in Canada, the Louisboiirg government and peojde were to an 
 unusual degree dependent on the mother country. Every petty detail of 
 civic and colonial life was reported at length to Paris, and full instructions 
 as to the necessary action were sent out liy the Council of Marine. 
 Immigrants from France came in Itut slowly, especially during the Hrst 
 few years ; the sunny climate of New Orleans — at this period being laid 
 out for settlement — proving a more tempting bait to warmth-loving 
 Frenchmen than the cool summers and icy winters of lie Royale. 
 Strong efforts were made by the local authorities to induce the Acadians 
 to leave the now English province of Xova Scotia and cast in their lot 
 with their compatrints in the new island iirovince ; but the Acadians, not 
 framed in the sternly-heroic mould, were loath to leave their fertile farms 
 and niarshlands. They noted the leniency with which their new masters 
 
9 ^ouI^«^l>L'K(! : an histokical sketch. 
 
 treated them hh regards tli«'ir all<.'gianc>', and showed their worldly 
 wisdom in remaining as long m* pos8il)le French suhjectH on Ih'itiflh 
 territory. A few went to lie Royale, and more to the fertile lands of 
 He St. Jenn ; but the great majority remained at home, in the hojie, we 
 may Hii|>j)OHe, of developments whieh would at one and the same time 
 enable them to retain their nationality, appease their rulers, satisfy their 
 consciences, and till their pockets. 
 
 M. de Cnstabelle, the energetic and capable governor of Ilt> Koyale, 
 died in 1717. His last days appear to have been clouded over with a 
 .sense of wrong, or, at least, of lack of appreciation of his services, for 
 his latest reports to the; Ministry deal with the troubles of his r/yiuif, 
 and of his jiersonal expenditure in the interests of the government, and 
 he ])rays "for justice." He died in France, having gone over in 1716. 
 M. de Ste. f )vide de Brouillan, the King's Lieutenant, .seems to have 
 taken charge during the (iovernor's ab.sence, and eventually succeeded 
 him ; M. de Beaucour arriving at Louisbourg from Franc<! in November, 
 1718, to take tie Hrouillan's place as Lieutenant. 
 
 Work continued to be done on the fortifications and on the town, 
 but evidently not with undue haste ; churches, hospitals, and other 
 public buildings were slowly evolved from the chaos of stone and 
 mortar which covered the area of the placl^ Contractors (civilian) 
 controll(;d the erection of the fortilications. The garrison does nt)t 
 appear to have been large; in 1720, for instance, it consisted of but 
 seven companies of marine infantry— i)erhaps .oOO men in all. A source 
 of an.xiety to the government was the illicit trade carried on with the 
 New England colonies. ( )rdinances were levelled against it. but Yankee 
 ingenuity often found nieans to evade these, and to continue a trade 
 which, though risky, was undoubtedly profitable. I will again have 
 occasion to speak of this when referring to the business of the i)ort, in 
 which New England's share w.is by no means a small one. 
 
 Intercourse with the neighbouring English colonies was singularly 
 .small. In connection with the all-important questiori of French hacking 
 and aid to Indians in their attacks on the English .settlements and 
 fishing boats, two men of note in Xova Scotia — Hibbert Newton, 
 Collector of Customs at Annapolis and Canso, and Capt. John liradstreet 
 — were sent to Louisbourg in 1725, as a deputation to the French 
 Governor. M. de Brouillan's reply to their requests was most polite, 
 but evasive, and gave little satisfaction to the Annapolis authorities. 
 Among the matters mentioned by the deputation in their report made 
 
/^ 
 
 I-OUI8»OUI<(i : AN msroHICAL SKETCH. 9 
 
 lifter their return, was that they iiiul fouiiil fourteen Kiiglish vessels 
 actively engaged in trmling hetxve(!n Louishourg and New England 
 and Nova Scotian ports. 
 
 The fall was duly returned. (Jne dull Noveni her morning, eight 
 years later, there sailed into the port of New York a small vessel, 
 hailing from Ix)uisbourg, and having as passengers two otticers of the 
 French garrison there. Mm. do (iane and de Laronde. In the 
 brilliant uniform of their rank, they must have made quite a sensation 
 in the dull little town, as they strode up to the residence of (Jovernor T"''' 
 Cosby. Their nii.ssion Avas one of trade. The stock of provisions at 
 Louisl)ourg was unusually low ; a l<jng winter was coming on, and the 
 prospect was not a cheerful one. So De lirouillan had despatched this 
 embassy to purchase flour and pease ; and as they brought plenty of 
 money with them, the legal impediments which stood in the way of their 
 doing business (trade with Cape l]reton being nominally forbidden) were 
 set aside by a meeting of Council, specially called for the purpose, antl tht'y 
 were permitted to buy as much as they pleased and could pay for. The 
 e|)isode was duly reported by the Governor to the Lonls of Trade, and 
 the benevolent and philanthropic aspect of the transaction was enlarged 
 upon; but His Excellency omitted to mention the fact that the visitors 
 had brought for him, as a peace-oflering from de Ijrouillan, four casks of 
 Bourdeaux wine and two barrels of the best brandy. He, however, winds 
 up hi.s report with the following statement, .significant in view of after 
 
 events, " their (the French) present necessitys furnishes me with 
 
 " this oliservation, that a garrison at so great a distance from France, 
 " from whence they are su[iplied with Beef and Pork, and the uncertain 
 " crops of grain in Canada from whence they are to expect their bread 
 " (for on Cape Breton they raise nothing from the earth) mu.st make 
 " that place in time of War very precarious, especially if our Men of 
 " war, which must necessarily be on that coast to Guartl our settlements 
 " at Annapolis and Canso and our fishery, are active and constant in 
 " their Cruises between Cape Breton and Newfoundland, for they can 
 " hardly fail of intercepting all vessels that are sent from France with 
 " supplys for them or with Merchandise to Canada." 
 
 It is evident that the idea of a capture of the French stronghold was 
 even then vaguely present : in time it took root, and suddenly matured, 
 and almost as suddenly developed into an accomplished fact. 
 
 Among the tragic incidents which are stamped on the story of life in 
 North America during this period, one is closely associated with 
 
10 LOUISllOURfi : AN HISTORICAL 3KKTCH. 
 
 L'^uisbourg. This was the loss of the French tiian-of-wai' '' Lo Chameau" 
 on the rocky coas' near the harbour on the niglit of the 25tli August, 
 1725. She was on her way to Quebec from France, and carried crew 
 and passengers numbering probably between two and tliree hundred, 
 including many distinguished officials and ecclesiastics. Fvery soul 
 perislicd ; 180 of the ])odios were sub.se(]uently recovered and \vere 
 buried at Louisbourg. 
 
 DeBrouiUan, after long and faitliful service in the Navy, as King's 
 Lieutenant at Louisbourg, and as CJ-overnor of lie Royale, retired in 
 
 1739, and was succeeded by M. de Forant, who accepted the position 
 solely on compulsion, the King himself having intimated that such was 
 his wish. He arrived at Louisbourg in Septemlier and was accompanied 
 by a new Commissavy-General — no less a personage than M. Higot, whose 
 fame as a master in the art of wholesale peculation still lives. The new 
 Governor, evit'n,'itly a hard working and conscientious officer, very soon 
 after his arrival made a thorough examination into the state of the 
 fortiKcations, garrison, and town ; during the next three months his 
 reports to the Minister on these and kindred sulijects are voluminous. 
 But his re;/in>f' was of short duration. He died at Louisl)ourg in May, 
 
 1740, eight months after his arrival ; and M. Dmpiesnel reigned in his 
 stead. 
 
 De Forant is worthy of special mention in that he becpieatheil an 
 endowment or fonndatioii sufficient to defray the board and tuition of 
 eight pupils, daughters of officers, at the chief convent of the town. 
 This is probably the first act of the .sort that took place in any part of 
 the province — certainly the first of which [ have been able to Hnd any 
 trace. 
 
 The new Governor, an appointive from France, reached Louisbourg 
 early in Noveniher. He would seem to have been .somewhat of a iion 
 vivnnf, as his first letter to the Home authorities is an application for 
 more money to defray .lebts contracted " in the discharge of the duties 
 of his office." It is easy to infer what tradesmen constituted his chief 
 creditors. We are not informed if this very frank reipiest was granted, 
 but presume that it was ; if not, his colleague, M. l>igot, no doubt got 
 him out of the .scrape by methods ])eculiarly hi-! own Duquesnel ruled 
 for four years only, and, like his predecessor, he died in office. During 
 the winter preceding his death (1744) an appointment was made, of 
 interest in view of after events ; the King's Lieutenant, .M. de liourville, 
 retired, and was succeeded by Major Duchamlton who commanded the 
 
LOUISBOUKG : AN HISTOHUAI. SKBTCH. 11 
 
 garrison (lurin<^ the oveniful siego of 1745. Duqnosiiol died just in 
 time to spare iiiniself tiie trials of tlie bombardment, ami tlie iiumiliation 
 of tJie surnMider. 
 
 The slindow of the cloud which burst on Louisl)ourg in 1745 
 seemed to have liung over the town for at least the three preteeding years. 
 Requests anil complaints are common in all the corres[)ondence exchanged 
 between (tovernor and Minister; but between 1742 and 1745 they 
 gathered weight. They were too numerous and coiudied in too phiin 
 language to iiave any source but in a sense of actual deficiencies and 
 urgent recjuirements. Sucli plira^es as : " The desperate state of tlie 
 colony;" " The pressing needs of the colony ; " '' The sad conilition of 
 the colony;" "Distress increasing;" "Famine increasing;" '•Tilings 
 are in a deplorable condilion," need no comment or explanation. 
 Desertion seenis to have been rife Letter after letter mentitins the 
 arrival of recruits, and yet tiie complaint is ever going forwanl, " We 
 want more troops." "The fortifications are undergarrisoned," and the 
 like. Absence from duty is freijueiitly mentioned, and it is evident tliat 
 the free and open life of the woods possessed charms to the French .soldier 
 of that day which <lrew him to them, and recruited the evei-growing 
 numbers of the rnureurx-ilahoix. Lost to civilization, they became in a 
 great measure lo.st to the service of their mother-land ; and as time and 
 circumstance rendered more secure and more lasting their indentification 
 with their savage allies, the policy of the latter largely governetl both, 
 and the renegades could no kinger claim the rights and privileges of 
 French citizenshi[). 
 
 Troubles in the gairison reached a climax in the last winter of the 
 first French t€(jiiii(' (1744-5,) when an open mutiny broke out, 
 which leached serious pioportior.s. It had lieen the custom for the 
 greater part of the troops to be employed in the construction anil repairs 
 of the fo'-tificatioiis, for which they received extra pay. But those in 
 authority forged for themselves anotlier link in the fateful chain which 
 was to bind them to di.saster, by attempting to force the troops to work 
 on the re|iairs without granting the usual reniuneration. It is to be 
 feared that the spirit and influence of that master of peculation. Bigot, 
 had so spread that tiie money witlihcld from the men was appropriated 
 by the officers. In December, tlie garrison, or a portion of it — ^cliiefiy, it 
 i.s .said, a Swiss corps known as the Karier legiment— mutinied, 
 and although severe ilisciplinary measures were promptly taken, and 
 .several of theoH'enders executed, serious trouble existed throughout the 
 
12 U>UISB(JURG: an HISTOUICAL SKETCH. 
 
 entire winter; and Dncliamboii, the Commandant, in writing to France 
 ami to Quebec early in April, expressed his wish that the whole 
 garrison should be sent back to France and new regiments sent out. In 
 one particular his wish was granted. The troops did return to France 
 that summer, but in a manner very ditteront from that proposed by the 
 gallant Major. Put I anticipate. 
 
 The business, growth, and general civic life of Louisbourg during 
 these yeans can be briefly told. Fish was the chief, in fact almost 
 the only staple of native production ; the trade in this was large 
 and profitable. Several merchants owned as many as 40 or 50 vessels, 
 each with a crew of three or four men, wliose pay depended on the 
 quantity of their catch. But fearful and wonderful were the restrictions 
 on trade in those days. Only vessels from France or from the French 
 colonies were permitted to trade freely and bring in what goods they 
 chose ; imports from New England were by law strictly limited to 
 provisions, cattle, timber, and such goods as could not be produced in 
 the mother country and her West Indian colonies. For outward or 
 return cargoes vessels under the British flag were dependent on the 
 unsold portion of the shij)ments of sugar, molasses and similar products 
 whicli constituted the cargoes of ve.ssels hailing from the French West 
 Indian ports. English skippers were strictly forbidden to take away 
 witii them any specie ; all they sold must be taken out in merchandise. 
 Dry goods, clothing and general hou.sehold and personal eff"ects were 
 supposed to come from France, and from France alone. To add to 
 the detriment to business in general, and to their own traders in 
 particular, the New England laws had, since 1686, forbidden trade of any 
 sort with Cape Breton or any other French dependency. But as a matter 
 of fact many Yankee ski[)i)ers, thus repressed and yet determined on 
 business, quieted their sensitive consciences by balancing matters in 
 breaking the laws of both nations. They not only traded with 
 Louisbourg, but brought in contraband goods, which were smuggled with 
 little difficulty, the customs otticers of that port being generally o])en to 
 persuasion of a financial character. Not only so, but whole cargoes of 
 codfish itself, the great and only Cape Breton staple, were brought over 
 from the English colonies, sold to West Indian merchant.?, and trans- 
 ferred to their vessels in Louisbourg harbour under cover of night, or in 
 some other port in broad daylight. False bills of lading and similar docu- 
 ments were freely used. The English-cured cod was inferior in quality 
 to the Cape Breton article, but could be sold at a much lower figure. 
 
LOUISBOURG : AX MIHTORICAl- SKETCH. 13 
 
 TliiiTL' wui'o otlier iuUiresting feiitiu'«.-! of the comiuerce of the port, 
 but limited space forbids me to enlarge on the subject. Knowing that 
 no depenilence could lie placed on Cape Breton as the sole source of food 
 supply for the garrison and townsfolk of Louisbourg, it had been from 
 an early date the policy of the government to encourage settlers, both 
 from France and from the French residents of now English Acadia, to 
 take up land in the fertile island of St. John. The fir-st came in 1719, 
 and from that date to the downfall of French rule in America, the 
 population showed a steady although small increase, amounting in 1758 
 to about 4,000 souls. Port-la-joie — now Charlottetown — was made the 
 capitid, an officer being stationed there as commandant with a garrison 
 of about 60 men, under the orders of the Governor of Cape Breton. 
 The supplies from this island helped to eke out the stores reciuired for 
 Louisbourg. In neither island did the population increase as rapidly as 
 was wished. As alreatly noted, few Acadians came to Cape Breton ; and 
 the measure which had most effect in augnietiting the number of 
 re.sidents was one which legally ordained that every vessel which 
 sailed from Franiie for tlie island should carry a certain number of men 
 known as " mija[iiU" who had agreed to remain there at least three 
 years. Most of these men stuyed permanently, and many of them rose 
 to i)ositions of importance in the mercantile life of the town. It may 
 be here noted that while very few of the A(;adians came to Cape Breton, 
 to again live under their old Hag, they seem to have taken excellent care 
 to use Louisbourg as a means of self-em ichment, De Heauharnois and 
 Hoc(piart, respectively Governor ami Intendant of Canada in 1745, in 
 writing to the Honu^ Ministry, state, " They (the Acailians) are 
 "extremely covetous of specie. Since the settlement of lie Royale 
 "they have drawn from Loui.sbourg, by means of their trade in cattle, 
 " and all the other provisions, almcjst all the specie the King annually 
 " sent out ; it never makes its appearance again, they are particularly 
 " careful to conceal it." Neither as settlers, soldiers, or tradesmen did 
 these vaccillating and unfortunate neutrals prove of \\\\\v\\ value in 
 upholding i\\Q fleui--<h-hi>^ on this continent. 
 
 Matters ecclesiastical were of considerable importance in Louisbourg. 
 Six missionary [iriests of the Becdllet oriler, six brothers of the Chari- 
 table Confraternity, ami .several nuns, were thought neces.sary to attend 
 to the siiiritual, charitable, medical, and educational needs of the town. 
 These were paid l>y the King, and the remuneration was not meagre. 
 Each priest received 500 livres per aniunn, and the sum of 1000 livres 
 
14 LOUISBOURG : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 was alloweil for their luaintuuance ; they had also three country veA- 
 deiices in ditlerent parts of the ishiml. The hospital was the finest 
 civic building in Louisbourg ; it had a grant of 3,000 livres for general 
 expenses and 600 livres for medicines, as well as an allowance 
 for each patient. Of the character of the clerics I'iclion gives a poor 
 account, and states that much of their time and attention was devoted 
 to inciting the Indian to attacks on English settlements ; his remarks on 
 their duties and behaviour are rather amusing. He speaks in high 
 terms of the nuns, (xovernor de IJronillan seems also to h ive been dis- 
 satisfied with the clergy of his day, — which was many years before 
 Pichon came on the scei,e, — as we find him in 1726 complaining bitterly 
 about the Brothers of Charity who, he says, devote their whole time to 
 trade, instead of attending to the patients in the hospital. In another 
 letter he objects to the appointment of Canon Fournel as cure of Louis- 
 bourg, which had just been made by the orders of the Bishop of (^hiebec, 
 who held spiritual jurisdiction over He Royale. This protest was repeated 
 a couple of years later, and indicates that there must have been a very 
 pretty and long drawn-out rjuarrel between the head of the state and the 
 head of the church in the little capital. As a rule, the official corres- 
 pondence has little or no reference to ecclesiastical matters. There was 
 only one church in the town (with the exception of a small chapel 
 attached to the hospital), and it was built, strange to say, in the centre 
 of the King's bastion, inside the defensive works, and little more than 
 one hundred yards from the crest of the glacis. The nunnery and hos- 
 pital were both in the town proper. 
 
 The government of Louisbourg was essentially a military one ; but 
 the authority was divided. The Governor (subject however, to the 
 Viceroy of Canada) controlled all purely military matters, and those 
 relating to the Indians of the island ; while the Commissioner or Inten- 
 dant had sole direction of the juiy and subsistence of the troops as well as 
 the administration of justice, and the hospitals. Tliis division of authority 
 in a place so far from Paris or Quebec, led at times to serious trouble. 
 Governor and Commissary did not see eye to eye on all occasions, and 
 the result was not edifying. Of the lesser lights, there were a King's 
 Lieutenant, an Attorney General, a Secretary, a Tipstalf, and four or five 
 Counsellors, usually chosen from among the merchants of the town ; 
 these, with Governor and Commi-ssary, constituted the Supreme Council, 
 of which the latter was i)resident. The civil a<lministration and police 
 of the island were under the control of an inferior council, or Bailiwick ; 
 
LOUISBUURO : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 15 
 
 while all the customs ami shipping matters were in the hands of the 
 Admiralty Court, a council of four members. We are told that they all 
 had accumulated considerahle fortunes ; their courtesy in permitting 
 New England vessels to land contraband goods may have been met with 
 ecpial kindness on the \mvt of the skippers, and of fully as practical a 
 nature ; M. Bigot had live>I in Louisbourg for several years, and his 
 jtolicy and habits may have set the fashion to many. 
 
 Xatuially, matters connected with trade and shipping, Avith import 
 and ex|)ort, attracted the chief attention of the civil authorities ; but 
 there were other objects on which they h .d of necessity to bestow much 
 thought, and often vigorous action. l\ominent among these was *,e 
 liquor traffic. From the earlier years of the settlement, ordinances 
 regulating the sale of spirits wore ])romulgated, and were continually 
 being amended as abuses became noticeable, or as the rulers and con- 
 trollers of this business thought best to ordain. Not a little of the 
 correspondence with the Ministry at Versailles was devoted to the sub- 
 ject, and it is evident that generous indulgence in the flowing bowl was 
 the order of the day year in and year out. Louisbourg was first and 
 foremost a military and naval .station, and the soldier and sailor 
 of that day were no less partial to conviviality than are their 
 successors. Owing to the large trade done with France and the 
 West India Islands, brandy, rum, and the like were amazingly 
 cheap ; and knowing this, and the utter stagnation of the place for half 
 the year, it is small wonder that intemperance was rampant, and that its 
 devotees often gave trouble to the lords who ruled the town. For 
 even at its best it must have been a dull little city, this Louisbourg, and 
 a place where petty jealousies and petty gossip were bound to exist, and 
 to influence both official and private life. Away at the extreme north- 
 east corner of a vast continent, in which war and savage life were still 
 dominant, isolated by dense forests and stormy waters from those of 
 their kith and kin in America, and completely shut out from the stirring 
 life of France and Europe, service in Louisbourg must have been tedious 
 and irksome to both soldier and civilian, and when is added lack of food 
 and supplies, it cannot be wondered at that some of the humbler class of 
 its defemlers sought a freer and more adventuresome iiie in the woods. 
 But whether the suft'erings and straits which the little colony had at 
 times to endure i-esulted from neglect on the part of France, or from the 
 faults of its own rulers and i)eople, it is difficult to determine. Probably 
 both were to blame. All correspondence and authorities indicate that 
 the officials of the colony were, as a whole, greedy for emolument and 
 
16 U)UI8BOUH(J : AX HISTOUICAL SKKIOH. 
 
 decorations,— a trait incompatible with good govcniing qualities. On 
 the other hand, the treatment acconh-d by France to her Louisbourg 
 subjects, presents a strange medley of alternate surfeit and starvation. 
 Millions were lavished on fortifications, while the troops who were to 
 man them could often scarcely obtain the necessaries of life. Store- 
 houses, wliarves, and civic l)uildings were evolved at vast expense, while 
 the garri.son (until the last few years) was a meagre one,— in sharp con- 
 trast to the number of officials who ruled in bolh town and fortress, 
 
 But while none can deny that the Mother Country was both in 
 honour and duty bound to be ever generous, we must not forget that 
 during almost the entire period in which Louisbourg existed as a fortress, 
 France was in the throes of war and of commercial distress, and had 
 pressing need of every .soldier and of every shilling. Startling events 
 had followed each other in rapid succession, and the interest of those in 
 power had of necessity been closely fixed on European and domestic 
 occurrences. Although, as we have .seen, the Treaty of Utrecht was 
 signed in April, 1713, war had been prolonged for another year. Al)so- 
 lute peace had existed for only a few months when Louis XIV flieil, and 
 all the excitement and change consequent on the jK-cession of new ruler.s 
 nionopoli.sed public attention. Under the regency which followed, a 
 startling an.i unprecedented series t)f financial measures were adopted ; 
 and the exciteni^nt thus occasioned had scarcely subsided before France 
 was again at war, this time with Spain. Concurrently with these 
 events, the vast bubiile of speculation fi.thereil by the Scottish adven- 
 turer, Law, had been sv/elling V)eyond all Ixnind.s of reason ; it burst in 
 1720, and the disastrous consequ lice;; permeated the kingdom, ruining 
 thousands of families, and leaving the financial condition of the country 
 in utter chaos. Peace was declared in l'"21, and the Regent and his 
 successor Louis XV, were able to devote a few years attention to 
 domestic troubles : but in 1733 the sword was again drawn, and, with 
 few intermissions, remained unsheathed fc," fifteen years. It will be 
 
 [ seen, therefore, that Franc(! and her rulers had much to do at home, 
 which palliates her sins of omission in the garri.soning and victualling of 
 
 > her Cape Breton seaport. ThrijUghoul all, the pe( jile of that seiqwrt 
 were true to their colours, and never wavereil in tiieir loyalty. Save the 
 occasional desertion of soldiers often harshly treated, often insidficiently 
 fed, we read of no neglect of duty, no dalliance with the jtower which 
 ruled the adjacent |)rovinces, and which held at least a nominal sway 
 over the still nearer colony of Nova Scotia. The mutiny of 1744 was a 
 revolt against gross inju.«tice, and was wholly free from treasonable intent. 
 
I.OUISBOURO : AN inSTORICAI. SKETCH. 17 
 
 IT. 
 
 The lirst thirty VL'iir.s of the lifn of Louisbourg formed, as we have 
 seen, a period of steady growth and of comparative quint, and were 
 unmarked by the occurrence of any great event. But a startling change 
 wa.< at hand. This fortress and naval station, of enormous strength, 
 well armed and equipped, and the very embodiment of all martial jjonip 
 and circumstance, had attained its great power and influence during a 
 time of comjiarative peace ; now, by a strange mockery, it was to lose its 
 renown and fnil in its purpose when first confronted with the reality of 
 war ; equally strange, that to such a fortress so unlooked-for a fate 
 should come at the hands of raw and undisciplined militia. 
 Such was the outcnn>e of the New England expedition against Louislioiu'g 
 in 1745. To briefly sketcli the fortunes of this enterprise must ])e our 
 next task. 
 
 Prior to attempting this, it might be of interest to have a look at the 
 town and barbo>U' as they appeared in the spring of 1745. Api)roaching 
 the place from the sea we come to the entrance, a sheet of watc-r about 
 one-third of a mile in width, cleaving the rugged shores and leading into 
 the harbour. Passing through, the high blutt" on the right was crowned 
 with a lighthouse, which did noble work in its day in warning the 
 mariner from its dangerous shore. To the left was a bunch of rocky 
 knolls and islands, the largest of which, — alxnit 150 yards long by 60 
 M'ide, — was strongly fcjrtified with a work knovyn as the Island Battery. 
 Behind it and still further to the left, was the sharp point of land 
 which formed the apex of the triangle on which the town and fortress 
 were built. Passing on, the visitor would And ''hat his craft had 
 entered a beautiful body of water, two miles in length and about half 
 a mile in breadth, with a depth varying from 18 to 36 feet. In from 
 lighthouse Point, on the east shore of the harbour, was a careening 
 wharf, where ships of the largest class could be treated ; while on the 
 other side, but further north, extended a row of buildings containing 
 naval stores. ()n the west side, directly opposite to and facing the 
 entrance, w-as a strong defensive work called the Grand oi Royal Battery, 
 armed with twenty -eight 42 pounders and two 18 pounders. 
 
 As already mentioned, the town proper occupied the greater part of 
 
 a triangular-shaped jiiece of ground which lay between the sea and the 
 
 south-western end of the harbour. It covered an area of about 100 
 
 acres, and its site was elevated several feet above the level of the land 
 
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I.OUISBOURd : AN HISToRICAIi HKETCH. 19 
 
 to the west and north, whidi was, as u rule, low antl swamiiy. ^^^ 
 founders, possil^Iy from un|tleasaut experience of tortuous lanes in cities 
 in the Old World, and in Quebec in the; New, laid out Louishourg in a 
 regular and precise manner. Six wide streets ran oast and west, seven 
 ran north and south ; the houses, as a rule, wore of wood, but with stone 
 foundations. 
 
 The fortress of Louisbourg was one of enorniou« strength ; nothing 
 to etjual it had ever been seen on this continent, and it was aptly termed 
 the Dunkirk of Ameriia,— a simile which, a century and a half ago, was 
 e<iual to a comj)arison with Gibralter at the present day. The more 
 important jiortions of it, covering attacks from land, were built on the 
 most approved of Vauban's principles, and had cost, it is said, thirty 
 million livres ; to build it had taken little less than twenty years, 
 and repairs and alterations had been since going on almost continually. 
 A walk around the works, along the rampaits, would have involved a 
 tour of nearly two miles. A ditch, eighty feet in width, was cut from 
 harbour to sea, covering the front of the west or main line of works,.and 
 also the shorter section, including the Maurepas and l^ouriilon ba.'-tions 
 which faced due east. The weft front or main line of fortifications com- 
 prised two bastions; the King's and the Queen's, and two dcmi-ba-'tions, 
 one of which, called die L)auphin'.«, was at the extreme north-west end 
 of the line and close to the harbour ; at this point also was the West 
 gate (leading out into the country), and the Circular Battery (armed 
 with sixteen 24 pounders) which covered the West gate. The south, or 
 sea end of this line of work.s, was protected by the Princess' demi-bastion. 
 All were connected by the usual curtains. The citadel, a massive .stone 
 building, .stood in the gorge of the King's bastion. Here centred the 
 authority which controlled the garrison ; for here was the Governor's 
 d^velling, and the various offices where the duties of the head-(iuarter 
 staff were performed. Church and State were of necessity in union in 
 one .sense, if not in all ; for immediately adjoining the gubernatorial 
 ajiartments was the ))arish chapel. Clo.se by was a long stone barracks ; 
 and immediately east of both buildings lay the Place d'Armes. P)omb- 
 proof vaults extended to a considerable depth underneath the flanks of 
 this bastion, and here also were six dungeons for r. fractory prisoners. 
 The lines of defence which ran parallel to the harbour and to the sea 
 were of lighter construction, — a wall of masonry with banquette ; but 
 the short, north-eastern face of the fortress was of the more massive and 
 elaborate type. The north-east corner of the town had no wall or 
 
20 i,oui8Boua(i : an histohk.ai- .skktch. 
 
 defensivo works for n spiicP! of ahout two huiulrotl yartls ; hut it wn» 
 jtrotfctud fioin attack by a hvrj^e poiul, wliich oxteiitliMl along its front. 
 A soinuwhat similar gap ••xistcd on tli»> i'c.n face, lu'twccMi the I'rinci'as 
 and Hrouillan hastions, a palisade and ditch heing the sole defences ; 
 hut in front, shoals, rocky islands, and a continuous heavy surf formed 
 an effectual harrier against hostile attack from this cpiartor. 
 
 Here it may he mentioned that all writers on the subject have stated 
 that the fortifications were not begun >nitil 1720, seven years after the 
 foundation of the place. This statement must be taken with consider- 
 able (pialitication. Louisbourg was by no means without fortificuntions 
 for the first six or seven years of its existence ; n.iturally one of the very 
 lirtit steps taken was to (;rect defensive works ; and the official correspon- 
 dence and nqiorts from Governor to Minister-* as early as 1715, contain 
 fre((uent reference; to the fortifications, and the progress which was 
 being made on them. Whether tlie.si" works were part of the great 
 system which eventually surroumled the town, or merely of a temporary 
 nature, it is tlifhcult now to s])eak with absolute certainty. The fact 
 that a mculal was struck, l)eariiig the words, " LunovicoHUROUM Funha- 
 TUM Kt Munitum, MDCCXX," lends colour to the latter su}»|)osition ; 
 but the above inscription may have referred to the citadel, and the 
 centr.d and dominating work which surrounded it ; or the word ' fun- 
 datum ' may have l)een used in the .sense of " making secure," a rendering 
 common enough in old days. He this as it may, both record and reason 
 inilicate that fortifications were begun certainly not later than 1715, and 
 also fail to give any ground to the suitposition that the works existing in 
 1720 were then sup[)lanted by a new system. So .startling and costly a 
 change would undoubtedly have left many traces in the contemporary 
 ofticial letters, reports, and memoranda. 
 
 The period when they may be fairly considered as completed is also an 
 uncertain one, but a .study of the communications and reports .sent home 
 would indicate that about 17.'i3 the main defensive works were practically 
 finished. True it is that tlie official "correspondence, even as late as 1744, 
 shows that there still remained w(trk to be done ; but it is .safe to con- 
 clude that much of this additional work was tlie result of after-thought, 
 and of the new ideas that suggested themselves from time to time to the 
 chief engineer of the day. As an outcome of one of the many odd 
 phases of human nature, it has been the almost invariable rule in fort- 
 resses and strong defensive works, that each incoming governor, com- 
 mandant, or chief engineer should deem it his bounden duty to suggest 
 
LnCISHOUIUi : AX HIHTOUICAt, HKKTCH. -1 
 
 nlttTiitioiis and iiilditii)iis, — dftpii very '■oiisitlcnililt! <>iu'h, — to the nrij;iiml 
 plan ; this not ncccssarilv tci ini|ily ii^'nurancf or lack of curt' on tlio 
 part of his itrcih-ccsHors, hut to show to liis snpcrior oHicer that he has u 
 mind and ideas of his own, antl that he is fully up to date in his profes- 
 sion, -in a word, that he is a vahuilile man. Apart from this, it seems 
 iiKlisputalile that for nil practical purposes, the fortifications of I.ouis- 
 liour^' weie conipletod many years hefore tht; arrival of tin; New Kn^'land 
 Armada. As early as 172(S the (Jovernor, de iiroiiillan, in a despatch to 
 the Minister of Marine, states that the fortihcalions are almost 
 linished, and in Otitober, 173.3, he re|)orts that they are completed. 
 Six years later de iirouillan was succeeded hy de Forant, who 
 reported oHicially a few weeks after his arrival : " We have found tlio 
 " fortifications in <,'ood condition, c()nsiderin<,' the fact that in this climate 
 " mortar will ni>t hold when exposed t:t the air ; and this is so well 
 *' known that settlers who have the means to do so, face their house.s 
 " with hoards. M. Verrier has done well in ^'etting the battlenuMits 
 "and remainder of the new enciente faced in that way." Further cor- 
 respondence speaks of more work being nc(;e.ssary ; b>it su<"h undoubtedly 
 had referen(;e to repairs, or additions decided on after the completion of 
 the main defemtes. As to the exact armament of the various works in 
 the spring of 1745, tlnn-e is a wide ditlerence of opinion among the 
 authorities on the subject. The chief fortifications, enclosing the town, 
 had embrasures for 148 guns ; but by what .seems to have l)een extraor- 
 dinary carele.ssne.s.s, there was not much more than half that number of 
 cannon in position. The Royal batttery, on the west side tif the 
 harbour, mounted 18 forty-two-pounders and 2 eighteen-poundcrs ; while 
 the Island battery, which commanded the entrance, had by at-tual 
 count immediately after the surrender, 26 heavy guns an<l 4 swivels. 
 The garrison amounted to about 1800 men, regulars and militia ; the 
 population of the town itself was alxnit 4000. 
 
 War between France and England was declared by the former 
 power on the 15th March, 1744, and the newsreaclKul Louisbourg e-trly 
 in May. The Governor at once adopted measures both defensive and 
 ott'ensive, little thinking that the etiects of the latter would, within 
 one short year, recoil on himself, or rather on his successor ; for, as we 
 have already noted, he died in the following November. England was 
 now his active enemy ; and he lost no time in striking at her power. 
 
 While liritain had by treaty been the sovereign lord of Nova Scotia 
 for over thirty year.-^, her hold on that colony was in reality a very 
 
 1 
 
8i I.OUISnoURd : AN HISTOHICAr. SKETCH. 
 
 fc'ubhj or.e. A tVw isoiatutl posts aloiic cxistod to iiiaintaiii King 
 Getuj^o's aiitliority, nlnioat tlio wholo sottliid part of tl.o country hcii.fj 
 0(!cu|ti('(l hy tlio Acailiatis, iioiiiinally nniitral, hut in reality arduiit well- 
 wislKMs to KriMKili s^u;(•.l^s8. British culonial policy was at this period of 
 tilt! umst fcdilc and va(!i!latinf,' typo ; Kuropenn atlairs monopolized the 
 utlention of tlic Ministry, and the North Anieriean dependencies wine. 
 almost wholly left to shift for theniaelves. Nova Scotia was especially 
 Weak hoth in troops and in loyiil inhahitauts. Writinj,' home in Decem- 
 ber 174.*i, Mascarene, the (lovernor of that colony, says, in reference 
 to the possiliility of war with Fnuice : "This province is in a far 
 •■ wors(! condition for defencti than the; other American plantations 
 *' wlio have inhahitants to defend thtsm ; whilst, far from liavinj; any 
 *'ilependen(!e on ours we are ohli^'cd to (,'uard against them." He then 
 goes on to descrihe the two forts which guarded the colony. That at 
 Canso consisted of a wooden blockdiouse, built at the e\pen.se of the 
 fishermen of the place, and garrisoned by four companies of soldiers ; 
 at Annapolis there existed a rather dilajiidated earthwork, its deiiciencies 
 patched up with tinil)er, and held for the King by less than two 
 hundred of his men. Such were the ^o\e defence.s of Nova Scotia ; 
 and for the French (Governor to have made lu) attempt to seiz(! .so 
 rich and ill-guarded a prize, would have indeed seemed a gross omis- 
 sion of faithful duty to his sovereign. 
 
 The attempt was made and made (piickly. On the 12th of May, 
 a very few days after the receipt of the news of the declaration of war, 
 an expedition — made up of a few armed vessels containing about 900 
 men — set out from Louisbourg for Canso, and took possession of that 
 fort, and of the little garrison, and carried the latter to Ltmisbourg as 
 prisoners of war. The news soon re.iched Annapolis, and causeii no 
 little dismay among the troops who occupied that post ; and for this 
 the ruinous state of the defences afforded ample reason. They feared 
 that the restless energy of France, as personiKed by the Governor of the 
 great Franco-American fortress, would use all possible means to sweep 
 from Acadia every vestige of Briti.-h power ; and events soon proved 
 their apprehensions to be well founded. On the 1st of July a party of 
 about three hundred Indians appeared in front of the fort, and invested 
 it in the usual way, — much irregularity, unexpected attacks, and an 
 expenditure of great energy on the cutting off of stragglers and small 
 detached parties ; but the arrival of reinforcements for the garrison from 
 Boston disheartened the savages, and they gave up the siege, and returned 
 
LOUISHOUHO : AN HI«TOUICAL SKETCH. 23 
 
 to MiiinH to await tlie stronj,' partv of troops wliicli had been sent from 
 Loiii.sl)(»iir<(. via Clii<,'iii'cto, to attac,l< Amiapoiis. This party, niulcr the 
 coinimmd of ^f. Duvivier, an otHcer of the LoiUHhoiU},' ^'arri.-oii, arrived 
 at Minus towards the end of August ; and the ei.nibined force, number- 
 ing not K'ss tlian 700 tiKhling men proceecU'd witliout delay to the 
 Britisli stronghold. Stout old Major Mascanuie, the edmmandant, liad 
 not Iteen idle in tlnji interval between the two attacks, and now niaile 
 as brave a show as was pos>iil)le. Hit, numbers were small— barely ttne- 
 third of those of his opponents ; l)ut his defence was vigorous and 
 whole-hearted. The French commander did his utmost to induce. 
 Mnsearene to ca|tilulate, and swore -that ii formidable naval force was 
 en muff' to take part in the attack ; but the negotiations failed, and, not 
 long afterward.H, the siege came to an inglorious end, Duvivier and bis 
 troops making their way back U) Louisbourg, his expedition an utter 
 failure. His naval auxiliaries did not materialize, and he received 
 ])ractically no aid from the Acadian settlers. 
 
 Small and insignificant as had been the.se events of the campaign of 
 1744, they engendered a feeling of marked unrest in the neighboring 
 English colonies ; and especially was this felt in Massachusetts and its 
 capital. A force of .')00 men was organised for frontier defence ; l>ut 
 these, scattered throughout the i)rovince in small detachments, would 
 have been able to render but little aid had Hoston been attacked, an 
 event which might be looked for .so long as the fortress of Loui.slourg 
 existed. And now the (question of the possibility of the removal of this 
 formidable menace began to creep into the brains of some of the 
 bolder of the i)rovincials. We have already .seen that in 1733, 
 Governor Cosby, of the province of New York, in .sending home his 
 r-iport of the visit of a deputation from Louisbourg to purchase food 
 s. jiplie.s, had hinted at the pos.sibility of the capture of that much 
 dreaded fortress. It is more than probable that his veiled suggestions 
 met with no response from their lordships, for there the matter ended. 
 Eight years later his successor in office, Lieutenant-Governor Clarke — 
 a man who had been for almost half a century connected officially with 
 the provincii — devoted one of his lettca-s to the Duke of Newcastle to 
 the subject cf " how we may dispossess the French of the footing they 
 have got on the back of all the Engli.sh colonies on this continent." 
 Here appears the first definite proposal for the capture of the Cape 
 Breton fortress. To ipiote the plain and business-like statement of the 
 veteran governor : 
 
24 LOUISnoL'HG : AN H18T0H1CAI. SKETCH. 
 
 "To tlu! Northward of the Lake, viz : in Canada and at tlie Ls'and 
 " of Breton the French are stroii<,'or hoth in men anil Fortitications, so 
 " that a mucli greater force will he required to siihdue them ; the 
 " harl)our of I/)uishour<,' at Ih'eton is strongly fortifved and the entrance 
 "defended hv a ilattery of fifty guns, there is de|ith of water snllicient 
 '■ for the higest ships, and the harbor is capahle of containing a very 
 " large fleet ; its situation gives them all the advantages, they cmii wish 
 " for, it secures their own navigation to Qiujbec, and gives them hut too 
 " great opftortunities t() annoy and interrupt our Fishery ; in the Winter 
 " they have few men upon the Island except their garrisons, hut are 
 " secured by the cold, the snow and ice. In sununer they are strength- 
 " ened by the great numbers of men employed in tlieir fishery ; the 
 " only tin)e therefore to attempt with most advantage the taking of the 
 " ]>laco will Ite at the hriaking up of the winter, and before their shi]is 
 " come from France, and this may be done ; for if His Majesty's ships to 
 " he appointed for that service winter at IJoston, they may block up the 
 " harl)or of Louishourg before! any ships from France can arrive there, 
 " and His Majesty's troops may land when the least opposition can be 
 " given them, and for this expedition I am pursuaded that four or five 
 " thousand men may be raised in New England, if the ( )ihcers, as they 
 " wen! for the exjK'dition against the Spaniards he appointed in these 
 '' provinces, but then I presume it will Ite necessary they be disciplined 
 " Ijefore they end)ark, so that if the orders and commissions he sent 
 " over the summer hefore, and a sufficient number of subalterns to 
 " teacli them their exercise, they may l)efore the ensuing spring be fit 
 " for service, hut I presume some veterans from I'lngland will he 
 "absolutely necessary to join the Americans, under the command of an 
 " experienced (ieneral If we take Cape Breton and have constantly 
 " there and at Placentia in those months wherein those seas are »avig- 
 " able, a sufficient number of ships of war to guard our Fishery, they 
 " may intercept the French Ships hound to or from Canada, and thereby 
 " rediic(> that Country to great necessity, and their communicition with 
 " Messasippi being cut off by the means pro[)osed that country will 
 " become an easier corKiuest." 
 
 Governor Clarke's jjroposal was a shrewd and sensible one, and it 
 fairly well outlines the plan of the expedition which followed. 'I'wo 
 years later he returned to the charge, for in a report sent home in 
 the spring of 1743, entitled, "State of the British Provinces with 
 respect to the French who surround them," he says : 
 
 " If ever it he thought adviseable to attempt again to take Canada, 
 " the dispossessing the French of their mastery on the Lake and of the 
 " Fort at the Crown point, will greatly facilitate the Enterprize, but 
 " before we begin the work, I j)resume to think we ought to take Caj»e 
 " Breton, a Place well fortifyed, and from whence the French can annoy 
 " our Fishery at Newfoundland, and guard their ov.n navigation to and 
 " from Canada. That place is such a Thorn in the sides of the New 
 
l,OUISBOURG : AX HISTOKICAI. SKETCH. 25 
 
 *' England jicople, that it.s verj' jirobablo a large body of men may be 
 " raised there to assist in any siicli design. Anil if proper Ofticers are 
 *' .sent from England in the Sniumer to exercise them, they may by the 
 *' ensuing spring be well disciplined, as all their Youth are expert in the 
 " u.se of tire arms, from the unrestrained liberty of Fowling, which 
 " obtains in all the Province-s and I conceive the Spring is the most 
 ^' proper season to attack the place before the Men f>f VViirr and Fishing 
 " Yessells come frcnn France, for in the Winter they have few men 
 *' excejjt the Garrisons, and Boston being a ]iroper Port for our Fleet to 
 " harbour in the Winter, we may bloi.k up the Harbour of 15reton 
 " before the ships from France can come \\]wn the coast." 
 
 It will be noted that these primary representations of the great 
 desirability of the reduction of Louisbouig came from New York ; the 
 next i)lea emanated from an otHcial of the province of Massachusetts 
 Bay, Judge of His Majesty's Court of Yioe-Atlmiralty for that province 
 and for New Hampshire His pio])OPal is dated from his lodgings in 
 Cecil-street, London, the 9th of April, 1744, but was not published 
 until July of the following year, when it appeared in pamphlet form, 
 entitled, "The lmj)ortance of Cape Jireton to the British Nation, 
 " humbly represented by Robert Auckmuty, Judge, vVc, in New ?]ngland. 
 " N. B. Upon the plan laid down in this representation, the island was 
 *' taken by Commodore Wairen and General Pep])erill on the 14th of 
 "June, 1745." Auckmuty 's proposal also apiieared in the Unith' man's 
 Maijaziue oi that month (July). It suggests an expedition similar in 
 general design to that which set out, and states that there would likely 
 be little or no objection on the part of the provincial governments to 
 bear their sli^re of the burden ; to u.se his own language, " Having 
 " experienced the Iiiyalty of the Ma.ssachusetts for twenty-seven years, 
 " 1 presume to engage they will cheerfully furnish their complenuMit." 
 
 All the foregoing proposals for the expedition were, be it noted, 
 written by civilians, not soldiers ; and to this fact it may po.«sibly be 
 due that they appear to have evoked no responsive echo in those to 
 whom they were addres.sed. They were for P^nglish eyes alone ; and to 
 the Phiglishman of that day Cape Breton was practically a myth. ( )n 
 the minds of the King's Ministers, colonial matters and colonial troubles 
 sat lightly, and we can well imagine were at this time (juite eclip.sed by 
 the checquered events occurring nearer home. AYar with Spain had 
 been declared in 1739, furced by the merchants and trading clas.ses who 
 had for years felt the strong hand of S})anish re|)ression on their 
 business, and even on their rights, in the South American trade. 
 Unknown to Walpole, England's First Minister, a compact for mutual 
 
26 I/JUISBOURU : AN HISTORICAIi SKETCH. 
 
 aiil existed between Spain and France; and tlie latter sotm joined forces 
 against Britain. The combination was a strong one and had the best of 
 it during the earlier years of the war ; anil Walpole, who had strenu- 
 ously supported a peace policy, was forced to resign office early in 
 1742. For a year or two Lord Carteret (afterwards f^arl (Iranville) 
 directed foreign att'airs. and during his regime th(.' decisive victory at 
 iJettingen brightened English hopes In 17-14 nothing of great moment 
 was effected by the naval and military forces, and during that year and 
 tiie following winter and s|)riiig ])ublic attention w,is absorbed in politics, 
 a change of ministry occurring in November. We may safely conclude 
 that even those residents of England who were aware of the existence 
 of such a place as Louisbourg, selilom allowed the subject of its rela- 
 tion to their Am(;rican dependencies to pre.sent itself over-frequently to 
 their minds. Little did either Ministry or people think that during 
 that winter there was being evolved, far off i!i New England, a project, 
 the result of which would have no small eH'ect on old-world policy. 
 
 We have seen that the small post at Can.so had been taken by an 
 expedition from Louisbourg early in 1744. The British garrison had 
 been brought to that fortress as prisoners of war, but subsequently were 
 sent to lioston ; and, after their arrival there, it would have been more 
 than strange had not their chief topic of conversation been about their 
 residence in the French citadel. The idea of an attack on the fortress 
 was freely discussed, and the benefits to be derived from its capture were 
 enlarged upon ; but no action was taken until about the end of 1744, 
 when it entered into the mind of a New Hamp.shire geutleman-trader, 
 William Vaughan by name, that the much dreaded Louisbourg could 
 perhaps be captured by an expedition, chiefly if not wholly from the 
 New England colonies. Vaughan was a man in the prime of life, well 
 educated, and of good social position ; he had irrepressible energy, and 
 when embarked on an undertaking i)ut forth more than ordinary deter- 
 mination to accomplish his ends. In the latter trait he was fully 
 etpialled by the then governor of iMassachusetts Bay, William Shirley, 
 an Englishman, trained to the law, but with an uncommon interest in 
 military matters, and no small conceit of his as yet undeveloped ability 
 in this line. 
 
 To Shirley, Vaughan propounded his pl.in ; it was as a sjtark to 
 the train, and the tire ran swiftly. Nothing could have pleased the 
 Governor better than to father such a propo.sal, and without delay he 
 called together the (ieneral Court of Ma.ssachu.setts — the little Parlia- 
 
LOUISBOURG : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 27 
 
 ment wliich liold sway over the colony — niul, after swearing ihe mem 
 hers to absolute secrecy, lie laid befcre them the proposal for an attack 
 on the C'i])e IJreton cajntal, o'ld asked their authorization of the neces- 
 sary ways and means. It was a startling suggestion to the quiet and 
 peace-loving legislators who conijosed the Court, and, with the j)rospect 
 before them of j)robable great loss in money and men, it is not sur- 
 prising that after several days deliberation they rejected the scheme. 
 But in the meantime the news had leaked out — possibly, as Pepperrell's 
 biographer tells us, thro igh the religious fervor of one of the members 
 of the Court whose prayers for Divine guidance in this momentous 
 question were so loud as to be overheard. Shirley and another well- 
 wisher to the scheme, James Gibson, drew uj) a petition to the Assembly 
 praying that they reconsider their decision, and had it signed by a large 
 number of >«ew England merchants, to whose trade I.ouisbourg had 
 been a deadly enemy. This carried great weight. Vaughan and Shirley 
 put forth all their energy and powers of persuasion. The Assembly 
 reconsidered their decision, .'>nd finally, by a majority of one, authorised 
 the expedition. 
 
 This all-important preliminary settled, recruiting was briskly gone 
 on with, and the neighbouring provinces were promptly called on for 
 aid in men and shipping. Shirley no doubt was sanguine that hearty 
 and generous responses would follow his appeal ; but if so he was 
 quickly undeceived. Each colony was jealous of its neighbour, and the 
 patiiotism of each was of the most narrow type ; — domiiuited by self- 
 interest it was confined to provincial limits and existed solely for 
 provincial ends. The sj)irit of Imperialism which now runs so 
 .strongly through Greater Biitain had no counter-part in the British 
 America of 1745. Although France was the common enemy, and 
 Louisbourg the common menace, only three provinces — New Hamp- 
 shire, Connecticut and Khode Island— could be induced to ptomise to 
 give substantial aid in men to the expediticn. New Hampshire guaran- 
 teed a regiment of five hundred men, of whom one hundred and fifty 
 were to be paid by Massachu.setts ; Connecticut, soldiers to the num- 
 ber of five hundred and sixteen, on condition that one of her officers 
 should be second in command. Rhode Island, at first generous enough 
 to jiromise one hundred and fifty fighting men, subsequently decided to 
 limit her help to an armed vessel. New York, the richest of all the 
 provinces, was naturally looked to for a measure of assistance befitting 
 her premier position ; but in spite of the earnest ett'orts of Governor 
 
28 LOUISBOURO : AN HISTOKICAI. SKETCH. 
 
 Clinton, the Assenibl}' — wlin as a whoh; were singularly lackini,' in 
 patriotism and public spirit — would only vote the ))altry sum of £3000, 
 after debating the question for a fortnight. The governor, justly 
 incensed at this and other evasions of duty, dismis.sed them to their 
 homes ; and then busily applied himself to aid the New England troops 
 by forwarding them ten pieces of cannon — a nuist useful and timely 
 gift. The new A.ssembly did not meet until the ^oth of June, and 
 would then only increase the grant to £aOOO. The energetic governor 
 subsequently raised by subscription £l'000 for provisions for the New 
 England men, as much more for clothing, and £900 for gunpowder. 
 But all's well that ends well ; and as the Ilritish Govern tnent subse- 
 quently repaid the entire cost of the expedition, the meagre measure of 
 aid given to Mas.sachusetts in this patriotic enterprise made no jiracti 
 cal ditterence to her treasury. 
 
 The command of the whole expedition was given to William 
 Pepperell, a merchant of Kittery, then a part of Massachusetts. The 
 choice was an excellent one in every way. He had little or no martial 
 training, but was by no means deficient in courage : he had tact, a quiet 
 temper, and above all, a fund of good common sense. As a citizen- 
 soldier he could better handle a newly raised army of like nature than 
 could one trained to the letter of strictest discipline, and to the com- 
 mand of veterans. Pepperell was at thi« time in his forty-ninth year. 
 
 Within seven weeks the little army was recruited, and all necessary 
 preparations for the expedition completed. The call for active service 
 against the French had nmt with a ready response from the hardy 
 yeomen of Mas.sachusetls, those from Maine (then a part of the first- 
 named province) being especially eager, in oli'ering their services. There 
 was apparently no age limit, nor was a medical examination deemed 
 necessary ; .seeming good health and vigour, ami fieedom from physical 
 defects, comprised the tpialifications for acceptance. Each man was to 
 receive pay at the rate of twenty-five shillings provincial currencv a 
 month, but supplieil hi^ own arms and uniform, of which a scarlet coat or 
 tunic formed part. When completed, the force compri.sed eight regi- 
 ments from Massachusetts, commanded respectively by Colonels 
 Brad.'^treet, Waldo, 1) wight, Moulton, Willard, Hale, Richmond and 
 Gorham. Colonel Ihiir was in command of the Connecticut regiment, 
 while the New Hampshire battalion was led Ijy Cohinel (iorham. 
 General Wo'cott of (vonnecticut was second-in-command of the whole 
 force. The total strength was 4070 men, 3250 of whom were from 
 Massachusetts, 516 from Coniu^iticut, and 30+ from New Hampshire. 
 
LOLISBt)UR<J : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 •29 
 
 A fleet of from eighty to ninety transports was re(|uirecl to convey 
 the army to its destination. These vessels were secured without ilifti- 
 culty, as every New Knghuul seaport swarmed with small craft available 
 for this jturpose. lly the side of the ships now employed in similar 
 service the transports of 1745 would indeed be pigmies ; from the size 
 of these coekleboats their passengers had a minimum of space and a 
 maximum of discomfort. As convoy while en route and for possible 
 naval operations when in the enemy's waters, a small but sturdy com- 
 pany of sloops, schooners and the like was got together, armed and 
 made ready for war, and |)laced under the command of Captain Edward 
 Tyng, a naval ofHcer of excellent reputation for courage and efficiency. 
 Amid loud and heartfelt enthusiasm, and closely followed by i)rayer and 
 blessing, the main body of the expedition set sail on the 23rd of March. 
 
 Of the voyage across that short but stormy bit of ocean between 
 Boston and Breton there was everything to depress these eighteenth 
 century crusaders, — nothing to brighten. In the grip of the Atlantic, 
 which was in a tierce and .scornful mood, the little transports pitched 
 and rolled incessantly ; and most of the pa.ssengers, all military ardour 
 gone and forgotten, longe.l with an inteu.se longing for an end to their 
 journey, be that end what it might. For .several days they tossed about, 
 often iu imminent ilanger ; but the marvellous good-luck or Providential 
 care — call it what you wish — which attended .^^o closely on the enter- 
 prise, guarded it from the very first, and not a single transport was lo.st. 
 The harbour of Can.so was their destination, and during the first few 
 days of April they came drojiping into port, until the roll was complete. 
 The Now Hampshire contingent was the first on the ground, having 
 arrived before the end of March, while the Connecticut regiment did 
 not turn u[) until about the tenth of April. Here it was that, only 
 eleven months previously, a French detachment from the Louisbourg 
 garrison liad fired the first shot iu this war ; truly their chickens had 
 now come home to roost. 
 
 Steady drill and hard woik was at once the onler of the day. The 
 troops were raw and lacked all technical training in their new profes- 
 sion as well as the more subtle and more effective quality known as 
 discipline. There was no sprinkling of veterans in the ranks of the 
 force to impart to it a soldierly tone, nor had the greater number of the 
 ofhcers, commissioned and non-commissioned, any i)ractical experience. 
 So great was the necessity for drill, that even Sundays could nut be 
 observed as days of rest ; the chaplain, Father Moody, held service it is 
 
30 LOUISBOUlUi : AN HISTOUICAI- SKKTCH. 
 
 true, but it was concurrent with parades iiml tlie exercising of recruits. 
 A block-liouse was built and armed with a few light guns, and a guard 
 of 90 or 100 men (h'tailed as its garrison. Xone were idle. Several of 
 the cruisers were sent forward beyond Louisliourg, to watch for any 
 French ships which might endeavour to slip into the harbour with rein- 
 forcements and supplies, and did etl'ective work in this way. Another 
 ])arty was sent to Uaie Verte — where a settlenuuit existed and flourished 
 even at that early date — to do all possible damage, and esjiecially to try 
 to cut ott' food supplies which were at times shipped to Louisbourg 
 from that place ; l)ut they did nothing beyond burning the houses and 
 boats of some inoffensive settlers. They were able to beat off the 
 frigate Reno)iiiiiee, on her way from France with despatches and store-s 
 for the Louisbouig garri.son, and also made several small prizes. 
 
 During all this time, other agencies had !>een <[uietly l)ut powcM'fully 
 at work adding force to the crusade. While drawing his main strength 
 from New England, in men, money and ships, Shirley had not been 
 forgetful of other potent strings to his l)ow. I>y a happy measure of 
 foresight — one which turned out to V)e that on which the final success 
 of the attack hinged — he had, in the fall of 1744, written to the I)uke 
 of N(!wcastle to say that .some of the King's ships would probably lie 
 required on the New England and Nova Scotian coast to protect the 
 fisheries from French attack ; whereupon the Duke of Medford, First 
 Lord of the Ailmiralty, instrucled Commodore Peter Warren — then in 
 chief command of the North Anu;ricau squaibon — to .sail for lioston 
 ami act with Shirley in the furtherance of IJritish interests. Despatch 
 vessels were very slow sailers in those days, and before these instruc- 
 tions reached Warren he had received word direct from Shirley, convey- 
 ing the startling news of the New England expedition, and a.sking for 
 more assistance. As the ])roject tlid not have the King's sanction, 
 Warren declined to help; but on receipt of the instructions fr<ini Eng- 
 land a few days later, he set sail at once for IJoston. While pu route 
 he met a schooner hailing from that port, which brought news of the 
 tleparture of the flotilla for Canso ; to Canso he 'therefore proceeded 
 without delay. He carried his flag on the Sujierh, a 60-gun ship ; and 
 with him were two 40-gun frigates — the Launcesfon and Mermaid. 
 The other vessels under his comnuuid were also ordered to Cape Breton. 
 
 On the 22nd of April the first ship of the fleet .=ailed into Canso 
 harbour, — she was the Kltliain. a fine frigite of 40 guns, ccmimanded by 
 Captain Durell. Her appearance must have glaildened Pepperrell's 
 
LOLl!<BOi;i(0 : AN HIS'IOKICAI. SKETCH. 31 
 
 anxious heart ; and still more must lie have rejoiced when he heard 
 that the Commodore himself, with his three l)cst shijis, might soon l»e 
 expected. With the pioniptitude eharacteristic of his profession, that 
 oHict-r arrived on the following day ; and, after hut a short stay in 
 Canso, went on with his .ships to assist Cajjtain Tyng's plucky little 
 stiuadron in hlockading Loiiislmurg harhour. 
 
 While the stay in Canso had heen most useful — in fact almost 
 essentia! — in giving some idea of drill and discipline to the invaders, it 
 had been largely an enforced one, as the ice which blocked the i)roposed 
 landing-place during nearly the entire month of April rendered dis- 
 embarkation for attack an impossibility. IJut by the 26th news came 
 that the coast was clear ; camp was struck and prejiarations were liur- 
 riedly made, and early on the morning of the 29th, the army took ship 
 — a detachment of two hundred and .seventy men to destroy the fort and 
 settlement at St. Peter'.s — the rest for tiie goal of their desire, Gabarus 
 liny, near Loui.sbourg. They had hoped to arrive that same night, and 
 pusli on to the attack under cover of darkne.s.s, in accordance with the 
 highly theoretical plan laid down in Boston by Shirley ; but the wind 
 fell, and it was not until the followin<f morninif tliat thev reached the 
 vicinity of the town. We can well fancy witii what intense eagerness the 
 soldiers crowded the decks of their transports to gaze on the famous 
 fortress. Before ihem were the ma.-^sive walls and battlements which 
 enclo.sed what was to the Xew England soldiery the chief prop of the 
 power of France in the new worhl ; and misgivings mu.st have crowded 
 into matiy hearts when their owners saw for the first time the formidable 
 proportions of the casket which enclosed the prize. But the very rich- 
 ness of the latter, exaggerated beyond all rea.s<m in their simple minds, 
 was in itself no small incentive to per.severance in their design ; while 
 the elan characteristic of volunteers aided them in looking forward with 
 confidence to the result. 
 
 Meanwhile, were not the P^rench hard at work during all this time, 
 making active j>reparations for a warm rece[)tion to these unasked and 
 unwelcome visitors'! To the discretlit of the governor, Duchambon, 
 the answer must be a negative one. Severril historians of tlie campaign 
 have stated that the garrison was entirely ignorant of the e.xistence of 
 the expedition until the ships were visible ; but this .seems difficult to 
 credit, from the fact of the long wait at Caiiso, the skirmishes there 
 with French and Indians (some of whom would assuredly have sent 
 word to the town) and the appearance of the war-vessels in front of the 
 
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LOUISUOURO : AN HISTOBICAIi SKETCH. 88 
 
 fortress for so many days previously. In fact a certain unit[iio paiupliletL /^ ^/i^ 
 (" Lettre d'uno liabitat de Loui.^hourg ") quoted by Parkiuan, states that/ ' ' 
 the {garrison had lieard of the proposed expedition, hut judged the! 
 news too iniprol)abU; to he true. Duohauihon — shariiijj; in the thorough 
 contempt in whicli French officers held militia— doubtless pooh-ixjoheil 
 the whole atfair, and laughed at the idea of such men taking such a for- 
 tress. Deyond having stationed a detachment of forty nuin on the 
 shore of the bay to watch for and resist a landing, the French com- 
 mandant appears to have made absolutely no jjreparitions to meet the 
 incoming wave, although so big and vehement in its hostility to France. 
 But he was rudely startled from any sense of comparative security which 
 he may have entertained, by the appearance, on the morning of the 30th 
 of A])ril, of a vast cloud of transports under British colours, their decks 
 crowded with scarlet-clad foenien ; and he hastily s(mt out eighty men 
 under command of a trusty officer, to prevent the landing of the invade'-s. 
 Here PepperroH's rough-and-ready commcn .sense was more than a match 
 for the formal methods of the French commander. He made the ])retence 
 of attemi)ting to land a few boat-loads of men at a place called Flat 
 Point, about three miles from the town ; but recalled them to the Hag- 
 ship and then suddenly sent them off at hot .speed to F'reshwater Bay, 
 a little inlet about a mile and a half to the westward. The French ran 
 to intercept them, but the boats reached the appointed spot first ; and 
 the !New Englanders hastily landing, dashed at their enemies, killed six, 
 took as many jiri-soncrs, and drove the rest headlong into the town. 
 Morpain, the French commander, was one of those captured. 
 
 First blood had now been shed, and the invading Britons, raw 
 militia though they were, had shown no signs of funk — in fact ([uite the 
 reverse. So far everything had re.sultcul in their favour. A host of 
 other boats of the fleet, all crowded with men, followed close in the 
 wake of the attacking party, and soon secureil their footing on shore 
 Two thousand men were landed that day, followed on the morrow by 
 the remainder of the force. Once established they quickly made them- 
 selves at home and, after spending a night in the open with little or no 
 shelter, they moved towards the town and pitched their tents on the 
 banks of a little stream near ¥lat Point, about two miles from the walls 
 of the fortress. Much latitude appears to have been given by Pepperrell 
 to his regimental commanlers, for it is on record that at least one of 
 these officers formed his encampment considerably nearer the town than 
 did the rest of the army ; but his tents were soon a mark for thtj 
 enemy's gunners, and he and his men had to beat a hasty retreat. 
 3 
 
84 LOUISHOUKO : AN HIHTOHIfAI- MKETCII. 
 
 Tlio liritish gtMu nil lost no time in nsploss dflay. With him, 
 probably in the cajJiK-ity of a slatl'-otHcer, was Vaiiyhan, the ori<,'inator o 
 the exiieilitioii and ont' of its most zealous otfictTs. To !iim wa? 
 (intrusted the playing of tiic first rard in tluf giime now bej^inning ; and 
 he played it uncommonly well. As soon as the troojis were landed he was 
 desp.itched by Pepperrell at the head of a party of four hundred men, 
 towards the nortli-east end of the harbour, to gain information and to 
 do all possible (himag(.' to the enemy. With an audaeity of which oidy 
 militia would l)e capable, the detachment, when on the high ground 
 opposite the town, halteil and gave three duiers ; they then ]troceeded 
 to their destination, avoiding the Royal battery i-ii nniti: (which, as we 
 have Ijefore noted, was a strong and heavily-nrmed work on the iinrth 
 shore) and burnt all the naval storehouses which were tlotted alo'-g the 
 bank of the north-eact harbour. A dense smoke arose, which, wafted 
 into the Royal battery, added to the fears of its garrison. Thierry, 
 tlie commanding officer, had already recommended to I)uchambon that 
 the battery be aljandonetl, the cannon spiked, and tht; works Ijlown u[). 
 This advice the governor had determined to follow, except the demoli- 
 tion of the works, to which the King's engineer, Verrier, had olijected. 
 In a sensele.ss panic, Thierry and his men now hurried over to the town, 
 spiking the guns it is true, but leaving a most valuable lot of ordnance 
 stores intact. IJut all tliis was then unknown to Vaughan and his 
 detachment. They spent the night in the neighboui hood of the burning 
 storehouses, and in the morning were returning to camp in an irregular 
 manner when Vaughan, with a party of sixteen men, while passing the 
 battery noticed its apparent ab.sence of life ; struck by this, he stopped, 
 and bribed a friendly Indian to reconnoitre. The work was empty. 
 Vaughan and his handful of men ran in and took possession, and with- 
 out delay sent a. messenger to General I'epperrell stating that they liad 
 entered the Royal battery, and were waiting for a reinforcement and a 
 flag. To make temporary amends for the latter, one of the men, 
 William Tufts by name, doffed his red coat, gripped it with his teeth, 
 and, with reckless bravado, climbed the flag-staH' and made fast the 
 scarlet symbol at the to]>. AVhen the gunners in the town .saw the 
 improvised bunting tlu-y hurled at it a shower of shot but to no e'ftect. 
 Seeing but a small party of the invaders in po.s.se.ssion, a French detach- 
 ment of a hundred men was hastily sent to re-occupy the battery, their 
 main ol>ject, doubtless, being to bring off' the valuable stores which had 
 been left there ; lint Vaughan and his handful of men ran down to the 
 
LOUISHoUHli : AN IlISTtJlUCAr- HKKTCH. 35 
 
 beiutli, and in tho most coiiriij^i'oiis iniimicr stood there tiriii;,' on the 
 honts. Ill tlie iiiuaiitiiiie IV-ppent'll liad hurried oH' a iviiifoireiiieiit 
 whicii caiiK! lo Viiuj^'haii's assistamo at this critical juncture, and tho 
 Freuchnion returned to the shelter of th<'ir fortress. 
 
 It is iinpoHsillo to overestimate the value of this ae<iuisitioii to tho 
 hesiegers. Their great weakness lay in lack of heavy guns ; and so 
 utterly delicient were they in this respect, that had their opponents 
 been ahh- to retain the Royal liattery, or even t(j have taken time liefore 
 leaving to render the cannon useless, it is douhtful if the main oliject of 
 the exjiPtlition would have been aecomplished ; their bliinl panic in this 
 instance was the most fatal of their errors. They tired heavily at tlie 
 work all that day and for many days after ; but the mischief was done. 
 The English commander immediately had a staff of men at woik drill- 
 ing out the touidiholes of the pieces, and in two or three days hi.s 
 gunners were doing serious damage to the Louisljourg defences with 
 French shot tired from French cannon Other batteries were also estal)- 
 lished and at wuik in short order. Although the guns which the New 
 England men \i;\d brought with them hail to Ipc dragged a distance of 
 nearly two miles across a deep marsh, tlie vehement spirit of the men 
 enabled them to (juickly accomplish tliis, each piece of artilleiy being 
 loaded on a rough sledge and then pulled through the mire l>y a gmg of 
 two hundred soldiers. The base of the artillery attack was a clum[i of 
 hills which lay due north of the town ; and here on the 4th of May, 
 the besiegers opened fire fntin a battery of four light i)ieees of c union 
 and three mortars, two of which were, however, found useless. < )n the 
 7th, ten coehorns were placed in jMisition at a s|)ot 900 yards from tho 
 town ; and within a few days, this battery was striMigthened by tho 
 accession of eight 22-pr. guns, and by those from the battery which had 
 been fir.-t arected. The tire from this, and from tlie Royal battery, was 
 most destructive ; the shot tore through the walls, knocked over houses, 
 and caught tlie citadel and King's bastion in flank. Five hundred men 
 manned these b.itteries ; and all ammunition, stores and provisions for 
 their use had to be trans[iorted through the knee-deep mud from the 
 camp at liead-(iuarter.s, two miles distant, (lovernor Shirley — but a 
 theorist in military matters — had expected the immediate capitulation of 
 the fortress, having planned (on paper) for its complete surprise. This 
 may account in jiart for the woeful lack of stores, which was one of the 
 Teatuies of the expedition ; but the ignorance of its leaders on all mat- 
 ters — except courage and pluck — which constitute military elHciency, 
 
30 LOUIHIIOUIUI : AN lltHTOUICAL KKICTCH. 
 
 was lit) tloubt iii.iiiily ri's|>(tnsible for the (U'Hiii'Ucit'H which uxistcHl — 
 ileficiiMicieH wliich rcHultiMl in a vast deal of nicknesp, iniu-h loss of life, 
 and, but for weather extraordinarily favourable, inif^ht have brouj^ht 
 ftbout the utter failure of the expedition. For the iiieii lacked tentf, 
 extra clothiii<,', often even necessury food ; and in spite of their mwon- 
 (lueral)le H|»irit, an epideniii; of sickness cimi},' to the camp, as luiiny 
 (18 Hftoen hundred men Ixfin^ down at one tin)e. 
 
 lUit Pepperrell and his militia-men stuck to their j^uns, tired them 
 80 constantly (and, possibly, so injudiciously) during the day that many 
 of them burst, and, \inder cover of ni<^ht and foj,', toiled anil strove at 
 bringing? fresh batteries into play closer to the city walls. ( )n the Kith, 
 the coehoruH auvl two other mortars were jaishcd forward to a point 
 about 440 yards from the west <,'at<.' of the town ; and, on the next day 
 an advanced battery was planted at a distance of only 2oO yards from 
 the west gate. This was armed with 18 and 42 pounders, draggeil at 
 night by s([uads of men from the Royal battery, two miles tlistant by 
 road. On tiie 20th, more heavy guns were put in position on a piece of 
 rising ground opposite the west gate, across the hnrliour. This last 
 was kiiiiwn as Titcomb's battery, from the otHcer of that name in com- 
 mand. From morning till night these groups of cannon kept hammerinf* 
 away at the F'rench fortifications, and also did a vast deal of damage to 
 the buildings of the town itself. There was a great scarcity of experi- 
 enced gunners among the New Fhigland men, and many and disastrous 
 were the accidents which happened ; the bursting of cannon was of 
 daily occurrence, and almost as many men were disabled from this cause 
 as from the fire of the enemy. With the excej)tion of the ten guns 
 given by New York, those which had been brought over proved in many 
 instances worse than useless. 
 
 F'rom the very beginning of the siege the two commantVrs, Warren 
 and Pe])perrell, acted in close concert. The former appears to have 
 been an excellent type of the naval oflicer of that day — brave, imijul- 
 sive, strong in his convictions, and inclined to he overbearing in his 
 demeanour towards soldiers and civilians. Had a fiery and hot-tempered 
 warrior been in command of the New Fhiglaiul forces, it is more than 
 l)robable that continual clashing would have ensued l)etween the two 
 chiefs, with the result of serious harm to the service on wliich they 
 were employed ; but as it was, Pepperrell's calmness, good natuie and 
 good sense enabled him to discuss and plan arrangements with Warr(?li 
 in the most amicable manner, and to ignore those ebullitions of ai)parent 
 
i.dL'iMUouiKi : AN msrouicAi, hketoh. 87 
 
 tt'inpt'i' which at tiiiu's cinpiu'tl out in the corrt'siioiKh'iu'i' of the iiiipii- 
 tioiit coiniiio(h)ic!. Ilotli wtTi! htyal ami (Mithiisiastic iWitons and equally 
 zi'alous for tho siiocoss of HIh Maji'wty's arms. 
 
 The t\v(t coiniiinmleis, alike uiitiaiiied in the somewlint tedious 
 methods of military en^'ineering, and with little sympathy for the slow 
 formalities of a methodical siege, were lient on bringing matters to a crisis 
 with least possihh; delay. The hattery on the island at the entrance to 
 the harl)our— a heavily-armed and well-defendetl work — was a /"/»' iinir 
 to "Warren, eager to work his ships into the port and assLst in the honi- 
 bardment ; and three or four days aft<'r th»! landing a joint attack on 
 this hattery was talked of, to come oH" as soon as IVpperrell's guns were 
 in jiosition. On the 7th, the ilritish lead(;r summoned the town to 
 surrender — an invitation which was promptly declined by Duchambon ; 
 following which, Warren uiged a night attack on the island, ami on 
 three successive evenings preparations were made for the assault ; on 
 each occasion rough weather prevented the embarkation. The storming 
 of the town itself was decided on for the night of the 9tli ; but soon 
 after the decision, more jiruilent thoughts prevailed, and the attack was 
 jio.stponed. The energies of the New Kngland men were then con- 
 centrated on the bombardment and on the work of pushing their batteries 
 closer to the town — work most laborious and demanding all the avail- 
 ul)Ie strength of the little army. lioth Warren and Pejiperrell had 
 before this written lor more men and stores, the former to the govern- 
 ments of tile southern coloidt s, the latter to Shirley. Eighteen trans- 
 ports were sent io Uoston to liring the expected reinforcenu-nts, but 
 failed to return during the period of the siege. 
 
 Up to this time tho chief work tiud honcmrs of the campaign had 
 fallen to the share of the land forces ; to Warren's .^([uadron, hitiierto 
 confined to a passive and uneventful blockade, the oi)portunity now 
 came to take a more active share in hostilities. On the 19lh of Mfty 
 they saw a large man-of-war under French colours, making for the 
 entrance to the harl'our. This waf the ]'ii/i/ai>f, a sixty-four gun vessel, 
 commanded by the Marquis de la Maison Forte, and carrying stores and 
 munitions of war for the beleagured garrison. Intercepted and atticked 
 by the Uritish f ruisers she nnule a brave tight ; but, single-handed, she 
 had small chance of success, and finally had to strike her Hag after a 
 loss of eighty men. Her cargo proved a most welcome addition to the 
 commissariat and ordnance stores of the besiegers, tiie latter of which at 
 this time was at a low ebb. Pepperrell's stock of powder and heavy 
 
38 LOUISBOUKG : AN IIISTOHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 shot was, ill fact, entirely finished long Iwfore tli« end of ^Fay, and 
 his necessities were theri^after supplied by the naval authorities. 
 Warren began to receive accessions to his little fleet, which, at the 
 beginning of June, stood as fallows : 
 
 Superb, 40 guns Cupt. Soniers. 
 
 FMIiam, 40 n n Durell. 
 
 Lauweton, 40 m i, (Jalmadv. 
 
 Mermaid, 40 <\ t Douglas. 
 
 Priw'pss Mart/, GO n n Eilwards, 
 
 Hector, 40 .i ., Cornewall. 
 
 Viijilaiit, 64 h n Montague. 
 
 In addition to these there were the Provincial cruisers which have been, 
 already mentioned. 
 
 The whole Hotilla was now kept on the qui rire in the expectation 
 of attack from a strong French sipiadron which had been fitted out at 
 Brest, and of which the VKjilant was supposed to have been the fore- 
 runner. This intensified tiie fiery commodotii's anxiety to gain possession 
 of Louisbourg prior to possible reverses by sea or by land ; for rumouns 
 were current that a strong expedition of French and Indians were on 
 the way to attack the New England troops in rear. The fact that more 
 than one-third of the latter wcru unfit for duty by reason of sickne.'^s 
 did not make the prospect more du'ering ; and Warren vehemently 
 urged on Pe))perrell the necessity for an assault on the town, sending 
 him (on the 24th of May) a proposition embudying full details. These 
 were not agreeal)le to Pe])perr('irs officers, and the storming of the place 
 was therefore deferred ; but .'i immediate attack on the island battery 
 had been deciiled on, and • ii.'dniglit on tlu; L'Gth about three hundred 
 men put oil' in small boats ti. make the assaidt. This appears to have 
 been informally and irregularly arranged, and was far le.ss (;reditable ta 
 those who planned it than to those wlu> took part in its dangers. The 
 latter seem to have electted their own officers for the occasion — a thing 
 in itself flagrantly subversive of discipline — and, under command of a 
 man nanieil Brooks, pulled quietly for tlie island. The l)oats reached 
 its shores safely, but found a very contracted landing place. When 
 about one-half of the party had been safely diseml)arked, they had the 
 imprudence to give three loud cheers ; the French garrison sprang to 
 arms and opened a heavy and effective fire on their a.s.sailants and on the 
 crowded mass of boats waiting to land their living cargoes. The rear 
 vessels sheered oti" and got out of range as ipiickly as possible ; and 
 
LOUISBOURU : AN HISl'oRICAl. SKKTCH. 39 
 
 althoii<,'li the men on shore maile n hold dash for the ramparts and even 
 succeeded in planting scaling ladders against the walls, they were i)rac- 
 tically at the mercy of tiieir opponents. They made a plucky tight of 
 it till daybreak, and then surrendered at discretion. Their total lo.ss in 
 killed, wounded, and pri.sonera was one hundred and eighty-nine men. 
 The effects of tho.se three hasty cheers made a sad hole in the little 
 English army. 
 
 This reverse was a startling lesson in discipline to the besiegers ; 
 Vjut instead of disheartening, it nerved them to new efforts. ( Jorham's 
 regiment hud been encamped at Lighthouse I'oint, at the eastern end of 
 the entrance to the harl)our, and directly opposite to the island battery. 
 It was now iletermined to put heavy guns in position at this point, and 
 to endeavom' to crush out tlie effectiveness of the French work by 
 artillery tire. Strong working parties wen; forthwith employed on the 
 duty (if transporting heavy cannon and mortars from the, main attack to 
 this position ; l)Ut the work was necessarily slow and most laboriou.*, 
 and it was the 11th of June before any guns were ready to open tire. 
 For their reception and defence (iorham and his men had built a strong 
 battery, with embrasures directly flanking the line of French cannon on 
 the island. Kvery shot told ; and the island battery, which had so 
 long divide<l the Ih'itish naval and military forces was, in turn, now 
 wholly douiinato<l l)y its new adversary. 
 
 During all this time, an unicmitting artillery battle had lieen going 
 on between the Knglish guns in front of the west gate, and the circu- 
 lar battery and other heavy ordnance which gu oded that part of the 
 fortress. On both sides the labours of the combatants were most 
 .severe, the nights being employed in attemiiting to repair the damage 
 done bv the o|)posing cannon during the day. Ihit tin; French works 
 sntl'ered most, and, in spite of the toil and engineering skill of their 
 defenders, gradually fell into a ruinous and almost helpless condition. 
 Everything favoured the besiegers. The weather continued singularly 
 hue ; the nights grew shorter, and the screen of darkness neces.sary for 
 repairs to the damaged masonry Ix'came less as the necessity for such 
 repairs increased. Experieiu'ed gunners and ample supplies of ammu- 
 nition f(U' the attacking guns were obtained from the ships ; and the 
 Ney\- England lirilons — sc.>rning the accepted theories of slow and 
 laborious attack — worked forward their batteries in a manner which 
 almost .savored of bravado, and which, as in the strife of line against 
 column of later days, startled their machiiuvtrained opponents. No aid 
 
40 LouisnouRo : an historical sketch. 
 
 came to the hosioged from their allies in the vicinity. The New Eng- 
 Iftnd troojis Imtl made several forays on the neighbouring settlements, 
 burnt hou.ses, l)arns and boats, and established fi)r them.<elves a vvhole- 
 .<<oine fear in the minds of all French partizans, red and white. Indeed 
 this merciless destruction of the property of the unfortunate settlers 
 and fishermen appears to have been carried to a totally unwarranted 
 degree ; on one occasion (May 10th) the practice brought a loss to the 
 besiegers which they could ill spare. A i)arty of twenty-five men, 
 while busily employed plundering some dwellings, was attacked by a 
 force of French and Indians, and all but three were killed or taken 
 prisoners. The fleet from France did not appear ; while Warren's 
 squadron was, on the 10th and 12th of June, augmented by the arrival 
 of four of the King's ships — the Chester, Caiiferlnir;/, SnniJerland, and 
 Larit — with a combined armament of 210 guns. 
 
 By a strange weakness on the part of the officers in command of 
 the beleagured garrison, the only measure which could have brought 
 them relief from their environment was not tried. This was a sortie in 
 force against Pei^perrell's raw and undiscii)lined troops. It is true that 
 S one had been atteTnpt<!d when the siege was barely a week old ; but it 
 \ had b en a weak and irresolute effort, more of a reconnaisance than 
 anything else. A vigorous attack in force, if well supported, would 
 have been almost cert lin of success ; but the French officers mistrusted 
 their men, and would do nothing to bring them into contact with the 
 enemy — an error of judgment fatal to their cause. 
 
 The Manjuis de la Maison I'orte, the officer who liad commanded the 
 Vif/ihinf when under French colours, now a jirisoner, invohmtarily 
 V, did a good turn for his ojiponents at this period of the i^iege. Early in 
 June it was reported that some of the New England men who had been 
 taken, were being badly treated by the Louisl)ourg authorities ; where- 
 upon the F'rench captain was rerjuested by Wairen to write to 
 Duchambon, ])rotesting against such treatment, in view of the fact that 
 he and his brother officers had received all possible attention and cour- 
 tesy from their English captors ; and incidentally reported the loss of 
 his ship the Viijilant. This letter was sent into the town by a naval 
 officer named McDonald, under a Hag of truce. McDonald, although a 
 fluent French linguist, feigned ignorance of that language, and #i'oke 
 through an interpreter ; and the comments of the French governor and 
 his officers on the contents of the missive were free and unrestrained. 
 This was the first intimation they had received of the loss of the Vii/ihrnf, 
 
LOUISBOURG : AN HISTOHICAL SKETCH. 41 
 
 and it seemed almost a death-knell to their hopes. Subsequent events 
 were in no small degree the outcome of this communication, the 
 tlespondency un\vittin<{ly displayed Vjy the besieged infusing fresh vigour 
 into the British commanders — vigour which quickly bore fruit It is a 
 singular coincidence that an officer of the same name, fourteen years 
 later, was also by his knowledge of the French language instrumental 
 in aiding the success of Wolfe's ;.rmy when on its way to scale the 
 clitts above Quebec, in the early morning of the thirteenth of Sep- 
 tember, 1759. 
 
 Preparations were now made for a general a.-.^^ault on the town l)y 
 the combined forces. All felt that a crisis was at hand, and the 
 artillery tire on both sides became unusually heavy. On tlie 11th, 
 Warren sent to Pepporrell final instructions, explaining the signals 
 which wouM be hoisted on his ships prior to tlieir forcing an entrance to 
 the hari)Our : and Pej)perrell busied himself to the utmost in the all- 
 important preparatory work. All through the latter days of the siege 
 he had been hampered by his lack of powder, and was now entirely 
 dependent on the fleet for this essential ; on the 13th, he was forced 
 to borrow fifty more arrels. Scaling ladders were taken to the 
 advanced batterie.s, and other necessary detads attended to. The ])ow- 
 der reached him on the 14th ; and as that day was the anniversary of 
 the King's accession to the throne, it was celebrated from noon until 
 dusk by an unusually heavy fire from all the batteries. (.)n the 15th, 
 Warren came on shore, inspected the troops, and both he and Fep|ierrell 
 addressed then# in brief but stirring words on their duties in the 
 coming assault ; and the commodore, not forgetting a more substantial 
 and welcome tonic, .sent them a hogshead of rum with which to drink 
 his health. Six hundred of the men were sent aboard the ships of the 
 fleet to assi-st in the expected fight, and the vessels moved towards the 
 town and anchored in an imposing line. 
 
 While all were thus on the (jxi rice for action, the end came sud- 
 denly. A little after twelve o'clock on that day (15th) the French 
 drums were heard to beat a parley, and a flag of truce came from the 
 fortress to the camj). Captain Sherburn, who connnanded the advanced 
 battery, went forward to meet the i)arty and conducted them to head- 
 quarters ; they brought a note from Dudnunbon, proposing a sus- 
 pension of ho.stilities until formal articles of capitulation could be 
 submitted. To this the r.ritish commanders acceded in the following 
 quaintly-worded note : 
 
42 I.OUISBOURG : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 " Camp, Juii" loth, 174o, Sh P M. 
 " We hav.' yonrs of this date, inoposing a suspension of hostilities 
 " for snch a time as shall be necessary for you U) determine upon the 
 *' conditions of delivering up the girrison of Louisburg, wliich arrived 
 "at a happy juncture to prevent the ett'usion of Christian blood, as we 
 " were together and had just determined on a general attack. We shall 
 "comply with your desire until eight o'clock to-morrow morning, and if 
 "in the meantime you surrender yourselves prisoners of war, you may 
 '' depend upon humane and generous treatment. 
 
 " We are, your humble servants, 
 
 " Peter Warren, 
 
 " William Pkpperrell." 
 
 The proposed conditions duly came from the French governor on the 
 following morning, but were unsatisfactory to the IJritish chiefs, who 
 thereupon submitteil counter proposals — and exceedingly liberal they 
 were. Duchambon realized this antl promptly accepted them, adding 
 his wish that the garrison be allowed to march out with the honours of 
 war. This was conceded, and on tlie 17th a detachment of Royal 
 Marines took formal [)Ossession of the island battery, while Pepperrell, 
 at the head of his army, marched into the town through the west gate 
 to the Parade, where the French troo[)s were drawn up in line to receive 
 them. The scene was one long to be remembered by the participants ; 
 and the honest and well-earned joy of the New J^ngland men at the 
 success of their efforts was mingled with wonder at the vast strength 
 which still characterized the fortitication.*, ami, doubtless, w:th self- 
 congratulations on the fact that they had been spared iike certain danger 
 and probable <lefeat of a direct assault on so strong a fortress. The appear- 
 ance of the garrison may not have specially impressed the victors ; con- 
 tinued loss of siee[i, irregularity of food and lack of attention to personal 
 appearance must have; told heavily on them ; Init they had fought hard and 
 well, had been singidaily loyal to their colours, ami were of the same 
 breed as the men who were even then honoring France with their devo- 
 tion and valour in Flanders. kSaluteswere tired and guards mounted by 
 the incoming IJritons ; the French then marcheil out, and, in accordance 
 with the terms of the ca[)itulation, were with the least possible delay 
 endiarked on vessels for conveyance to France. They numbered about 
 two thousand men ; and with them went as many more ex-citizens of 
 Louisbourg, ami the sailors previously taki-n in the Vi't/ihuif. About 
 thirty, however, of the total number remained and were subsequently 
 sent to Quebec. 
 
LOUISBOURG : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 43 
 
 Tlie losses to both armies during the siege were coniiwratively light, 
 — that of the Hritish being one hundred and thirty killed or died of 
 disease ; of tiie French probably less than one hundred. Between 
 seventy and eighty French cannon and mortars and a quantity of 
 stores and ammunition (e.\cept powder) l)ecanie the property of King 
 George. 
 
 News of the surrender was sent as quickly as possible to the 
 American provinces and to England ; and colonies and mother-Lind 
 alike rejoiced in the acquisition. The despatches for Governor Shirley 
 were sent off on t)ie 18th June, by a schooner under Captain Beniiet ; 
 but, although supposed to be a fast-sailing vessel, she did not reach 
 Boston until early on the 3rd of July. The news <juickly spread and 
 the roaring of cannon and the clanging of l)ells gave a partial vent to 
 the joy which pervaded the town. In the evening the streets were 
 brilliantly illuminated, while bonfires and fireworks .showed that the 
 people were making merry ; events all the more remarkable in view of 
 the general (piietness of the townsfolk of the Boston of 1745. Xor 
 was the public ofteiing of thanks to tlie Almighty omitted ; a day of 
 general thanksgiving was proclaimed throughout Massachusetts, aiid was 
 heartily observed. Similar expressions of public joy were .shown in 
 Xew York, Philadelphia, and many other towns and villages in the 
 British-American colonies. 
 
 The method of rejoicing indulged in on this occasion, (and the 
 simplicity and good nature of a people who would tolerate and sing 
 most distressing doggerel,) may be judged from the following extract 
 from a Xew York pai)er of 29th July, 1745 : — 
 
 Jamaica, on Lomj Inlawf, Julij 20. — The good news of the Surrender 
 of Ca])e Breton coming to us in the Middle of our Harvest, obliged us to 
 defer the Time of publick Rejoicing till yesterday ; when the Magistrates, 
 Military Uthcers, and many other Gentlemen, Ac, of this county, met at 
 this place, feasted together, and at Night gave a Tub of Punch at a fine 
 Bonfire, drank the Public Health, and espeeiaiiy of the valiant Com- 
 mander immediately concern'd in this great Action, and joined in chorus 
 
 to the following .song 
 
 Let all true .Subjects now re.joice, 
 The sev'titeeiitli Day of .June, 
 Oil Monday MorniiiK in n Triee 
 We siinK the Frcneli a Tune. 
 A Kl'ii'ious I'eacc we shall have soon 
 For we have coiuiuer'd Cape Breton, 
 With a fa la la. 
 
44 LOUlSBOUllO : an HISTOUlCAIi SKETCH, 
 
 Brave Warron and Bold I'cppcrrcll, 
 
 Stout Wolcot, and the rest 
 Of British Heroes, witli Gotxl Will, 
 
 Entcr'd the Hornet's Nest. 
 A glorious Peace, &e. 
 
 A Health let's to King George advance 
 
 That he may long remain. 
 To (.■urb the Arrogance of France 
 
 And Haughtiness of Spain. 
 A glorious Peace, &c. 
 
 In England, the news was as a gleam of sunshine in a l)lack sky ; for 
 at this time national affairs were at their worst, and the hearts of 
 patriotic IJritons were sore. The greater part of the army was on the 
 Continent acting in concert with the Dutch against the French under 
 ivlarshal Saxe ; and, more by the timi<lity of their allies than by any 
 lack of valour on the part of the British, the events of the campaign 
 were markedly unfavorable to the Anglo-Dutch force. At Fontenoy, 
 Tournay, Ghent, Ihuges, and Ostend, the excellent genoralshii) of the 
 French commander, and the all-round iiieHiciency of the Dutch, brought 
 disaster to the all'es ; while in Scotland, the Pretender was rapidly 
 gathering around him the many faithful and lionest hearts .still loyal to ' 
 the House of Stuart. The capture of Louisbourg, and a continued 
 succession of victories at sea by rletached and stray ships over- 
 French opponents, alone maintained British prestige, and relieved the 
 almost universal gloom. 
 
 A glance at some of the English papers and periodicals of this year 
 shows their warm recognition of the couragn and endurance of Pepperrell 
 and his New England men Comparatively little attention was given l>y 
 the writers of that day to Warren and his tars, and to their share in the 
 successful consummation of the enterprise, although we know how 
 essential it was ; almost the whole praise Wiis bestowed on the provincial 
 troops and their leader. Rewards and honours were piomi)tIy forth- 
 coming, and tukens of public joy were, as in America, immediately shown. 
 Captain ^fontague, who carried to London the official account of the 
 surrender, received from the Admiralty a jiresent of five hundred 
 guineas ; salutes weri; tired from the Tower as soon as the intel- 
 ligence had been received, while at night the city was ablaze with 
 bonfires and illuminations. Warren was promoted to the rank of Rear- 
 Admira!, and Pepperrell had the honour of being appointed a Haronet 
 of Great Britain, and was also given the King's commission to rai.se and 
 command a regiment of the line. To Shirley a similar commission was 
 granted. 
 
LOUISUOURO : AN HISTOKICAL SKETCH. 46 
 
 Louishourj,' was now under British colours, and held by a l^ritish- 
 Anierican garrison. Almost immediately aftt-r the surrender heavy wet 
 weather set in, and the site of the late besiej^ers' camp became an 
 uninhabitable swamp. Here was a singular instance of tlie extraordinary 
 good luck which attended the exjtedition, for had the rain come earlier, 
 or had the surrender been delayed, it would have been almost impossiI)le 
 for Pepperrell to have maintained his ground. In th<} best of weather a 
 very large proportion of liis men were unfit for duty, and heavy rains 
 would have been absolutely fatal to the continued manning of his works 
 and batteries. And yet the winning of the town brought fresh trouljles 
 to the simple and impecunious New England men. 15y the greater number 
 of these Louisbourg was .supposed to be a city of vast wealth, and visions 
 of the glittering booty which would be theirs if successful had doubtless 
 been ^.strong incentive in their stead fa.stne.ss. Hut there was little gold 
 and silver and precious stones in the Cape Ih'eton capital ; and what 
 there was must remain in the hands of its lawful owners. It was galling 
 to the once expectant Xew Knglanders to have to mount guard over the 
 houses of the vanqnished foe ; but, alas, such was their duty immediately 
 after the surrender. They broke loose at times, however, from the 
 restraints of discipline. As a contemporary chronicler (([uoted by 
 Parkman) puts it : " A great Noys and hubbub a mongst ye Soldiers 
 a bout yc Plunder ; Som Cursing som a Swarein ;" and it is recorded by 
 one of their generals that on a Sunday when Father Moody was holding 
 service there was " exce.ssive stealing in every part of the town." This 
 feeling of lack of sufficient recompen.se for their services was intensiKed 
 at a later date when rich harvests of spoil came to the men of the fleet, 
 who liad endured little toil in the siege, and had suH'ered practically no 
 loss. In the attack on Louisbourg, as has often been the case, the glory 
 fell to the share of the aimy ; the gold and silver to the navy. 
 
 The famous French fortress was now transformed into a bustling 
 Uritish garrison town and naval depot. The .scarlet uniforms of the 
 landsmen and the blue jackets of the tars dotted the streets ; but 
 hard work was the order of the <lay and idlers were few. No time 
 was lost in repairing the damage which the walls and fortifications had 
 received during the bombardment, and in fitting up <iuarters for the new 
 occupunts. Although the great struggle was over there was still no lack 
 of incident, and this often of an exciting nature ; but now it was the 
 turn of the ships-of-war and their crews to be the chief participants. 
 Frencli prizes were wanted, and were invited into the harbour by the 
 
46 LouisnoURd : a\ iiistouical skktch. 
 
 very simple! ruse of koopiiij,' tho French flag flying over the town. Tlie 
 hnit took well, luul within six wei'ks threi' largo vossels liud been taken 
 in this peaceful manner, the cargoes and hulls enriching tiieir captors to 
 the tune of .£175,000 stg. A month later came the gn-at catch of the 
 season ; this was the treasure-ship Nufri' Daim'. ilo la J)rli)'i'r(inrp, with 
 M cargo of gold and silver vahuMl at Ji800,000, v. hich now l»ecame 
 Ihitish properly. This vessel hail as a ])assenger a <listiiiguished 
 Spaniard, Don Antonio D'l'lloa, wlxj has left t(( posterity a very inter- 
 esting account of his travels ; considerahle spiice is devoted to the ron- 
 treffiitpx which happened to him at Louishourg, and a full description of 
 that town is given. So far as is recorded, this gentleman was the tirst 
 scientist of note to visit tlu' Cape lireton (;apital ; and .seldom, if ever, 
 has one had a heartier welcome. The romantic circumstances which led 
 to his call, the princely amount of treasure which accompanied him, and 
 which he left in the custody of the naval authorities, lent a special 
 charm to his visit. One half of the value of all thest; seizures went to 
 the Crown, the remainder to the ollicers and men of the fleet ; the land 
 forces, who had home the lion's share of the work, not getting a single 
 penny. This was in accordance with precedent ; hut in all fairness, 
 |)recedent should have lieen wuiveil under such circumstances. It is 
 said that every seaman in the S(|uadron received 850 guineas as his 
 share. 
 
 The New England troops naturally expected to leave tor home soon 
 after the surrender; hut only seven hundred had this good fortune. The 
 latter were re|)laced l)y the Rhode Islaml contingent, and a reinforce- 
 ment from ^fas^achusetts. The regular regiments ordered from 
 (Jibralter to garri.son the newly-captured fortress were detained l)y 
 unavoidable circumstances until so late in the sea.son that their transports 
 liad to take them t(i Virginia for the winter ; the provincials were 
 therefore obliged to remain in Louishourg during that .season. They 
 suH'ered much from illness, and lost from that source alone about eight 
 hundred men, more than six times their total fatalities during the siege. 
 Warren had been ap]>ointed governor l\v the Home authoiities, but 
 Pepperrell remained in command of the provincials ; thus a joint control 
 was exercised over the fortunes of the town and its garri.sou. It was no 
 sinecure ; the duties involved considerable labour, and calle<l for the 
 exercise of great tact and nic<! discrimination. After the fir.st few Aveeks 
 the troops liad comjjaratively little to do ; idleness fermented di.scontent, 
 and there was no little growling among the Mas.sachusetts men about the 
 
LOUIHUOURG : AX HISTORIC Al. SKETCH. 4« 
 
 allegi'il iiisuHicieiicy of their piiy ; but Governor Sliirlt-.v, mIki arrivctl in 
 LouisV)ourg in August, sctllcil this by advancing tiio rate to forty 
 sliillings per month. Martial hiw liad to he maintained throughout the 
 winter, to prevent or remedy excesses- arising from t\u' reckless acts of 
 the garrison who, tlisappointed at not going liome, and hicking training 
 and soldierly self-control, were often riotous ami well-nigh unmanageable. 
 The combination at the head of all'airs could not have iieen a better one ; 
 Warren, an (;.\|)erienced oflicer, well accustomed to deal with and com- 
 mand men ; I'epperrel', a man of high character, ]tossessing tact and 
 patience, and whose life was governed by principles ot religion and 
 justice. Loyal to (iod ami to the King, he proved himself to be one of 
 Britain's most faithful servants during these two arduous years. 
 
 Warren and I'epperrell acted as judges over the court which was 
 held on thre(! days of each week for the trial of offenders. Among the 
 records is one of the ca.se of a Captain Piercy, who, as Parsons tells us, 
 was charged by three complainants with drinking " Long life to tin; 
 Pretender," which at that time was deemed high trea.son. Piercy was 
 arraignetl before the court, and (he charge and atfid ivits being read in a 
 solemn tone, the question was put, " What is your defence, Sir." 
 " May it please your Honors," said the captain, " the complainants 
 entirely misunderstood me. I drank " Long life to the jjotatoes !" TIh; 
 captain's defence was deemed satisfactory. 
 
 Towards the end of March, 1746, the long exi)ected relief of the 
 garrison took place. Two regiments of the line, the 29th (Fuller's) and 
 £6th (Warburton's), and a detachment of the 30th (Krampton's), com- 
 prising in all 1875 men, arrived at Louisbourg ; an<l the New England 
 troops were in a very short time afterwards permitted to return to their 
 distant homes. A few remained, enlisting for regular service in the 
 new regiments, (the 6.")th and H6th of the line) which were being formed 
 under the commands of Shirley and Pepperrell. With the new garrison 
 came a considerable ninnber of civilians, i)resumably as settlers or 
 fishermen. Warren and Pepperrell left for P)Oston in May, and met 
 with a most enthusiastic reception on their arrival Commodore 
 Knowles assumed the governorship of Louisbourg, with Col. Warburton, 
 (of the 56th regt.,) as second-in-command. I)uring the summer the 
 garrison was kept on the qui n're, expecting attack from the powerful 
 squadron of the Due D'Anville, Avhich had left Brest on 22nd June, 
 with instructions (an)ongst others) to dismantle Louisljourg. At the 
 same time the French authorities in Canada .sent a force of IGOO 
 
48 I.OUIHHOUIUl : AN lIlrtTOlUCAI. MKBTCH. 
 
 UK'ii to Hiiii; YiTte to ha pri'imrcd to act in concert with D'Anvilic in 
 the attack. A strong iJriti.sh fleet,— 12 ships of war, manned hy about 
 3550 men, — was gathered at Louisbourg, umler command of Vico- 
 Admiral Townshend ; and all things looked promising for tnn renewal 
 of hostilities on a large scale. Ihit Providence or Fate — call it which you 
 will — intervened, and the magnificent French Heet met with a series of 
 disasters unparalleled in modern naval history, and which can only be 
 compareil to those wliich befell the Spanish Armada of 1588. Louia- 
 bourg was not even attacked. 
 
 When Warren sailed for Boston he left Commodore Knowles in 
 chief comniaml of Louisbourg. Large wooden barracks were erected 
 near the Queen's (Jate for the accommodation of the garrison, and the for- 
 tifications and armament were kept in a thorough state of efficiency. The 
 winter of 17-46-47 was a comparatively ijuiet one ; it may be noted that 
 this year for the first time the coal of the island was used for fuel in the 
 barracks and town. Knowles was unpo|iulir — hated Cape Breton — and 
 did his best to injure her fair fame in the eyes of the Home authorities ; 
 possibly his representations had something to do with the subse([uent 
 re-tran.sfer of the island to the French king. In April, 1747, that 
 sovereign, undeterred by the fate of D'Anville's ships and men, fittetl 
 out another strong fleet particularly to retake Cape Breton, and generally 
 to strike at British power in America. But he was fighting a nation 
 whose rulers made it their paramount business to hold world-wide 
 supremacy at sea ; and Admirals x\nson and Warren (of Louisbourg 
 fame) intercepted the French fleet, and fought and totally defeated it on 
 the 3rd of May, off' Cape Finisterre. The Cape Bretoners breathed 
 freely for another year ; and the only thing which seriously troubled 
 them and their new governor — Colonel Hopson — was the petty warfare 
 waged by roving bands of Indians and Frenchmen against the settlers 
 and settlements in the vicinity of Louisbourg. This despicable species 
 of warfare waged by tiie French during the whole period of these wars 
 was the great thorn in the Hesh to all British America. It had little 
 practical effect beyond annoyance, but produced such a degree of irrita- 
 tion that the ultimate entire expulsion of French interests from Xorth 
 America was looked on by all classes as an absolute necessity. 
 
 What the sword could not do was accomplished by the pen. In 
 April, 1748, a treaty of peace was arranged at Ai.\-la-Chappelle between 
 the two Powers, one cf the conditions of which was that all con(iuests 
 which had been made by either nation since the beginning of the war 
 (1744) should be restored. This of course included Cape Breton ; and 
 
i.otrisBouRo : an iiisTonicAr, sketch. 49 
 
 instructions vvi-ra sent out iluriiig that aunimer for tho eviicuation of 
 Louisbour^', iiiid the removal of the stores to Annapolis. Tim work 
 could not lu! completed that seiison, and it was not until the early 
 suninier of 1749 that the new French ^'arrison arrived, and the tioopsof 
 King (jieorge took their dejiarture. ( )f the latter, however, a large 
 portion was disbanded prior to the evacuation, and of course the various 
 reccntly-apjioiTited civic officials were otHcials no longer. Their Hadness 
 at loss of position was doubtless increased by the fact that living in 
 Louisbourg at that time was marvellously cheap, — cheap to a degree 
 which, a century and a half later, fills us with envy. I'eef was two-pence 
 a pound ; a fat ox, four pounds ten (worth in Hoston iJ70 to £S0) ; 
 and rum — the real old Jamaica article — was but ninepence a gallon. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to say that the restitution of Cape l>retoii 
 to France was looked at with the utmost disfavour both in England and 
 the British colonies in Anjerica ; and especially galling to national pride 
 was that clau.se which provided that two English noblemen should be 
 sent to France on the conclusion of the treaty to remain there as 
 hostages until the surrender of Louisbourg should be completed. Even 
 the Pretender Prince, then a defeatetl and di.sappointed exile, had 
 enough British pride to say : " If ever I mount the throne of my 
 ancestors, Euro[ie shall see me use uiy utmost endeavours to force France 
 in her turn to send hcstages to England." The ett'cct of Britain's brilliant 
 naval victories was more than counterbalanced by the excellent general- 
 ship of the famous Marshal 8axe in Flanders, and the disastrous alliance 
 in which Hanoverian policy had entangled British troops. The English 
 ministry of that day was deplorably weak, and French diplomacy scored 
 a brilliant triumph ; Cape Breton, so gallantly won, wa.« the sacrifice 
 offered on the Gailic altar. 
 
 With peace came the repayment to the American colonies of the total 
 
 expenses they had incurred in the expedition against Louisbourg. The 
 
 division was as follows : 
 
 £ .s (f 
 
 To Ma.ssachusetts Bay imUi) 2 7 
 
 New Hampshire KKioii 18 4 
 
 Connecticut 2HS(5:i 10 1 
 
 Rhode I.sland m:i2 12 10 
 
 James Gibson, (an ofticer in the Pro- 
 vincial army who bail served with- 
 out pay or allowance) 547 15 
 
 £2:^749 2.S 10(1 
 This sum was paid over in hard cash, silver and copper, sent to 
 Boston in H. M. S. Mermaid. It proveil to be financial salvation to 
 4 
 
so LOUIMHOL'RO : AN IIISTOKICAI. rtKKTCH. 
 
 MassiuiliUHottH. Tliat iHDviiau was in debt tn ilic cxtciit of two niillion 
 liuunds currency ; niul as one jtojiml stt'ilin^' was worth duvt'ti pouiiils of 
 the old tenor curreney, and thirty shillings of the new, tlie inovineial 
 ruh'rs were able to buy in ahnost the entin; del)t. 
 
 Hack to Louisbourg duly came tlie Fren';l» in tht; early summer of 
 
 1749. M. Deshorbiers was the new governor, and he l)rought with 
 
 hini tlie two larj^est ships in the French navy, and twenty t!ans|iorts 
 
 carryinj^ the new garrison. Hero he found IJritish red-(;oats .still in 
 
 po88e.wsion, their shipiiing not having arrivfd ; and, anxious no doubt 
 
 to .»<ee the la.st of them, Desherbiers loaned tliein his transports, and 
 
 they embarked for the new settlement on Chebueto IJay. For at the 
 
 very time that Louisbourg ceased to Hy British colours, there was 
 
 .springing to life; under that Hag a new town on the Nova Scotian coast, 
 
 destined from its beginning to be the naval and mil'"' iry centre of the 
 
 whole di.xtrict. Tiie men of the Louisbourg garrison proved a welcome 
 
 addition to the population of the infant ca[)ital ; many remained there 
 
 permanently, receiving grants and allotments of land in the same manner 
 
 as had been given to the settlers who had c(jme from over the sea. 
 
 ^Vith the founding of Halifax a new life ami a new spirit entered into 
 
 the conHict between France and Fngland in Acadia ; for though peace 
 
 nonnnally reigned, it was peace reddened by blood, and widely torn by 
 
 steel. Louisbourg was no longer sole mistress of the peninsula ; she 
 
 had a sturdy rival, which grew and flourished in spite of cruel opposition. 
 
 From the very first the Louisbourg authorities strove to crush it out of 
 
 existence ; within but a few weeks of his landing on Cape Breton 
 
 shores, we find a letter from the new governor, L)esherbiers, stating that 
 
 he "has engaged Abbe Le Loutre to distribute the usual jiresents among 
 
 *' the savages, and M. Bigot has placed in his hands an additiona Igift of 
 
 " cloth, blankets, powder and ball, to be given them /// casi' theij harass 
 
 " f/ie KnijJixh at Ha/i/ax. Tlik iinKitionari/ is to in<luce them to do so." 
 
 A few months later and Desherbier's letters are again in evidence against 
 
 his good faith ; he, Bigot, and that hete noir of Acadian history, Le 
 
 Loutre, reporting secretly to King Louis that they were inciting the 
 
 Acadians to resist all inducements to swear allegiance to England, and 
 
 also that they were continuing the dastardly work of ])ayingthe Indians 
 
 to attack the ISritish settlements. The French king warndy endorse! 
 
 their actions, and also recommended that they should take stejjs to aid 
 
 English deserters from the Halifax garrison. So we see that the 
 
 incoming Louisbourg authorities went promptly to work in endeavoring 
 
M)UI.SU( L'(((i : AN lll^S^()llI(;AL MKBTCH. 51 
 
 to thwart iSritisli iiiterc^tH in Acatlia ; liut in npite of their ett'ortH, the 
 sturtly HcttlcrH of tiif new town iwltl tn^rrther anil floirishetl. 
 
 With the new Frencli Ljanisoii had come, an (»K1 friend to He lioyale, 
 M. liigot, again as eoinniissary ; iiere he reniaii.ed several years lu'foro 
 going to tlie scenes of Iuh greater triumphs in Cana(hi. Tiie paternal 
 and henevolent qualities of King Louis eamc well to the front in this 
 and succeeding yui'rs, for tlie olliei.d correspondence shows that ho 
 granted i-uhsistence to all the inlial)itants of the town and vicinity, 
 numbering altogether ;.l)out 3200 souls. Many Acadians came in 
 and took up land; and several (lerman families, who had conie 
 out to Halifax, were induced to migrate to lie Royale. Recruits 
 for the garrison were sent out in considerable nundiers ; one large 
 party must have endured c(jnsiderahle l)adin.ige on their arrival, 
 as for some unexplained reason their nether garments went a-missing 
 — 11 deticiency which they luul to sup|)ly from emjjty sacks. In 
 1751 Desherbiers letired, and was succeeded by the Count de Haymond, 
 an Anglophobe of liie most pronounced type, ]\y a curious irony of 
 fate his secretary wa.s M. IMchon, who subseijuently deserted to the 
 J>ritisli, and published a valua1)le and interesting book on Cape Breton, 
 now of considerable rarity. Raymond was a capable othcer, and spent 
 100,000 livres in ojjening a road from Louisbourg to Port Toulouse, — a 
 work for which he was severely censured by the authorities at homo. 
 In November of the same year he reported the discovery of coal near La 
 Uaie Kspagnol, (Sydney), and wished to form a fortified .settlement there 
 without delay. He was evidently of an arbitrary temper, was continually 
 quarrelling with the connnissary, and in 1753 was recalled at his own 
 request. To succeed him M. d'Aillel)out came out from France in Decem- 
 ber ; but his reign did not exceed twejve months, and M. de Druconr 
 was installed as governor at the end of 1754. During the?e years few 
 matters worthy of special mention occurred in the town. In Acadia the 
 war — if such it can be called — was being carried on, and items concerning 
 its varied fortunes occupied a large share of the ofhcial corres[)ondence. 
 Louisbourg still called loudly for recruits, provisions, arms and stores of 
 all kinds, indicating either a culpable degree of neglect on the jiart of 
 the Home authorities, or a high degree of elhciency on the [lart of the 
 English men-of-war cruising on the station, in ca[)turing French supi)ly 
 vessels biiund for the port ; and, from the correspondence, it would seem 
 that this was the real cause of the dearth. 
 
 The peace between the two p.owers had been to a large extent a 
 nominal one so far as America wus concerned ; petty acts of hostility — 
 
62 I.OUlSBOUItO : AN HISTOUICAI, SKKTCII. 
 
 resulting' in tlic; !i<,'j^n'^fato in tlii' Id^^s of niiniy lives — occurnul almost 
 continuoUHly, ;in(l i\w. rciiowiil of warlike operations on a lar^u scale, was 
 folt by all to be ii certainty in tlie near fiiMire. in tlie sprin*,' of 175r> 
 matters came to a crisis, ami altiiouf,'li war bad not been oUieially (bu-lared, 
 botb France and P^ngland sent laij^e armaments across tlie Atlantic. 
 Certain vessels from eacb fleet came across eacb otber, — a fi;,'lit followcnl, 
 and two of tbe Frencli sbips were, early in .Inne, captnred and taken 
 into Halifax. Tliia was tantanionnt to a declaration of war, and bostili- 
 ties on a larf^e and lively scale followed in ([iii'-k su(;('ession. I'artof tbe 
 Frencli flotilla was for Louisl)our<,', and tbe <,Mrrison tbereby received a 
 large addition to its stren<,,'tb. ( bi IIk^ "Jlst tbe residents of tbe town 
 were startled by tbe a])pearan(!e of tbe wbole iSrilisb s([iiadron wbicb 
 drew up oj^posite tbe entrance in tiglitl\:j,* array, and for tbe next ten 
 days cruised along tbe (Jape Breton coast, prewnting all (communication 
 between Louisbourg aivl tbe outside world. On tbe 1st of. Inly, tbey 
 reappeared l)e,i'oK, e town, ancbored in order of battle, and ajiiJarently 
 made ])r(;parati()ns for an assault ; but in tbe nigbt vanisbed as >uddeidy 
 aa tbey bad come. Tliat summer was a most eventful one in Nova 
 Scotian bistory ; Fort [leausejour was taken, and tbe Acadiaiis, still as a 
 body opposing Knglisb rule, were expelleil from tln^ (country ; l>ut 
 Louisbourg remaineJ inidisturbed. In September, tbe King, evidently 
 uneasy as to tbe security of tbe town, sent out anotber frigate to aid in 
 its defence ; and at tbe .same time assunsil tin; governor " Tbat wbatever 
 "occurs in Canada, Louisbourg requires tlie greatest attention, and be is 
 " disposed to l)estow s'ldi upon it." Tbus, douI)ly fortilied l)y royal 
 deed and word, tbe olllcials waited witb contid(Mice fresb dev(dopments. 
 
 'l"be almost unncces.sary oflicial declarations of war were made early 
 in tbe following summer ; by Kngland on tbe IStb of May, by France 
 on tbe 9tb of .Inne. Long before tin's tbe rival lleets bad been making 
 ready, and Louisbourg was not forgotten by eitber party ; and in tluc 
 formal instructions given in April to Admiral .lobn Hyng — afterwards 
 tbe sca])(^goat for tbe sins of a weak ministry — tbat luifortunate ofHcer 
 was din.'cled to assist in strengtbening tbe force wbi(di was to operate 
 on tbe Cape lireton coast. Hut tbe Fienidi were well prepared, and 
 altbougb twice attackeil by a strong s(iuadron uniUn- Commodore 
 Hohnes, tlu^y, altbougb deflated, were enabled to avoid any serious 
 disaster ; on(^ sbip of war and one storesbip being tbeir only loss. Tbese 
 vessels — carrying about six buiidreil and lifty men, and a large quantity 
 of stores — were taken into Halifax. 
 
I.OIJISBOURG : AN IllHTOIUOAL SKETCH. 53 
 
 TIk^ control of Itiitisli iutiMosts in Aiiicricii was now vested in tlio 
 Ivii'I of London, an oHiccr wliosc conduct of tlu! war l»a.s met with 
 criticism mainly of iin unfavoiiriildi' niitiirc. l»,v some writiM-s In- liiis hccii 
 (condemned in the most nnsparin;^' terms ; from other? he lias received 
 a certnin measure of defence. A ialjorod argument of forty-live piintod 
 pages was pnhlisiied in his hehalf early in 17.')8, in which the writer — 
 to his own siitisfaction in any ca.se — ac(|uitted the nohli; call of all 
 imj)ut(!d errors in judgment and tardines-s in action, One thing in clear, 
 aiii! that is that his ell'orts were nn(|Uestiuned failures. He was a man 
 of ordinary |iiirts ; whiles tliat cam|iaign to have heen a success, called 
 for a leader lirilliimt in conception, (|uiclv in action, and abounding in 
 tact. In these ((ualities Lord I^oudon was singularly deficitMit. 
 
 In the fall of 1700 he propcrsed to th(! ministry a plan of campaign 
 for the following summer, which had for its lir.st and main object, the 
 reduction of L'Hiisbourg. This met with their concurrence ; but their 
 l)art of tlie programme, the despatch of a large Heet and a powerful 
 military force to (;o-oj)enit(^ with Loudon, w.is performed in so dilatory a 
 manner, that it was not initil the fifth of May that the licet left 
 England. It reached Halifnx (the pre-arranged rendezvous) early in 
 July, where its commander, Vicc-.\dmiral llolhourne, found Loudon with 
 about .'^Ik thousand troo|is just iirrived from New York. The combined 
 forces now luunbered at least eleven thousand men, and twenty-two sliips- 
 of-\var were in the harbour icidy to c(»nvey them to immediate! attack on 
 the Cape I'.icton capitnl. l!ut the worthy commander-in-chief was seized 
 with sudden fear that his men were ihsulliciently drilled, and that tin; com- 
 missariat stones rtMpiiied ri'pK'iii.-iiing ; a brilliant .series of sham lights 
 and other manu'uvres was indulged in, and much time and care ilevoted 
 to planting large ([uantiti^s of vegetaliles to grace the me.s.s-taliles. This 
 work occupied all hands fully until the 1st of August, when it was 
 thought to be time to go en with the main object of their (expedition ; 
 the troojis were leisurely embarked, and all was ready, when on the 4th, 
 a .scliooner arrivi'd from Newfoundland with news that the enemy had 
 got together in Louisbiung harbour a Heet of twenty-three; large! vesst!l.>j, 
 and that the foi tress was garrisoiicil by a forct! of not less than seven 
 thousand men. To the Kiiil of Loudon this was most alarming intelli- 
 gence. His most active brigiulier. Lord Charles Hay, had been placed 
 under arrest a few tlays liei'ore for having stated that the commander-in- 
 chief's policy had resulted in "keeping the .soldiers' courage at bay, aixl 
 " expending the n.itiou's wea'th in making sham-lights an.i planting 
 
54 LouisBouno : an hihtohical sketch. 
 
 " ciibhages "; and liis lordship's right-hand iimii now was Major-General 
 James Abercroniby — notorious, if not immortal, for the way in which lie 
 conducted the siege of Ticonderoga, and tlie cami)aign of 1758. A 
 council-of-war was held, and it was decided to give up the enterprise. 
 Loudon left some of the troops to garrison Halifa.x, sent off detachments 
 to Forts Cumberland and Annapolis, and returned to New York with 
 the remainder. l>ut the attempt was not wholly al)andoned. Admiral 
 Holbourne made a reconnaissance in force towar.Is Louisbourg ; and on 
 his return to Halifax, finding that a reinforcement of four ships-of-the 
 line had just arrived, determined tocrui.se ott' the Cape llreton coast, and 
 try to tempt tlie French admiral to come out and risk an engagement. 
 He returned, but the Fren(;hman declined the invitation, and remained 
 snugly sheltered in the harbour ; and on the night of the 24th of Sep- 
 tember a furious gale burst on the liritisli fleet, wrecked one ship, 
 dismasted and injured oth.i.,, and scattered the rest of the squadron. 
 Some vessels .sailed direct to England, others to Halifax. 
 
 Throughout all these threats of attack and ponderous demonstrations 
 against their peace, the authorities and residents of Louisbourg appear 
 to have been cahn, an<l strong in the lielicf of their ability to successfully 
 cope with their foes. Despatches sent to Montcalm early in February 
 informed him that the battalions Avhich comprised the garrison were 
 fully \ip to strength and in excellent condition. By the end of June 
 the .squadrons which had been .sent out from France had arrived in 
 the harbour, and formed in all a magniticent fleet of eighteei\ ships-of- 
 the-line, and six frigates, carrying fourteen hundred and seventy-two 
 guns ; which, as an official writer states, " puts us at ease respecting 
 all the attacks the English would make in this quarter," adding 
 rather naively, " you cannot believe how it makes us settle attairs 
 " of state ; everybody ah-eady wants Acadia to belong to us." With- 
 out doubt, everything was satisfactory in this way ; but the very 
 strength of the defence in men accentuated its weakne.ss in supplies. 
 For in s|)ite of all this brave .showing there was a most lamentable 
 deartli of provisions, and at times the garrison and residents appear 
 to have been on the verge of starvation. In .May the governor 
 writes : " The greatest .scarcity exists throughout the colony." Li 
 October, " The colony is in a .sad condition owing to the want of 
 " food." And in December, with doleful thoughts, no doubt, as to pros- 
 pects for good cheer at Christmas and New Yefir's, " That there is 
 " hardly a servant (Tf the meanest gentleman of the kingdom of France 
 
LOUISBOURG : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 55 
 
 " that is i -)t liettcr off tlian are the officers of tlie Louisbourg garrison." 
 There is measure of pathos in such statements that cannot but command 
 our respect ami sympathy. The governor's allies and friends added to 
 his ])erplexities in this matter, they being evidently blessed with very 
 healthy ajipetites, as in a despatch acknowledging the arrival of provi- 
 sions he a'lds that the Acadians and Indians consumed vast quantities, 
 ^^lontcalm, who had by this time acfpiired a knowledge of thw dogged 
 persistency of the English in their warfare, did not overlook the pro- 
 bability of another attack on Cape Breton. In September he writes : 
 " We have apprehensions for Louisbourg ; it would require a principal 
 " man of more strength than tiiose who are there." On the 4th of 
 Js'ovember of this year, he reports to the Home authorities that the 
 chief engineer officer (de Pontleroy) had left Louisbourg on the 27th of 
 Sei)tembor, and " he has reassured us for this year against all attacks on 
 " He Koyale on the i)art of the English (l)y reason of the storm). . 
 But-adds : " Will not the English winter tlxnr troops at Halifiix and 
 " New England, in order to be beforehand with us ne.xt year if they 
 " can r 
 
 The French commander's apprehensions were well founded. Eng- 
 land had Ijeen in a ferment of political excitement, which ceased only 
 on the re-ai)pointment to power of the Great Commoner, William 
 Pitt, who inaugurated an administration, which — in the eloquent words 
 of Lord Malion — was "the greatest and most glorious, perhaps, which 
 " Enulund had ever vet known — an aJministration not always, indeed, 
 " free fi'om hrtste or errur in its schemes, and, no douljt, owing their 
 " success in jiart to the favour of Fortune, and to the genius of generals ; 
 '• but still .... pre-eminently strong at home, and victorious abroad." 
 The new minister was stung by the failure of Loudon's expedition, 
 and publicly censured him in the House of Commons. To retrieve the 
 faihu'c was his first step in dealing with the affairs of the war in America. 
 Preparations for an ex[iedition on a large scale were begun in the 
 autumn, and early in Febrtiary, 1758, everything was ready for a start. 
 Admiral Boscawen held the chief naval command, and the condjined 
 force was a remarkably strong one, comprising forty-one ships-of-war, 
 with an army of over eleven thousand men. ^lajor-General Jett'ery 
 Amherst was in command, with three brigailiers, Lawrence, Whitmore 
 and Wolfe ; but the genius of the latter dominated the whole enterprise. 
 On the part of the French ample preparation had been made for the 
 coming storm, of which they had been kept fully advised through a spy 
 
66 LOUISBOUHG : AN HISTOUICAL SKETCH. 
 
 in Loiuloii. Twenty-two .sliii)s of the line (us well as frigiites) were 
 destined for Loiiisbourg, to aid in its defence ; but only twelve were able 
 to cross the Atlantic ; for, concurrently with the main British expedition 
 under Boscawen, a scpiadron had been detached to watch the Mediter- 
 ranean, and thrust back any French vessels heading for America. The 
 patrol was a mo?t etiective one, and no succour reached Cape Breton or 
 Canada from this quarter. The others made Louisbo\n-g harbour in 
 safety ;* six of them remained there and shared the fortunes of the 
 siege, and the remainder got ott' to Quebec in good time. On the vessels 
 which remained were about three thousand sailors available for defence ; 
 and as the garrison of regular troops mustered at least an ecjual number 
 (besides a strong body of militia and Indians) the French commandant 
 might well be confident of maintaining a successful resistance, and 
 especially as the recently-arrived ships had brought an ample supply of 
 provisions and stores. 
 
 May came and was gone, and there was utill no sign of Hoscawen 
 and his fleet : but this tranquillity vanished almost with the month, for 
 on the .second of June the distant horizon was white with the sails of 
 the stately siju.idron and of the wide-spreading fleet of transports. In 
 all there were one hundred and tifty-seven vessels ; seldom if ever before 
 had so powerful a flotilla left ih-itish shores. Gabarus Bay was the 
 rendezvous, and from it the rocky coast was reconnoitred without delay. 
 As at Quebec, one of the strongest features of the defence was the for- 
 bidding and almost inaccessible shore for manv miles east of the fortress ; 
 and Drucour had spared neither vigilance nor men in guarding the few 
 spots at which a lauding was possible. Two-thirds of his whole military 
 force was detached on this duty ; batteries wen; erected, trenches dug, 
 breastworks thrown up, and all things made ready for a reception of 
 appalling warmth to be given their .scarlet-coated visitors ; the lesson 
 of Duchambon's Hrst great blunder, thirteen years before, had not been 
 lost on his successor. 
 
 I'.ut the French commaniiunt had as his opponent the most brilliant 
 soldier of the period, one whom nothing could daunt. For several 
 days the sea was too rough to attenqit a landing, and it was not until 
 the morning of the Sth that the ett'ort could be made Three divisions 
 of boats, under the respective brigadiers, Whitmore, Lawrence and 
 Wolfe, threatened the shore ; but, as usual, the real attack was 
 controlled by the latter. His division was the left of the three, and 
 was made up of grenadiers, light infantry, and New England Rangers, 
 
L0UI8B0URG : AN HISTOniCAL SKETCH. 57 
 
 supported by Fraser's Highlanders. They pulled hard for the shore, but 
 were greeted with such a storm of shot and shell that they recoiled ; 
 liowever, three boats on the right, manned by light infantry-men, dashed 
 towards the beach, and made good tlieir landing ; clinging to the rocks 
 they defended themselves as well as was possible, until their comrades 
 came up, and with fire and steel made a fatal gaj) in the French line of 
 defence. It is said that during all the time that the men were lying 
 low in the boats under the heavy fire of the French batteries, Wolfe 
 alone disdained all cover, and .stood upright, directing the actions of 
 the rowers along the line, — a central figure to. which all looked, and 
 from which all drew confidence and patient valour. Here, iis throughout 
 the whole siege, he was the soul and energy of Ihe undertaking. 
 
 The landing was now an assured fact, and had been made at a sur- 
 prisingly small loss of life, six officers and forty-four men having been 
 killed or drowned, and three officers and fifty-five men wounded. 
 The men in the other divisions of the attacking army were quickly on 
 shore, and the French were hurriedly driven back into the town, after 
 losing about .seventy-five men ; all their cannon, (thirty-three pieces) 
 stores, and tools, fell into the hands of the British. Once on shore the 
 encampment was quickly formed ; but the continued heavy weather 
 made the landing of the artillery and ammunition a very slow att'air. 
 
 Limited space forbids my giving much detail of this, the .second and 
 last siege of Louisbourg. Much has been written about it, and its events 
 are familiar to every student of our history ; but it may be noted 
 that the most complete and accurate journal yet jiublished of the siege 
 is that which appeared in one of the earlier volumes of this Society's 
 " Collections." A brief summary can alone be attempted here. 
 
 No time was lost in getting to work. On the 12th, Wolfe, with a 
 detachment of twelve hundred men, marched around the harbour and 
 took po.ssessiun of Lighthouse Point, .securing his communications with 
 the main body by establishing small fortified posts on the circuit. On 
 the 17th, Amher.st fixed on the point from which to begin his trenches 
 for the main attack on the fortress, and work was forthwith l)cgun. On 
 the following day Wolfe, having by this time got up some heavy guns 
 near the Lighthouse, opened fire first on the shipping, then on the 
 Island I'attery ; by the 25th the latter work was destroyed, and its fire 
 ceased. This left the harbour o}ien to the British war-ships ; but the 
 French (fommander promptly met this emergency by sinking six of his 
 ships across the narrowest part of the channel. From this time on the 
 
88 LouisnauRO : an HisTonicAii sketch. 
 
 story of tlie seige is one of slow but steady growth of the besiegers' 
 works and batteries, and a corresponding increase of murderous fire. 
 But the defenders were by no means idle. Frequent sallies were made, 
 which kept the British troops on the qui vive of expectancy ; the 
 remaining ships in the harbour, so placed as to cover the weakest spots 
 in the fortress, kept up a persistent fire, one little frigate of thirty-six 
 guns, L'Arethuse, being especially ablj- handled, and galling and worrying 
 the Britons with her well-directed cannonade. She was the first of the 
 •'Saucy Arethusa" family, ami as well as her successors in the British 
 service she deserves a generous share of the reputation which belongs to 
 that name in naval annals. The fire from the fortress was heavy ami 
 well-judged, and allowed the enemy's apjiroaches and works to be made 
 only under cover of darkness, or the eiiuaily dense Cape Breton fog. 
 Around the camp lui'ked small jtarties of Indians, who carried oti' 
 stragglers, fired pot-shots at out-lying sentries, and generally did what 
 damage they could. To add to the troubles of the besieging army, 
 small-pox broke out among the artificers and carpenters, and nearly one 
 hundred men of that most useful body fell victims to the scourge within 
 a few days. 
 
 But from the first, unless a miracle had taken place, the fall of 
 Louisbourg was almost a certainty. He was a plucky fellow, ^lonsieur 
 le Chevalier de Drucour, and omitted nothing that would aid his cause, 
 and hinder that of his opponents ; but he was pitted against a man of 
 singular ))ertinacity and resoluteness of purpose, and one who had a strong 
 and confident army under his control. The siege of Louisbourg brought 
 Amherst at one bound into the front rank of the genera! officers of his 
 day, second only to his brigadier, "Wolfe. Only five French ships 
 remained in the harbour, and on the evening of the 2l8t three of these 
 were destroyed by fire ; four days later the remaining two were cutout by 
 a detachment of six hundred seamen .sent in from the blockading fleet. 
 This disaster, combined with the burning of the main barracks, and the 
 ruinous state of the ramparts and town, brought matters to a climax, and 
 on the following day the French governor se»it in proposals for a capitu- 
 lation, claiming the honours-of-war, — as had been allowed, two years 
 previously, by Marshal Richelieu to an English garri.son on a somewhat 
 similar occasion. After so gallant a defence, it is difficult to understand 
 why Amherst should have refused this ; but refuse it he did, and 
 insisted that the garrison must surrender solely and absolutely as 
 prisoners-of-war. This, at first indignantly refused by Drucour, was 
 subsec^uently accepted ; and on the 27th of July a British detachment 
 
LOUISBOURG : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 59 
 
 took possession of the West Gate, and the fjarrison delivered up their 
 arms and colours. .Stores were duly triUisferred, and the prisoners were 
 sent to Kngland on the 14th of the following month. The I>iitish loss 
 in killed and wounded during the siege was five hundred and twenty-four 
 ofiiocrs and men, one hundred and sevonty-two having been killed and 
 three hundred and lifty-two wounded. Of the French army, about tiiree 
 hundred and thirty were killed and woun<led ; the total number included 
 in the cajntulation was nine thousand six humlred and thirty-seven, of 
 which about four thousand were inhabitants of the town. The ordnance 
 and stores surrendered included two hundred and sixteen cannon, 
 eighteen mortars, about twelve thousand rounds of shot and sliell, and 
 large quantities of ammunition for small-arms. The settlers, as a whole, 
 appear to have been undisturbed in their lands and possessions, biit the 
 official correspondence mentions that twenty German families (Protes- 
 tant) were removed to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, then as now the leatling 
 German settlement in the province. During the progress of the siege 
 most of the deserters to the British were (iermans, who had doubtless 
 been forced into the French service. 
 
 The victory was a most important one, and was the first of the closing 
 acts of the tragedy of the Seven Years War. It practically annihilated 
 a French army and a French fleet; it wholly freed the Atlantic seaboard 
 from the presence of the enemy ; and it enabled the British government 
 to devote its energies to the conquest of la NnuDelle France. The 
 bloody defeat of Aberconiby at Ticonderoga on the 8th of -Inly only 
 accentuated the import uice of the cajiture of Louisbourg ; despite stich 
 a check, success followed so close to Andierst and Wolfe that in little 
 over a year British colours were flying over the ramparts of Quebec, 
 and Canada was practically lost to France. The capture of Louisbourg 
 in 1743 was a brilliant incident ; in 1753 it was a decisive event. 
 
 The official despatch announcing the victory reached England on the 
 18th of August, and evoked unbounded enthusiasm and demonstrations 
 of joy. (Japtains Andierst and Edgecumbe, who brought the news, each 
 receiveil £500 from the king ; a general thanksgiving service was held in 
 every church in England ; congratulatory addresses to His Majesty jKiured 
 in from almost every city and town in the kingdom ; and on the 7th of 
 September, the French colours given up after the capitulation were 
 formally presented to the king, and then with greit ceremony escorted 
 to St. Paul's Cathedral, and deposited there for the nation. Bosi3awen 
 and Amherst received the high honour of the official thanks of the 
 Parliament of Great Britain, while Wolfe was promoted to the rank of 
 
60 Louisuouuu : an histouicai- sketch. 
 
 major-general, and his brilliant and heroic servicer through' mt the siege 
 resulted in his appointment to the chief command of tl)e great expedition 
 which immediately followed. Equally hearty was the joy in I5ritish 
 America on receipt of the news. New York, Hoston and Philadelphia 
 vied with each other in demonstrations of pleasure, although, as 
 I'arkman tells u?», in lioston " certain jealous souls protested against 
 " celebrating a victory won by British regulars, and not by New England 
 " men." But miserable curs such as these were strongly in the minority, 
 and their whinings were little heeded. Wherever Britons and loyal 
 subjects lived, and in every camp and garri.son in British America, there 
 was loud and heartfelt rejoicing. 
 
 The war over, Wolfe was the first to leave for new fieULs of activity ; 
 with two regiments he sailed for Gaspo on the 28th of July. On the 
 following day other battalions left for Halifax and more distant point-s, 
 leaving a permanent garrison in Louisbourg of four regiments of the 
 lino, — the 22nd, 28th, 40th, and 45th, — all ujider command of Biigadier 
 AVhitmore. The fortress had lield out too long to i)ermit of the attack 
 on Quebec in that .season, but during the following winter and spring all 
 needful preparations were made towards tiiis crowning event. Louis- 
 bourg was the rendezvous, and on the 18th of May 1759, a superb fleet 
 — representative of the best of England's naval and military services — 
 entered the harbour. Here they remained over a fortnight, awaiting the 
 arrival of the contingent from the New England colonies. During this 
 time a special corps was formed from the garrison which had occupied 
 the fortress during the |)receding winter ; this c^rps was made up of the 
 grenadier companies of the 22nd, 40lh and 45th reginii-nts, and was 
 called " The Louisbourg Grenadiers." On the 1st of June, the imposing 
 flotilla sailed for the scenes of its coming triumph.s. 
 
 The garrison left in Louisbiurg must hive chafed bitterly under the 
 inaction to which they were condemned while their late comrades were 
 winning fame and glory in the west ; but there was no redress. 
 Another winter was spent in the historic town, the last in its history 
 as a fortress. Quebec h id fallen, and Halifa.v had been established as 
 the naval centre of Nova Scotia, and the new acquisition.s of territory to 
 the north and west ; so the demolition of the fortress of Louisbourg 
 was decided on, and in the following March a coin[)any of Royal Sappers 
 and Miners was despatched from Portsmouth to blow up the fortifications. 
 Two of the infantry regiments in the garri.son, the 22nd and 40th, were 
 sent to join Amherst's army before Montreal ; the remaining one, the 
 45th, furnished daily working parties to assist the miners in their work 
 
LouisBf)uno : an historical sketch. fil 
 
 of (lostruction. The fortiKcntiona were utterly deniolished, ami the 
 huge ditch filled M'ith the debris ; while everything of use and value, — 
 store?, guns, ammunition and the like, — were taken to Halifax. The 
 work was slow but sure, and the result was thus curtly announced in 
 the GeutJemana Maqazini'. h^v Decendier, 1760: "On October 17 the 
 "Inst blast was given to the compleat demolition of the fortifications of 
 " Louisbourg." 
 
 liut tlie dismantling of the fortifications did not necessitate the 
 immediate abandonment of the jjlaco as a military station. Lieut.-Col. 
 Tullfskin of the 45th regiment, remained in command of a garrison of 
 three hundred men, and the town — such as it was — continued to hold 
 chief honours in the island. A barracks, hos|)ital and a lunnber of 
 private buildings liad been allowed to remain, and in Se])tember, 1762, 
 the garrison participated in the successful exi)edition against St. Johns, 
 Newfoundland, which had been captured by the French in th(! previous 
 June ; on the conclusion of hostilities the detachment returned to its 
 former quarters in the ruined fortress. Even this small reminder of its 
 former greiitness as a garri.son town soon disappeared. In 1 768 the troops 
 —at that time of the o9th regiment, under Major Milward— wore ordered 
 to Halifax en roufe for Boston, where the turbulence which preceded i\w 
 rebellion was becoming offensive to the authorities. This left only 
 twenty-.six houses occupied in the town ; and, indeed, there were not 
 many more fit for residential purposes. Of the one hundred and forty- 
 two l)uildings which remained standing, sixty-nine were unfit for habita- 
 tion, and sixty required repairs, leaving only thirteen in thoroughly good 
 condition. It was still the capital of Cape Breton, but its power and 
 influence had sunk to almost the lowest possible point ; a marked 
 instance of this retention of cajiital honours hand-in-hand with extreme 
 l)overty in population and influence is mentioned in Brown's history of 
 the island, in that one resident, named Cottnam, gradually aw^uired in 
 his own person a monopoly of almost all the oflicial positions of authority 
 and trust. By December, 1775, he hail attained the height of dizzy fame 
 in representing, at one and the .same time, the Navy, the Army, and the 
 Law ; he was Naval Officer an<l Collector of Excise, Major-Commandant 
 of Militia, Custo.lian of Fortifications and Public Buildings, Judge of 
 Court of Common Pleas, Justice of the Peace, Stipendiary Magistrate, 
 Commissioner for A.ssessing Taxes for Support of Militia, and Deputy 
 to grant Passports. But even this shred of honour as capital of the 
 island was taken away in 1784, when Cape Breton was separated 
 politically from Nova Scotia, and formed into a new province. A 
 
C2 LOUISDOUHO : AX IIISTOHICAL SKETCH. 
 
 lieutt;niiiit-gov«rnor was appointed in the pcrsui of Miijnr Desbiirrres, 
 who had served with distinction in the second siej^'c of I.ouisboni'},' ; he 
 •liscnich'd that ruined and ahnost deserted town, and chose for iiis 
 capital a site at tiin liead of tlie soutii arm of the Spanish river, 
 cidlin},' tlie new vilIai,'o Sydney, in honour of the tiieii Secretary of State. 
 Tiiis was the tiiushin^ hlow to the fortunes of Louishourj,', and for the 
 century and more wliich have since passi-d, the historic old place has 
 slumbered out her existence as a petty Hshing village. Of late, signs of 
 a new life have been apparent ; and possibly the twentieth century may 
 see the harbour ami its ruggt-d shores as busy and alive with men and 
 ships as they were in the eighteenth, but ditferently employed. (Jom- 
 nierce, not war, will be the motive power ; yet whatever changes may 
 take place, the long past glories of the town can never be blotted out. 
 The thoughts of soldier and student will alike go back to the days when 
 the sharp crack of musketry and the heavy thunder of cannon sounded 
 day after day over these waters and hills ; when these shores were 
 trodden by men whose names are among the most honoured in Ihiiish 
 naval and military annals ; and when on this now shattered ami useless 
 fortress hinged the fate of half a continent. 
 
 Apart from the iirovidentiid intervention which seems to have been 
 specially exert(!tl on beiialf of the expedition and siege of 174.'), and 
 against the great French armament of the following year, the result of 
 botlj sieges must be accounted for by the etticiency and valour of the 
 British navy, and the thorough mastery it had over the sea-roails of 
 north-eastern America. In this I imply no disparagement to the armies 
 who fought Britain's battles in He Itoi/ale, both from Old P^ngland and 
 from her American colonies ; their courage was of the highest type, 
 and under leaders such as Pepperrell and Vaughan in '4.5, and Wolfe 
 and Andierst in '58, they were worthy types of that matchless infantry, 
 whose pro\ve>s and steadfastness have been immorta'ized l)y Najiier. 
 But the French ilefenders showed ecpial bravery and eijual powers of 
 endurance ; while the energies of their naval forces .^eemcd paralyzed by 
 the vigour and dashing courage f)f the seanien who fought under St. 
 George's Cross. As was the case half a century later, the Ihitons 
 blockadeil their oppouents in port, or went in and fought them ship 
 by shij), or cruised ab'iut the coast seeking their adversaries. The 
 records of naval history, our patriotism, and our pride of race unite in 
 giving force to the claim that the best men won ; and their winning 
 did much towards giving us the Canada of to-day.