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    Louisbourg 1758: Wolfe’s first siege
    Louisbourg 1758: Wolfe’s first siege
    Louisbourg 1758: Wolfe’s first siege
    Ebook220 pages1 hour

    Louisbourg 1758: Wolfe’s first siege

    By René Chartrand and Patrice Courcelle

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    Featuring information from a previously unpublished journal, an illustrated account of this strategically important battle in Canada.

    Louisbourg represented a major threat to Anglo-American plans to invade Canada. Bypassing it would leave an immensely powerful enemy base astride the Anglo-American lines of communication – Louisbourg had to be taken. Faced with strong beach defences and rough weather, it took six days to land the troops, and it was only due to a stroke of daring on the part of a young brigadier named James Wolfe, who managed to turn the French beach position, that this was achieved.

    The story is largely based on firsthand accounts from the journals of several participants, including French Governor Drucour's, whose excellent account has never been published.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateMar 20, 2013
    ISBN9781472803108
    Louisbourg 1758: Wolfe’s first siege
    Author

    René Chartrand

    RENÉ CHARTRAND was born in Montreal and educated in Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. A senior curator with Canada's National Historic Sites for nearly three decades, he is now a freelance writer and historical consultant. He has written numerous articles and books including over 50 Osprey titles. He lives in Quebec, with his wife and two sons.

    Read more from René Chartrand

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      Book preview

      Louisbourg 1758 - René Chartrand

      portrait)

      ORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN

      LOUISBOURG: A MILITARY AND ECONOMIC STRONGHOLD

      Isle Royale protects all the French trade in North America, and is of no small consequence to the trade they conduct further south. If they [the French] had nothing in this part of the world, their ships which come back from Saint-Domingue [Haiti] or Martinique, would not be safe on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, especially in times of war. Finally, being at the entrance of the gulf [of St Lawrence], she controls totally that river.

      This description of the importance of Isle Royale (or Cape Breton Island) in the Lettres et Mémoires (1760) of Thomas Pichon sums up perfectly the strategic importance of Cape Breton Island during the reigns of Louis XV of France and George II of Great Britain. Louisbourg, the capital of the French colony of Isle Royale, took on a pivotal role in the great contest for the domination of North America: whoever controlled the island and the fortress of Louisbourg had the key to New France.

      Cape Breton Island was known to European sailors from the turn of the 16th century, and some believe it was discovered by John Cabot. Certainly, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese sailors frequented the area, and in the 1520s a Portuguese colony was apparently attempted but it failed. There were subsequently a few modest, short-lived settlements. The European presence was basically seasonal as it was based on exploiting the fisheries. The first recorded European visit to what would become Louisbourg harbor was by the Englishman Captain Charles Leigh in the Chancewell on 7 July 1597. The place became known as Havre à L’Anglois (English Harbor).

      The history of the French on Cape Breton Island is interlinked with that of the early French settlements in Acadia (which roughly encompassed western Nova Scotia and eastern New Brunswick) and Placentia (southern Newfoundland). The first French settlements were established by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain at Isle Sainte-Croix (near St Andrews, New Brunswick) in 1603. He moved on to build an enclosed habitation at Port Royal (near Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia) in 1604, and founded Quebec in 1608. From that time small settlements were established in what the French called Acadia. Times were often turbulent for these settlers. The original Port Royal was destroyed in 1613 by English colonial privateers from Virginia, but the settlement was rebuilt nearby and prospered. Over the years, Acadia was subject to various attacks and invasions by New Englanders, and also suffered occasional civil strife. During the 1660s and 1670s, Louis XIV took some measures to consolidate the French positions in Acadia and installed a permanent station on the southern coast of Newfoundland to protect French interests in the Grand Bank fisheries. By the 1680s, permanent garrisons of colonial troops were being established, both in Acadia and Placentia, and ships going back and forth from Europe to North America and the West Indies made frequent stopovers.

      The wars between the French and English during the 1690s and early 1700s brought much military activity to the area. Port Royal and Placentia were attacked several times, first by the New Englanders alone and, eventually, with help from Britain. For all that, the French gave as good as they got. The frontier of Maine was devastated by the Chevalier de Saint-Castin and his Abenakis and Micmac Indian allies; the English fishery stations in Newfoundland were devastated and St John’s captured by the French. Eventually, Port Royal, the capital of Acadia, was captured by a large combined British and New England force in 1710 and renamed Annapolis Royal.

      The Treaty of Utrecht, signed in 1713 between Britain and France, conceded Acadia (which confirmed it as Nova Scotia) and Newfoundland to Britain. France, however, kept Cape Breton Island and Isle Saint-Jean (the future Prince Edward Island). In July 1713, some 150 French colonists sailed from Placentia to Isle Royale, as Cape Breton Island was now rebaptized and resettled at the most likely harbor, Havre à L’Anglois, now renamed Port Saint-Louis. There were other settlements in the years to follow, notably at Port Toulouse (now St Peter’s) and Port Dauphin (St Ann’s), but in 1719, Port Saint-Louis was renamed Louisbourg and a fortress and naval base erected. They were inaugurated in 1720 and, for the next 23 years, a town surrounded by substantial fortifications rose.

      Apparently, when presented with more bills to pay for Louisbourg’s construction, Louis XV once said that he expected to see its spires from Versailles’ windows. The story is, no doubt, apocryphal. For all the expenses recorded, it was only a small part of France’s vast expenditure on works on dozens of other fortresses at the time. And even then, Louisbourg never had a real citadel. True, Louisbourg did not come cheap, but on the other hand, it was a commercial success. It provided French Grand Banks fishermen with a secure harbor and their activities, which had been ruined during Queen Anne’s War, were totally restored by 1718 and expanded thereafter. In spite of having a short season, Louisbourg’s harbor became the scene of intense maritime traffic from France, Canada, the West Indies and the British 13 colonies – these last included a fair amount of smuggling.

      The Habitation of Port Royal, built by Samuel de Champlain in 1604, was the nucleus to the French settlements on Canada’s Atlantic coast, a presence which ended with the capture of Louisbourg in 1758. (Print after Champlain)

      Three medals marked "Lusovicoburgum Fundatum et Munitum M DCC XX" (Louisbourg founded and armed 1720) with the profile of young King Louis XV. They were found in the cornerstone of the King’s Bastion, encased in a rectangle of leather-covered wood. (Fortress Louisbourg National Historic Site, Louisbourg, Nova Scotia)

      TAKEN AND HANDED BACK

      By the 1740s, the town had grown to about 4,000 souls and had, according to some accounts, become the fourth busiest harbor in North America. The New Englanders hated the outright competition, and one suspects the Bible-quoting volunteers who, almost incredibly, took Louisbourg in 1745, also wanted to appropriate this exceptionally good commercial port. The town’s population was deported to France while Britain immediately posted a strong garrison there. France wanted Louisbourg back and in 1746, sent out a fleet under the Duke d’Anville carrying five battalions and a train of artillery. It was cursed by bad luck and dispersed by a hurricane. D’Anville and many men subsequently died of sickness and the remnants limped back to France.

      By the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Fortress Louisbourg was returned to France. It seems the British wanted Madras (India) back as it had been captured by the French. Needless to say, the New Englanders were not amused and indeed quite bitter. This reaffirmed that Louisbourg was more than just a successful commercial port, it was a strategic naval base which could command the North Atlantic if a strong enough fleet was posted there. It was the sentry to Canada and its vast expanses deep into North America. The French doubled the garrison and, from then on, sizable French warships patrolled the waters around Isle Royale. However, Louisbourg’s fortifications benefited from only summary repairs. The emphasis was on rebuilding trade and commerce and, within a few years, the town was flourishing again with a population of about 4,500 souls.

      A view of Fortress Louisbourg in 1731. Less than a dozen years after its foundation, the town flourished and had achieved the general appearance it would keep until July 1758. (Print after Verrier)

      Although they seemed formidable, Louisbourg’s fortifications had many defects. The masonry was crumbling in many of the existing works and needed repair. In 1754, Col. Franquet, a senior engineer, was sent to the fortress to improve it. His efforts were generally ineffective as the French government would not grant enough money. To be truly safe, the Royal Battery would require major defenses on its landward side. A strong fort should be built on Lighthouse Point to fully secure

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