Louisburg.
The fortress of Louisburg, on the Island of Cape Breton, was built by the French soon after the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713. Its cost was great, its strength enormous, and so long as the French held it it was a source of annoyance to New England and of support to Canada. When, in 1746, France declared war against Great Britain Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, perceived the great importance of driving the French from it. He proposed to the Massachusetts legislature the bold project of attempting its capture, and after some hesitation a colonial expedition for the purpose was authorized, Jan. 25, 1745, by a vote of a majority of one. A circular letter, soliciting aid, was sent to all the colonies as far south as Pennsylvania. The latter voted £ 4,000 currency, to purchase provisions. New Jersey furnished £ 2,000 towards the expedition, but declined to furnish any men. The New York Assembly contributed £ 3,000 currency, but Governor Clinton sent, besides, a quantity of provisions purchased by private subscription and ten 18-pounders from the public magazine. Connecticut voted 500 men, led by Roger Wolcott, who was appointed second in command of the expedition. Rhode Island and New Hampshire each raised a regiment of 300 men. As was to be expected, the chief burden of the expedition was borne by Massachusetts. Much interest was manifested everywhere. In seven weeks an army of 3,250 men was enlisted, transports were procured, and an ample quantity of bills of credit issued to pay the expense. Massachusetts provided ten armed vessels. The chief command of the expedition was given to William Pepperell, of Maine. Whitefield, who was then making his third preaching tour throughout the colonies, successfully advocated the expedition, and suggested the motto of the New Hampshire regimental flag— “Nil desperandum Christo duce” ( “Nothing is to be despaired of with Christ for a leader” ). It assumed the character of an anti-papist crusade. One of the chaplains, a disciple of Whitefield, carried a hatchet, provided to hew down all images in the French churches. “Louisburg must be subdued,” was the thought of the New-Englanders. Commodore Warren, in the West Indies, refused to co-operate with his fleet until he received express orders to do so. The expedition sailed from Boston, April 4, 1745, and at Canseau they were unexpectedly joined by Warren on May 9. The combined forces (4,000 troops) landed, April 30, at Gabarus Bay, not far from Louisburg, and their sudden appearance there was the first intimation the French had of the near approach of danger. Consternation prevailed in the fortress and town. The cannon on shore, commanded by Richard Gridley, were dragged, with provisions, on sledges, over a morass; trenches were dug, batteries were erected, and a regular siege was commenced on May 1 (N. S.). Commodore Warren captured a French man-of-war of sixty-four guns, with over 500 men and a large quantity of stores for the garrison. Other English vessels of war arrived, and the fleet and army prepared to make a final and combined assault. The French, despairing of receiving any aid from France, surrendered the fortress and town of Louisburg and the island of Cape Breton to the English on June 17, after a siege of forty-eight days. The island of St. John was also surrendered. The capitulation included 650 soldiers of the garrison and 1.300 inhabitants of the town of Louisburg, all of whom were to be shipped to France. The British government reimbursed the expenses of the expedition incurred by Massachusetts, and in 1748 restored the post to the French. [481]The capture of Louisburg was Lord Loudoun's first care in the campaign of 1757. He found himself at the head of 6,000 provincials on June 1. He sailed from New York on the 20th, and arrived at Halifax on the 30th, where he was joined by Admiral Holborne, with a powerful naval armament and 5,000 troops from England. The combined forces were about to sail for Louisburg when information reached Loudoun that 6,000 troops were in the fortress there, and that a French fleet, larger than that of the English, was lying in that harbor. The latter had gained this position while the indolent Loudoun was moving with his accustomed slowness. The enterprise was abandoned, and Loudoun returned to New York (Aug. 31) with intelligence that had met him on the way of defeat and disgrace to the English arms in the north.
The zeal of the New Englanders, in 1758, in raising a force for a second attack on Louisburg was intense. Massachusetts voted 7,000 men, besides 600 maintained for frontier defence. The advances made by the province during that year were not less than $1,000,000. Connecticut voted 5,000 men, and New Hampshire and Rhode Island furnished 1,000 more between them. The people were alive with enthusiasm, and the New England provinces raised 15,000 men. Boscawen arrived at Halifax early in May, with about forty armed vessels, bearing a land force of over 12,000 men, under General Amherst as chief, and General Wolfe as his lieutenant. The armament left Halifax May 28, and the troops landed on the shores of Gabarus Bay, June 8, without much opposition, within a short distance of the fort. Alarmed by this unexpected and powerful display, the French almost immediately deserted their outposts, and retired within the fortress and the town. They made a vigorous resistance to the besiegers for almost fifty days. When all the shipping in the harbor was lost to the French, they surrendered the town, the fort, the islands of Cape Breton and St. John (now Prince Edward), and their dependencies, July 26, 1758. The garrison became prisoners of war. The spoils of victory were more than 5,000 prisoners and a large amount of munitions of war. The garrison lost about 1,500 men, and the town was made a ruin. So ended the attempts of the French to settle in and near the Gulf of St. Lawrence. That region passed into the permanent possession of the English. With the fall of Louisburg the power of France in America began to wane, and its decline was rapid.
Louisiana, State of
