Fortress of Louisbourg

British forces besieging Louisbourg in 1745. The British captured the fortress, but returned it to the French at the end of the War of Austrian Succession.

The Fortress was besieged in 1745 by a New England force backed by a Royal Navy squadron. The New England attackers succeeded when the fortress capitulated on June 16, 1745. A major expedition by the French to recapture the fortress led by Jean-Baptiste de La Rochefoucauld de Roye, duc d'Anville, the following year was destroyed by storms, disease and British naval attacks before it ever reached the fortress.

In 1748, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession, restored Louisbourg to France in return for territory gained in the Austrian Netherlands and the British trading post at Madras in India. Maurepas, the ministre de la marine, was determined to have it back. He regarded the fortified harbour as essential to maintaining French dominance in the fisheries of the area. The disgust of the French in this transaction was matched by that of the English colonists. The New England forces left, taking with them the famous Louisbourg Cross, which had hung in the fortress chapel. This cross was rediscovered in the Harvard University archives only in the latter half of the 20th century; it is now on long-term loan to the Louisbourg historic site.

Having given up Louisbourg, Britain in 1749 created its own fortified town on Chebucto Bay which they named Halifax. It soon became the largest Royal Navy base on the Atlantic coast and hosted large numbers of British army regulars. The 29th Regiment of Foot was stationed there; they cleared the land for the port and settlement.

View of Louisbourg when the city was besieged by British forces in 1758

Britain's American colonies were expanding into areas claimed by France by the 1750s, and the efforts of French forces and their First Nation allies to seal off the westward passes and approaches through which American colonists could move west soon led to the skirmishes that developed into the French and Indian War in 1754. The conflict widened into the larger Seven Years' War by 1756, which involved all of the major European powers.

A large-scale French naval deployment in 1757 fended off an attempted assault by the British in 1757. However, inadequate naval support the following year allowed a large British combined operation led by Brigadier General James Wolfe to land for the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg which ended after a siege of six weeks on 26 July 1758, with a French surrender.[4] The fortress was used by the British as a launching point for its 1759 Siege of Quebec that culminated in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.

The fortifications at Louisbourg were systematically destroyed by British engineers in 1760 to prevent the town and port from being used in the future by the French, should the peace process return Cape Breton island to France. The British kept a garrison at Louisbourg until 1768.[5] Some of the cut-stones from Louisbourg were shipped to Halifax to be re-used and, in the 1780s, to Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Commodore Charles Knowles Portrait of him when Governor of Louisburg, hangs in Portsmouth Athenæum

• Philippe Pastour de Costebelle (1714-1717)
• Joseph de St. Ovide, Monbeton de Brouillan (1717-1739)[6]
• Isaac-Louis de Forant (1739-1740)[7]
• Jean-Baptiste Prévost du Quesnel (1740-1744)[8]
• Louis Du Pont Duchambon de Vergor (1744-1745)
• Antoine Le Moyne de Châteauguay (1745)
• Charles Knowles (1745-1747)
• Peregrine Thomas Hopson (1747-1748)
• Charles des Herbiers de La Ralière (1748-1751)[9]
• Jean-Louis de Raymond (1751-1753)[10]
• Augustin de Boschenry de Drucour (1754-1758)

Beginning in 1961, the Government of Canada rebuilt one-quarter of the town, and its fortifications.

The site of the fortress was designated a National Historic Site in 1920.[11] Beginning in 1961, the government of Canada undertook a historical reconstruction of one quarter of the town and fortifications with the aim being to recreate Louisbourg as it would have been at its height in the 1740s. The work required an interdisciplinary effort by archeologists, historians, engineers, and architects. The reconstruction was aided by unemployed coal miners from the industrial Cape Breton area, many of whom learned French masonry techniques from the 18th century and other skills to create an accurate replica. Where possible, many of the original stones were used in the reconstruction.

Dozens of researchers worked on the project over a span of five decades. They included British-born archeologists Bruce W. Fry and Charles Lindsay; and Canadian historians B. A. Balcom, Kenneth Donovan, Brenda Dunn, John Fortier, Margaret Fortier, Allan Greer, A.J.B. Johnston, Eric Krause, Anne Marie Lane Jonah, T.D. MacLean, Christopher Moore, Robert J. Morgan, Christian Pouyez and Gilles Proulx. There were many more. Among the architects, Yvon LeBlanc, one of the first Acadian architects, was responsible for most of the town-site buildings, with input from researchers who contributed to various committees.

A demonstration of cannons used in the 18th century at the Fortress.

Today, the entire site of the fortress, including the one-quarter reconstruction, is the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada, operated by Parks Canada. Offerings include guided and unguided tours, and the demonstration and explanation of period weapons, including muskets and a cannon. Puppet shows are also shown. The Museum / Caretakers Residence (ca. 1935-6) within the site is a Classified Federal Heritage Building.[12] The fortress has also greatly aided the local economy of the town of Louisbourg, as it has struggled to diversify economically with the decline of the North Atlantic fishery.

On 5 May 1995, Canada Post issued the 'Fortress of Louisbourg' series to mark the 275th anniversary of the official founding of the fortress, the 250th anniversary of the siege by the New Englanders, the 100th anniversary of the commemoration by the Society of Colonial Wars, and the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the Sydney and Louisburg Railway (S & L). The Fortress of Louisbourg series includes: 'The Harbour and Dauphin Gate',[13] '18th Century Louisbourg';[14] 'The King's Bastion';[15] 'The King's Garden, Convent, Hospital, and British Barracks'[16] and 'The Fortifications and Ruins Fronting the Sea and Rochfort Point'[17] The 43¢ stamps were designed by Rolf P. Harder.

The museum that operates from the Fortress is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

Population of Louisbourg in 1750, with other settlements on Cape Breton Island also pictured.

The population of Louisbourg quickly grew. In 1719, 823 people called this maritime city their home. Seven years later, in 1726, the population was 1,296, in 1734 it was 1,616, and by 1752, the population of Louisbourg was 4,174.[21] Of course, population growth did not come without consequences. Smallpox ravaged the population in 1731 and 1732,[22] but Louisbourg continued to grow, especially economically.

[23]

Depiction of the Port of Louisbourg prior to the fortress's dismantling by the British. At the time, the settlement was the third busiest port in North America.

Louisbourg was a large enough city to have a commercial district, a residential district, military arenas, marketplaces, inns, taverns and suburbs, as well as skilled labourers to fill all of these establishments.[24]^:3 For the French, it was the second most important stronghold and commercial city in New France. Only Quebec was more important to France.[25]

Unlike most other cities in New France, Louisbourg did not rely on agriculture or the seigneurial system.[18] Louisbourg itself was a popular port and was the third busiest port in North America (after Boston and Philadelphia.)[26] It was also popular for its exporting of fish, and other products made from fish, such as cod-liver oil. The North Atlantic fishing trade employed over ten thousand people, and Louisbourg was seen as the ‘nursery for seamen.’ Louisbourg was an important investment for the French government because it gave them a strong commercial and military foothold in the Grand Banks. For France, the fishing industry was more lucrative than the fur trade.[27] In 1731, Louisbourg fishermen exported 167,000 quintals of cod and 1600 barrels of cod-liver oil. There were roughly 400 shallop-fishing vessels out each day vying for the majority of the days catch. Also, 60 to 70 ocean-going schooners would head out from Louisbourg to catch fish further down the coast.[28] Louisbourg's commercial success was able to bring ships from Europe, The West Indies, Quebec, Acadia, and New England.[26]

The fortifications that surrounded the settlement of Louisbourg originally took 28 years to build.

Louisbourg was also known for its fortifications, which took the original French builders 28 years to complete. The engineer behind the project was Jean-Francois du Vergery de Verville. Verville picked Louisbourg as his location because of its natural barriers.[29] The fort itself cost France 30 million French livres, which prompted King Louis XV to joke that he should be able to see the peaks of the buildings from his Palace in Versaille.[30] The original budget for the fort was four million livres.[31] Two and a half miles of wall surrounded the entire fort. On the western side of the fort, the walls were 30 feet (9.1 m) high, and 36 feet (11 m) across, protected by a wide ditch and ramparts.

The city had four gates that led into the city. The Dauphin Gate, which is currently reconstructed, was the busiest, leading to the extensive fishing compounds around the harbour and to the main road leading inland. The Frederick Gate, also reconstructed, was the waterfront entrance. The Maurepas Gate, facing the narrows, connected the fishing establishments, dwellings and cemeteries on Rocheford Point and was elaborately decorated as it was very visible to arriving ships. The Queen's Gate on the sparsely populated seaward side saw little use. Louisbourg was also home to six bastions, two of which have been reconstructed: the Dauphin bastion, commonly referred to as a 'demi-bastion' because of its modification; the King's bastion; the Queen's bastion; the Princess bastion; the Maurepas bastion; and the Brouillon bastion. On the eastern side of the fort, 15 guns pointed out to the harbour. The wall on this side was only 16 feet (4.9 m) high and 6 feet (1.8 m) across.

Dauphin Gate is one of four gateways into the fortified town.

Louisbourg was one of the "largest military garrisons in all of New France", and many battles were fought and lives lost here because of it.[24]^:3 The fort had the embrasures to mount 148 guns; however, historians have estimated that only 100 embrasures had cannons mounted. Disconnected from the main fort, yet still a part of Louisbourg, a small island in the harbour entrance was also fortified. The walls on the Island Battery were 10 feet (3.0 m) high, and 8 feet (2.4 m) thick. Thirty-one 24-pound guns were mounted facing the harbour. The island itself was small, with room for only a few small ships to dock there.[32] An even larger fortified battery, the Royal Battery, was located across the harbour from the town and mounted 40 guns to protect the harbour entrance.

The Louisbourg hospital was the finest hospital in North America and the second-largest building in the fort town.[33][34] The hospital had a tall spire that would rival that of the King's bastion and was run by the Brothers of Saint-Jean-de-Dieu.[35]