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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6e4f5c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50583 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50583) diff --git a/old/50583-0.txt b/old/50583-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4f29b15..0000000 --- a/old/50583-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3125 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Taking of Louisburg 1745, by Samuel Adams Drake - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Taking of Louisburg 1745 - -Author: Samuel Adams Drake - -Release Date: December 1, 2015 [EBook #50583] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TAKING OF LOUISBURG 1745 *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - [Illustration: W^m Pepperrell] - - _Decisive Events in American History_ - - - - - THE - TAKING OF LOUISBURG - 1745 - - - BY - SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE - AUTHOR OF “BURGOYNE’S INVASION OF 1777” ETC. - - - BOSTON MDCCCXCI - LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS - 10 MILK STREET NEXT “THE OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE” - NEW YORK CHAS. T. DILLINGHAM - 718 AND 720 BROADWAY - - Copyright, 1890, - By Lee and Shepard. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. Colonial Seacoast Defences 9 - II. Louisburg Revisited 13 - III. Louisburg to Solve Important Political and Military Problems 24 - IV. Résumé of Events to the Declaration of War 33 - V. “Louisburg must be taken” 46 - VI. The Army and its General 59 - VII. The Army at Canso 73 - VIII. The Siege 80 - IX. The Siege Continued 101 - X. Afterthoughts 126 - - [Illustration: ISLAND BATTERY, WITH LOUISBURG IN THE DISTANCE.] - - - - - THE TAKING OF LOUISBURG - 1745 - - - - - I - COLONIAL SEACOAST DEFENCES - - -The creation of great maritime fortresses, primarily designed to hold -with iron hand important highways of commerce, like Gibraltar, or simply -to guard great naval arsenals, like Kronstadt, or, again, placed where -some great river has cleft a broad path into the heart of a country, -thus laying it open to invasion, has long formed part of the military -policy of all maritime nations. - -In the New World the Spaniards were the first to emphasize their -adhesion to these essential principles by the erection of strongholds at -Havana, Carthagena, Porto Bello, and Vera Cruz, not more to guarantee -the integrity of their colonial possessions, than to protect themselves -against the rapacity of the titled freebooters of Europe, to whom the -treasure fleets of Mexico and the East offered a most alluring prey. -When Spain carried the purse, all the crowned heads of Europe seem to -have turned highwaymen. - -With this single exception the seaboard defences of the Atlantic coast, -even as late as the middle of the eighteenth century, were of the most -trivial character, nor was it owing to any provision for defence that -the chief ports of the English colonies enjoyed the long immunity they -did. England left her colonies to stand or fall upon their own -resources. Fortunate beyond expectation, they simply throve by neglect. -France, with a widely different colonial policy, did a little better, -but with a niggardly hand, while her system was squeezing the life-blood -out of her colonists, drop by drop. Had there been a Drake or a Hawkins -in the Spanish service, Spain might easily have revenged all past -affronts by laying desolate every creek and harbor of the unprotected -North Atlantic coast. She had the armed ports, as we have just shown. -She had the ships and sailors. What, then, was to have prevented her -from destroying the undefended villages of Charleston, Philadelphia, New -York, and Boston? - -Though she set about it so tardily, France was at length compelled to -adopt a system of defence for Canada, or see Canada wrested from her -control. In a most sweeping sense the St. Lawrence was the open gateway -of Canada. There was absolutely no other means of access to all its vast -territory except through the long, little known, and scarce-travelled -course of the Mississippi—a route which, for many reasons besides its -isolation, removed it from consideration as an avenue of attack. - -Quebec was as truly the heart of Canada as the St. Lawrence was its -great invigorating, life-giving artery. It is true that Quebec began to -assume at a very early day something of its later character as half -city, half fortress, but the views of its founders were unquestionably -controlled as much by the fact of remoteness from the sea, as by -Quebec’s remarkable natural capabilities for blocking the path to an -enemy. - -Yet even before the memorable and decisive battle on the Plains of -Abraham, by which Canada was lost to France forever, the St. Lawrence -had been thrice ascended by hostile fleets, and Quebec itself once taken -by them. Mere remoteness was thus demonstrated to be no secure safeguard -against an enterprising enemy. But what if that enemy should seize and -fortify the mouth of the St. Lawrence itself? He would have put a -tourniquet upon the great artery, to be tightened at his pleasure, and -the heart of the colony, despite its invulnerable shield, would beat -only at his dictation. - -We will now pass on to the gradual development of this idea in the minds -of those who held the destiny of Canada in their keeping. - - - - - II - LOUISBURG REVISITED - - -The annals of a celebrated fortress are sure to present some very -curious and instructive phases of national policy and character. Of none -of the fortresses of colonial America can this be said with greater -truth than of Louisburg, once the key and stronghold of French power in -Canada. - -No historic survey can be called complete which does not include the -scene itself. Nowhere does the reality of history come home to us with -such force, or leave such deep, abiding impressions, as when we stand -upon ground where some great action has been performed, or reach a spot -hallowed by the golden memories of the past. It gives tone, color, -consistency to the story as nothing else can, and, for the time being, -we almost persuade ourselves that we, too, are actors in the great drama -itself. - -The Cape Breton Coast. - -It is doubtless quite true that the first impressions one gets when -coming into Louisburg from sea must be altogether disappointing. Indeed, -speaking for myself, I had formed a vague notion, I know not how, that I -was going to see another Quebec, or, at least, something quite like that -antique stronghold, looming large in the distance, just as the history -of the fortress itself looms up out of its epoch. On the contrary, we -saw a low, tame coast, without either prominent landmark or seamark to -denote the harbor, except to those who know every rock and tree upon it, -lifting nowhere the castellated ruins that one’s eyes are strained to -seek, and chiefly formidable now on account of the outlying shoals, -sunken reefs, and intricate passages that render the navigation both -difficult and dangerous to seamen. - -Lighthouse Point. - -On drawing in toward the harbor, we pass between a cluster of three -small, rocky islets at the left hand, one of which is joined to that -shore by a sunken reef; and a rocky point, of very moderate elevation, -at the right, on which the harbor lighthouse stands, the ship channel -being thus compressed to a width of half a mile between the innermost -island and point. - -The harbor is so spacious as to seem deserted, and so still as to seem -oppressive. - -Island Battery. - -The island just indicated was, in the days of the Anglo-French struggles -here, the key to this harbor, but the opposite point proved the -master-key. Neither of the great war fleets that took part in the two -sieges of Louisburg ventured to pass the formidable batteries of that -island, commanding as they did the entrance at short range, and masking -the city behind them, until their fire had first been silenced from the -lighthouse point yonder. When that was done, Louisburg fell like the -ripe pear in autumn. - -Old Louisburg. - -The old French city and fortress, the approach to which this Island -Battery thus securely covered, rose at the southwest point of the -harbor, or on the opposite to the present town of Louisburg, which is a -fishing and coaling station for six months in the year, and for the -other six counts for little or nothing. In summer it is land-locked; in -winter, ice-locked. Pack ice frequently blockades the shores of the -whole island until May, and snow sometimes lies in the woods until June. -Yet in Cape Breton they call Louisburg an open harbor, and its choice as -the site for a fortress finally turned upon the belief that it was -accessible at all seasons of the year. As to that, we shall see later. - -Face of the Country. - -As for the country lying between Sydney and Louisburg, all travellers -agree in pronouncing it wholly without interesting features. And the few -inhabitants are scarcely more interesting than the country. In a word, -it is roughly heaved about in a series of shaggy ridges, sometimes -rising to a considerable height, through which the Mira, an arm of the -sea, forces its way at flood-tide. There is a settlement or two upon -this stream, as there was far back in the time of the French occupation, -but everything about the country wears a forlorn and unprosperous look; -the farms being few and far between, the houses poor, the land thin and -cold, and the people—I mean them no disparagement—much like the land, -from which they get just enough to live upon, and no more. Fortunately -their wants are few, and their habits simple. - -Remains of the Fortress. - -Louisburg is certainly well worth going nine hundred miles to see, but -when, at last, one stands on the grass-grown ramparts, and gets his -first serious idea of their amazing strength and extent, curiosity is -lost in wonder, wonder gives way to reflection, and reflection leads -straight to the question, “What do all these miles of earthworks mean?” -And I venture to make the assertion that no one who has ever been to -Louisburg will rest satisfied till he has found his answer. The story is -long, but one rises from its perusal with a clearer conception of the -nature of the struggle for the mastery of a continent. - -Perhaps the one striking thought about this place is its utter futility. -Man having no further use for it, nature quietly reclaims it for her own -again. Sheep now walk the ramparts instead of sentinels. - -Dominating Hills. - -Upon looking about him, one sees the marked feature of all this region -in the chain of low hills rising behind Louisburg. But a little back -from the coast the hills rise higher, are drawn more compactly together, -and assume the semi-mountainous character common to the whole island. - -Green Hill. - -As this chain of hills undulates along the coast here, sometimes bending -a little back from it, or again inclining out toward it, one of its -zigzags approaches within a mile of Louisburg. At this point, several -low, lumpy ridges push off for the seashore, through long reaches of -boggy moorland, now and then disappearing beneath a shallow pond or -stagnant pool, which lies glistening among the hollows between. Where it -is uneven the land is stony and unfertile; where level, it is a bog. -This rendered the land side as unfavorable to a besieging force as the -nest of outlying rocks and reefs did the sea approaches. A continued -rainfall must have made it wholly untenable for troops. - -The Fortified Line. - -It is one of these ridges just noticed as breaking away from the main -range toward the seashore, and so naturally bent, also, as to touch the -sea at one end and the harbor at the other, that the French engineers -converted into a regular fortification; while within the space thus -firmly enclosed by both nature and art, the old city of the lilies -stretched down a gentle, grassy slope to the harbor shore. - -Demolition of the City. - -Not one stone of this city remains upon another to-day. After the second -siege (1758) the English engineers were ordered to demolish it, and so -far as present appearances go, never was an order more effectually -carried out. All that one sees to-day, in room of it, is a poor fishing -hamlet, straggling along the edge of the harbor, the dwellings being on -one side, and the fish-houses and stages on the other side of the Sydney -road, which suddenly contracts into a lane, and then comes to an end, -along with the village itself, in a fisherman’s back-yard. - -Not so, however, with the still massive earthworks, for the British -engineers were only able, after many months’ labor, and with a liberal -use of powder, to partly execute the work of demolition assigned them. - -I spent several hours, at odd times, in wandering about these old ruins, -and could not help being thankful that for once, at least, the -destroying hand of man had been compelled to abandon its work to the -rains and frosts of heaven. - -Citadel or King’s Bastion. - -Beginning with the citadel, in which the formalities of the surrender -took place, I found it still quite well defined, although nothing now -remains above ground except some old foundation walls to show where long -ranges of stone buildings once stood. Here were the different military -offices, the officers’ quarters and the chapel. The shattered -bomb-proofs, however, were still distinguishable, though much choked up -with débris, and their well-turned arches remain to show how firmly the -solid masonry resisted the assaults of the engineers. In these damp -holes the women, children, and non-combatants passed most of the -forty-seven days of the siege. From this starting-point one may continue -the walk along the ramparts, without once quitting them, for fully a -mile, to the point where they touch the seashore among the inaccessible -rocks and heaving surf of the ocean itself. - -The Casemates. - -These ramparts nowhere rise more than fifty feet above the sea-level, -but are everywhere of amazing thickness and solidity. The moat was -originally eighty feet across, and the walls stood thirty feet above it, -but these dimensions have been much reduced by the work of time and -weather. A considerable part of the line was further defended by a -marsh, through which a storming column would have found it impossible to -advance, and hardly less difficult to make a retreat. The besiegers were -therefore obliged to concentrate their attack upon one or two points, -and these had been rendered the most formidable of the whole line in -consequence of the knowledge that the other parts were comparatively -unassailable. In other words, the besieged were able to control, in a -measure, where the besiegers should attack them. - -Natural Obstacles made use of. - -Although the partly ruined bomb-proofs are the only specimens of masonry -now to be seen in making this tour, the broad and deep excavation of the -moat and covered-way, and the clean, well-grassed slopes of the glacis, -promise to hold together for another century at least. Brambles and -fallen earth choke up the embrasures. It is necessary to use care in -order to avoid treading upon a toad or a snake while you are groping -among the mouldy casemates or when crossing the parade. Those magical -words “In the King’s name,” so often proclaimed here with salvos of -artillery, have now no echo except in the sullen dash of the sea against -the rocky shores outside the perishing fortress, and - - “What care these roarers for the name of King?” - -Graveyard, Point Rochefort. - -Still following the sheep-paths that zigzag about so as nearly to double -the distance, I next turned back toward the harbor, leaving on my right -the bleak and wind-swept field in which, to the lasting reproach of New -England, five hundred of her bravest sons lie without stone or monument -to mark their last resting-place. It is true that most of these men died -of disease, and not in battle; yet to see the place as I saw it, in all -its pitiful nakedness, isolation, and neglect, is the one thing at -Louisburg that a New Englander would gladly have missed; and he will be -very apt to walk on with a slower and less confident step, and with -something less of admiration for the glory which consigns men to such -oblivion as this. - -Royal Battery. - -To give anything like an adequate idea of how skilfully all the -peculiarities of the ground were in some cases made use of in forming -the defences, or in others, with equal art, overcome, would require a -long chapter to itself. In order to render the main fortress more -secure, the French engineer officers selected a spot three-fourths of a -mile above it, on the harbor shore, on which they erected a battery that -raked the open roadstead with its fire. It was a very strong factor in -the system of defences as against a sea attack. This isolated work was -called the Royal Battery, or in the English accounts, the Grand Battery. -Yet, so far from contributing to the successful defence of the fortress, -it became, in the hands of the besiegers, a powerful auxiliary to its -capture. But the whole system of defence here shows that the marshes -extending on the side of Gabarus Bay, where a landing was practicable -only in calm weather, were considered an insuperable obstacle to the -movements of artillery; and without artillery Louisburg could never have -been seriously attacked from the land side. Against a sea attack it was -virtually impregnable. - - - - - III - LOUISBURG TO SOLVE IMPORTANT POLITICAL AND MILITARY PROBLEMS - - -Having glanced at the purely military exigencies, which had at length -forced themselves upon the attention of French statesmen, and having -gone over the ground with the view of impressing its topographical -features more firmly in our minds, we may now look at the underlying -political and economic causes, out of which the French court finally -matured a scheme for the maintenance of their colonial possessions in -Canada in the broadest sense. - -French Colonial System. -Its Unsatisfactory Workings. - -In creating Louisburg the court of Versailles had far more extended -views than the building of a strong fortress to guard the gateway into -Canada would of itself imply. Unquestionably that was a powerful -inducement to the undertaking; but, in the beginning, it certainly -appears to have been only a secondary consideration. For a long time the -condition of affairs in the colony had been far from satisfactory, while -the future promised little that was encouraging. Compared with the -English colonies, its progress was slow, irregular, and unstable. -Agriculture was greatly neglected. So were manufactures. The home -government had exercised, from the first, a guardianship that in the -long run proved fatal to the growth of an independent spirit. There were -swarms of governmental and ecclesiastical dependents who laid hold of -the fattest perquisites, or else, through munificent and inconsiderate -grants obtained from the crown, enjoyed monopolies of trade to the -exclusion of legitimate competition. These leeches were sucking the -life-blood out of Canada. So far, then, from being a self-sustaining -colony, the annual disbursements of the crown were looked to as a means -to make good the deficiency arising between what the country produced -and what it consumed. Without protection the English colonies steadily -advanced in wealth and population; with protection, Canada, settled at -about the same time, scarcely held her own. - -Two very able and sagacious men, the intendants Raudot, were the first -who had the courage to lay before the court of Versailles the true -condition of affairs, and the ability to suggest a remedy for it. - -The Fur Trade Monopoly. - -These intendants represented that the fur trade had always engrossed the -attention of the Canadians, to the exclusion of everything else. Not -only had the beaver skin become the recognized standard for all -exchanges of values, but the estimated annual product of the country was -based upon it, very much as we should reckon the worth of the grain crop -to the United States to-day. It was also received in payment for -revenues. Now, after a long experience, what was the result of an -exclusive attention to this traffic? It was shown that the fur trade -enriched no one except a few merchants, who left the country as soon as -they had acquired the means of living at their ease in Old France. It -had, therefore, no element whatever of permanent advantage to the -colony. - -Danger of Exclusive Attention to it. - -It was also shown that this fur trade was by no means sufficient to -sustain a colony of such importance as Canada unquestionably might -become under a different system of management; for whether the beaver -should finally become extinct through the greed of the traders, or so -cheapened by glutting the market abroad as to lose its place in commerce -entirely, it was evident that precisely the same result would be -reached. In any case, the business was a precarious one. It limited the -number of persons who could be profitably employed; it bred them up to -habits of indolence and vice without care for the future; and it kept -them in ignorance and poverty to the last. But, what was worst of all, -this all-engrossing pursuit kept the population from cultivating the -soil, the true and only source of prosperity to any country. - -Other cogent reasons were given, but these most conclusively set forth -what a mercantile monopoly having its silent partners in the local -government and church, as well as in the royal palace itself, had been -able to do in the way of retarding the development of the great native -resources of Canada. It was so ably done that no voice was raised -against it. And with this most lucid and fearless exposé of the puerile -use thus far made of those resources the memorialist statesmen hoped to -open the king’s eyes. - -The two Raudots offer a Remedy. - -They now proposed to wholly reorganize this unsound commercial system by -directing capital and labor into new channels. Such natural productions -of the country as masts, boards, ship-timber, flax, hemp, plaster, iron -and copper ores, dried fish, whale and seal oils, and salted meats, -might be exported, they said, with profit to the merchant and advantage -to the laboring class, provided a suitable port were secured, at once -safe, commodious, and well situated for collecting all these -commodities, and shipping them abroad. - -Cape Breton brought to Notice. - -To this end, these intendants now first brought to notice the advantages -of Cape Breton for such an establishment. Strangely enough, up to this -time little or no attention had been paid to this island. Three or four -insignificant fishing ports existed on its coasts, but as yet the whole -interior was a shaggy wilderness, through which the Micmac Indians -roamed as freely as their fathers had done before Cartier ascended the -St. Lawrence. Its valuable deposits of coal and gypsum lay almost -untouched in their native beds; its stately timber trees rotted where -they grew; its unrivalled water-ways, extending through the heart of the -island, served no better purpose than as a highway for wandering -savages. - -Acadia to be helped. - -By creating such a port as the Raudots suggested, the voyage from France -would be shortened one half, and the dangerous navigation of the St. -Lawrence altogether avoided, since, instead of large ships having to -continue their voyages to Quebec, the carrying trade of the St. Lawrence -would fall to coasting vessels owned in the colony. A strong hand would -also be given to the neighbor province, the fertile yet unprotected -Acadia, which might thus be preserved against the designs of the -English, while a thriving trade in wines, brandies, linens, and rich -stuffs might reasonably be expected to spring up with the neighboring -English colonies. - -A Military and Naval Arsenal proposed. - -These were considerations of such high national importance as to at once -secure for the project an attention which purely strategic views could -hardly be expected to command. And yet, the forming of a military and -naval depot, strong enough to guarantee the security of the proposed -port, and in which the king’s ships might at need refit, or take refuge, -or sally out upon an enemy, was an essential feature of this elaborate -plan, every detail of which was set forth with systematic exactness. For -seven years the project was pressed upon the French court. War, however, -then engaging the whole attention of the ministry, the execution of this -far-seeing project, which had in view the demands of peace no less than -of war, was unavoidably put off until the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, by -giving a wholly new face to affairs in the New World, compelled France -to take energetic measures for the security of her colonial possessions. - -Peace of Utrecht. - -By this treaty of Utrecht France surrendered to England all Nova Scotia, -all her conquests in Hudson’s Bay, with Placentia, her most important -establishment in Newfoundland. At the same time the treaty left Cape -Breton to France, an act of incomparable folly on the part of the -English plenipotentiaries who, with the map lying open before them, thus -handed over to Louis the key of the St. Lawrence and of Canada. No one -now doubts that the French king saw in this masterpiece of stupidity a -way to retrieve all he had lost at a single stroke. The English -commissioners, it is to be presumed, saw nothing. - -English Harbor chosen. - -Having the right to fortify, under the treaty, it only remained for the -French court to determine which of the island ports would be best -adapted to the purpose, St. Anne, on the north, or English Harbor on the -south-east coast. St. Anne was a safe and excellent haven, easily made -impregnable, with all the materials requisite for building and -fortifying to be found near the spot. Behind it lay the fertile côtes of -the beautiful Bras d’Or, with open water stretching nearly to the -Straits of Canso. On the other hand, besides being surrounded by a -sterile country, materials of every kind, except timber, must be -transported to English Harbor at a great increase of labor and cost. -More could be done at St. Anne with two thousand francs, it was said, -than with two hundred thousand at the rival port. But the difficulty of -taking ships of large tonnage into St. Anne through an entrance so -narrow that only one could pass in or out at the same time, finally gave -the preference to English Harbor, which had a ship channel of something -less than two hundred fathoms in breadth, a good anchorage, and plenty -of beach room for erecting stages and drying fish. It was, moreover, -sooner clear of ice in spring. - -Name changed to Louisburg. - -The first thing done at Cape Breton was to change the old, time-honored -name of the island—the very first, it is believed, which signalled the -presence of Europeans in these waters—to the unmeaning one of Ile -Royale. English Harbor also took the name of Louisburg, in honor of the -reigning monarch. Royalty having thus received its dues, the work of -construction now began in earnest. - - - - - IV - RÉSUMÉ OF EVENTS TO THE DECLARATION OF WAR - - -We will now rapidly sketch the course of events which led to war on both -sides of the Atlantic. - -Colonists provided for. - -Having been obliged to surrender Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, the -French court determined to make use of their colonists in those places -for building up Louisburg. - -Acadians will not emigrate. - -In the first place, M. de Costebello, who had just lost his government -of the French colony of Placentia, in Newfoundland, under the terms of -the treaty, was ordered to take charge of the proposed new colony on -Cape Breton, and in accord also with the provisions of that treaty, the -French inhabitants of Newfoundland were presently removed from that -island to Cape Breton. But the Acadians of Nova Scotia who had been -invited, and were fully counted upon to join the other colonists, now -showed no sort of disposition to do so. In their case the French -authorities had reckoned without their host. These always shrewd -Acadians were unwilling to abandon the fertile and well-tilled Acadian -valleys, which years of toil had converted into a garden, to begin a new -struggle with the wilderness in order to carry out certain political -schemes of the French court. Though patriots, they were not simpletons. -So they sensibly refused to stir, although their country had been turned -over to the English. In this way the French authorities were -unexpectedly checked in their first efforts to secure colonists of a -superior class for their new establishment in Cape Breton. - -How strange are the freaks of destiny! Could these simple Acadian -peasants have foreseen what was in store for them at no distant day, at -the hands of their new masters, who can doubt that, like the Israelites -of old, driving their flocks before them, they too would have departed -for the Promised Land with all possible speed? - -A Thorn in the Side of the English. - -Finding them thus obstinate, it was determined to make them as useful as -possible where they were, and as a reconquest of Acadia was one of those -contingencies which Louisburg was meant to turn into realities, whenever -the proper side of the moment should arrive, nothing was neglected that -might tend to the holding of these Acadians firmly to their ancient -allegiance; to keeping alive their old antipathies; to arousing their -fears for their religion, or to strongly impressing them with the belief -that their legitimate sovereign would soon drive these English invaders -from the land, never to return. For the moment the king’s lieutenants -were obliged to content themselves with planting this thorn in the side -of the English. - -Why called Neutrals. - -Acting upon the advice of the crafty Saint Ovide, De Costebello’s -successor, the Acadians refused to take the oath of allegiance proffered -them by the British governor of Nova Scotia—though they had refused to -emigrate they said they would not become British subjects. When -threatened they sullenly hinted at an uprising of the Micmacs, who were -as firmly attached to the French interest as the Acadians themselves. -The governor, therefore, prudently forbore to press matters to a crisis, -all the more readily because he was powerless to enforce obedience; and -thus it came to pass that the French inhabitants of Nova Scotia, under -English dominion, first took the name of neutrals. - -Victims to French Policy. - -Perceiving at last how they were being ground between friend and foe, -the Acadians began hoarding specie, and to leave off improving their -houses and lands. A little later they are found applying to the -Governor-General of Canada for grants of land in the old colony, to -which they might remove, and where they could dwell in peace, for they -somehow divined that they must be the losers whenever fresh hostilities -should break out between the French and English, if, as it seemed -inevitable, the war should involve them in its calamities. But that -astute official returned only evasive answers to their petition. His -royal master had other views, to the successful issue of which his -lieutenants were fully pledged, and so it is primarily to French policy, -after all, that the wretched Acadians owed their exile from the land of -their fathers. What followed was merely the logical result. - -But in consequence of their first refusal to remove to Louisburg only a -handful of the Micmacs responded to Costebello’s call, by pitching their -wigwams on the skirt of the embryo city. - -Laborers from the Galleys. - -Laborers were wanted next. For the procuring of these the -Governor-General of Canada, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, hit upon the novel -idea of transporting every year from France those prisoners who were -sentenced to the galleys for smuggling. They were to come out to Canada -subject to the severe penalty of never again being permitted to return -to their native land, “for which,” said the cunning marquis, “I -undertake to answer.” - -Lord Bacon, in one of his essays, makes the following comments upon this -iniquitous method of raising up colonies: “It is a shameful and -unblessed thing,” he says, “to take the scum of people, and wicked -condemned men to be the people with whom you plant; and not only so, but -it spoileth the plantations; for they will ever live like rogues, and -not fall to work, but be lazy, and do mischief and spend victuals: and -be quickly weary, and then certify over to their country to the -discredit of the plantation.” - -Meanwhile, the sceptre that had borne such potent sway in Europe dropped -from the lifeless hand of Louis the Great, to be taken up by the -“crowned automaton,” Louis XV. - -Strength of Louisburg. - -Pursuant to the policy thus outlined, which had no less in view than the -rehabilitation of Canada, the recovery of Nova Scotia, the mastery of -the St. Lawrence, and the eventual restoration of French prestige in -America, France had in thirty years created at Louisburg a fortress so -strong that it was commonly spoken of as the Dunkirk of America. To do -this she had lavished millions.[1] Beyond question it was the most -formidable place of arms on the American continent, far exceeding in -this respect the elaborate but antiquated strongholds of Havana, Panama, -and Carthagena, all of which had been built and fortified upon the old -methods of attack and defence as laid down by the engineers of a -previous century: while Louisburg had the important advantage of being -planned with all the skill that the best military science of the day and -the most prodigal expenditure could command. When their work was done, -the French engineers boastingly said that Louisburg could be defended by -a garrison of women. - -Armament of Louisburg. - -The fortress, and its supporting batteries, mounted nearly one hundred -and fifty pieces of artillery on its walls, some of which were of the -heaviest metal then in use. It was deemed, and indeed proved itself, -during the progress of two sieges, absolutely impregnable to an attack -by a naval force alone. From this stronghold Louis had only to stretch -out a hand to seize upon Nova Scotia, or drive the New England fishermen -from the adjacent seas. - -In New England all these proceedings were watched with the keenest -interest, for there, at least, if nowhere else, their true intent was so -quickly foreseen, their consequences so fully realized, that the people -were more and more confounded by the imbecility which had virtually put -their whole fishery under French control. - -As the situation in Europe was reflected on this side of the Atlantic, -it is instructive to look there for the storm which, to the terror and -dismay of Americans, was now darkly overspreading the continent. - -War of the Austrian Succession. - -The crowned gamblers of Europe had begun their costly game of the -Austrian succession. Upon marching to invade Silesia, Frederick II., the -neediest and most reckless gamester of them all, had said to the French -ambassador, “I am going, I believe, to play your little game: and if I -should throw doublets we will share the stakes.” Fortune favored this -great king of a little kingdom. He won his first throw, seeing which, -for she was at first only a looker-on, France immediately sent two -armies into Bavaria to the Elector’s aid. This move was not unexpected -in London. Ever since England had forced hostilities with Spain, in -1740, it was a foregone conclusion that the two branches of the House of -Bourbon would make common cause, whenever a favorable opportunity should -present itself. England now retaliated by voting a subsidy to Maria -Theresa, and by taking into pay some sixteen thousand of King George’s -petted Hanoverians, who were destined to fight the French auxiliary -contingent. England and France were thus casting stones at each other -over the wall, or, as Horace Walpole cleverly put it, England had the -name of war with Spain without the game, and war with France without the -name. - -English defeated in Flanders. - -It was inevitable that the war should now settle down into a bitter -struggle between the two great rivals, France and England. On the 20th -of March, 1744, the court of Versailles formally declared war. England -followed on the 31st. Flanders became the battle-field between a hundred -and twenty-five thousand combatants, led, respectively, by the old Count -Maurice de Saxe and the young Duke of Cumberland. In May, 1745, the -French marshal suddenly invested Tournay,[2] the greatest of all the -Flemish fortresses. The Duke of Cumberland marched to its relief, gave -battle, and was thoroughly beaten at Fontenoy. This disaster closed the -campaign in the Old World. It left the English nation terribly -humiliated in the eyes of Europe, while France, by this brilliant feat -of arms, fully reasserted her leadership in Continental affairs. - -Situation in New England. - -But what had been a sort of Satanic pastime in the Old World became a -struggle for life in the New. The people of New England, being naturally -more keenly alive to the dangers menacing their trade, than influenced -by a romantic sympathy with the absurd quarrels about the Austrian -succession, anxiously watched for the first signal of the coming -conflict. They knew the enemy’s strength, and they were as fully aware -of their own weaknesses. Still there was no flinching. The home -government, being fully occupied with the affairs of the Continent, and -with the political cabals of London, limited its efforts to arming a few -forts in the colonies, and to keeping a few cruisers in the West Indian -waters; but neither soldiers, arsenals, nor magazines were provided for -the defence of these provinces, upon whom the enemy’s first and hardest -blows might naturally be expected to fall, nor were such other measures -taken to meet such an extraordinary emergency as its gravity would seem -in reason to demand. - -Luckily for them, the colonists had been taught in the hard school of -experience that Providence helps those who help themselves. To their own -resources they therefore turned with a vigor and address manifesting a -deep sense of the magnitude of the crisis now confronting them. - -French seize Canso. - -The proclamation of war was not published in Boston until the 2d of -June, 1744. Having earlier intelligence, the French at Louisburg had -already begun hostilities by making a descent upon Canso,[3] a weak -English post situated at the outlet of the strait of that name, and so -commanding it, and within easy striking distance of Louisburg. News of -this was brought to Boston so seasonably that Governor Shirley had time -to throw a re-enforcement of two hundred men into Annapolis, by which -that post was saved; for the French, after their exploit at Canso, soon -made an attempt upon Annapolis, where they were held in check until a -second re-enforcement obliged them to retire. - -Captain Ryal sent to London, November, 1744. - -Governor Shirley lost no time in notifying the ministry of what had -happened, and he particularly urged upon their attention the defenceless -state of Nova Scotia, where Annapolis alone held a semi-hostile -population in check. To the end that the situation might be more fully -understood, he sent an officer, who had been taken at Canso, with the -despatch. - -At this time the incompetent Duke of Newcastle held the post of prime -minister. When he had read the despatch he exclaimed, “Oh, yes—yes—to be -sure. Annapolis must be defended.—troops must be sent to Annapolis. Pray -where is Annapolis? Cape Breton an island! wonderful! Show it me on the -map. So it is, sure enough. My dear sir” (to the bearer of the -despatch), “you always bring us good news. I must go tell the King that -Cape Breton is an island.” - -January, 1744. - -It will be seen, later, that Shirley’s timely application to the -ministry, on behalf of Nova Scotia, involved the fate of Louisburg -itself. Orders were promptly sent out to Commodore Warren, who was in -command of a cruising squadron in the West Indies, to proceed as early -as possible to Nova Scotia, for the purpose of protecting our -settlements there, or of distressing the enemy, as circumstances might -require. - -Shirley himself had also written to Warren, requesting him to do this -very thing, at the same time the ministry were notified, though it was -yet too early to know the result of either application. All eyes were -now opened to Louisburg’s dangerous power. But, come what might, Shirley -was evidently a man who would leave nothing undone. - -[1]Louisburg had cost the enormous sum of 30,000,000 livres or - £1,200,000 sterling. - -[2]Pepperell was besieging Louisburg at the same time the French were - Tournay. - -[3]Canso was taken by Duvivier, May 13, 1744. The captors burnt - everything, carrying the captives to Louisburg, where they remained - till autumn, when they were sent to Boston. These prisoners were - able to give very important information concerning the fortress, its - garrison, and its means of defence. - - - - - V - “LOUISBURG MUST BE TAKEN” - - -However Shirley’s efforts to avert a present danger might succeed, -nobody saw more clearly than he did that his measures only went half way -toward their mark. With Louisburg intact, the enemy might sweep the -coasts of New England with their expeditions, and her commerce from the -seas. The return of spring, when warlike operations might be again -resumed, was therefore looked forward to at Boston with the utmost -uneasiness. Merchants would not risk their ships on the ocean. Fishermen -dared not think of putting to sea for their customary voyages to the -Grand Banks or the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here was a state of things -which a people who lived by their commerce and fisheries could only -contemplate with the most serious forebodings. It was fully equivalent -to a blockade of their ports, a stoppage of their industries, with -consequent stagnation paralyzing all their multitudinous occupations. - -Public Opinion aroused. - -Naturally the subject became a foremost matter of discussion in the -official and social circles, in the pulpits, and in the tavern clubs of -the New England capital. It was the serious topic in the counting-house -and the table-talk at home. It drifted out among the laboring classes, -who had so much at stake, with varied embellishment. It went out into -the country, gathering to itself fresh rumors like a rolling snowball. -In all these coteries, whether of the councillors over their wine, of -the merchants around their punch-bowls, of the smutty smith at his -forge, or the common dock-laborer, the same conclusion was reached, and -constantly reiterated—Louisburg must be taken!—Yes; Louisburg must be -taken! Upon this decision the people stood as one man. - -It did not, however, enter into the minds of even the most sanguine -advocates of this idea that they themselves would be shortly called upon -to make it effective in the one way possible. Such a proposal would have -been laughed at, at first. The general voice was that the land and naval -forces of the kingdom ought to be employed for the reduction of -Louisburg, because no others were available; but, meantime, a public -opinion had been formed which only wanted a proper direction to turn it -into a force capable of doing what it had decided upon. There was but -one man in the province who was equal to this task. - -That some other man may have had the same idea is but natural, when the -same subject was uppermost in the minds of all; but where others tossed -it to and fro, like a tennis-ball, only this one man grasped it with the -force of a master mind.[4] He was William Shirley, governor of -Massachusetts. - -William Shirley. - -Governor Shirley soon showed himself the man for the crisis. He was a -lawyer of good abilities, with a political reputation to make. He had a -clear head, strong will, plausible manner, and immovable persistency in -the pursuit of a favorite project. If not a military man by education, -he had, at any rate, the military instinct. He was, moreover, a shrewd -manager, not easily disheartened or turned aside from his purpose by a -first rebuff, yet knowing how to yield when, by doing so, he could see -his way to carry his point in the end. - -The French, we remember, had made some prisoners at Canso, who were -first taken to Louisburg, and then sent to Boston on parole. These -captives knew the place, but our smuggling merchantmen knew it much -better. They were able to give a pretty exact account of the condition -of things at the fortress. We are now looking backward a little. But -what seems to have made the strongest impression was the news that the -garrison itself had been in open mutiny during the winter, most of the -soldiers being Swiss, whose loyalty, it was supposed, had been more or -less shaken.[5] - -William Vaughan. - -Whether William Vaughan,[6] a New Hampshire merchant resident in Maine, -first broached the project of taking Louisburg to Shirley, cannot now -determined, but, let the honor belong primarily where it may, Vaughan’s -scheme, as outlined by him, was too absurd for serious consideration, -however strongly he may have believed in it himself. He seems to have -belonged to the class of enthusiasts at whose breath obstacles vanish -away; yet we are bound to say of him that his own easy confidence, with -his habit of throwing himself heart and soul into whatever he undertook, -gained over a good many others to his way of thinking. Shirley therefore -encouraged Vaughan, who, after rendering really valuable services, -became so thoroughly imbued with the notion that he was not only the -originator of the expedition, but the chief actor in it, that the value -of those services is somewhat obscured. - -Governor Shirley’s project now was to take Louisburg, with such means as -he himself could get together. He, too, was more or less carried away by -the spirit which animated him, as men must be to make others believe in -them, but he never lost his head. To a cool judgment, some of Shirley’s -plans for assaulting Louisburg seem almost, if not quite, as irrational -as Vaughan’s, yet Shirley was not the man to commit any overt act of -folly, or shut his ears to prudent counsels. Being so well acquainted -with the temper and spirit of the New England people, he knew that, -before they would fight, they must be convinced. To this end, he -strengthened himself with the proper arguments, wisely keeping his own -counsel until everything should be ripe for action. He knew that the -garrison of Louisburg was mutinous, that its isolated position invited -an attack, and that the extensive works were much out of repair. -Moreover, he had calculated, almost to a day, the time when the annual -supplies of men and munitions would arrive from France. He knew that -Quebec was too distant for effectively aiding Louisburg. An attack under -such conditions seemed to hold out a tempting prospect of success; yet -realizing, as Shirley did, that under any circumstances, no matter how -favorable or alluring they might seem, the enterprise would be looked -upon as one of unparalleled audacity, if not as utterly hopeless or -visionary, he determined to stake his own political fortunes upon the -issue and abide the result. - -Counting the Chances of Success. - -The garrison of Louisburg had been, in fact, in open revolt, the -outbreak proving so serious that the commanding officer had begged his -government to replace the disaffected troops with others, who could be -depended upon. Shirley, therefore, reckoned on a half-hearted resistance -or none at all. In a word, it was his plan to surprise and take the -place before it could be re-enforced. - -Shirley’s Plan. - -After obtaining a pledge of secrecy from the members, Shirley proceeded -to lay his project before the provincial legislature of Massachusetts, -which was then in session. The governor’s statement, which was certainly -cool and dispassionate, ran somewhat to this effect: “Gentlemen of the -General Court, either we must take Louisburg or see our trade -annihilated. If you are of my mind we will take it. I have reason to -know that the garrison is insubordinate. There is good ground for -believing that the commandant is afraid of his own men, that the works -are out of repair and the stores running low. I need not dwell further -on what is so well known to you all. Now, with four thousand such -soldiers as this and the neighboring provinces can furnish, aided by a -naval force similarly equipped, the place must surely fall into our -hands. I have, moreover, strong hopes of aid from His Majesty’s ships, -now in our waters. But the great thing is to throw our forces upon -Louisburg before the enemy can hear of our design. Secrecy and celerity -are therefore of the last importance. Consider well, gentlemen, that -such an opportunity is not likely to occur again. What say you? is -Louisburg to be ours or not?” - -Shirley’s Plan rejected. - -The conservative provincial assembly deliberated upon the proposal with -closed doors, and with great unanimity rejected it. The sum of its -decision was this: “If we risk nothing, we lose nothing. Should the -enemy strike us, we can strike back again. We can ruin his commerce as -well as he can destroy ours. Our policy is to stand on the defensive. -Very possibly the men might be raised, but where are the arsenals to -equip them; where is the money to come from to pay them; where are the -engineers, the artillerists, the siege artillery, naval stores, and all -the warlike material necessary to such a siege? Why, we haven’t a single -soldier; we haven’t a penny. Surely your excellency must be jesting with -us. It is a magnificent project, but visionary, your excellency, quite -visionary.” - -To make use of parliamentary terms, the governor had leave to withdraw, -but those who dreamed that he would abandon his darling scheme at the -first rebuff it met with, did not know William Shirley. - -The Subject again brought up. - -The affair was now no longer a secret. Indeed, it had already leaked out -through a certain pious deacon, who most inconsiderately prayed for its -success in the family circle. The project had been scotched, not killed. -Men discussed it everywhere, now that it was an open secret, and the -more it was talked of, the more firmly it took hold on the popular mind. -The very audacity of the thing pleased the young and adventurous -spirits, of whom there were plenty in the New England of that day. -Vaughan now set himself to work among the merchants, who saw money to be -made in furnishing supplies of every kind for the expedition; while on -the other hand, if nothing was to be done, their ships and merchandise -must lie idle for so long as the war might last. Little by little the -indefatigable Shirley won men over to his views. People grew restive -under a policy of inaction. Public sentiment seldom fails of having a -wholesome effect upon legislatures, be they ever so settled in their own -opinions. It was so in this case. Presently a petition, signed by many -of the most influential merchants in the province, was laid on the -speaker’s desk, so again bringing the subject up for legislative action. - -The Project adopted. - -This time the governor carried his point after a whole day’s animated -debate. The measure, however, narrowly missed a second, and, perhaps, a -final defeat, it having a majority of one vote only; and this result was -owing to an accident which, as it was a good deal talked about at the -time it happened, may as well be mentioned here. It so chanced that one -of the opposition, while hurrying to the House in order to record his -vote against the measure, had a fall in the street, and was taken home -with a broken leg. There being a tie vote in consequence, Mr. Speaker -Hutchinson gave the casting vote in favor of the measure, and so carried -it. - -If there had been hesitation before, there was none now. In order to -prevent the news from getting abroad, all the seaports of Massachusetts -were instantly shut by an embargo.[7] The neighboring provinces were -entreated to do the same thing. The supplies asked for were voted -without debate. Even the emission of paper money, that bugbear of -colonial financiers, was cheerfully consented to in the face of a royal -order forbidding it. Those who before had been strongest in opposition -now gave loyal support to the undertaking. - -Free to act at last, Shirley now showed his splendid talent for -organizing in full vigor. The work of raising troops, of chartering -transports, of collecting arms, munitions, and stores of every kind, -went on with an extraordinary impulse. Common smiths were turned into -armorers; wheelwrights into artificers; women spent their evenings -making bandages and scraping lint. Shirley’s board of war, created for -the exigency, took supplies wherever found, paying for them with the -paper money the Legislature had just authorized for the purpose. The -patience with which these extraordinary war measures were submitted to -best shows the temper of the people. The neighboring governments were -entreated to join in the expedition and share in the glory. Rhode -Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey each promised contingents. The other -provinces declined having anything to do with it, though New York made a -most seasonable loan of ten heavy cannon, upon Shirley’s urgent -entreaty, without which the siege must have lagged painfully. The -governor had, indeed, suggested, when the deficiency of artillery was -spoken of, that the cannon of the Royal Battery of Louisburg would help -to make good that deficiency; but, as it was facetiously said at the -time, this was too manifest a disposal of the skin before the bear was -caught, though it is quite likely that the notion of supplying -themselves from the enemy may have tickled the fancy of the young -recruits. - -When the application reached Philadelphia, Franklin expressed shrewd -doubts of the feasibility of the undertaking. The provincial assembly -did, however, vote some supply of provisions, as its contribution toward -a campaign which nobody believed would be successful. New Jersey also -contributed provisions and clothing. This was not quite what Shirley had -hoped for, but could not in the least abate his efforts. - -[4]Suggestions looking to a conquest of Cape Breton were made by - Lieutenant-Governor Clarke of New York, some time in the year 1743 - (“Documentary History of New York,” I., p. 469). He suggests taking - Cape Breton as a first step toward the reduction of all Canada. - Then, Judge Auchmuty of the Vice-Admiralty Court of Massachusetts - printed in April, 1744, an ably written pamphlet discussing the best - mode of taking Louisburg. - -[5]The Revolt occurred in December, over a reduction of pay. The - soldiers deposed their officers, elected others in their places, - seized the barracks, and put sentinels over the magazines. They were - so far pacified, however, as to have returned to their duty before - the English expedition arrived. Under date of June 18, one day after - the surrender, Governor-General Beauharnois advises the Count de - Maurepas of this revolt. He urges an entire change of the garrison. - -[6]Vaughan was a mill-owner, and carried on fishing also at - Damariscotta, Me. He knew Louisburg well. Conceiving himself - slighted by those in authority at Louisburg, he went from thence - directly to England, in order to prefer his claim for compensation - as the originator of the scheme. He died of smallpox at Bagshot, - November, 1747. He insisted that fifteen hundred men, assisted by - some vessels, could take Louisburg by scaling the walls. “A man of - rash, impulsive nature.”—_Belknap._ “A whimsical, wild - projector.”—_Douglass._ - -[7]News that an armament was preparing at Boston was carried to Quebec, - by the Indians, without, however, awakening the governor’s - suspicions of its true object. - - - - - VI - THE ARMY AND ITS GENERAL - - -The next, and possibly most vital step of all, since the fate of the -expedition must turn upon it, was to choose a commander. For this -important station the province was quite as deficient in men of -experience as it was in materials of war: with the difference that one -could be created of raw substances while the other could not. Here the -nicest tact and judgment were requisite to avoid making shipwreck of the -whole enterprise. Not having a military man, the all-important thing was -to find a popular one, around whom the provincial yeomanry could be -induced to rally. But since he was not to be a soldier, he must be a man -held high in the public esteem for his civic virtues. It was necessary -to have a clean man, above all things: one placed outside of the -political circles of Boston, and who, by sacrificing something himself -to the common weal, should set an example of pure patriotism to his -fellow-citizens. Again, it was no less important to select some one -whose general capacity could not be called in question. Hence, as in -every real emergency, the people cast about for their very best man from -a political and personal standpoint, who, though he might have - - “Never set a squadron in the field,” - -could be thoroughly depended upon to act with an eye single to the good -of the cause he had espoused. - -William Pepperell to command. - -In this exigency Shirley’s clear eye fell on William Pepperell, of -Kittery, a gentleman of sterling though not shining qualities, whose -wealth, social rank, and high personal worth promised to give character -and weight to the post Shirley now destined him for. He was now -forty-nine years old. Having held both civil and military offices under -the province, Pepperell could not be said to be worse fitted for the -place than others whose claims were brought forward, while, on the other -hand, it was conceded that hardly another man in the province possessed -the public confidence to a greater degree than he did. Still, he was no -soldier, and the simple conferring of the title of general could not -make him one, while his practical education must begin in the presence -of the enemy—a school where, if capable men learn quickly, they do so, -as a rule, only after experiencing repeated and severe punishments. That -raw soldiers need the best generals, is a maxim of common-sense, but -Shirley, in whom we now and then discover a certain disdain for such -judgments, seems to have had no misgivings whatever as to Pepperell’s -entire sufficiency so long as he, Shirley, gave the orders, and kept a -firm hand over his lieutenant; nor can it be denied that if the -expedition was to take place at all when it did, the choice was the very -best that could have been made, all things considered. - -That Shirley may have been influenced, in a measure, by personal reasons -is not improbable, and the fact that Pepperell was neither intriguing -nor ambitious, no doubt had due weight with a man like Shirley, who was -both intriguing and ambitious, and who, though he ardently wished for -success, did not wish for a rival. - -No one seems to have felt his unfitness more than Pepperell himself, and -it is equally to his honor that he finally yielded to considerations -directly appealing to his patriotism and sense of duty. “You,” said -Shirley to him, “are the only man who can safely carry our great -enterprise through; if it fail the blame must lie at your door.” Much -troubled in mind, Pepperell asked the Rev. George Whitefield, who -happened to be his guest, what he thought of it. The celebrated preacher -kindly, but decidedly, advised Pepperell against taking on himself so -great a responsibility, telling him that he would either make himself an -object for execration, if he failed, or of envy and malignity, if he -should succeed. - -Morale of the Army. - -Shirley’s pertinacity, however, prevailed in the end. Pepperell’s own -personal stake in the successful issue of the expedition was known to be -as great as any man’s in the province, hence, his putting himself at the -head of it did much to induce others of like good standing and estate to -join him heart and hand, and their example, again, drew into the ranks a -greater proportion of the well-to-do farmers and mechanics than was -probably ever brought together in an army of equal numbers, either -before or since. Hence, at Louisburg, as in our own time, when any -extraordinary want arose, the general had only to call on the rank and -file for the means to meet it. - -Several gentlemen, who had the success of the undertaking strongly at -heart, volunteered to go with Pepperell to the scene of action. Among -them were that William Vaughan, previously mentioned, and one James -Gibson, a prominent merchant of Boston, who wrote a journal of the siege -from observations made on the spot, besides contributing five hundred -pounds toward equipping the army for its work.[8] - -A Crusade preached. - -Pepperell’s appointment soon justified Shirley’s forecast. It gave -general satisfaction among all ranks and orders of men. On the day that -he accepted the command Pepperell advanced five thousand pounds to the -provincial treasury. He also paid out of his own pocket the bounty money -offered to recruits in the regiment he was raising in Maine. Orders were -soon flying in every direction, and very soon everything caught the -infection of his energy. The expedition at once felt an extraordinary -momentum. Volunteers flocked to the different rendezvous. In fact, more -offered themselves than could be accepted. Again the loud burr of the -drum, - - “The drums that beat at Louisburg and thundered in Quebec,” - -was heard throughout New England. The one question of the day was “Are -you going?” In fact, little else was talked of, for, now that the -mustering of armed men gave form and consistency to what was so lately a -crude project only, the fortunes of the province were felt to be -embarked in its success. True to its traditions, the clergy preached the -expedition into a crusade. Again the old bugbear of Romish aggression -was made to serve the turn of the hour. Religious antipathies were -inflamed to the point of fanaticism. One clergyman armed himself with a -large hatchet, with which he said he purposed chopping up into kindling -wood all the Popish images he should find adorning the altars of -Louisburg. Still another drew up a plan of campaign which he submitted -to the general. “Carthage must be destroyed!” became the watchword, -while to show the hand of God powerfully working for the right, the -celebrated George Whitefield wrote the Latin motto, embroidered on the -expeditionary standard,— - - “Never despair, Christ is with us.” - -Thus the church militant was not only represented in the ranks and on -the banner, but it was equally forward in proffering counsel. For -example: one minister wrote to acquaint Shirley how the provincials -should be saved from being blown up, in their camps, by the enemy’s -mines. He wanted a patrol to go carefully over the camping-ground first. -While one struck the ground with a heavy mallet, another should lay his -ear to it, and if it sounded suspiciously hollow, he should instantly -drive down a stake in order that the spot might be avoided. - -Such anecdotes show us how earnestly all classes of men entered upon the -work in hand. How to take Louisburg seemed the one engrossing subject of -every man’s thoughts. - -Having glanced at the qualifications of the general, we may now consider -the composition of the army. We have already drawn attention to the -excellent quality of its material. In embodying it for actual service, -the old traditions of the British army were strictly followed. - -The Army by Regiments. - -The expeditionary corps was formed in ten battalions. They were -Pepperell’s,[9] Wolcott’s[10] (of Connecticut), Waldo’s,[11] -Dwight’s[12] (nominally an artillery battalion), Moulton’s,[13] -Willard’s, Hale’s,[14] Richmond’s,[15] Gorham’s, and Moore’s[16] (of New -Hampshire). One hundred and fifty men of this regiment were in the pay -of Massachusetts. Pepperell’s, Waldo’s, and Moulton’s were mostly raised -in the District of Maine. Pepperell said that one-third of the whole -force came from Maine. Dwight was assigned to the command of the -artillery, with the rank of brigadier; Gorham to the special service of -landing the troops in the whaleboats, which had been provided, and of -which he had charge. There was also an independent company of -artificers, under Captain Bernard, and Lieutenant-Colonel Gridley was -appointed chief engineer of the army. - -Pepperell held the rank of lieutenant-general; Wolcott, that of -major-general; and Waldo that of brigadier, the second place being given -to Connecticut, in recognition of the prompt and valuable assistance -given by that colony. - -It goes badly equipped. - -As a whole, the army was neither well armed nor properly equipped, or -sufficiently provided with tents, ammunition, and stores. Too much haste -had characterized its formation for a thorough organization, or for -attention to details, too little knowledge for the instruction in their -duties of either officers or men. It is true that some of them had seen -more or less bush-fighting in the Indian wars, and that all were expert -marksmen or skilful woodsmen, but to call such an unwieldy and -undisciplined assemblage of men, who had been thus suddenly called away -from their workshops and ploughs, an army, were a libel upon the name. - -Commodore Edward Tyng[17] was put in command of the colonial squadron -destined to escort the army to its destination, to cover its landing, -and afterwards to act in conjunction with it on the spot. - -Hutchinson, Belknap. - -The writers of the time tell us that “the winter proved so favorable -that all sorts of outdoor business was carried on as well, and with as -great despatch, as at any other season of the year.” The month of -February, in particular, proved very mild. The rivers and harbors were -open, and the fruitfulness of the preceding season had made provisions -plenty. Douglass thinks that “some guardian angel” must have preserved -the troops from taking the small-pox, which broke out in Boston about -the time of their embarkation. All these fortunate accidents were hailed -as omens of success. - -The Provincial Navy. - -Thanks to the enthusiasm of the young men in enlisting, and the energy -of the authorities in equipping them, the four thousand men called for -were mustered under arms, ready for service, in a little more than seven -weeks. In this short time, too, a hundred transports had been manned, -victualled, and got ready for sea. The embargo had provided both vessels -and sailors. More than this, a little squadron of fourteen vessels, the -largest carrying only twenty guns, was created as if by enchantment. -Here was shown a vigor that deserved success. - -The Connecticut and New Hampshire contingents were also ready to march, -but Rhode Island had not yet completed hers. By disarming Castle William -in Boston harbor, or borrowing old cannon wherever they could be found, -Shirley had managed to get together a sort of makeshift for a -siege-train. All being ready at last, after a day of solemn fasting and -prayer throughout New England, the flotilla set sail for the rendezvous -at Canso in the last week of March. “Pray for us while we fight for -you,” was the last message of the departing provincial soldiers to their -friends on shore. - -Equal good-fortune attended the transportation of the army by sea to a -point several hundred miles distant, during one of the stormiest months -of the year. By the 10th of April the whole force was assembled at Canso -in readiness to act offensively as soon as the Cape Breton shores should -be free of ice. All this had been done without the help of a soldier, a -ship, or a penny from England. At the very last moment Shirley received -from Commodore Warren, in answer to his request for assistance, a curt -refusal to take part in the enterprise without orders, and Shirley could -only say to Pepperell when he took leave of him, that his best and only -hope lay in his own resources. - -But by this time the enthusiasm which had carried men off their feet had -begun to cool. The excitements, under the influence of which this or -that obstacle had been impatiently brushed aside, had given way to the -sober second thought. One by one they rose grimly before Pepperell’s -troubled vision like the ghosts in Macbeth. Land the troops and storm -the works had been the popular way of disposing of a fortress which the -French engineers had offered to defend with a garrison of women. - -[8]Gibson was very active during the siege, especially when anything of - a dangerous nature was to be done. He was a retired British officer. - He was one of the three who escaped death, while on a scout, May 10. - With five men he towed a fireship against the West Gate, under the - enemy’s fire, on the night of May 24. It burnt three vessels, part - of the King’s Gate, and part of a stone house in the city. Being - done in the dead of night, it caused great consternation among the - besieged. - -[9]Pepperell’s own regiment was actually commanded by his - lieutenant-colonel, John Bradstreet, who was afterwards appointed - lieutenant-governor of Newfoundland, but on the breaking out of the - next war with France, he served with distinction on the New-York - frontier, rising through successive grades to that of major-general - in the British army. Bradstreet died at New York in 1774. - -[10]General Roger Wolcott had been in the Canada campaign of 1711 - without seeing any service. He was sixty-six when appointed over the - Connecticut contingent under Pepperell. Wolcott was one of the - foremost men of his colony, being repeatedly honored with the - highest posts, those of chief judge and governor included. David - Wooster was a captain in Wolcott’s regiment. - -[11]Samuel Waldo was a Boston merchant, who had acquired a chief - interest in the Muscongus, later known from him as the Waldo Patent, - in Maine, to the improvement of which he gave the best years of his - life. Like Pepperell, he was a wealthy land-owner. They were close - friends, Waldo’s daughter being betrothed to Pepperell’s son later. - His patent finally passed to General Knox, who married Waldo’s - grand-daughter. - -[12]Joseph Dwight was born at Dedham, Mass., in 1703. He served in the - Second French War also. Pepperell commends his services, as chief of - artillery, very highly. - -[13]Jeremiah Moulton was fifty-seven when he joined the expedition. He - had seen more actual fighting than any other officer in it. Taken - prisoner by the Indians at the sacking of York, when four years old, - he became a terror to them in his manhood. With Harmon he destroyed - Norridgewock in 1724. - -[14]Robert Hale, colonel of the Essex County regiment, had been a - schoolmaster, a doctor, and a justice of the peace. He was - forty-two. His major, Moses Titcomb, afterwards served under Sir - William Johnson, and was killed at the battle of Lake George. - -[15]Sylvester Richmond, of Dighton, Mass., was born in 1698; colonel of - the Bristol County regiment. He was high sheriff of the county for - many years after his return from Louisburg. Died in 1783, in his - eighty-fourth year. Lieutenant-Colonel Ebenezer Pitts of Dighton, - and Major Joseph Hodges of Norton, of Richmond’s regiment, were both - killed during the campaign. - -[16]Samuel Moore’s New Hampshire regiment was drafted into the - _Vigilant_. His lieutenant-colonel, Meserve, afterward served under - Abercromby, and again in the second siege of Louisburg under - Amherst, dying there of small-pox. Matthew Thornton, signer of the - Declaration, was surgeon of Moore’s regiment. - -[17]Edward Tyng, merchant of Boston, son of that Colonel Edward who was - carried a prisoner to France, with John Nelson, by Frontenac’s - order, and died there in a dungeon. - - - - - VII - THE ARMY AT CANSO - - -The Plan of Attack. - -The crude plan of attack, as digested at Boston, consisted in an -investment of Louisburg by the land forces and a blockade by sea. To -enforce this blockade, Shirley had sent out some armed vessels in -advance of the expedition, with orders to cruise off the island, and to -intercept all vessels they should fall in with, so that news of the -armament might not get into Louisburg, by any chance, before its coming. - -Shirley’s Project. - -This was all the more necessary because Shirley had indulged hopes, from -the first, of taking the place by surprise, and so obstinately was he -wedded to the notion that the thing was practicable, that he had drawn -up at great length a plan of campaign of which this surprise was the -chief feature, and in which he undertook to direct, down to the minutest -detail, where, how, and when the troops should land, what points they -should attack, what they should do if the assault proved a failure or -only partially successful, where they should encamp, raise batteries and -post guards; how the men must be handled under fire, and even how the -prisoners should be disposed of, for Shirley, as we have seen, was -considerably given to counting his chickens before they were hatched. - -A Saving Clause. - -Being a lawyer rather than a soldier, Shirley had written out a brief -instead of an order—clear, concise, direct. But, lengthy as it was, the -plan had one redeeming feature, which turns away criticism from the -absurdities with which it was running over. This was the postscript -appended to it: “Sir, upon the whole, notwithstanding the instructions -you have received from me, I must leave it to you to act upon unforeseen -emergencies according to your best discretion.” The reading of it must -have lifted a load from Pepperell’s mind! It really looked as if Shirley -had meant to be the real generalissimo himself, and to capture Louisburg -by proxy. - -Pepperell’s Council. - -Pepperell was still hampered, however, with a council of war, consisting -of all the general and field officers of his army, whom he was required -to summon to his aid in all emergencies. If it be true that in a -multitude of counsels there is wisdom, then Pepperell was to be well -advised, for his council aggregated between twenty and thirty members. - -Pepperell seems to have conceived that he ought to submit himself wholly -to Shirley’s guidance, since he himself was now to serve his first -apprenticeship in war, for it was now loyally attempted to carry out -Shirley’s instructions to the letter. In all these preliminary -arrangements the difference between Shirley’s brilliancy and dash and -Pepperell’s methodical cast of mind is very marked indeed. It would -sometimes seem as if the two men ought to have changed places. - -Why the army was at Canso. -Importance of St. Peter’s. - -Shirley had appointed the rendezvous to be at Canso, which place had -been abandoned soon after it was taken from us; first, because it was -the natural base for operations against Cape Breton, and next so that if -the descent on Louisburg failed, Canso and the command of the straits -would, at least, have been recovered. It was, as we have said, within -easy striking distance of Louisburg. Out in front of Canso, between the -Nova Scotia and Cape Breton shores, lay Isle Madame or Arichat, on which -a few French fishermen were living. Across the water from Arichat, at -the entrance to the Bras d’Or, lay the Village of St. Peter’s, the -second in point of importance in Cape Breton, Louisburg being the first. -At Arichat everything that was being done at Canso could be easily seen -and communicated to St. Peter’s. At St. Peter’s word could be sent to -Louisburg by way of the Bras d’Or Lakes. It therefore stood Pepperell in -hand to clear his vicinity of these spies and informers without delay, -unless he wished to find the enemy forewarned and forearmed. - -The Ice Blockade at Louisburg. - -Shirley had directed Pepperell to destroy St. Peter’s. Pepperell, -therefore, sent a night expedition there, which, however, returned -without accomplishing its purpose. But his greatest fear, lest supplies -or re-enforcements should get into Louisburg by sea, was set at rest on -finding that the field or pack-ice, which had come down out of the St. -Lawrence, and the east winds had driven up against the shores of Cape -Breton, formed a secure blockade against all comers, himself as well as -the enemy. This contingency had not been sufficiently weighed. - -Canso fortified. - -Meanwhile, Pepperell set to work fortifying Canso. A blockhouse, ready -framed, had been sent out for the purpose. This was now set up, -garrisoned, and christened Fort Prince William. Some earthworks were -also thrown up to cover this new post. In these occupations, or in -scouting or exercising, the troops were kept employed until the ice -should move off the shores. - -French Cruiser driven off. - -On the 18th of April a French thirty-gun ship was chased off the coast, -while trying to run into Louisburg. Being the better sailer, she easily -got clear of the blockading vessels, after keeping up for some hours a -sharp, running fight. Even this occurrence does not seem to have fully -opened the eyes of the French commandant of Louisburg to the true nature -of the danger which threatened him, since he has declared that he -thought the vessels he saw watching the harbor were only English -privateers. Perhaps nothing about the whole history of this expedition -is more strange than that this officer should have remained wholly -ignorant of its being at Canso for nearly three weeks. - -April 23, Warren’s Fleet arrives. -Effect on the Army. - -The army had been lying nearly two weeks inactive, when, to Pepperell’s -great surprise as well as joy, Commodore Warren appeared off Canso with -four ships of war, and, after briefly communicating with the general, -bore away for Louisburg. At last he had received his orders to act in -concert with Shirley, and, like a true sailor, he had crowded all sail -for the scene of action. His coming put the army in great spirits, for -it was supposed to be part of the plan, already concerted, by which the -attack should be made irresistible. And for once fortune seems to have -determined that the bungling of ministers should not defeat the objects -had in view. - -April 24, Connecticut Forces arrive. - -On the following day, the Connecticut forces joined Pepperell. The -shores of Cape Breton were now eagerly scanned for the first appearance -of open water, but even as late as the 28th Pepperell wrote to Shirley, -saying, “We impatiently wait for a fair wind to drive the ice out of the -bay, and if we do not suffer for want of provisions, make no doubt but -we shall, by God’s favor, be able soon to drive out what else we please -from Cape Breton.” The consumption of stores, occasioned by the -unlooked-for detention at Canso, had, in fact, become a matter of -serious concern with Pepperell, whose nearest source of supply was -Boston. - - - - - VIII - THE SIEGE - - -Fleet sails from Canso, April 29. - -Our guard-vessels having reported the shores to be at last free from -ice, and the wind coming fair for Louisburg, the welcome signal to weigh -anchor was given on the 29th of April. On board the fleet all was now -bustle and excitement. In a very short time a hundred transport-vessels -were standing out of Canso Harbor, under a cloud of canvas, for Gabarus -Bay, the place fixed upon by Shirley for making the contemplated -descent. - -Night Assault given up. - -Bound to the letter of his orders, Pepperell seems to have first -purposed making an attempt to put Shirley’s rash project in execution. -To do this, he must have so timed his movements as to reach his -anchorage after dark, have landed his troops without being able to see -what obstacles lay before them, have marched them to stations situated -at a distance from the place of disembarkation, over ground unknown, and -not previously reconnoitred, to throw them against the enemy’s works -before they should be discovered. And this most critical of all military -operations, a night assault, was to be attempted by wholly undisciplined -men. - - [Illustration: SIEGE of LOUISBOURG in 1745.] - -Providentially for Pepperell, the wind died away before he could reach -the designated point of disembarkation, so that this mad scheme perished -before it could be put to the test; but early the next morning the -flotilla was discovered entering Gabarus Bay, five miles southeast from -the fortress, and in full view from its ramparts. So, also, the New -England forces could see the gray turrets of the redoubtable stronghold -rising in the distance, and could hear the bells of Louisburg pealing -out their loud alarm. The fortress instantly fired signal guns to call -in all out parties. It is said that there had been a grand ball the -night before, and that the company had scarce been asleep when called up -by this alarm. The booming of artillery, sounding like the drowsy roar -of an awakening lion, was defiantly echoed back from the bosom of the -deep, and borne on the cool breeze to the startled foemen’s ears the -distant roll of drum, and bugle blast, peopled the lately deserted sea -with voices of the coming strife. - -Duchambon, commander of the fortress, instantly hurried off a hundred -and fifty men to oppose the landing of our troops. - -Landing at Gabarus Bay, April 30. - -The fleet quickly came to an anchor, and the signal was hoisted for the -troops to disembark at once. Before them stretched the lonely Cape -Breton shore, on which the breakers rose and fell in a long line of -foam. Though this heavy surf threatened to swamp the boats, the men -crowded into them as if going to a merry-making. It was a gallant and -inspiring sight to see them dash on toward the beach, emulous who should -reach it first, and eager to meet the enemy, who were waiting for them -there. By making a feint at one point, and then pulling for another at -some distance from the first, the boats gained an undefended part of the -shore before the French could come up with them. As soon as one struck -the ground, the men jumped into the water, each taking another on his -back and wading through the surf to the shore. In this manner the -landing went on so rapidly that, when the enemy finally came up, they -were easily driven off, with the loss of six or seven men killed, and -some prisoners. Before it was dark two thousand men bivouacked for the -night within cannon shot of Louisburg. - -Vaughan now led forward a party after the retreating enemy, who, finding -themselves pursued, set fire to thirty or forty houses outside the city -walls. - -On the next day, the work of landing the rest of the army, the artillery -and stores, was pushed to the utmost, though the heavy surf rendered -this a work of uncommon difficulty. Pepperell now pitched his camp in an -orderly manner next the shore, at a place called Flat Point Cove, where -he could communicate with the transports and fleet, and they with him. -He now took his first step towards clearing the two miles of open ground -lying between him and Louisburg harbor, with the view of fixing the -location of his batteries, and of driving the enemy inside the walls of -the fortress. - -Royal Battery deserted. - -To this end four hundred men were sent out to destroy the enemy’s -magazines situated at the head of the harbor, Vaughan again marching -with them. This detachment having set fire to some warehouses containing -naval stores, the smoke from which drifted down upon the Royal Battery, -the officer in command there, convinced that the provincials were about -to fall upon him, spiked his cannon and abandoned the works in haste, -though not till after receiving permission to do so. - -In the morning, as Vaughan was returning to camp with only thirteen men, -the deserted appearance of the battery caused him to carefully examine -it, when, seeing no signs of life about the place,—no flag flying or -smoke rising or sentinels moving about,—he sent forward an Indian of his -party, who, finding all silent, crept through an embrasure, and undid -the gate to them. Vaughan then despatched word to the camp that he was -in possession of the place, and was waiting for a re-enforcement and a -flag; but meantime, before either could reach him, one of his men -climbed up the staff, and nailed his red coat to it for a flag. - -Vaughan attacked. - -At about the same hour Duchambon was sending a strong detachment back to -the battery, to complete the work of destruction that his lieutenant had -left unfinished. At least this is his own statement. It was supposed -that the battery was still unoccupied or occupied weakly, otherwise the -French would hardly have risked much for its possession. When this -detachment came round in their boats to the landing-place, near the -battery, Vaughan’s little band attacked them with great spirit, keeping -them at bay until other troops had time to join him, when the -discomfited Frenchmen were driven back whence they came. - -Advantage of this Capture. - -Thus unexpectedly did one of the most formidable defences fall into our -hands; for though its isolated situation invited an attack, and though -communication with the city could be easily cut off except by water, the -prompt attempt to recover the Royal Battery implies that its abandonment -was at least premature. Yet as this work was primarily a harbor defence -only, it was evidently not looked upon as tenable against a land attack, -although it is quite as clear that the time had not yet come for -deserting it. But the fact that it was left uninjured instead of being -blown up assures us that the garrison must have left in a panic. - -But whether the French attached much or little consequence to this -battery so long as it remained in their hands, it became in ours a -tremendous auxiliary to the conquest of the city. By its capture we -obtained thirty heavy cannon, all of which were soon made serviceable, -besides a large quantity of shot and shell, than which nothing could -have been more acceptable at this time. And although only three or four -of its heavy guns could be trained upon the city, its capture removed -one of the most formidable obstacles to the entrance of our fleet. It -also afforded an excellent place of arms for our soldiers, whose -confidence was greatly strengthened. In a word, the siege was making -progress. - -We cannot help referring here to the fact that notwithstanding Shirley’s -idea had met with so much ridicule it had, nevertheless, come true in -one part at least, since if the proposal to turn the enemy’s own cannon -against them had seemed somewhat whimsical when it was broached, it -certainly proved prophetic in this case, for within twenty-four hours -after its taking the guns of the Royal Battery were thundering against -the city. - -Firing begun. - -Pepperell had at once ordered Waldo’s regiment into the captured -battery. The enemy had not even stopped to knock off the trunnions of -the cannon, so that the smiths, under the direction of Major -Pomeroy,[18] who was himself a gun-smith, had only to drill them out -again. Waldo fired the first shot into the city. It is said to have -killed fourteen men. The fire was maintained with destructive effect, -and it drew forth a reply from the enemy, with both shot and shell. - -The siege may now be said to have fairly begun, and begun prosperously. -Both sides had stripped for fighting, and it remained to be seen whether -Pepperell’s raw levies would continue steadfast under the many trials of -which these events were but a foretaste. - -Louisburg was now practically invested on the land side, the fleet, with -its heavy armament, remaining useless, however, with respect to active -co-operation in the siege itself, because its commander dared not take -his ships into the harbor under fire of the enemy’s batteries. The army -and navy were acting therefore without that concert which alone would -have allowed their united strength to be effectively tested. On its -part, the navy was simply making a display of force which could not be -employed, though it maintained a strict blockade. In any case, then, the -brunt of the siege must fall on the army, since, as Warren informed -Pepperell, the fleet could take no part in battering the city until the -harbor defences should first have been taken or silenced. And when this -was done, the siege must probably have been near its end, fleet or no -fleet. - -Pepperell manfully turned, however, to a task which he had supposed -would be shared between the commodore and himself. If he was no longer -confident under fresh disappointments, they developed in him unexpected -firmness and most heroic patience. Let us see what this task was, and in -what manner the citizen-general set about it. That it was done with true -military judgment is abundantly proved by the fact that, when Louisburg -was assaulted and taken in 1758, by the combined land and naval forces -of Amherst and Boscawen, Pepperell’s plan of attack was followed step by -step, and to the letter. - - [Illustration: TOWN AND FORTIFICATIONS OF LOUISBOURG IN 1745.] - -The Harbor Defences. - -The most formidable of the harbor defences were the Island Battery, to -which attention has been called in a previous chapter, the Circular -Battery, a work situated at the extreme northwest corner of the city -walls, and forming the reverse face of the powerful Dauphin Bastion, -from which the West Gate of the city opened, with the Water Battery, or -Batterie de la Gréve, placed at the opposite angle of the harbor -shore.[19] The cross-fire from these two batteries effectually raked the -whole harbor from shore to shore, but it was by no means so dangerous as -that of the Island Battery, where ships must pass within point-blank -range of the heaviest artillery. - -Such, then, was the admirable system of harbor defences still remaining -intact, even after the fall of the Royal Battery. Instead, therefore, of -concentrating his whole fire upon one or two points, in his front, with -a view of breaching the walls in the shortest time, and of storming the -city at the head of his troops, Pepperell was made to throw half his -available fire upon the batteries that were not at all in his own way, -though they blocked the way to the fleet.[20] - -It will be seen that these circumstances imposed upon Pepperell a task -of no little magnitude. They compelled him to attack the very strongest, -instead of the weakest, parts of the fortress, and necessarily confined -the siege operations within a comparatively small space of the enemy’s -long line. - -No time was lost in getting the siege train over from Gabarus Bay to the -positions marked out for erecting the breaching batteries. The infinite -labor involved in doing this can hardly be understood except by those -who have themselves gone over the ground. Every gun and every pound of -provisions and ammunition had to be dragged two miles, through marshes -and over rocks, to the allotted stations. This transit being -impracticable for wheel-carriages, sledges were constructed by -Lieutenant-Colonel Meserve of the New Hampshire regiment, to which -relays of men harnessed themselves in turn, as they do in Arctic -journeys, and in this way the cannon, mortars, and stores were slowly -dragged through the spongy turf, where the mud was frequently knee-deep, -to the trenches before Louisburg. None but the rugged yeomen of New -England—men inured to all sorts of outdoor labor in woods and -fields—could have successfully accomplished such a herculean task. But -such severe toil as this was soon put half the army in the hospitals. - -Nova Scotia freed of Invaders. - -By the 5th of May Pepperell had got two mortar-batteries playing upon -the city from the base of Green Hill, over which the road passes to -Sydney. Meantime, Duchambon, seeing himself blockaded both by sea and by -land, had hurriedly sent off an express to recall the troops that had -gone out some time before against Annapolis, in concert with a force -sent from Quebec, little dreaming that he himself would soon be -attacked.[21] The first fruits of Shirley’s sagacity ripened thus early -in relieving Nova Scotia from invasion. - -First Sabbath in Camp. - -The 5th being Sunday, divine service was held in the chapel of the Royal -Battery. Pepperell’s hardy New Englanders listened to the first -Protestant sermon ever preached, perhaps, on the island of Cape Breton, -from the well-chosen text “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and -into His courts with praise.” After their devotions were over, we are -told that the troops “fired smartly at the city.” - -Meantime, also, Colonel Moulton, who had been left at Canso for the -purpose, rejoined the army after destroying St. Peter’s. Two sallies -made by the enemy against the nearest mortar-battery had been repulsed. -Its fire, augmented by some forty-two-pounders taken from the Royal -Battery, already much distressed the garrison, its balls coming against -the caserns and into the town, where they traversed the streets from end -to end, and riddled the houses in their passage. It never ceased firing -during the siege. In his report Duchambon calls it the most dangerous of -any that the besiegers raised. - -Garrison summoned. - -On the 7th a flag was sent into the city with a summons to surrender. -Firing was suspended until its return, with Duchambon’s defiant message, -that inasmuch “as the King had confided to him the defence of the -fortress, he had no other reply but by the mouths of his cannon.” - -Scouting Party defeated. - -This check prompted a disposition to attack the city by storm at once, -but upon reflection more moderate counsels prevailed, and the attempt -was put off. Pepperell went on with his approaches toward the West Gate, -under a constant fire from all the enemy’s batteries. And as every -collection of men drew the enemy’s fire to the spot, this work could -only be done at night, under great disadvantages. The balls they sent -him were picked up and returned from his own cannon with true New -England thrift, in order to husband his own ammunition. While thus -engaged with the enemy in his front, he had also to keep an eye upon the -outlying parties of French and Indians in his rear, who had been scraped -together from scattered settlements, and were lurking about his camp -with the view of raiding it unawares. On May 10, a scouting party of -twenty-five men from Waldo’s regiment was sent out to find and drive off -these marauders. While they were engaged in plundering some -dwelling-houses at one of the out-settlements, they themselves were -unexpectedly attacked by a superior force, and all but three killed, the -Indians murdering the prisoners in cold blood. On the following day our -men returned to the scene of disaster, and after burying their fallen -comrades, they burned the place to the ground. - -With these events the campaign settled down into the slow and laborious -operations of a regular siege; and here began those inevitable -bickerings between the chiefs of the land and naval forces, which, in a -man of different temper than Pepperell was, might have led to serious -results. - -Disagreements. - -In Shirley, his lawful captain-general, Pepperell had always a superior -whose orders he felt bound to obey to the best of his ability, cost what -it might. Fortunately, Shirley’s power of annoyance was limited by -distance, though he kept up an animated fire of suggestions. In Warren, -however, the brusque and impulsive sailor, Pepperell now found a tutor -and a critic, whose irritation at the subordinate part he was playing -showed itself in unreasonable demands upon his slow but sure coadjutor, -and now and then even in a hardly concealed sneer. As time wore on, -Warren grew more and more restive and importunate, while Pepperell -continued patient, calm, and methodical to the last. Warren would call -his fleet-captains together, hold a council, discuss the situation from -his point of view, and send off to Pepperell the result of their -deliberations, with the final exhortation attached, “For God’s sake let -_us_ do something!”—that “something” being that Pepperell should -practically finish the siege without him, as we have already shown. -Warren was a man standing at a door to keep out intruders, while the two -actual adversaries were fighting it out inside. He might occasionally -halloo to them to be quick about it, but he was hardly in the fight -himself. - -Pepperell would then get his council together in his turn, and, smarting -under the sense of injustice, would submit the lecture that Warren had -read him, with its thinly veiled irony, and unconcealed hauteur, to -which the imputation of ignorance was not lacking. The situation would -then be again discussed in all its bearings, from the army’s standpoint, -which might be stated as follows: The fortress cannot be stormed until -we have made a practicable breach in the walls. We must finish our -batteries before this can be done. Or let the commodore bring in his -ships and assist in silencing the enemy’s fire. The army is losing -strength every day by sickness, while the fleet is gaining by the -arrival of fresh ships. We cannot, if we would, pull the commodore’s -chestnuts out of the fire and our own too. - -[18]Major Seth Pomeroy of Northampton, Mass., was lieutenant-colonel of - Williams’s regiment in the battle of Lake George, 1755, succeeding - to the command after Williams’s death. At the beginning of the - Revolution he fought as a volunteer at Bunker Hill. - -[19]Reference should be made to the plan at page 91. It will greatly - simplify the siege operations to the reader if he will keep in mind - the fact that the land attack was wholly confined within the points - designated by A and B on this plan, or between the Dauphin and - King’s bastions. For our purpose, it is only necessary to add that - the harbor front was defended by a strong wall of masonry, joining - the Water Battery, G, with the Dauphin Bastion, A. In this wall were - five gates, leading to the water-side. It was the point at which the - city would be exposed to assault from shipping or their boats. - -[20]The Island Battery could not materially hinder the progress of the - siege, and must have fallen with the city. The Circular Battery - could not fire upon the besiegers at all, as it bore upon the - harbor, but Warren insisted that he could not go in until these two - works were silenced. If the time spent in doing this had been wholly - employed in battering down the West Gate and its approaches, the - city might have been taken without the fleet, leaving out of view, - of course, the supposition of a repulse to the storming party. It is - a strong assertion to say that the city could not have been taken - without the fleet, because no trial was made. - -[21]The Attack upon Annapolis having failed, these troops tried to get - back to Louisburg, but were unable to do so. With their assistance - Duchambon thinks he could have held out. - - - - - IX - THE SIEGE CONTINUED - - -Camp Routine. - -The routine of camp life is not without interest as tending to show what -was the temper of the men under circumstances of unusual trial and -hardship. They were housed in tents, most of which proved rotten and -unserviceable, or in booths, which they built for themselves out of -poles and green boughs cut in the neighboring woods. The relief parties, -told off each day for work in the trenches, were marched to their -stations after dark, as the enemy’s fire swept the ground over which -they must pass. For a like reason, the fatigue parties could only bring -up the daily supplies of provisions and ammunition to the trenches from -Gabarus Bay, after darkness had set in. By great good-fortune, the -weather continued dry and pleasant; otherwise the bad housing and severe -toil must have told on the health of the army even more severely than it -did, while work in the trenches would have been suspended during the -intervals of wet weather. - -Spirit of the Army. - -A force like this, composed of men who were the equals of their officers -at home, not bound together by habits of passive obedience formed under -the severe penalties of martial law, could not be expected to observe -the exact discipline of regular soldiers. It was not attempted to -enforce it. Not one case of punishment for infraction of orders is -reported during the siege. But officers and men had in them the making -of far better soldiers than the ordinary rank and file of armies. There -were men in the ranks who rose to be colonels and brigadiers in the -revolutionary contest.[22] The hardest duty was performed without -grumbling; the most dangerous service found plenty of volunteers; and -Pepperell himself has borne witness that nothing pleased the men better -than to be ordered off on some scouting expedition that promised to -bring on a brush with the enemy. - -This spirit is plainly manifest in the letters which have been -preserved. In one of them Major Pomeroy tells his wife that “it looks as -if our campaign would last long; but I am willing to stay till God’s -time comes to deliver the city into our hands.” The reply is worthy of a -woman of Sparta: “Suffer no anxious thoughts to rest in your mind about -me. The whole town is much engaged with concern for the expedition, how -Providence will order the affair, for which religious meetings every -week are maintained. I leave you in the hand of God.” - -There is not a despatch or a letter of Pepperell’s extant, in which this -dependence upon the Over-ruling Hand is not acknowledged. The barbaric -utterance that Providence is always on the side of the strongest -battalions would have shocked the men of Louisburg as deeply as it would -the men of Preston, Edgehill, and Marston Moor. The conviction that -their cause was a righteous one, and must therefore prevail, was a power -still active among Puritan soldiers: nor did they fail to give the honor -and praise of achieved victory to Him whom they so steadfastly owned as -the Leader of Armies and the God of Battles. - -There were not wanting incidents which the soldiers treasured up as -direct manifestations of Divine favor. Moses Coffin, of Newbury, who -officiated in the double capacity of chaplain and drummer, and who had -been nicknamed in consequence the “drum ecclesiastic,” carried a small -pocket-Bible about with him wherever he went. On returning to camp, -after an engagement with the enemy, he found that a bullet had passed -nearly through the sacred book, thus, undoubtedly, saving his life. - -Frolics in Camp. - -The relaxation from discipline has been more or less commented upon by -several writers, as if it implied a grave delinquency in the head of the -army. We are of the opinion, however, that it was the safety-valve of -_this_ army, under the extraordinary pressure laid upon it. So while we -may smile at the comparison made by Douglass, who says that the siege -resembled a “Cambridge Commencement,” or at the antics described by -Belknap,[23] we need not feel ourselves bound to accept their -conclusions. This author says: “Those who were on the spot, have -frequently in my hearing laughed at the recital of their own -irregularities, and expressed their admiration when they reflected on -the almost miraculous preservation of the army from destruction. They -indeed presented a formidable front to the enemy, but the rear was a -scene of confusion and frolic. While some were on duty at the trenches, -others were racing, wrestling, pitching quoits, firing at marks or -birds, or running after shot from the enemy’s guns for which they -received a bounty.” - -Our Fascine Batteries. - -In his unscientific way, Pepperell was daily tightening his grasp upon -Louisburg. Gridley,[24] who acted in the capacity of chief engineer, had -picked up from books all the knowledge he possessed, but he soon showed -a natural aptitude for that branch of the service. Dwight, the chief of -artillery, is not known ever to have pointed a shotted gun in his life. -Instead of gradual approaches, of zigzags and épaulements, the ground -was simply staked out where the batteries were to be placed. After dark -the working parties started for the spot, carrying bundles of fascines -on their backs, laid them on the lines, and then began digging the -trenches and throwing up the embankment by the light of their lanterns. -All the batteries at Louisburg were constructed in this simple fashion. -The work of making the platforms, getting up the cannon, and mounting -them, was attended with far greater labor and risk. - -The Advanced Battery opens Fire May 18. - -In this manner a fascine battery covered by a trench in front, on which -the provincials had been working like beavers for two days and nights, -was raised within two hundred and fifty yards of the West Gate, against -which it began sending its shot on the 18th. This was by much the most -dangerous effort that the besiegers had yet made, and the enemy at once -trained every gun upon it that would bear, in the hope of either -demolishing or silencing the work. It was so near that the men in the -trenches, and those on the walls, kept up a continual fire of musketry -at each other, interspersed with sallies of wit, whenever there was a -lull in the firing. The French gunners, who were kept well supplied with -wine, would drink to the besiegers, and invite them over to breakfast or -to take a glass of wine. - - [Illustration: THE LIGHTHOUSE, WITH DÉBRIS OF OLD WORKS.] - -Cannon discovered. - -In two days the fire of our guns had beaten down the drawbridges, part -of the West Gate, and some of the adjoining wall. Pepperell complains at -this time of his want of good gunners, also of a sufficient supply of -powder to make good the daily consumption, of which he had no previous -conception, but is cheered by finding thirty cannon sunk at low-water -mark on the opposite side of the harbor, which he designed mounting at -the lighthouse forthwith, for attacking the Island Battery. Gorham’s -regiment was posted there with this object. Thus again were the enemy -furnishing means for their own destruction. Foreseeing that this -fortification would shut the port to ships coming to his relief, -Duchambon sent a hundred men across the harbor to drive off the -provincials. A sharp fight ensued, in which the enemy were defeated. - -Titcomb’s Battery at Work. - -By this time another fascine battery situated by the shore, at a point -nine hundred yards from the walls, began raking the Circular Battery of -the enemy, in conjunction with the direct fire from our Advanced -Battery. It was called Titcomb’s, from the officer in charge, Major -Moses Titcomb of Hale’s regiment. These two fortifications were now -knocking to pieces the northwest corner of the enemy’s ponderous works, -known as the Dauphin Bastion. We were now playing on Louisburg from -three batteries on the shore of the harbor, three in the rear of these, -and had another in process of construction at the lighthouse, all of -which, except the last, had been completed under fire within twenty -days, without recourse to any scientific rules whatever. - -Capture of the Vigilant. - -In spite of Warren’s watchfulness one vessel had slipped through his -squadron into Louisburg unperceived, bringing supplies to the besieged, -An event now took place which, to use Pepperell’s words, “produced a -burst of joy in the army, and animated the men with fresh courage to -persevere.” The annual supply ship from France, for which our fleet had -been constantly on the lookout, had run close in with the harbor in a -thick fog, undiscovered by our vessels, and wholly unsuspicious of -danger herself. When the fog lifted she was seen and engaged by the -Mermaid, a forty-gun frigate, until the rest of the squadron could come -to her aid, when, after a spirited combat, the French ship was forced to -strike her colors. The prize proved to be the Vigilant, a new sixty-gun -ship, loaded with stores and munitions for Louisburg. She was soon put -in fighting trim again, and manned by drafts made from the army and -transports. - -Warren proposes to attack. - -By the 24th, two more heavy ships, which the ministry had sent out -immediately upon receiving Shirley’s advices that the expedition had -been decided upon,[25] now joined Warren, who at length felt himself -emboldened to ask Pepperell’s co-operation in the following plan of -attack. It was proposed to distribute sixteen hundred men, to be taken -from the army, among the ships of war, all of which should then go into -the harbor and attack the enemy’s batteries vigorously. Under cover of -this fire, the soldiers, with the marines from the ships, were to land -and assault the city. Pepperell himself was to have no share in this -business, except as a looker-on, but was to put his troops under the -command of an officer of marines who should take his orders from Warren -only. - -This implied censure to the conduct of the army and its chief, followed -up the next day by the tart question of “Pray how came the Island -Battery not to be attacked?” seems to have goaded Pepperell into giving -the order for a night attack upon that strong post. Indeed, Pepperell’s -perplexities were growing every hour. On the day he received Warren’s -cool proposition to take the control of the army out of his hands, he -had been obliged to send off a flying column in pursuit of a force which -his scouts had reported was at Mirá Bay, fifteen miles from his camp. In -fact, the forces which Duchambon had recalled from Annapolis were -watching their chance either to make a dash into Louisburg, or throw -themselves upon the besiegers’ trenches unawares. - -Island Battery stormed May 27. -Gallantry of William Tufts, Jr. - -Notwithstanding the hazard, it was determined to storm the Island -Battery. For this purpose, four hundred volunteers embarked in -whale-boats on the night of the 27th, and rowed cautiously round the -outer shore of the harbor toward the back of the island, in the -expectation of finding that side unguarded. They were, however, -discovered by the sentinels in season to thwart the plan of surprise. -The garrison was alarmed. Still the brave provincials would not turn -back. Cannon and musketry were turned on them from the island and city. -Through this storm of shot, by which many of the boats were sunk before -they could reach the shore, only about half the attacking force passed -unscathed. In scrambling up the rocks through a drenching surf, most of -their muskets were wet with salt water, and rendered useless. Not yet -dismayed, the assailants fought their numerous foes hand to hand for -nearly an hour. Captain Brooks, their leader, was cut down in the -_mêlée_. One William Tufts, a brave lad of only nineteen, got into the -battery, climbed the flagstaff, tore down the French colors, and -fastened his own red coat to the staff, under a shower of balls, many of -which went through his clothes without harming him. Sixty men were slain -before the rest would surrender, but these were the flower of the army, -whose loss saddened the whole camp, when the enemy’s exulting cheers -told the story of the disaster, at break of day. About a hundred and -eighty-nine men were either drowned, killed, or taken in this desperate -encounter. It was an exploit worthy of the men, but there was not one -chance in ten of its being successful. For once Pepperell had allowed -feeling to get the better of judgment by taking that chance. - -Pepperell could now say to Warren that his proposal would not be agreed -to. His effective force had been reduced by sickness to twenty-one -hundred men, six hundred of whom were at that moment absent from camp. -As a compliance with Warren’s requisition for sixteen hundred men would -be equivalent to exposing everything to the uncertain chances of a -single bold dash, Pepperell’s council very wisely concluded that it was -far better to hold fast what had been gained, than to risk all that was -hoped for. They offered to lend the commodore five hundred soldiers, and -six hundred sailors, if he would go and assault the Island Battery, in -his turn, but Warren’s only reply was to urge the completion of the -Lighthouse Battery for that work. - -The siege had now continued thirty days without decisive results. So far -Duchambon had showed no sign of yielding, and Pepperell found it -difficult to get information as to the state of the garrison. An -expedient was therefore hit upon which was calculated to test both the -temper and condition of the besieged thoroughly: for although the -capture of the Vigilant had been witnessed from the walls of Louisburg, -it had not produced the impression that the besiegers had expected. This -was the key to what now took place. - -Effect of Stratagem tried. - -Maisonforte, captain of the Vigilant, was still a prisoner on board the -fleet. He was given to understand that the provincials were greatly -exasperated over the cruel treatment of some prisoners, who had been -murdered after they were taken, and he was asked to write to Duchambon -informing him just how the French prisoners were treated, to the end -that such barbarities as had been complained of might cease, and -retaliation be avoided. - -Maisonforte readily fell into the trap laid for him. He unhesitatingly -wrote the letter as requested, it was sent to Duchambon by a flag, and -was delivered by an officer who understood French, in order to observe -its effect. The letter thus conveyed to Duchambon the disagreeable news -of the Vigilant’s capture, of which he had been ignorant, and it made a -visible impression. He now knew that his determination to hold out in -view of the expected succors from France, was of no further avail. This -correspondence took place on the 7th. - -Lighthouse Battery completed. -Island Battery silenced. - -By the arrival of ships destined for the Newfoundland station, the fleet -had been increased to eleven ships carrying five hundred and forty guns. -On the 9th two deserters came into our lines, who said that the garrison -could not hold out much longer unless relieved. On the 11th, which was -the anniversary of the accession of George II., a general bombardment -took place, in which the new Lighthouse Battery joined, for the first -time. The effect of its fire upon the Island Battery was so marked, that -Warren now declared himself ready to join in a general attack, whenever -the wind should be fair for it. For this attempt Pepperell pushed -forward his own preparations most vigorously. Boats were got ready to -land troops at different parts of the town. The Circular Battery was -about silenced. All the 13th, 14th, and 15th a furious bombardment was -kept up. Our marksmen swept the streets of the doomed city, with -musketry, from the advanced trenches, so that no one could show his head -in any part of it without being instantly riddled with balls. The -artillerists at the Island Battery were driven from their posts, some -even taking refuge from our shells by running into the sea. Our boats -now passed in and out of the harbor freely, with supplies, without -molestation. It was evident that the fall of this much dreaded bulwark -had brought the siege practically to a close. - -On the 14th the whole fleet came to an anchor off the harbor in line of -battle. It made a splendid and imposing array. At the same time the -troops were mustered under arms, and exhorted to do their full duty when -the order should be given them to advance upon the enemy’s works. In the -midst of these final preparations for a combined and decisive assault, -an ominous silence brooded over the doomed city. It was clear to all -that the crisis was at hand. - -Duchambon felt that he had now done all that a brave and resolute -captain could for the defence of the fortress. He saw an overwhelming -force about to throw itself with irresistible power upon his dismantled -walls, in every assailable part at once. His every hope of help from -without had failed him. Food for his men and powder for his guns were -nearly exhausted. He was now confronted with the soldier’s last dread -alternative of meeting an assault sword in hand, with but faint prospect -of success, or of lowering the flag he had so gallantly defended. The -wretched inhabitants, who had endured every privation cheerfully, so -long as there was hope, earnestly entreated him to spare them the -horrors of storm and pillage. - -The Fortress surrenders. - -On the 15th, in the afternoon, while the two chiefs of the expedition -were in consultation together, Duchambon sent a flag to Pepperell -proposing a suspension of hostilities until terms of capitulation should -be agreed upon. This was at once granted until eight o’clock of the -following morning. Duchambon’s proposals were then submitted and -rejected as inadmissible, but counter proposals were sent him, to which, -on the same day, he gave his assent, by sending hostages to both -Pepperell and Warren, saving only that the garrison should be allowed to -march out with the honors of war. For reasons to be looked for, no -doubt, in his pride as a professional soldier, and in his reluctance to -treat with any other, he addressed separate notes to the land and naval -commanders. As neither felt disposed to stand upon a point of mere -punctilio, Duchambon’s request was immediately acceded to. A striking -difference, however, is to be observed between Pepperell’s and Warren’s -replies to the French commander. In his own Pepperell generously, and -honorably, makes the full ratification of this condition subject to -Warren’s approval. In the commodore’s there is not one word found -concerning the general of the land forces, or of his approbation or -disapprobation, any more than if he had never existed; but in Warren’s -note the extraordinary condition is annexed “that the keys of the town -be delivered to such officers and troops _as I shall appoint to receive -them_, and that all the cannon, warlike and other stores in the town, be -also delivered up to the said officers.” - -On the 17th Warren took formal possession of the Island Battery, and -shortly after went into the city himself to confer with the governor. In -the meantime, conceiving it to be his right to receive the surrender, -Pepperell had informed the governor of his intention to put a detachment -of his own troops in occupation of the city defences that same -afternoon. This communication was immediately shown to Warren, who at -once addressed Pepperell, in evident irritation, upon the “irregularity” -of his proceedings, until the articles of surrender should have been -formally signed and sealed. The fact that he had just proposed to -receive the surrender of the fortress himself was not even referred to, -nor does it appear that Pepperell ever knew of it. One cannot overlook, -therefore, the presence of some unworthy manœuvring, seconded by -Duchambon’s professional vanity, to claim and obtain a share of the -honor of this glorious achievement, not only unwarranted by the part the -navy had taken in it, since it had never fired a shot into Louisburg, or -lost a man by its fire: but calculated to mislead public opinion in -England. - -An unpublished letter of General Dwight, written three days after the -entry of the provincial troops, relates the closing scenes of this truly -memorable contest. It runs as follows:— - - [Illustration: REMAINS OF CASEMATES AT LOUISBURG.] - -“We entered the city on Monday last (17th) about five o’clock P.M., with -colors flying, drums, hautboys, violins, trumpets, etc. Gentlemen and -ladies caressing (the French inhabitants) as well they might, for a New -England dog would have died in the holes we drove them to—I mean the -casemates where they dwelt during the siege. - -“This fortress is so valuable, as well as large and extensive, that we -may say the one half has not been conceived.... Sometimes I am ready to -say a thousand men in a thousand years could not effect it. Words cannot -convey the idea of it.... One half of ye warlike stores for such a siege -were not laid in; however, the Vigilant (French supply ship) being taken -and Commodore Warren’s having some supply of stores from New England was -very happy, and so it is that his readiness has been more than equal to -his ability.” - -Governor Duchambon puts his whole force at thirteen hundred men at the -beginning of the siege, and at eleven hundred at its close. About two -thousand men were, however, included in the capitulation, of which -number six hundred and fifty were veteran troops. The besiegers’ shot -had wrought destruction in the city. There was not a building left -unharmed or even habitable, by the fifteen thousand shot and shells that -Pepperell’s batteries had thrown into it. - -When Pepperell saw the inside of Louisburg he probably realized for the -first time the magnitude of the task he had undertaken. On looking -around him, he said, with the expeditionary motto in mind no doubt, “The -Almighty, of a truth, has been with us.” - -As the expedition began, so it now ended, with a prayer, which has come -down to us as a part of its history. Pepperell celebrated his entry into -Louisburg by giving a dinner to his officers. When they were seated at -table, the general called upon his old friend and neighbor, the Rev. Mr. -Moody of York, to ask the Divine blessing. As the parson’s prayers were -proverbial for their length, the countenances of the guests fell when he -arose from his chair, but to everybody’s surprise the venerable chaplain -made his model and pithy appeal to the throne of grace in these words: - -“Good Lord! we have so many things to thank thee for, that time will be -infinitely too short to do it: we must therefore leave it for the work -of eternity.” - -[22]General John Nixon is one of those referred to. - -[23]Douglass (Summary), Belknap (“History of New Hampshire”) and - Hutchinson (“History of Massachusetts Bay”) have accounts of the - Louisburg expedition. Douglass and Hutchinson wrote - contemporaneously, and were well informed, the latter especially, - upon all points relating to the inception and organization. Of their - military criticism it is needless to speak. There is a host of - authorities, both French and English, most of which are collected in - Vol. V. “Narrative and Critical History of America.” - -[24]Richard Gridley subsequently laid out the works at Bunker Hill and - Dorchester Heights, in much the same manner. - -[25]Shirley’s second messenger, Captain Loring, on presenting his - despatches, was allowed but twelve hours in London, being then - ordered on board the Princess Mary, one of the ships referred to. - - - - - X - AFTERTHOUGHTS - - -And now comes the strangest part of the story. We get quite accustomed -to thinking of the American colonies as the football of European -diplomacy, our reading of history has fully prepared us for that: but we -are not prepared to find events in the New World actually shaping the -course of those in the Old. In a word, England lost the battle in -Europe, but won it in America. France was confounded at seeing the key -to Canada in the hands of the enemy she had just beaten. England and -France were like two duellists who have had a scuffle, in the course of -which they have exchanged weapons. Instead of dictating terms, France -had to compromise matters. For the sake of preserving her colonial -possessions, she now had to give up her dear-bought conquests on the -continent of Europe. Hostilities were suspended. All the belligerents -agreed to restore what they had taken from each other, and cry quits; -but it is plain that France would never have consented to such a -settlement at a time when her adversaries were so badly crippled, when -all England was in a ferment, and she hurrying back her troops from -Holland in order to put down rebellion at home, thus leaving the -coalition of which she was the head to stand or fall without her. France -would not have stayed her victorious march, we think, under such -circumstances as these, unless the nation’s attention had been forcibly -recalled to the gravity of the situation in America. - -In some respects this episode of history recalls the story of the mailed -giant, armed to the teeth, and of the stripling with his sling. - -As all the conquests of this war were restored by the peace of -Aix-la-Chapelle, Cape Breton went to France again. - -Thus had New England made herself felt across the Atlantic by an -exhibition of power, as unlooked-for as it was suggestive to thoughtful -men. To some it was merely like that put forth by the infant Hercules, -in his cradle. But to England, the unnatural mother, it was a notice -that the child she had neglected was coming to manhood, ere long to -claim a voice in the disposal of its own affairs. - -To New England herself the consequences of her great exploit were very -marked. The martial spirit was revived. In the trenches of Louisburg was -the training-school for the future captains of the republic. Louisburg -became a watchword and a tradition to a people intensely proud of their -traditions. Not only had they made themselves felt across the ocean, but -they now first awoke to a better knowledge of their own resources, their -own capabilities, their own place in the empire, and here began the -growth of that independent spirit which, but for the prompt seizure of a -golden opportunity, might have lain dormant for years. Probably it would -be too much to say that the taking of Louisburg opened the eyes of -discerning men to the possibility of a great empire in the West; yet, if -we are to look about us for underlying causes, we know not where else to -find a single event so likely to give birth to speculative discussion, -or a new and enlarged direction in the treatment of public concerns. -What had been done would always be pointed to as evidence of what might -be done again. So we have considered the taking of Louisburg, in so far -as the colonies were concerned, as the event of its epoch.[26] - -Nor would these discussions be any the less likely to arise, or to grow -any the less threatening to the future of crown and colony, when it -became known that to balance her accounts with other powers England had -handed over Cape Breton to France again, thus putting in her hand the -very weapon that New England had just wrested from her, as the pledge to -her own security. The work was all undone with a stroke of the pen. The -colonies were still to be the football of European politics. - -Nobody in the colonies supposed this would be the reward of their -sacrifices—that they should be deliberately sold by the home government, -or that France, after being once disarmed, would be quietly told to go -on strengthening her American Gibraltar as much as she liked. Yet this -was what really happened, notwithstanding the Duke of Newcastle’s -bombastic declaration that “if France was master of Portsmouth, he would -hang the man who should give up Cape Breton in exchange for it.” - -King George, who was in Hanover when he heard of the capture of -Louisburg, sent word to Pepperell that he would be made a baronet, thus -distinguishing him as the proper chief of the expedition. This -distinction, which really made Pepperell the first colonist of his time, -was nobly won and worthily worn. After four years of importunity the -colonies succeeded in getting their actual expenses reimbursed to them, -which was certainly no more than their dues, considering that they had -been fighting the battles of the mother country.[27] - -Warren was made an admiral. The navy came in for a large amount of prize -money, obtained from ships that were decoyed into Louisburg after it -fell, to the exclusion of the army.[28] This disposition of the spoils -was highly resented by the army, who very justly alleged that, while the -success of the army without the fleet might be open to debate, there -could be no question whatever of the fleet’s inability to take Louisburg -without the army. - -[26]The surrender caused great rejoicing in the colonies, as was natural - it should, with all except those who had always predicted its - failure. For some reason the news did not reach Boston until July 2, - in the night. At daybreak the inhabitants were aroused from their - slumbers by the thunder of cannon. The whole day was given up to - rejoicings. A public thanksgiving was observed on the 18th. The news - reached London on the 20th. The Tower guns were fired, and at night - London was illuminated. Similar demonstrations occurred in all the - cities and large towns of the kingdom. At Versailles the news caused - deep gloom. De Luynes speaks of it thus in his Memoirs: “People have - been willing to doubt about this affair of Louisburg, but unhappily - it is only too certain. These misfortunes have given rise to - altercations among ministers. It is urged that M. Maurepas is at - fault in having allowed Louisburg to fall for want of munitions. The - friends of M. Maurepas contend that he did all that was possible, - but could not obtain the necessary funds from the Treasury.” The - government got ready two fleets to retake Louisburg. One was - scattered or sunk by storms in 1746, and one was destroyed by Lord - Anson, in 1747, off Cape Finisterre. - -[27]The amount was £183,649 to Massachusetts, £16,355 to New Hampshire, - £28,863 to Connecticut, and £6,332 to Rhode Island. Quite a large - portion was paid in copper coins. - -[28]Among others the navy took a Spanish Indiaman, having $2,000,000, - besides gold and silver ingots to a large value, stowed under her - cargo of cocoa. The estimated value of all the prizes was nearly a - million sterling, of which enormous sum only one colonial vessel got - a share. - - - THE END - - - - - INDEX - - - A - Acadia (Nova Scotia), Louisburg designed to protect, 29. - Acadians, refuse to emigrate, 34; - and refuse to become British subjects, 35; - why called Neutrals, 36; - desire to remove elsewhere, 36. - Aix-la-Chapelle, Peace of, 127. - Annapolis, N. S., attempted capture of, 43; - attack on, frustrated, _note_ 100. - Auchmuty, Robert, proposes the taking of Louisburg, _note_ 58. - - - B - Boston, defenceless condition of, 11. - Bradstreet, Colonel John, at Louisburg, 70. - Brooks, Captain, killed at Louisburg, 113. - - - C - Canada, the key to, 12; - its political and economic weaknesses, 24 _et seq._; - compared with the English colonies, 25; - the fur monopoly, 26; - scheme for building up the colony, 28. - Canso, seized from Louisburg, 43, _note_ 45; - prisoners taken there prove useful, 49; - army rendezvous at, 69; - environs of, 76; - works thrown up at, 77. - Cape Breton Island, face of the country, 16; - mountains of, 17; - Gabarus Bay, 23; - first suggestions of its importance to Canada, 28; - natural products of, 29; - advantageous situation as a port of delivery and supply, 29; - left to Canada by stupid diplomacy, 30; - its chief harbors, 31; - the Bras d’Or, 31; - called Ile Royale, 32; - plan for getting colonists, 33, 34; - strategic points on the straits, 76; - ice blockade of, 77; - restored to France, 127. - Cape Breton Coast, approach to, 14; - blockaded by ice, 77. - Circular battery of Louisburg, its design, 93; - silenced, 116. - Coffin, Moses, of Newbury, Mass., anecdote of, 104. - Connecticut in Louisburg expedition, 57; - her forces join Pepperell, 78. - - - D - Dauphin Bastion, of Louisburg, 93; - destructive fire upon, 110. - De Costebello, at Louisburg, 33. - De Saxe, Marshal, defeats the English, 41. - Duchambon, commander of Louisburg, 84; - recalls a detachment, 95; - refuses to surrender, 96; - changes his mind, 117; - and opens a treaty, 118. - Dwight, Joseph, at Louisburg, 66 and _note_ 71. - - - E - English Harbor (Louisburg), 31. - Expeditionary Army, its composition, 66; - and equipment, 67, 68; - favoring conditions, 68; - sets sail for Louisburg, 69; - at Canso, 69; - council of war, 75; - sails for Louisburg, 80; - lands at Gabarus Bay, 84; - not backed up by the navy, 90; - transportation of artillery to the front, 94; - it tells on the men, 95; - the camp and camp life, 101 _et seq._ - - - F - Flat Point Cove, our army camps at, 85. - Fontenoy, English defeated at, 41. - Franklin, Benjamin, has no faith in Louisburg expedition, 57. - - - G - Gabarus Bay, the back door to Louisburg, 23; - Pepperell lands at, 80, 81. - Gibson, James, volunteers for Louisburg, 63, _note_ 70. - Green Hill, Louisburg shelled from, 95. - Gridley, Richard, engineer at Louisburg, 66; - an apt scholar, 105, _note_ 125. - - - H - Hale, Robert, at Louisburg, _note_ 71. - Hodges, Joseph, at Louisburg, _note_ 72. - Hutchinson, Thomas, gives casting vote for attacking Louisburg, - 55. - - - I - Island Battery, situation of, 15; - its value to the besieged, 93 and _note_ 100; - disastrous attack upon, 112, 113; - its fire silenced, 116; - in our hands, 119. - Ile Royale, see Cape Breton, 32. - Isle Madame, or Arichat, 76. - - - L - Lighthouse Point, 14; - is seized and fortified, 109. - Louisburg, the approach to, 14; - the harbor, 15; - old city, 15; - old fortifications perambulated, 17; - hills back of, 17; - natural defences of, 18; - demolition of the works, 19; - and present state of, 19; - Citadel, 20; - natural obstacles to surmount, 21; - bomb-proofs, 21; - impregnable from sea, 21; - graveyard and its inmates, 22; - Royal Battery, 23; - reasons why the fortress was erected, 24 _et seq._; - to be a great mart, 28; - to help Acadia, 29; - called English Harbor, 31; - chosen for a fortress, 32; - why called Louisburg, 32; - operations begun, 33; - prisoners shipped to, from France, 37; - strength and cost of the fortress, 38 and _note_ 45; - could be defended by women, 39; - its armament, 39; - garrison sallies out upon Nova Scotia, 44; - its fall the salvation of New England, 47; - schemes for its capture, 50; - its garrison mutinies, 51; - forces being raised against it, 56, 57; - early suggestions for its conquest, _note_ 58; - is blockaded, 73; - is invested, 89; - its defences as related to the siege, 93; - progress of siege operations, 95 _et seq._; - summoned to surrender, 96; - breaching batteries, 106; - progress of siege, 109; - a relieving vessel gets in, 110; - capture of the Vigilant, 110; - stratagem tried, 115; - its success, 115; a general bombardment, 116; - a suspension of arms, 118; - the surrender, 123; - the garrison, 123, 124; - importance to Great Britain as a political make-weight, 126 - _et seq._; - restored to France, 127; - many-sided importance of the conquest to the colonies, 128, - 129; - disgust in the colonies at its restoration, 129; - cost of the campaign, _note_ 131; - rejoicings, _note_ 131. - - - M - Meserve, Lieutenant-Colonel, his services at Louisburg, 94. - Micmacs of Cape Breton, 37. - Mira River, settlements on, 16. - Moody, Rev. Samuel, his pithy prayer, 124. - Moore, Samuel, at Louisburg, _note_ 72. - Moulton, Jeremiah, at Louisburg, _note_ 71; - destroys St. Peter’s, 96. - - - N - Newcastle, Duke of, anecdote of, 44. - New England alarmed by the creation of Louisburg, 39; - dreads the beginning of war, 42; - war is declared, 43; - menace to her commerce and fisheries, 46, 47; - aroused to take Louisburg, 54, 55; - extraordinary war measures in, 56, 57; - quality of expeditionary army, 62, 63; - enthusiasm in enlisting, 64; - reimbursed for her expenses, _note_ 131. - Newfoundland, French removed from, 33. - New Hampshire contingent, 69; _note_ 72. - New Jersey in Louisburg expedition, 57. - New York contributes to Louisburg expedition, 57. - Nixon, John, _note_ 125. - Nova Scotia (Acadia) turned over to England, 30; - invaded, 43; - relieved, 95. - - - P - Pennsylvania in Louisburg expedition, 57. - Pepperell, William, chosen to command, 60; - his qualifications, 61, 62; - impetus given by him to the project, 63, 64; - his regiment, _note_ 70; - hampered by instructions, 75; - finds Louisburg blocked up by ice, 77; - hails Warren’s arrival with joy, 78; - confident of driving the enemy from Cape Breton, 79; - finds Shirley’s plan impracticable, 83; - finds his task greater than he had supposed, 90; - his advances against the city properly made, 93; - is goaded into attacking the Island Battery, 112; - pushes forward preparations for a general assault, 116; - grants an armistice, 118; - his conduct contrasted with Warren’s, 119; - made a baronet, 130. - Pitts, Ebenezer, at Louisburg, _note_ 71. - Pomeroy, Major Seth, at Louisburg, 89; - his record, _note_ 100. - - - Q - Quebec, as the bulwark of Canada, 11. - - - R - Raudots, father and son, their scheme for putting new life into - Canada, 26; - it proposes a great naval mart at Cape Breton, 28. - Rhode Island in Louisburg expedition, 56. - Richmond, Sylvester, at Louisburg, _note_ 71. - Royal Battery, situation and importance of, 23; - taken, 86; - attempt to retake it, 87; - its importance to Americans, 88. - Ryal, Captain, sent to England, 41. - - - S - St. Anne, described, 31. - Saint Ovide, at Louisburg, 35. - St. Peter’s, destruction of, determined on, 76; - is effected, 96. - Seacoast defences of Mexico, Cuba, etc., 9; - of the English colonies, 10, 11; - of Canada, 11. - Shirley, Gov. William, saves Annapolis, 43; - notifies ministry, 44; - writes Commodore Warren, 44; - grasps the situation, 48; - his personal traits, 48, 49; - determines to take Louisburg, 50; - applies to legislature, 52; - meets defeat, 53; - arouses public sentiment, 54; - carries his point, 55; - sets to work, 56; - hears from Warren, 69; - attempts to order plan of attack, 73, 74. - Straits of Canso, 31. - - - T - Tournay, invested, 41. - Tufts, William, his bravery, 113. - Tyng, Commodore Edward, commands colonial fleet, 67; _note_ 72. - - - U - Utrecht, how the Peace of, affects the colonies, 30. - - - V - Vaughan, William, who he was and what he did, 49, 50; _note_ 58; - volunteers for Louisburg, 63; - leads a scouting party, 85; - and takes Royal Battery, 86. - Vigilant, French war-ship, taken, 110. - - - W - Waldo, Samuel, at Louisburg, 67 and _note_ 71; - occupies Royal Battery, and fires first shot, 89. - War of the Austrian Succession, its policy outlined, 40; - produces war between England and France, 41; - hostilities begin at Nova Scotia, 44. - Warren, Commodore Peter, orders sent to, 44; - arrives at Canso and proceeds off Louisburg, 78; - takes the Vigilant, 110; - is re-enforced, 111; - his plan for taking the city, 111; - agrees to a general attack, 116; - he ignores Pepperell, 119; - made an admiral, 130. - Whitefield, Rev. George, 62; - writes a motto for the flag, 65. - Wolcott, Gen. Roger, 67 and _note_ 71. - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - -—Retained publication and copyright information from the original; this - eBook is public-domain in the U.S. - -—Silently corrected a few palpable typographical errors. - -—Retained the consistent spelling “Pepperell” for the man usually known - as “Pepperrell” - -—In the text versions, enclosed italicized text in _underscore_. - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Taking of Louisburg 1745, by Samuel Adams Drake - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TAKING OF LOUISBURG 1745 *** - -***** This file should be named 50583-0.txt or 50583-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/5/8/50583/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/50583-0.zip b/old/50583-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index dd3640a..0000000 --- a/old/50583-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/50583-8.txt b/old/50583-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3b27b0d..0000000 --- a/old/50583-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3126 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Taking of Louisburg 1745, by Samuel Adams Drake - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Taking of Louisburg 1745 - -Author: Samuel Adams Drake - -Release Date: December 1, 2015 [EBook #50583] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TAKING OF LOUISBURG 1745 *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - [Illustration: W^m Pepperrell] - - _Decisive Events in American History_ - - - - - THE - TAKING OF LOUISBURG - 1745 - - - BY - SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE - AUTHOR OF "BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF 1777" ETC. - - - BOSTON MDCCCXCI - LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS - 10 MILK STREET NEXT "THE OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE" - NEW YORK CHAS. T. DILLINGHAM - 718 AND 720 BROADWAY - - Copyright, 1890, - By Lee and Shepard. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. Colonial Seacoast Defences 9 - II. Louisburg Revisited 13 - III. Louisburg to Solve Important Political and Military Problems 24 - IV. Rsum of Events to the Declaration of War 33 - V. "Louisburg must be taken" 46 - VI. The Army and its General 59 - VII. The Army at Canso 73 - VIII. The Siege 80 - IX. The Siege Continued 101 - X. Afterthoughts 126 - - [Illustration: ISLAND BATTERY, WITH LOUISBURG IN THE DISTANCE.] - - - - - THE TAKING OF LOUISBURG - 1745 - - - - - I - COLONIAL SEACOAST DEFENCES - - -The creation of great maritime fortresses, primarily designed to hold -with iron hand important highways of commerce, like Gibraltar, or simply -to guard great naval arsenals, like Kronstadt, or, again, placed where -some great river has cleft a broad path into the heart of a country, -thus laying it open to invasion, has long formed part of the military -policy of all maritime nations. - -In the New World the Spaniards were the first to emphasize their -adhesion to these essential principles by the erection of strongholds at -Havana, Carthagena, Porto Bello, and Vera Cruz, not more to guarantee -the integrity of their colonial possessions, than to protect themselves -against the rapacity of the titled freebooters of Europe, to whom the -treasure fleets of Mexico and the East offered a most alluring prey. -When Spain carried the purse, all the crowned heads of Europe seem to -have turned highwaymen. - -With this single exception the seaboard defences of the Atlantic coast, -even as late as the middle of the eighteenth century, were of the most -trivial character, nor was it owing to any provision for defence that -the chief ports of the English colonies enjoyed the long immunity they -did. England left her colonies to stand or fall upon their own -resources. Fortunate beyond expectation, they simply throve by neglect. -France, with a widely different colonial policy, did a little better, -but with a niggardly hand, while her system was squeezing the life-blood -out of her colonists, drop by drop. Had there been a Drake or a Hawkins -in the Spanish service, Spain might easily have revenged all past -affronts by laying desolate every creek and harbor of the unprotected -North Atlantic coast. She had the armed ports, as we have just shown. -She had the ships and sailors. What, then, was to have prevented her -from destroying the undefended villages of Charleston, Philadelphia, New -York, and Boston? - -Though she set about it so tardily, France was at length compelled to -adopt a system of defence for Canada, or see Canada wrested from her -control. In a most sweeping sense the St. Lawrence was the open gateway -of Canada. There was absolutely no other means of access to all its vast -territory except through the long, little known, and scarce-travelled -course of the Mississippi--a route which, for many reasons besides its -isolation, removed it from consideration as an avenue of attack. - -Quebec was as truly the heart of Canada as the St. Lawrence was its -great invigorating, life-giving artery. It is true that Quebec began to -assume at a very early day something of its later character as half -city, half fortress, but the views of its founders were unquestionably -controlled as much by the fact of remoteness from the sea, as by -Quebec's remarkable natural capabilities for blocking the path to an -enemy. - -Yet even before the memorable and decisive battle on the Plains of -Abraham, by which Canada was lost to France forever, the St. Lawrence -had been thrice ascended by hostile fleets, and Quebec itself once taken -by them. Mere remoteness was thus demonstrated to be no secure safeguard -against an enterprising enemy. But what if that enemy should seize and -fortify the mouth of the St. Lawrence itself? He would have put a -tourniquet upon the great artery, to be tightened at his pleasure, and -the heart of the colony, despite its invulnerable shield, would beat -only at his dictation. - -We will now pass on to the gradual development of this idea in the minds -of those who held the destiny of Canada in their keeping. - - - - - II - LOUISBURG REVISITED - - -The annals of a celebrated fortress are sure to present some very -curious and instructive phases of national policy and character. Of none -of the fortresses of colonial America can this be said with greater -truth than of Louisburg, once the key and stronghold of French power in -Canada. - -No historic survey can be called complete which does not include the -scene itself. Nowhere does the reality of history come home to us with -such force, or leave such deep, abiding impressions, as when we stand -upon ground where some great action has been performed, or reach a spot -hallowed by the golden memories of the past. It gives tone, color, -consistency to the story as nothing else can, and, for the time being, -we almost persuade ourselves that we, too, are actors in the great drama -itself. - -The Cape Breton Coast. - -It is doubtless quite true that the first impressions one gets when -coming into Louisburg from sea must be altogether disappointing. Indeed, -speaking for myself, I had formed a vague notion, I know not how, that I -was going to see another Quebec, or, at least, something quite like that -antique stronghold, looming large in the distance, just as the history -of the fortress itself looms up out of its epoch. On the contrary, we -saw a low, tame coast, without either prominent landmark or seamark to -denote the harbor, except to those who know every rock and tree upon it, -lifting nowhere the castellated ruins that one's eyes are strained to -seek, and chiefly formidable now on account of the outlying shoals, -sunken reefs, and intricate passages that render the navigation both -difficult and dangerous to seamen. - -Lighthouse Point. - -On drawing in toward the harbor, we pass between a cluster of three -small, rocky islets at the left hand, one of which is joined to that -shore by a sunken reef; and a rocky point, of very moderate elevation, -at the right, on which the harbor lighthouse stands, the ship channel -being thus compressed to a width of half a mile between the innermost -island and point. - -The harbor is so spacious as to seem deserted, and so still as to seem -oppressive. - -Island Battery. - -The island just indicated was, in the days of the Anglo-French struggles -here, the key to this harbor, but the opposite point proved the -master-key. Neither of the great war fleets that took part in the two -sieges of Louisburg ventured to pass the formidable batteries of that -island, commanding as they did the entrance at short range, and masking -the city behind them, until their fire had first been silenced from the -lighthouse point yonder. When that was done, Louisburg fell like the -ripe pear in autumn. - -Old Louisburg. - -The old French city and fortress, the approach to which this Island -Battery thus securely covered, rose at the southwest point of the -harbor, or on the opposite to the present town of Louisburg, which is a -fishing and coaling station for six months in the year, and for the -other six counts for little or nothing. In summer it is land-locked; in -winter, ice-locked. Pack ice frequently blockades the shores of the -whole island until May, and snow sometimes lies in the woods until June. -Yet in Cape Breton they call Louisburg an open harbor, and its choice as -the site for a fortress finally turned upon the belief that it was -accessible at all seasons of the year. As to that, we shall see later. - -Face of the Country. - -As for the country lying between Sydney and Louisburg, all travellers -agree in pronouncing it wholly without interesting features. And the few -inhabitants are scarcely more interesting than the country. In a word, -it is roughly heaved about in a series of shaggy ridges, sometimes -rising to a considerable height, through which the Mira, an arm of the -sea, forces its way at flood-tide. There is a settlement or two upon -this stream, as there was far back in the time of the French occupation, -but everything about the country wears a forlorn and unprosperous look; -the farms being few and far between, the houses poor, the land thin and -cold, and the people--I mean them no disparagement--much like the land, -from which they get just enough to live upon, and no more. Fortunately -their wants are few, and their habits simple. - -Remains of the Fortress. - -Louisburg is certainly well worth going nine hundred miles to see, but -when, at last, one stands on the grass-grown ramparts, and gets his -first serious idea of their amazing strength and extent, curiosity is -lost in wonder, wonder gives way to reflection, and reflection leads -straight to the question, "What do all these miles of earthworks mean?" -And I venture to make the assertion that no one who has ever been to -Louisburg will rest satisfied till he has found his answer. The story is -long, but one rises from its perusal with a clearer conception of the -nature of the struggle for the mastery of a continent. - -Perhaps the one striking thought about this place is its utter futility. -Man having no further use for it, nature quietly reclaims it for her own -again. Sheep now walk the ramparts instead of sentinels. - -Dominating Hills. - -Upon looking about him, one sees the marked feature of all this region -in the chain of low hills rising behind Louisburg. But a little back -from the coast the hills rise higher, are drawn more compactly together, -and assume the semi-mountainous character common to the whole island. - -Green Hill. - -As this chain of hills undulates along the coast here, sometimes bending -a little back from it, or again inclining out toward it, one of its -zigzags approaches within a mile of Louisburg. At this point, several -low, lumpy ridges push off for the seashore, through long reaches of -boggy moorland, now and then disappearing beneath a shallow pond or -stagnant pool, which lies glistening among the hollows between. Where it -is uneven the land is stony and unfertile; where level, it is a bog. -This rendered the land side as unfavorable to a besieging force as the -nest of outlying rocks and reefs did the sea approaches. A continued -rainfall must have made it wholly untenable for troops. - -The Fortified Line. - -It is one of these ridges just noticed as breaking away from the main -range toward the seashore, and so naturally bent, also, as to touch the -sea at one end and the harbor at the other, that the French engineers -converted into a regular fortification; while within the space thus -firmly enclosed by both nature and art, the old city of the lilies -stretched down a gentle, grassy slope to the harbor shore. - -Demolition of the City. - -Not one stone of this city remains upon another to-day. After the second -siege (1758) the English engineers were ordered to demolish it, and so -far as present appearances go, never was an order more effectually -carried out. All that one sees to-day, in room of it, is a poor fishing -hamlet, straggling along the edge of the harbor, the dwellings being on -one side, and the fish-houses and stages on the other side of the Sydney -road, which suddenly contracts into a lane, and then comes to an end, -along with the village itself, in a fisherman's back-yard. - -Not so, however, with the still massive earthworks, for the British -engineers were only able, after many months' labor, and with a liberal -use of powder, to partly execute the work of demolition assigned them. - -I spent several hours, at odd times, in wandering about these old ruins, -and could not help being thankful that for once, at least, the -destroying hand of man had been compelled to abandon its work to the -rains and frosts of heaven. - -Citadel or King's Bastion. - -Beginning with the citadel, in which the formalities of the surrender -took place, I found it still quite well defined, although nothing now -remains above ground except some old foundation walls to show where long -ranges of stone buildings once stood. Here were the different military -offices, the officers' quarters and the chapel. The shattered -bomb-proofs, however, were still distinguishable, though much choked up -with dbris, and their well-turned arches remain to show how firmly the -solid masonry resisted the assaults of the engineers. In these damp -holes the women, children, and non-combatants passed most of the -forty-seven days of the siege. From this starting-point one may continue -the walk along the ramparts, without once quitting them, for fully a -mile, to the point where they touch the seashore among the inaccessible -rocks and heaving surf of the ocean itself. - -The Casemates. - -These ramparts nowhere rise more than fifty feet above the sea-level, -but are everywhere of amazing thickness and solidity. The moat was -originally eighty feet across, and the walls stood thirty feet above it, -but these dimensions have been much reduced by the work of time and -weather. A considerable part of the line was further defended by a -marsh, through which a storming column would have found it impossible to -advance, and hardly less difficult to make a retreat. The besiegers were -therefore obliged to concentrate their attack upon one or two points, -and these had been rendered the most formidable of the whole line in -consequence of the knowledge that the other parts were comparatively -unassailable. In other words, the besieged were able to control, in a -measure, where the besiegers should attack them. - -Natural Obstacles made use of. - -Although the partly ruined bomb-proofs are the only specimens of masonry -now to be seen in making this tour, the broad and deep excavation of the -moat and covered-way, and the clean, well-grassed slopes of the glacis, -promise to hold together for another century at least. Brambles and -fallen earth choke up the embrasures. It is necessary to use care in -order to avoid treading upon a toad or a snake while you are groping -among the mouldy casemates or when crossing the parade. Those magical -words "In the King's name," so often proclaimed here with salvos of -artillery, have now no echo except in the sullen dash of the sea against -the rocky shores outside the perishing fortress, and - - "What care these roarers for the name of King?" - -Graveyard, Point Rochefort. - -Still following the sheep-paths that zigzag about so as nearly to double -the distance, I next turned back toward the harbor, leaving on my right -the bleak and wind-swept field in which, to the lasting reproach of New -England, five hundred of her bravest sons lie without stone or monument -to mark their last resting-place. It is true that most of these men died -of disease, and not in battle; yet to see the place as I saw it, in all -its pitiful nakedness, isolation, and neglect, is the one thing at -Louisburg that a New Englander would gladly have missed; and he will be -very apt to walk on with a slower and less confident step, and with -something less of admiration for the glory which consigns men to such -oblivion as this. - -Royal Battery. - -To give anything like an adequate idea of how skilfully all the -peculiarities of the ground were in some cases made use of in forming -the defences, or in others, with equal art, overcome, would require a -long chapter to itself. In order to render the main fortress more -secure, the French engineer officers selected a spot three-fourths of a -mile above it, on the harbor shore, on which they erected a battery that -raked the open roadstead with its fire. It was a very strong factor in -the system of defences as against a sea attack. This isolated work was -called the Royal Battery, or in the English accounts, the Grand Battery. -Yet, so far from contributing to the successful defence of the fortress, -it became, in the hands of the besiegers, a powerful auxiliary to its -capture. But the whole system of defence here shows that the marshes -extending on the side of Gabarus Bay, where a landing was practicable -only in calm weather, were considered an insuperable obstacle to the -movements of artillery; and without artillery Louisburg could never have -been seriously attacked from the land side. Against a sea attack it was -virtually impregnable. - - - - - III - LOUISBURG TO SOLVE IMPORTANT POLITICAL AND MILITARY PROBLEMS - - -Having glanced at the purely military exigencies, which had at length -forced themselves upon the attention of French statesmen, and having -gone over the ground with the view of impressing its topographical -features more firmly in our minds, we may now look at the underlying -political and economic causes, out of which the French court finally -matured a scheme for the maintenance of their colonial possessions in -Canada in the broadest sense. - -French Colonial System. -Its Unsatisfactory Workings. - -In creating Louisburg the court of Versailles had far more extended -views than the building of a strong fortress to guard the gateway into -Canada would of itself imply. Unquestionably that was a powerful -inducement to the undertaking; but, in the beginning, it certainly -appears to have been only a secondary consideration. For a long time the -condition of affairs in the colony had been far from satisfactory, while -the future promised little that was encouraging. Compared with the -English colonies, its progress was slow, irregular, and unstable. -Agriculture was greatly neglected. So were manufactures. The home -government had exercised, from the first, a guardianship that in the -long run proved fatal to the growth of an independent spirit. There were -swarms of governmental and ecclesiastical dependents who laid hold of -the fattest perquisites, or else, through munificent and inconsiderate -grants obtained from the crown, enjoyed monopolies of trade to the -exclusion of legitimate competition. These leeches were sucking the -life-blood out of Canada. So far, then, from being a self-sustaining -colony, the annual disbursements of the crown were looked to as a means -to make good the deficiency arising between what the country produced -and what it consumed. Without protection the English colonies steadily -advanced in wealth and population; with protection, Canada, settled at -about the same time, scarcely held her own. - -Two very able and sagacious men, the intendants Raudot, were the first -who had the courage to lay before the court of Versailles the true -condition of affairs, and the ability to suggest a remedy for it. - -The Fur Trade Monopoly. - -These intendants represented that the fur trade had always engrossed the -attention of the Canadians, to the exclusion of everything else. Not -only had the beaver skin become the recognized standard for all -exchanges of values, but the estimated annual product of the country was -based upon it, very much as we should reckon the worth of the grain crop -to the United States to-day. It was also received in payment for -revenues. Now, after a long experience, what was the result of an -exclusive attention to this traffic? It was shown that the fur trade -enriched no one except a few merchants, who left the country as soon as -they had acquired the means of living at their ease in Old France. It -had, therefore, no element whatever of permanent advantage to the -colony. - -Danger of Exclusive Attention to it. - -It was also shown that this fur trade was by no means sufficient to -sustain a colony of such importance as Canada unquestionably might -become under a different system of management; for whether the beaver -should finally become extinct through the greed of the traders, or so -cheapened by glutting the market abroad as to lose its place in commerce -entirely, it was evident that precisely the same result would be -reached. In any case, the business was a precarious one. It limited the -number of persons who could be profitably employed; it bred them up to -habits of indolence and vice without care for the future; and it kept -them in ignorance and poverty to the last. But, what was worst of all, -this all-engrossing pursuit kept the population from cultivating the -soil, the true and only source of prosperity to any country. - -Other cogent reasons were given, but these most conclusively set forth -what a mercantile monopoly having its silent partners in the local -government and church, as well as in the royal palace itself, had been -able to do in the way of retarding the development of the great native -resources of Canada. It was so ably done that no voice was raised -against it. And with this most lucid and fearless expos of the puerile -use thus far made of those resources the memorialist statesmen hoped to -open the king's eyes. - -The two Raudots offer a Remedy. - -They now proposed to wholly reorganize this unsound commercial system by -directing capital and labor into new channels. Such natural productions -of the country as masts, boards, ship-timber, flax, hemp, plaster, iron -and copper ores, dried fish, whale and seal oils, and salted meats, -might be exported, they said, with profit to the merchant and advantage -to the laboring class, provided a suitable port were secured, at once -safe, commodious, and well situated for collecting all these -commodities, and shipping them abroad. - -Cape Breton brought to Notice. - -To this end, these intendants now first brought to notice the advantages -of Cape Breton for such an establishment. Strangely enough, up to this -time little or no attention had been paid to this island. Three or four -insignificant fishing ports existed on its coasts, but as yet the whole -interior was a shaggy wilderness, through which the Micmac Indians -roamed as freely as their fathers had done before Cartier ascended the -St. Lawrence. Its valuable deposits of coal and gypsum lay almost -untouched in their native beds; its stately timber trees rotted where -they grew; its unrivalled water-ways, extending through the heart of the -island, served no better purpose than as a highway for wandering -savages. - -Acadia to be helped. - -By creating such a port as the Raudots suggested, the voyage from France -would be shortened one half, and the dangerous navigation of the St. -Lawrence altogether avoided, since, instead of large ships having to -continue their voyages to Quebec, the carrying trade of the St. Lawrence -would fall to coasting vessels owned in the colony. A strong hand would -also be given to the neighbor province, the fertile yet unprotected -Acadia, which might thus be preserved against the designs of the -English, while a thriving trade in wines, brandies, linens, and rich -stuffs might reasonably be expected to spring up with the neighboring -English colonies. - -A Military and Naval Arsenal proposed. - -These were considerations of such high national importance as to at once -secure for the project an attention which purely strategic views could -hardly be expected to command. And yet, the forming of a military and -naval depot, strong enough to guarantee the security of the proposed -port, and in which the king's ships might at need refit, or take refuge, -or sally out upon an enemy, was an essential feature of this elaborate -plan, every detail of which was set forth with systematic exactness. For -seven years the project was pressed upon the French court. War, however, -then engaging the whole attention of the ministry, the execution of this -far-seeing project, which had in view the demands of peace no less than -of war, was unavoidably put off until the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, by -giving a wholly new face to affairs in the New World, compelled France -to take energetic measures for the security of her colonial possessions. - -Peace of Utrecht. - -By this treaty of Utrecht France surrendered to England all Nova Scotia, -all her conquests in Hudson's Bay, with Placentia, her most important -establishment in Newfoundland. At the same time the treaty left Cape -Breton to France, an act of incomparable folly on the part of the -English plenipotentiaries who, with the map lying open before them, thus -handed over to Louis the key of the St. Lawrence and of Canada. No one -now doubts that the French king saw in this masterpiece of stupidity a -way to retrieve all he had lost at a single stroke. The English -commissioners, it is to be presumed, saw nothing. - -English Harbor chosen. - -Having the right to fortify, under the treaty, it only remained for the -French court to determine which of the island ports would be best -adapted to the purpose, St. Anne, on the north, or English Harbor on the -south-east coast. St. Anne was a safe and excellent haven, easily made -impregnable, with all the materials requisite for building and -fortifying to be found near the spot. Behind it lay the fertile ctes of -the beautiful Bras d'Or, with open water stretching nearly to the -Straits of Canso. On the other hand, besides being surrounded by a -sterile country, materials of every kind, except timber, must be -transported to English Harbor at a great increase of labor and cost. -More could be done at St. Anne with two thousand francs, it was said, -than with two hundred thousand at the rival port. But the difficulty of -taking ships of large tonnage into St. Anne through an entrance so -narrow that only one could pass in or out at the same time, finally gave -the preference to English Harbor, which had a ship channel of something -less than two hundred fathoms in breadth, a good anchorage, and plenty -of beach room for erecting stages and drying fish. It was, moreover, -sooner clear of ice in spring. - -Name changed to Louisburg. - -The first thing done at Cape Breton was to change the old, time-honored -name of the island--the very first, it is believed, which signalled the -presence of Europeans in these waters--to the unmeaning one of Ile -Royale. English Harbor also took the name of Louisburg, in honor of the -reigning monarch. Royalty having thus received its dues, the work of -construction now began in earnest. - - - - - IV - RSUM OF EVENTS TO THE DECLARATION OF WAR - - -We will now rapidly sketch the course of events which led to war on both -sides of the Atlantic. - -Colonists provided for. - -Having been obliged to surrender Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, the -French court determined to make use of their colonists in those places -for building up Louisburg. - -Acadians will not emigrate. - -In the first place, M. de Costebello, who had just lost his government -of the French colony of Placentia, in Newfoundland, under the terms of -the treaty, was ordered to take charge of the proposed new colony on -Cape Breton, and in accord also with the provisions of that treaty, the -French inhabitants of Newfoundland were presently removed from that -island to Cape Breton. But the Acadians of Nova Scotia who had been -invited, and were fully counted upon to join the other colonists, now -showed no sort of disposition to do so. In their case the French -authorities had reckoned without their host. These always shrewd -Acadians were unwilling to abandon the fertile and well-tilled Acadian -valleys, which years of toil had converted into a garden, to begin a new -struggle with the wilderness in order to carry out certain political -schemes of the French court. Though patriots, they were not simpletons. -So they sensibly refused to stir, although their country had been turned -over to the English. In this way the French authorities were -unexpectedly checked in their first efforts to secure colonists of a -superior class for their new establishment in Cape Breton. - -How strange are the freaks of destiny! Could these simple Acadian -peasants have foreseen what was in store for them at no distant day, at -the hands of their new masters, who can doubt that, like the Israelites -of old, driving their flocks before them, they too would have departed -for the Promised Land with all possible speed? - -A Thorn in the Side of the English. - -Finding them thus obstinate, it was determined to make them as useful as -possible where they were, and as a reconquest of Acadia was one of those -contingencies which Louisburg was meant to turn into realities, whenever -the proper side of the moment should arrive, nothing was neglected that -might tend to the holding of these Acadians firmly to their ancient -allegiance; to keeping alive their old antipathies; to arousing their -fears for their religion, or to strongly impressing them with the belief -that their legitimate sovereign would soon drive these English invaders -from the land, never to return. For the moment the king's lieutenants -were obliged to content themselves with planting this thorn in the side -of the English. - -Why called Neutrals. - -Acting upon the advice of the crafty Saint Ovide, De Costebello's -successor, the Acadians refused to take the oath of allegiance proffered -them by the British governor of Nova Scotia--though they had refused to -emigrate they said they would not become British subjects. When -threatened they sullenly hinted at an uprising of the Micmacs, who were -as firmly attached to the French interest as the Acadians themselves. -The governor, therefore, prudently forbore to press matters to a crisis, -all the more readily because he was powerless to enforce obedience; and -thus it came to pass that the French inhabitants of Nova Scotia, under -English dominion, first took the name of neutrals. - -Victims to French Policy. - -Perceiving at last how they were being ground between friend and foe, -the Acadians began hoarding specie, and to leave off improving their -houses and lands. A little later they are found applying to the -Governor-General of Canada for grants of land in the old colony, to -which they might remove, and where they could dwell in peace, for they -somehow divined that they must be the losers whenever fresh hostilities -should break out between the French and English, if, as it seemed -inevitable, the war should involve them in its calamities. But that -astute official returned only evasive answers to their petition. His -royal master had other views, to the successful issue of which his -lieutenants were fully pledged, and so it is primarily to French policy, -after all, that the wretched Acadians owed their exile from the land of -their fathers. What followed was merely the logical result. - -But in consequence of their first refusal to remove to Louisburg only a -handful of the Micmacs responded to Costebello's call, by pitching their -wigwams on the skirt of the embryo city. - -Laborers from the Galleys. - -Laborers were wanted next. For the procuring of these the -Governor-General of Canada, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, hit upon the novel -idea of transporting every year from France those prisoners who were -sentenced to the galleys for smuggling. They were to come out to Canada -subject to the severe penalty of never again being permitted to return -to their native land, "for which," said the cunning marquis, "I -undertake to answer." - -Lord Bacon, in one of his essays, makes the following comments upon this -iniquitous method of raising up colonies: "It is a shameful and -unblessed thing," he says, "to take the scum of people, and wicked -condemned men to be the people with whom you plant; and not only so, but -it spoileth the plantations; for they will ever live like rogues, and -not fall to work, but be lazy, and do mischief and spend victuals: and -be quickly weary, and then certify over to their country to the -discredit of the plantation." - -Meanwhile, the sceptre that had borne such potent sway in Europe dropped -from the lifeless hand of Louis the Great, to be taken up by the -"crowned automaton," Louis XV. - -Strength of Louisburg. - -Pursuant to the policy thus outlined, which had no less in view than the -rehabilitation of Canada, the recovery of Nova Scotia, the mastery of -the St. Lawrence, and the eventual restoration of French prestige in -America, France had in thirty years created at Louisburg a fortress so -strong that it was commonly spoken of as the Dunkirk of America. To do -this she had lavished millions.[1] Beyond question it was the most -formidable place of arms on the American continent, far exceeding in -this respect the elaborate but antiquated strongholds of Havana, Panama, -and Carthagena, all of which had been built and fortified upon the old -methods of attack and defence as laid down by the engineers of a -previous century: while Louisburg had the important advantage of being -planned with all the skill that the best military science of the day and -the most prodigal expenditure could command. When their work was done, -the French engineers boastingly said that Louisburg could be defended by -a garrison of women. - -Armament of Louisburg. - -The fortress, and its supporting batteries, mounted nearly one hundred -and fifty pieces of artillery on its walls, some of which were of the -heaviest metal then in use. It was deemed, and indeed proved itself, -during the progress of two sieges, absolutely impregnable to an attack -by a naval force alone. From this stronghold Louis had only to stretch -out a hand to seize upon Nova Scotia, or drive the New England fishermen -from the adjacent seas. - -In New England all these proceedings were watched with the keenest -interest, for there, at least, if nowhere else, their true intent was so -quickly foreseen, their consequences so fully realized, that the people -were more and more confounded by the imbecility which had virtually put -their whole fishery under French control. - -As the situation in Europe was reflected on this side of the Atlantic, -it is instructive to look there for the storm which, to the terror and -dismay of Americans, was now darkly overspreading the continent. - -War of the Austrian Succession. - -The crowned gamblers of Europe had begun their costly game of the -Austrian succession. Upon marching to invade Silesia, Frederick II., the -neediest and most reckless gamester of them all, had said to the French -ambassador, "I am going, I believe, to play your little game: and if I -should throw doublets we will share the stakes." Fortune favored this -great king of a little kingdom. He won his first throw, seeing which, -for she was at first only a looker-on, France immediately sent two -armies into Bavaria to the Elector's aid. This move was not unexpected -in London. Ever since England had forced hostilities with Spain, in -1740, it was a foregone conclusion that the two branches of the House of -Bourbon would make common cause, whenever a favorable opportunity should -present itself. England now retaliated by voting a subsidy to Maria -Theresa, and by taking into pay some sixteen thousand of King George's -petted Hanoverians, who were destined to fight the French auxiliary -contingent. England and France were thus casting stones at each other -over the wall, or, as Horace Walpole cleverly put it, England had the -name of war with Spain without the game, and war with France without the -name. - -English defeated in Flanders. - -It was inevitable that the war should now settle down into a bitter -struggle between the two great rivals, France and England. On the 20th -of March, 1744, the court of Versailles formally declared war. England -followed on the 31st. Flanders became the battle-field between a hundred -and twenty-five thousand combatants, led, respectively, by the old Count -Maurice de Saxe and the young Duke of Cumberland. In May, 1745, the -French marshal suddenly invested Tournay,[2] the greatest of all the -Flemish fortresses. The Duke of Cumberland marched to its relief, gave -battle, and was thoroughly beaten at Fontenoy. This disaster closed the -campaign in the Old World. It left the English nation terribly -humiliated in the eyes of Europe, while France, by this brilliant feat -of arms, fully reasserted her leadership in Continental affairs. - -Situation in New England. - -But what had been a sort of Satanic pastime in the Old World became a -struggle for life in the New. The people of New England, being naturally -more keenly alive to the dangers menacing their trade, than influenced -by a romantic sympathy with the absurd quarrels about the Austrian -succession, anxiously watched for the first signal of the coming -conflict. They knew the enemy's strength, and they were as fully aware -of their own weaknesses. Still there was no flinching. The home -government, being fully occupied with the affairs of the Continent, and -with the political cabals of London, limited its efforts to arming a few -forts in the colonies, and to keeping a few cruisers in the West Indian -waters; but neither soldiers, arsenals, nor magazines were provided for -the defence of these provinces, upon whom the enemy's first and hardest -blows might naturally be expected to fall, nor were such other measures -taken to meet such an extraordinary emergency as its gravity would seem -in reason to demand. - -Luckily for them, the colonists had been taught in the hard school of -experience that Providence helps those who help themselves. To their own -resources they therefore turned with a vigor and address manifesting a -deep sense of the magnitude of the crisis now confronting them. - -French seize Canso. - -The proclamation of war was not published in Boston until the 2d of -June, 1744. Having earlier intelligence, the French at Louisburg had -already begun hostilities by making a descent upon Canso,[3] a weak -English post situated at the outlet of the strait of that name, and so -commanding it, and within easy striking distance of Louisburg. News of -this was brought to Boston so seasonably that Governor Shirley had time -to throw a re-enforcement of two hundred men into Annapolis, by which -that post was saved; for the French, after their exploit at Canso, soon -made an attempt upon Annapolis, where they were held in check until a -second re-enforcement obliged them to retire. - -Captain Ryal sent to London, November, 1744. - -Governor Shirley lost no time in notifying the ministry of what had -happened, and he particularly urged upon their attention the defenceless -state of Nova Scotia, where Annapolis alone held a semi-hostile -population in check. To the end that the situation might be more fully -understood, he sent an officer, who had been taken at Canso, with the -despatch. - -At this time the incompetent Duke of Newcastle held the post of prime -minister. When he had read the despatch he exclaimed, "Oh, yes--yes--to -be sure. Annapolis must be defended.--troops must be sent to Annapolis. -Pray where is Annapolis? Cape Breton an island! wonderful! Show it me on -the map. So it is, sure enough. My dear sir" (to the bearer of the -despatch), "you always bring us good news. I must go tell the King that -Cape Breton is an island." - -January, 1744. - -It will be seen, later, that Shirley's timely application to the -ministry, on behalf of Nova Scotia, involved the fate of Louisburg -itself. Orders were promptly sent out to Commodore Warren, who was in -command of a cruising squadron in the West Indies, to proceed as early -as possible to Nova Scotia, for the purpose of protecting our -settlements there, or of distressing the enemy, as circumstances might -require. - -Shirley himself had also written to Warren, requesting him to do this -very thing, at the same time the ministry were notified, though it was -yet too early to know the result of either application. All eyes were -now opened to Louisburg's dangerous power. But, come what might, Shirley -was evidently a man who would leave nothing undone. - -[1]Louisburg had cost the enormous sum of 30,000,000 livres or - 1,200,000 sterling. - -[2]Pepperell was besieging Louisburg at the same time the French were - Tournay. - -[3]Canso was taken by Duvivier, May 13, 1744. The captors burnt - everything, carrying the captives to Louisburg, where they remained - till autumn, when they were sent to Boston. These prisoners were - able to give very important information concerning the fortress, its - garrison, and its means of defence. - - - - - V - "LOUISBURG MUST BE TAKEN" - - -However Shirley's efforts to avert a present danger might succeed, -nobody saw more clearly than he did that his measures only went half way -toward their mark. With Louisburg intact, the enemy might sweep the -coasts of New England with their expeditions, and her commerce from the -seas. The return of spring, when warlike operations might be again -resumed, was therefore looked forward to at Boston with the utmost -uneasiness. Merchants would not risk their ships on the ocean. Fishermen -dared not think of putting to sea for their customary voyages to the -Grand Banks or the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here was a state of things -which a people who lived by their commerce and fisheries could only -contemplate with the most serious forebodings. It was fully equivalent -to a blockade of their ports, a stoppage of their industries, with -consequent stagnation paralyzing all their multitudinous occupations. - -Public Opinion aroused. - -Naturally the subject became a foremost matter of discussion in the -official and social circles, in the pulpits, and in the tavern clubs of -the New England capital. It was the serious topic in the counting-house -and the table-talk at home. It drifted out among the laboring classes, -who had so much at stake, with varied embellishment. It went out into -the country, gathering to itself fresh rumors like a rolling snowball. -In all these coteries, whether of the councillors over their wine, of -the merchants around their punch-bowls, of the smutty smith at his -forge, or the common dock-laborer, the same conclusion was reached, and -constantly reiterated--Louisburg must be taken!--Yes; Louisburg must be -taken! Upon this decision the people stood as one man. - -It did not, however, enter into the minds of even the most sanguine -advocates of this idea that they themselves would be shortly called upon -to make it effective in the one way possible. Such a proposal would have -been laughed at, at first. The general voice was that the land and naval -forces of the kingdom ought to be employed for the reduction of -Louisburg, because no others were available; but, meantime, a public -opinion had been formed which only wanted a proper direction to turn it -into a force capable of doing what it had decided upon. There was but -one man in the province who was equal to this task. - -That some other man may have had the same idea is but natural, when the -same subject was uppermost in the minds of all; but where others tossed -it to and fro, like a tennis-ball, only this one man grasped it with the -force of a master mind.[4] He was William Shirley, governor of -Massachusetts. - -William Shirley. - -Governor Shirley soon showed himself the man for the crisis. He was a -lawyer of good abilities, with a political reputation to make. He had a -clear head, strong will, plausible manner, and immovable persistency in -the pursuit of a favorite project. If not a military man by education, -he had, at any rate, the military instinct. He was, moreover, a shrewd -manager, not easily disheartened or turned aside from his purpose by a -first rebuff, yet knowing how to yield when, by doing so, he could see -his way to carry his point in the end. - -The French, we remember, had made some prisoners at Canso, who were -first taken to Louisburg, and then sent to Boston on parole. These -captives knew the place, but our smuggling merchantmen knew it much -better. They were able to give a pretty exact account of the condition -of things at the fortress. We are now looking backward a little. But -what seems to have made the strongest impression was the news that the -garrison itself had been in open mutiny during the winter, most of the -soldiers being Swiss, whose loyalty, it was supposed, had been more or -less shaken.[5] - -William Vaughan. - -Whether William Vaughan,[6] a New Hampshire merchant resident in Maine, -first broached the project of taking Louisburg to Shirley, cannot now -determined, but, let the honor belong primarily where it may, Vaughan's -scheme, as outlined by him, was too absurd for serious consideration, -however strongly he may have believed in it himself. He seems to have -belonged to the class of enthusiasts at whose breath obstacles vanish -away; yet we are bound to say of him that his own easy confidence, with -his habit of throwing himself heart and soul into whatever he undertook, -gained over a good many others to his way of thinking. Shirley therefore -encouraged Vaughan, who, after rendering really valuable services, -became so thoroughly imbued with the notion that he was not only the -originator of the expedition, but the chief actor in it, that the value -of those services is somewhat obscured. - -Governor Shirley's project now was to take Louisburg, with such means as -he himself could get together. He, too, was more or less carried away by -the spirit which animated him, as men must be to make others believe in -them, but he never lost his head. To a cool judgment, some of Shirley's -plans for assaulting Louisburg seem almost, if not quite, as irrational -as Vaughan's, yet Shirley was not the man to commit any overt act of -folly, or shut his ears to prudent counsels. Being so well acquainted -with the temper and spirit of the New England people, he knew that, -before they would fight, they must be convinced. To this end, he -strengthened himself with the proper arguments, wisely keeping his own -counsel until everything should be ripe for action. He knew that the -garrison of Louisburg was mutinous, that its isolated position invited -an attack, and that the extensive works were much out of repair. -Moreover, he had calculated, almost to a day, the time when the annual -supplies of men and munitions would arrive from France. He knew that -Quebec was too distant for effectively aiding Louisburg. An attack under -such conditions seemed to hold out a tempting prospect of success; yet -realizing, as Shirley did, that under any circumstances, no matter how -favorable or alluring they might seem, the enterprise would be looked -upon as one of unparalleled audacity, if not as utterly hopeless or -visionary, he determined to stake his own political fortunes upon the -issue and abide the result. - -Counting the Chances of Success. - -The garrison of Louisburg had been, in fact, in open revolt, the -outbreak proving so serious that the commanding officer had begged his -government to replace the disaffected troops with others, who could be -depended upon. Shirley, therefore, reckoned on a half-hearted resistance -or none at all. In a word, it was his plan to surprise and take the -place before it could be re-enforced. - -Shirley's Plan. - -After obtaining a pledge of secrecy from the members, Shirley proceeded -to lay his project before the provincial legislature of Massachusetts, -which was then in session. The governor's statement, which was certainly -cool and dispassionate, ran somewhat to this effect: "Gentlemen of the -General Court, either we must take Louisburg or see our trade -annihilated. If you are of my mind we will take it. I have reason to -know that the garrison is insubordinate. There is good ground for -believing that the commandant is afraid of his own men, that the works -are out of repair and the stores running low. I need not dwell further -on what is so well known to you all. Now, with four thousand such -soldiers as this and the neighboring provinces can furnish, aided by a -naval force similarly equipped, the place must surely fall into our -hands. I have, moreover, strong hopes of aid from His Majesty's ships, -now in our waters. But the great thing is to throw our forces upon -Louisburg before the enemy can hear of our design. Secrecy and celerity -are therefore of the last importance. Consider well, gentlemen, that -such an opportunity is not likely to occur again. What say you? is -Louisburg to be ours or not?" - -Shirley's Plan rejected. - -The conservative provincial assembly deliberated upon the proposal with -closed doors, and with great unanimity rejected it. The sum of its -decision was this: "If we risk nothing, we lose nothing. Should the -enemy strike us, we can strike back again. We can ruin his commerce as -well as he can destroy ours. Our policy is to stand on the defensive. -Very possibly the men might be raised, but where are the arsenals to -equip them; where is the money to come from to pay them; where are the -engineers, the artillerists, the siege artillery, naval stores, and all -the warlike material necessary to such a siege? Why, we haven't a single -soldier; we haven't a penny. Surely your excellency must be jesting with -us. It is a magnificent project, but visionary, your excellency, quite -visionary." - -To make use of parliamentary terms, the governor had leave to withdraw, -but those who dreamed that he would abandon his darling scheme at the -first rebuff it met with, did not know William Shirley. - -The Subject again brought up. - -The affair was now no longer a secret. Indeed, it had already leaked out -through a certain pious deacon, who most inconsiderately prayed for its -success in the family circle. The project had been scotched, not killed. -Men discussed it everywhere, now that it was an open secret, and the -more it was talked of, the more firmly it took hold on the popular mind. -The very audacity of the thing pleased the young and adventurous -spirits, of whom there were plenty in the New England of that day. -Vaughan now set himself to work among the merchants, who saw money to be -made in furnishing supplies of every kind for the expedition; while on -the other hand, if nothing was to be done, their ships and merchandise -must lie idle for so long as the war might last. Little by little the -indefatigable Shirley won men over to his views. People grew restive -under a policy of inaction. Public sentiment seldom fails of having a -wholesome effect upon legislatures, be they ever so settled in their own -opinions. It was so in this case. Presently a petition, signed by many -of the most influential merchants in the province, was laid on the -speaker's desk, so again bringing the subject up for legislative action. - -The Project adopted. - -This time the governor carried his point after a whole day's animated -debate. The measure, however, narrowly missed a second, and, perhaps, a -final defeat, it having a majority of one vote only; and this result was -owing to an accident which, as it was a good deal talked about at the -time it happened, may as well be mentioned here. It so chanced that one -of the opposition, while hurrying to the House in order to record his -vote against the measure, had a fall in the street, and was taken home -with a broken leg. There being a tie vote in consequence, Mr. Speaker -Hutchinson gave the casting vote in favor of the measure, and so carried -it. - -If there had been hesitation before, there was none now. In order to -prevent the news from getting abroad, all the seaports of Massachusetts -were instantly shut by an embargo.[7] The neighboring provinces were -entreated to do the same thing. The supplies asked for were voted -without debate. Even the emission of paper money, that bugbear of -colonial financiers, was cheerfully consented to in the face of a royal -order forbidding it. Those who before had been strongest in opposition -now gave loyal support to the undertaking. - -Free to act at last, Shirley now showed his splendid talent for -organizing in full vigor. The work of raising troops, of chartering -transports, of collecting arms, munitions, and stores of every kind, -went on with an extraordinary impulse. Common smiths were turned into -armorers; wheelwrights into artificers; women spent their evenings -making bandages and scraping lint. Shirley's board of war, created for -the exigency, took supplies wherever found, paying for them with the -paper money the Legislature had just authorized for the purpose. The -patience with which these extraordinary war measures were submitted to -best shows the temper of the people. The neighboring governments were -entreated to join in the expedition and share in the glory. Rhode -Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey each promised contingents. The other -provinces declined having anything to do with it, though New York made a -most seasonable loan of ten heavy cannon, upon Shirley's urgent -entreaty, without which the siege must have lagged painfully. The -governor had, indeed, suggested, when the deficiency of artillery was -spoken of, that the cannon of the Royal Battery of Louisburg would help -to make good that deficiency; but, as it was facetiously said at the -time, this was too manifest a disposal of the skin before the bear was -caught, though it is quite likely that the notion of supplying -themselves from the enemy may have tickled the fancy of the young -recruits. - -When the application reached Philadelphia, Franklin expressed shrewd -doubts of the feasibility of the undertaking. The provincial assembly -did, however, vote some supply of provisions, as its contribution toward -a campaign which nobody believed would be successful. New Jersey also -contributed provisions and clothing. This was not quite what Shirley had -hoped for, but could not in the least abate his efforts. - -[4]Suggestions looking to a conquest of Cape Breton were made by - Lieutenant-Governor Clarke of New York, some time in the year 1743 - ("Documentary History of New York," I., p. 469). He suggests taking - Cape Breton as a first step toward the reduction of all Canada. - Then, Judge Auchmuty of the Vice-Admiralty Court of Massachusetts - printed in April, 1744, an ably written pamphlet discussing the best - mode of taking Louisburg. - -[5]The Revolt occurred in December, over a reduction of pay. The - soldiers deposed their officers, elected others in their places, - seized the barracks, and put sentinels over the magazines. They were - so far pacified, however, as to have returned to their duty before - the English expedition arrived. Under date of June 18, one day after - the surrender, Governor-General Beauharnois advises the Count de - Maurepas of this revolt. He urges an entire change of the garrison. - -[6]Vaughan was a mill-owner, and carried on fishing also at - Damariscotta, Me. He knew Louisburg well. Conceiving himself - slighted by those in authority at Louisburg, he went from thence - directly to England, in order to prefer his claim for compensation - as the originator of the scheme. He died of smallpox at Bagshot, - November, 1747. He insisted that fifteen hundred men, assisted by - some vessels, could take Louisburg by scaling the walls. "A man of - rash, impulsive nature."--_Belknap._ "A whimsical, wild - projector."--_Douglass._ - -[7]News that an armament was preparing at Boston was carried to Quebec, - by the Indians, without, however, awakening the governor's - suspicions of its true object. - - - - - VI - THE ARMY AND ITS GENERAL - - -The next, and possibly most vital step of all, since the fate of the -expedition must turn upon it, was to choose a commander. For this -important station the province was quite as deficient in men of -experience as it was in materials of war: with the difference that one -could be created of raw substances while the other could not. Here the -nicest tact and judgment were requisite to avoid making shipwreck of the -whole enterprise. Not having a military man, the all-important thing was -to find a popular one, around whom the provincial yeomanry could be -induced to rally. But since he was not to be a soldier, he must be a man -held high in the public esteem for his civic virtues. It was necessary -to have a clean man, above all things: one placed outside of the -political circles of Boston, and who, by sacrificing something himself -to the common weal, should set an example of pure patriotism to his -fellow-citizens. Again, it was no less important to select some one -whose general capacity could not be called in question. Hence, as in -every real emergency, the people cast about for their very best man from -a political and personal standpoint, who, though he might have - - "Never set a squadron in the field," - -could be thoroughly depended upon to act with an eye single to the good -of the cause he had espoused. - -William Pepperell to command. - -In this exigency Shirley's clear eye fell on William Pepperell, of -Kittery, a gentleman of sterling though not shining qualities, whose -wealth, social rank, and high personal worth promised to give character -and weight to the post Shirley now destined him for. He was now -forty-nine years old. Having held both civil and military offices under -the province, Pepperell could not be said to be worse fitted for the -place than others whose claims were brought forward, while, on the other -hand, it was conceded that hardly another man in the province possessed -the public confidence to a greater degree than he did. Still, he was no -soldier, and the simple conferring of the title of general could not -make him one, while his practical education must begin in the presence -of the enemy--a school where, if capable men learn quickly, they do so, -as a rule, only after experiencing repeated and severe punishments. That -raw soldiers need the best generals, is a maxim of common-sense, but -Shirley, in whom we now and then discover a certain disdain for such -judgments, seems to have had no misgivings whatever as to Pepperell's -entire sufficiency so long as he, Shirley, gave the orders, and kept a -firm hand over his lieutenant; nor can it be denied that if the -expedition was to take place at all when it did, the choice was the very -best that could have been made, all things considered. - -That Shirley may have been influenced, in a measure, by personal reasons -is not improbable, and the fact that Pepperell was neither intriguing -nor ambitious, no doubt had due weight with a man like Shirley, who was -both intriguing and ambitious, and who, though he ardently wished for -success, did not wish for a rival. - -No one seems to have felt his unfitness more than Pepperell himself, and -it is equally to his honor that he finally yielded to considerations -directly appealing to his patriotism and sense of duty. "You," said -Shirley to him, "are the only man who can safely carry our great -enterprise through; if it fail the blame must lie at your door." Much -troubled in mind, Pepperell asked the Rev. George Whitefield, who -happened to be his guest, what he thought of it. The celebrated preacher -kindly, but decidedly, advised Pepperell against taking on himself so -great a responsibility, telling him that he would either make himself an -object for execration, if he failed, or of envy and malignity, if he -should succeed. - -Morale of the Army. - -Shirley's pertinacity, however, prevailed in the end. Pepperell's own -personal stake in the successful issue of the expedition was known to be -as great as any man's in the province, hence, his putting himself at the -head of it did much to induce others of like good standing and estate to -join him heart and hand, and their example, again, drew into the ranks a -greater proportion of the well-to-do farmers and mechanics than was -probably ever brought together in an army of equal numbers, either -before or since. Hence, at Louisburg, as in our own time, when any -extraordinary want arose, the general had only to call on the rank and -file for the means to meet it. - -Several gentlemen, who had the success of the undertaking strongly at -heart, volunteered to go with Pepperell to the scene of action. Among -them were that William Vaughan, previously mentioned, and one James -Gibson, a prominent merchant of Boston, who wrote a journal of the siege -from observations made on the spot, besides contributing five hundred -pounds toward equipping the army for its work.[8] - -A Crusade preached. - -Pepperell's appointment soon justified Shirley's forecast. It gave -general satisfaction among all ranks and orders of men. On the day that -he accepted the command Pepperell advanced five thousand pounds to the -provincial treasury. He also paid out of his own pocket the bounty money -offered to recruits in the regiment he was raising in Maine. Orders were -soon flying in every direction, and very soon everything caught the -infection of his energy. The expedition at once felt an extraordinary -momentum. Volunteers flocked to the different rendezvous. In fact, more -offered themselves than could be accepted. Again the loud burr of the -drum, - - "The drums that beat at Louisburg and thundered in Quebec," - -was heard throughout New England. The one question of the day was "Are -you going?" In fact, little else was talked of, for, now that the -mustering of armed men gave form and consistency to what was so lately a -crude project only, the fortunes of the province were felt to be -embarked in its success. True to its traditions, the clergy preached the -expedition into a crusade. Again the old bugbear of Romish aggression -was made to serve the turn of the hour. Religious antipathies were -inflamed to the point of fanaticism. One clergyman armed himself with a -large hatchet, with which he said he purposed chopping up into kindling -wood all the Popish images he should find adorning the altars of -Louisburg. Still another drew up a plan of campaign which he submitted -to the general. "Carthage must be destroyed!" became the watchword, -while to show the hand of God powerfully working for the right, the -celebrated George Whitefield wrote the Latin motto, embroidered on the -expeditionary standard,-- - - "Never despair, Christ is with us." - -Thus the church militant was not only represented in the ranks and on -the banner, but it was equally forward in proffering counsel. For -example: one minister wrote to acquaint Shirley how the provincials -should be saved from being blown up, in their camps, by the enemy's -mines. He wanted a patrol to go carefully over the camping-ground first. -While one struck the ground with a heavy mallet, another should lay his -ear to it, and if it sounded suspiciously hollow, he should instantly -drive down a stake in order that the spot might be avoided. - -Such anecdotes show us how earnestly all classes of men entered upon the -work in hand. How to take Louisburg seemed the one engrossing subject of -every man's thoughts. - -Having glanced at the qualifications of the general, we may now consider -the composition of the army. We have already drawn attention to the -excellent quality of its material. In embodying it for actual service, -the old traditions of the British army were strictly followed. - -The Army by Regiments. - -The expeditionary corps was formed in ten battalions. They were -Pepperell's,[9] Wolcott's[10] (of Connecticut), Waldo's,[11] -Dwight's[12] (nominally an artillery battalion), Moulton's,[13] -Willard's, Hale's,[14] Richmond's,[15] Gorham's, and Moore's[16] (of New -Hampshire). One hundred and fifty men of this regiment were in the pay -of Massachusetts. Pepperell's, Waldo's, and Moulton's were mostly raised -in the District of Maine. Pepperell said that one-third of the whole -force came from Maine. Dwight was assigned to the command of the -artillery, with the rank of brigadier; Gorham to the special service of -landing the troops in the whaleboats, which had been provided, and of -which he had charge. There was also an independent company of -artificers, under Captain Bernard, and Lieutenant-Colonel Gridley was -appointed chief engineer of the army. - -Pepperell held the rank of lieutenant-general; Wolcott, that of -major-general; and Waldo that of brigadier, the second place being given -to Connecticut, in recognition of the prompt and valuable assistance -given by that colony. - -It goes badly equipped. - -As a whole, the army was neither well armed nor properly equipped, or -sufficiently provided with tents, ammunition, and stores. Too much haste -had characterized its formation for a thorough organization, or for -attention to details, too little knowledge for the instruction in their -duties of either officers or men. It is true that some of them had seen -more or less bush-fighting in the Indian wars, and that all were expert -marksmen or skilful woodsmen, but to call such an unwieldy and -undisciplined assemblage of men, who had been thus suddenly called away -from their workshops and ploughs, an army, were a libel upon the name. - -Commodore Edward Tyng[17] was put in command of the colonial squadron -destined to escort the army to its destination, to cover its landing, -and afterwards to act in conjunction with it on the spot. - -Hutchinson, Belknap. - -The writers of the time tell us that "the winter proved so favorable -that all sorts of outdoor business was carried on as well, and with as -great despatch, as at any other season of the year." The month of -February, in particular, proved very mild. The rivers and harbors were -open, and the fruitfulness of the preceding season had made provisions -plenty. Douglass thinks that "some guardian angel" must have preserved -the troops from taking the small-pox, which broke out in Boston about -the time of their embarkation. All these fortunate accidents were hailed -as omens of success. - -The Provincial Navy. - -Thanks to the enthusiasm of the young men in enlisting, and the energy -of the authorities in equipping them, the four thousand men called for -were mustered under arms, ready for service, in a little more than seven -weeks. In this short time, too, a hundred transports had been manned, -victualled, and got ready for sea. The embargo had provided both vessels -and sailors. More than this, a little squadron of fourteen vessels, the -largest carrying only twenty guns, was created as if by enchantment. -Here was shown a vigor that deserved success. - -The Connecticut and New Hampshire contingents were also ready to march, -but Rhode Island had not yet completed hers. By disarming Castle William -in Boston harbor, or borrowing old cannon wherever they could be found, -Shirley had managed to get together a sort of makeshift for a -siege-train. All being ready at last, after a day of solemn fasting and -prayer throughout New England, the flotilla set sail for the rendezvous -at Canso in the last week of March. "Pray for us while we fight for -you," was the last message of the departing provincial soldiers to their -friends on shore. - -Equal good-fortune attended the transportation of the army by sea to a -point several hundred miles distant, during one of the stormiest months -of the year. By the 10th of April the whole force was assembled at Canso -in readiness to act offensively as soon as the Cape Breton shores should -be free of ice. All this had been done without the help of a soldier, a -ship, or a penny from England. At the very last moment Shirley received -from Commodore Warren, in answer to his request for assistance, a curt -refusal to take part in the enterprise without orders, and Shirley could -only say to Pepperell when he took leave of him, that his best and only -hope lay in his own resources. - -But by this time the enthusiasm which had carried men off their feet had -begun to cool. The excitements, under the influence of which this or -that obstacle had been impatiently brushed aside, had given way to the -sober second thought. One by one they rose grimly before Pepperell's -troubled vision like the ghosts in Macbeth. Land the troops and storm -the works had been the popular way of disposing of a fortress which the -French engineers had offered to defend with a garrison of women. - -[8]Gibson was very active during the siege, especially when anything of - a dangerous nature was to be done. He was a retired British officer. - He was one of the three who escaped death, while on a scout, May 10. - With five men he towed a fireship against the West Gate, under the - enemy's fire, on the night of May 24. It burnt three vessels, part - of the King's Gate, and part of a stone house in the city. Being - done in the dead of night, it caused great consternation among the - besieged. - -[9]Pepperell's own regiment was actually commanded by his - lieutenant-colonel, John Bradstreet, who was afterwards appointed - lieutenant-governor of Newfoundland, but on the breaking out of the - next war with France, he served with distinction on the New-York - frontier, rising through successive grades to that of major-general - in the British army. Bradstreet died at New York in 1774. - -[10]General Roger Wolcott had been in the Canada campaign of 1711 - without seeing any service. He was sixty-six when appointed over the - Connecticut contingent under Pepperell. Wolcott was one of the - foremost men of his colony, being repeatedly honored with the - highest posts, those of chief judge and governor included. David - Wooster was a captain in Wolcott's regiment. - -[11]Samuel Waldo was a Boston merchant, who had acquired a chief - interest in the Muscongus, later known from him as the Waldo Patent, - in Maine, to the improvement of which he gave the best years of his - life. Like Pepperell, he was a wealthy land-owner. They were close - friends, Waldo's daughter being betrothed to Pepperell's son later. - His patent finally passed to General Knox, who married Waldo's - grand-daughter. - -[12]Joseph Dwight was born at Dedham, Mass., in 1703. He served in the - Second French War also. Pepperell commends his services, as chief of - artillery, very highly. - -[13]Jeremiah Moulton was fifty-seven when he joined the expedition. He - had seen more actual fighting than any other officer in it. Taken - prisoner by the Indians at the sacking of York, when four years old, - he became a terror to them in his manhood. With Harmon he destroyed - Norridgewock in 1724. - -[14]Robert Hale, colonel of the Essex County regiment, had been a - schoolmaster, a doctor, and a justice of the peace. He was - forty-two. His major, Moses Titcomb, afterwards served under Sir - William Johnson, and was killed at the battle of Lake George. - -[15]Sylvester Richmond, of Dighton, Mass., was born in 1698; colonel of - the Bristol County regiment. He was high sheriff of the county for - many years after his return from Louisburg. Died in 1783, in his - eighty-fourth year. Lieutenant-Colonel Ebenezer Pitts of Dighton, - and Major Joseph Hodges of Norton, of Richmond's regiment, were both - killed during the campaign. - -[16]Samuel Moore's New Hampshire regiment was drafted into the - _Vigilant_. His lieutenant-colonel, Meserve, afterward served under - Abercromby, and again in the second siege of Louisburg under - Amherst, dying there of small-pox. Matthew Thornton, signer of the - Declaration, was surgeon of Moore's regiment. - -[17]Edward Tyng, merchant of Boston, son of that Colonel Edward who was - carried a prisoner to France, with John Nelson, by Frontenac's - order, and died there in a dungeon. - - - - - VII - THE ARMY AT CANSO - - -The Plan of Attack. - -The crude plan of attack, as digested at Boston, consisted in an -investment of Louisburg by the land forces and a blockade by sea. To -enforce this blockade, Shirley had sent out some armed vessels in -advance of the expedition, with orders to cruise off the island, and to -intercept all vessels they should fall in with, so that news of the -armament might not get into Louisburg, by any chance, before its coming. - -Shirley's Project. - -This was all the more necessary because Shirley had indulged hopes, from -the first, of taking the place by surprise, and so obstinately was he -wedded to the notion that the thing was practicable, that he had drawn -up at great length a plan of campaign of which this surprise was the -chief feature, and in which he undertook to direct, down to the minutest -detail, where, how, and when the troops should land, what points they -should attack, what they should do if the assault proved a failure or -only partially successful, where they should encamp, raise batteries and -post guards; how the men must be handled under fire, and even how the -prisoners should be disposed of, for Shirley, as we have seen, was -considerably given to counting his chickens before they were hatched. - -A Saving Clause. - -Being a lawyer rather than a soldier, Shirley had written out a brief -instead of an order--clear, concise, direct. But, lengthy as it was, the -plan had one redeeming feature, which turns away criticism from the -absurdities with which it was running over. This was the postscript -appended to it: "Sir, upon the whole, notwithstanding the instructions -you have received from me, I must leave it to you to act upon unforeseen -emergencies according to your best discretion." The reading of it must -have lifted a load from Pepperell's mind! It really looked as if Shirley -had meant to be the real generalissimo himself, and to capture Louisburg -by proxy. - -Pepperell's Council. - -Pepperell was still hampered, however, with a council of war, consisting -of all the general and field officers of his army, whom he was required -to summon to his aid in all emergencies. If it be true that in a -multitude of counsels there is wisdom, then Pepperell was to be well -advised, for his council aggregated between twenty and thirty members. - -Pepperell seems to have conceived that he ought to submit himself wholly -to Shirley's guidance, since he himself was now to serve his first -apprenticeship in war, for it was now loyally attempted to carry out -Shirley's instructions to the letter. In all these preliminary -arrangements the difference between Shirley's brilliancy and dash and -Pepperell's methodical cast of mind is very marked indeed. It would -sometimes seem as if the two men ought to have changed places. - -Why the army was at Canso. -Importance of St. Peter's. - -Shirley had appointed the rendezvous to be at Canso, which place had -been abandoned soon after it was taken from us; first, because it was -the natural base for operations against Cape Breton, and next so that if -the descent on Louisburg failed, Canso and the command of the straits -would, at least, have been recovered. It was, as we have said, within -easy striking distance of Louisburg. Out in front of Canso, between the -Nova Scotia and Cape Breton shores, lay Isle Madame or Arichat, on which -a few French fishermen were living. Across the water from Arichat, at -the entrance to the Bras d'Or, lay the Village of St. Peter's, the -second in point of importance in Cape Breton, Louisburg being the first. -At Arichat everything that was being done at Canso could be easily seen -and communicated to St. Peter's. At St. Peter's word could be sent to -Louisburg by way of the Bras d'Or Lakes. It therefore stood Pepperell in -hand to clear his vicinity of these spies and informers without delay, -unless he wished to find the enemy forewarned and forearmed. - -The Ice Blockade at Louisburg. - -Shirley had directed Pepperell to destroy St. Peter's. Pepperell, -therefore, sent a night expedition there, which, however, returned -without accomplishing its purpose. But his greatest fear, lest supplies -or re-enforcements should get into Louisburg by sea, was set at rest on -finding that the field or pack-ice, which had come down out of the St. -Lawrence, and the east winds had driven up against the shores of Cape -Breton, formed a secure blockade against all comers, himself as well as -the enemy. This contingency had not been sufficiently weighed. - -Canso fortified. - -Meanwhile, Pepperell set to work fortifying Canso. A blockhouse, ready -framed, had been sent out for the purpose. This was now set up, -garrisoned, and christened Fort Prince William. Some earthworks were -also thrown up to cover this new post. In these occupations, or in -scouting or exercising, the troops were kept employed until the ice -should move off the shores. - -French Cruiser driven off. - -On the 18th of April a French thirty-gun ship was chased off the coast, -while trying to run into Louisburg. Being the better sailer, she easily -got clear of the blockading vessels, after keeping up for some hours a -sharp, running fight. Even this occurrence does not seem to have fully -opened the eyes of the French commandant of Louisburg to the true nature -of the danger which threatened him, since he has declared that he -thought the vessels he saw watching the harbor were only English -privateers. Perhaps nothing about the whole history of this expedition -is more strange than that this officer should have remained wholly -ignorant of its being at Canso for nearly three weeks. - -April 23, Warren's Fleet arrives. -Effect on the Army. - -The army had been lying nearly two weeks inactive, when, to Pepperell's -great surprise as well as joy, Commodore Warren appeared off Canso with -four ships of war, and, after briefly communicating with the general, -bore away for Louisburg. At last he had received his orders to act in -concert with Shirley, and, like a true sailor, he had crowded all sail -for the scene of action. His coming put the army in great spirits, for -it was supposed to be part of the plan, already concerted, by which the -attack should be made irresistible. And for once fortune seems to have -determined that the bungling of ministers should not defeat the objects -had in view. - -April 24, Connecticut Forces arrive. - -On the following day, the Connecticut forces joined Pepperell. The -shores of Cape Breton were now eagerly scanned for the first appearance -of open water, but even as late as the 28th Pepperell wrote to Shirley, -saying, "We impatiently wait for a fair wind to drive the ice out of the -bay, and if we do not suffer for want of provisions, make no doubt but -we shall, by God's favor, be able soon to drive out what else we please -from Cape Breton." The consumption of stores, occasioned by the -unlooked-for detention at Canso, had, in fact, become a matter of -serious concern with Pepperell, whose nearest source of supply was -Boston. - - - - - VIII - THE SIEGE - - -Fleet sails from Canso, April 29. - -Our guard-vessels having reported the shores to be at last free from -ice, and the wind coming fair for Louisburg, the welcome signal to weigh -anchor was given on the 29th of April. On board the fleet all was now -bustle and excitement. In a very short time a hundred transport-vessels -were standing out of Canso Harbor, under a cloud of canvas, for Gabarus -Bay, the place fixed upon by Shirley for making the contemplated -descent. - -Night Assault given up. - -Bound to the letter of his orders, Pepperell seems to have first -purposed making an attempt to put Shirley's rash project in execution. -To do this, he must have so timed his movements as to reach his -anchorage after dark, have landed his troops without being able to see -what obstacles lay before them, have marched them to stations situated -at a distance from the place of disembarkation, over ground unknown, and -not previously reconnoitred, to throw them against the enemy's works -before they should be discovered. And this most critical of all military -operations, a night assault, was to be attempted by wholly undisciplined -men. - - [Illustration: SIEGE of LOUISBOURG in 1745.] - -Providentially for Pepperell, the wind died away before he could reach -the designated point of disembarkation, so that this mad scheme perished -before it could be put to the test; but early the next morning the -flotilla was discovered entering Gabarus Bay, five miles southeast from -the fortress, and in full view from its ramparts. So, also, the New -England forces could see the gray turrets of the redoubtable stronghold -rising in the distance, and could hear the bells of Louisburg pealing -out their loud alarm. The fortress instantly fired signal guns to call -in all out parties. It is said that there had been a grand ball the -night before, and that the company had scarce been asleep when called up -by this alarm. The booming of artillery, sounding like the drowsy roar -of an awakening lion, was defiantly echoed back from the bosom of the -deep, and borne on the cool breeze to the startled foemen's ears the -distant roll of drum, and bugle blast, peopled the lately deserted sea -with voices of the coming strife. - -Duchambon, commander of the fortress, instantly hurried off a hundred -and fifty men to oppose the landing of our troops. - -Landing at Gabarus Bay, April 30. - -The fleet quickly came to an anchor, and the signal was hoisted for the -troops to disembark at once. Before them stretched the lonely Cape -Breton shore, on which the breakers rose and fell in a long line of -foam. Though this heavy surf threatened to swamp the boats, the men -crowded into them as if going to a merry-making. It was a gallant and -inspiring sight to see them dash on toward the beach, emulous who should -reach it first, and eager to meet the enemy, who were waiting for them -there. By making a feint at one point, and then pulling for another at -some distance from the first, the boats gained an undefended part of the -shore before the French could come up with them. As soon as one struck -the ground, the men jumped into the water, each taking another on his -back and wading through the surf to the shore. In this manner the -landing went on so rapidly that, when the enemy finally came up, they -were easily driven off, with the loss of six or seven men killed, and -some prisoners. Before it was dark two thousand men bivouacked for the -night within cannon shot of Louisburg. - -Vaughan now led forward a party after the retreating enemy, who, finding -themselves pursued, set fire to thirty or forty houses outside the city -walls. - -On the next day, the work of landing the rest of the army, the artillery -and stores, was pushed to the utmost, though the heavy surf rendered -this a work of uncommon difficulty. Pepperell now pitched his camp in an -orderly manner next the shore, at a place called Flat Point Cove, where -he could communicate with the transports and fleet, and they with him. -He now took his first step towards clearing the two miles of open ground -lying between him and Louisburg harbor, with the view of fixing the -location of his batteries, and of driving the enemy inside the walls of -the fortress. - -Royal Battery deserted. - -To this end four hundred men were sent out to destroy the enemy's -magazines situated at the head of the harbor, Vaughan again marching -with them. This detachment having set fire to some warehouses containing -naval stores, the smoke from which drifted down upon the Royal Battery, -the officer in command there, convinced that the provincials were about -to fall upon him, spiked his cannon and abandoned the works in haste, -though not till after receiving permission to do so. - -In the morning, as Vaughan was returning to camp with only thirteen men, -the deserted appearance of the battery caused him to carefully examine -it, when, seeing no signs of life about the place,--no flag flying or -smoke rising or sentinels moving about,--he sent forward an Indian of -his party, who, finding all silent, crept through an embrasure, and -undid the gate to them. Vaughan then despatched word to the camp that he -was in possession of the place, and was waiting for a re-enforcement and -a flag; but meantime, before either could reach him, one of his men -climbed up the staff, and nailed his red coat to it for a flag. - -Vaughan attacked. - -At about the same hour Duchambon was sending a strong detachment back to -the battery, to complete the work of destruction that his lieutenant had -left unfinished. At least this is his own statement. It was supposed -that the battery was still unoccupied or occupied weakly, otherwise the -French would hardly have risked much for its possession. When this -detachment came round in their boats to the landing-place, near the -battery, Vaughan's little band attacked them with great spirit, keeping -them at bay until other troops had time to join him, when the -discomfited Frenchmen were driven back whence they came. - -Advantage of this Capture. - -Thus unexpectedly did one of the most formidable defences fall into our -hands; for though its isolated situation invited an attack, and though -communication with the city could be easily cut off except by water, the -prompt attempt to recover the Royal Battery implies that its abandonment -was at least premature. Yet as this work was primarily a harbor defence -only, it was evidently not looked upon as tenable against a land attack, -although it is quite as clear that the time had not yet come for -deserting it. But the fact that it was left uninjured instead of being -blown up assures us that the garrison must have left in a panic. - -But whether the French attached much or little consequence to this -battery so long as it remained in their hands, it became in ours a -tremendous auxiliary to the conquest of the city. By its capture we -obtained thirty heavy cannon, all of which were soon made serviceable, -besides a large quantity of shot and shell, than which nothing could -have been more acceptable at this time. And although only three or four -of its heavy guns could be trained upon the city, its capture removed -one of the most formidable obstacles to the entrance of our fleet. It -also afforded an excellent place of arms for our soldiers, whose -confidence was greatly strengthened. In a word, the siege was making -progress. - -We cannot help referring here to the fact that notwithstanding Shirley's -idea had met with so much ridicule it had, nevertheless, come true in -one part at least, since if the proposal to turn the enemy's own cannon -against them had seemed somewhat whimsical when it was broached, it -certainly proved prophetic in this case, for within twenty-four hours -after its taking the guns of the Royal Battery were thundering against -the city. - -Firing begun. - -Pepperell had at once ordered Waldo's regiment into the captured -battery. The enemy had not even stopped to knock off the trunnions of -the cannon, so that the smiths, under the direction of Major -Pomeroy,[18] who was himself a gun-smith, had only to drill them out -again. Waldo fired the first shot into the city. It is said to have -killed fourteen men. The fire was maintained with destructive effect, -and it drew forth a reply from the enemy, with both shot and shell. - -The siege may now be said to have fairly begun, and begun prosperously. -Both sides had stripped for fighting, and it remained to be seen whether -Pepperell's raw levies would continue steadfast under the many trials of -which these events were but a foretaste. - -Louisburg was now practically invested on the land side, the fleet, with -its heavy armament, remaining useless, however, with respect to active -co-operation in the siege itself, because its commander dared not take -his ships into the harbor under fire of the enemy's batteries. The army -and navy were acting therefore without that concert which alone would -have allowed their united strength to be effectively tested. On its -part, the navy was simply making a display of force which could not be -employed, though it maintained a strict blockade. In any case, then, the -brunt of the siege must fall on the army, since, as Warren informed -Pepperell, the fleet could take no part in battering the city until the -harbor defences should first have been taken or silenced. And when this -was done, the siege must probably have been near its end, fleet or no -fleet. - -Pepperell manfully turned, however, to a task which he had supposed -would be shared between the commodore and himself. If he was no longer -confident under fresh disappointments, they developed in him unexpected -firmness and most heroic patience. Let us see what this task was, and in -what manner the citizen-general set about it. That it was done with true -military judgment is abundantly proved by the fact that, when Louisburg -was assaulted and taken in 1758, by the combined land and naval forces -of Amherst and Boscawen, Pepperell's plan of attack was followed step by -step, and to the letter. - - [Illustration: TOWN AND FORTIFICATIONS OF LOUISBOURG IN 1745.] - -The Harbor Defences. - -The most formidable of the harbor defences were the Island Battery, to -which attention has been called in a previous chapter, the Circular -Battery, a work situated at the extreme northwest corner of the city -walls, and forming the reverse face of the powerful Dauphin Bastion, -from which the West Gate of the city opened, with the Water Battery, or -Batterie de la Grve, placed at the opposite angle of the harbor -shore.[19] The cross-fire from these two batteries effectually raked the -whole harbor from shore to shore, but it was by no means so dangerous as -that of the Island Battery, where ships must pass within point-blank -range of the heaviest artillery. - -Such, then, was the admirable system of harbor defences still remaining -intact, even after the fall of the Royal Battery. Instead, therefore, of -concentrating his whole fire upon one or two points, in his front, with -a view of breaching the walls in the shortest time, and of storming the -city at the head of his troops, Pepperell was made to throw half his -available fire upon the batteries that were not at all in his own way, -though they blocked the way to the fleet.[20] - -It will be seen that these circumstances imposed upon Pepperell a task -of no little magnitude. They compelled him to attack the very strongest, -instead of the weakest, parts of the fortress, and necessarily confined -the siege operations within a comparatively small space of the enemy's -long line. - -No time was lost in getting the siege train over from Gabarus Bay to the -positions marked out for erecting the breaching batteries. The infinite -labor involved in doing this can hardly be understood except by those -who have themselves gone over the ground. Every gun and every pound of -provisions and ammunition had to be dragged two miles, through marshes -and over rocks, to the allotted stations. This transit being -impracticable for wheel-carriages, sledges were constructed by -Lieutenant-Colonel Meserve of the New Hampshire regiment, to which -relays of men harnessed themselves in turn, as they do in Arctic -journeys, and in this way the cannon, mortars, and stores were slowly -dragged through the spongy turf, where the mud was frequently knee-deep, -to the trenches before Louisburg. None but the rugged yeomen of New -England--men inured to all sorts of outdoor labor in woods and -fields--could have successfully accomplished such a herculean task. But -such severe toil as this was soon put half the army in the hospitals. - -Nova Scotia freed of Invaders. - -By the 5th of May Pepperell had got two mortar-batteries playing upon -the city from the base of Green Hill, over which the road passes to -Sydney. Meantime, Duchambon, seeing himself blockaded both by sea and by -land, had hurriedly sent off an express to recall the troops that had -gone out some time before against Annapolis, in concert with a force -sent from Quebec, little dreaming that he himself would soon be -attacked.[21] The first fruits of Shirley's sagacity ripened thus early -in relieving Nova Scotia from invasion. - -First Sabbath in Camp. - -The 5th being Sunday, divine service was held in the chapel of the Royal -Battery. Pepperell's hardy New Englanders listened to the first -Protestant sermon ever preached, perhaps, on the island of Cape Breton, -from the well-chosen text "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and -into His courts with praise." After their devotions were over, we are -told that the troops "fired smartly at the city." - -Meantime, also, Colonel Moulton, who had been left at Canso for the -purpose, rejoined the army after destroying St. Peter's. Two sallies -made by the enemy against the nearest mortar-battery had been repulsed. -Its fire, augmented by some forty-two-pounders taken from the Royal -Battery, already much distressed the garrison, its balls coming against -the caserns and into the town, where they traversed the streets from end -to end, and riddled the houses in their passage. It never ceased firing -during the siege. In his report Duchambon calls it the most dangerous of -any that the besiegers raised. - -Garrison summoned. - -On the 7th a flag was sent into the city with a summons to surrender. -Firing was suspended until its return, with Duchambon's defiant message, -that inasmuch "as the King had confided to him the defence of the -fortress, he had no other reply but by the mouths of his cannon." - -Scouting Party defeated. - -This check prompted a disposition to attack the city by storm at once, -but upon reflection more moderate counsels prevailed, and the attempt -was put off. Pepperell went on with his approaches toward the West Gate, -under a constant fire from all the enemy's batteries. And as every -collection of men drew the enemy's fire to the spot, this work could -only be done at night, under great disadvantages. The balls they sent -him were picked up and returned from his own cannon with true New -England thrift, in order to husband his own ammunition. While thus -engaged with the enemy in his front, he had also to keep an eye upon the -outlying parties of French and Indians in his rear, who had been scraped -together from scattered settlements, and were lurking about his camp -with the view of raiding it unawares. On May 10, a scouting party of -twenty-five men from Waldo's regiment was sent out to find and drive off -these marauders. While they were engaged in plundering some -dwelling-houses at one of the out-settlements, they themselves were -unexpectedly attacked by a superior force, and all but three killed, the -Indians murdering the prisoners in cold blood. On the following day our -men returned to the scene of disaster, and after burying their fallen -comrades, they burned the place to the ground. - -With these events the campaign settled down into the slow and laborious -operations of a regular siege; and here began those inevitable -bickerings between the chiefs of the land and naval forces, which, in a -man of different temper than Pepperell was, might have led to serious -results. - -Disagreements. - -In Shirley, his lawful captain-general, Pepperell had always a superior -whose orders he felt bound to obey to the best of his ability, cost what -it might. Fortunately, Shirley's power of annoyance was limited by -distance, though he kept up an animated fire of suggestions. In Warren, -however, the brusque and impulsive sailor, Pepperell now found a tutor -and a critic, whose irritation at the subordinate part he was playing -showed itself in unreasonable demands upon his slow but sure coadjutor, -and now and then even in a hardly concealed sneer. As time wore on, -Warren grew more and more restive and importunate, while Pepperell -continued patient, calm, and methodical to the last. Warren would call -his fleet-captains together, hold a council, discuss the situation from -his point of view, and send off to Pepperell the result of their -deliberations, with the final exhortation attached, "For God's sake let -_us_ do something!"--that "something" being that Pepperell should -practically finish the siege without him, as we have already shown. -Warren was a man standing at a door to keep out intruders, while the two -actual adversaries were fighting it out inside. He might occasionally -halloo to them to be quick about it, but he was hardly in the fight -himself. - -Pepperell would then get his council together in his turn, and, smarting -under the sense of injustice, would submit the lecture that Warren had -read him, with its thinly veiled irony, and unconcealed hauteur, to -which the imputation of ignorance was not lacking. The situation would -then be again discussed in all its bearings, from the army's standpoint, -which might be stated as follows: The fortress cannot be stormed until -we have made a practicable breach in the walls. We must finish our -batteries before this can be done. Or let the commodore bring in his -ships and assist in silencing the enemy's fire. The army is losing -strength every day by sickness, while the fleet is gaining by the -arrival of fresh ships. We cannot, if we would, pull the commodore's -chestnuts out of the fire and our own too. - -[18]Major Seth Pomeroy of Northampton, Mass., was lieutenant-colonel of - Williams's regiment in the battle of Lake George, 1755, succeeding - to the command after Williams's death. At the beginning of the - Revolution he fought as a volunteer at Bunker Hill. - -[19]Reference should be made to the plan at page 91. It will greatly - simplify the siege operations to the reader if he will keep in mind - the fact that the land attack was wholly confined within the points - designated by A and B on this plan, or between the Dauphin and - King's bastions. For our purpose, it is only necessary to add that - the harbor front was defended by a strong wall of masonry, joining - the Water Battery, G, with the Dauphin Bastion, A. In this wall were - five gates, leading to the water-side. It was the point at which the - city would be exposed to assault from shipping or their boats. - -[20]The Island Battery could not materially hinder the progress of the - siege, and must have fallen with the city. The Circular Battery - could not fire upon the besiegers at all, as it bore upon the - harbor, but Warren insisted that he could not go in until these two - works were silenced. If the time spent in doing this had been wholly - employed in battering down the West Gate and its approaches, the - city might have been taken without the fleet, leaving out of view, - of course, the supposition of a repulse to the storming party. It is - a strong assertion to say that the city could not have been taken - without the fleet, because no trial was made. - -[21]The Attack upon Annapolis having failed, these troops tried to get - back to Louisburg, but were unable to do so. With their assistance - Duchambon thinks he could have held out. - - - - - IX - THE SIEGE CONTINUED - - -Camp Routine. - -The routine of camp life is not without interest as tending to show what -was the temper of the men under circumstances of unusual trial and -hardship. They were housed in tents, most of which proved rotten and -unserviceable, or in booths, which they built for themselves out of -poles and green boughs cut in the neighboring woods. The relief parties, -told off each day for work in the trenches, were marched to their -stations after dark, as the enemy's fire swept the ground over which -they must pass. For a like reason, the fatigue parties could only bring -up the daily supplies of provisions and ammunition to the trenches from -Gabarus Bay, after darkness had set in. By great good-fortune, the -weather continued dry and pleasant; otherwise the bad housing and severe -toil must have told on the health of the army even more severely than it -did, while work in the trenches would have been suspended during the -intervals of wet weather. - -Spirit of the Army. - -A force like this, composed of men who were the equals of their officers -at home, not bound together by habits of passive obedience formed under -the severe penalties of martial law, could not be expected to observe -the exact discipline of regular soldiers. It was not attempted to -enforce it. Not one case of punishment for infraction of orders is -reported during the siege. But officers and men had in them the making -of far better soldiers than the ordinary rank and file of armies. There -were men in the ranks who rose to be colonels and brigadiers in the -revolutionary contest.[22] The hardest duty was performed without -grumbling; the most dangerous service found plenty of volunteers; and -Pepperell himself has borne witness that nothing pleased the men better -than to be ordered off on some scouting expedition that promised to -bring on a brush with the enemy. - -This spirit is plainly manifest in the letters which have been -preserved. In one of them Major Pomeroy tells his wife that "it looks as -if our campaign would last long; but I am willing to stay till God's -time comes to deliver the city into our hands." The reply is worthy of a -woman of Sparta: "Suffer no anxious thoughts to rest in your mind about -me. The whole town is much engaged with concern for the expedition, how -Providence will order the affair, for which religious meetings every -week are maintained. I leave you in the hand of God." - -There is not a despatch or a letter of Pepperell's extant, in which this -dependence upon the Over-ruling Hand is not acknowledged. The barbaric -utterance that Providence is always on the side of the strongest -battalions would have shocked the men of Louisburg as deeply as it would -the men of Preston, Edgehill, and Marston Moor. The conviction that -their cause was a righteous one, and must therefore prevail, was a power -still active among Puritan soldiers: nor did they fail to give the honor -and praise of achieved victory to Him whom they so steadfastly owned as -the Leader of Armies and the God of Battles. - -There were not wanting incidents which the soldiers treasured up as -direct manifestations of Divine favor. Moses Coffin, of Newbury, who -officiated in the double capacity of chaplain and drummer, and who had -been nicknamed in consequence the "drum ecclesiastic," carried a small -pocket-Bible about with him wherever he went. On returning to camp, -after an engagement with the enemy, he found that a bullet had passed -nearly through the sacred book, thus, undoubtedly, saving his life. - -Frolics in Camp. - -The relaxation from discipline has been more or less commented upon by -several writers, as if it implied a grave delinquency in the head of the -army. We are of the opinion, however, that it was the safety-valve of -_this_ army, under the extraordinary pressure laid upon it. So while we -may smile at the comparison made by Douglass, who says that the siege -resembled a "Cambridge Commencement," or at the antics described by -Belknap,[23] we need not feel ourselves bound to accept their -conclusions. This author says: "Those who were on the spot, have -frequently in my hearing laughed at the recital of their own -irregularities, and expressed their admiration when they reflected on -the almost miraculous preservation of the army from destruction. They -indeed presented a formidable front to the enemy, but the rear was a -scene of confusion and frolic. While some were on duty at the trenches, -others were racing, wrestling, pitching quoits, firing at marks or -birds, or running after shot from the enemy's guns for which they -received a bounty." - -Our Fascine Batteries. - -In his unscientific way, Pepperell was daily tightening his grasp upon -Louisburg. Gridley,[24] who acted in the capacity of chief engineer, had -picked up from books all the knowledge he possessed, but he soon showed -a natural aptitude for that branch of the service. Dwight, the chief of -artillery, is not known ever to have pointed a shotted gun in his life. -Instead of gradual approaches, of zigzags and paulements, the ground -was simply staked out where the batteries were to be placed. After dark -the working parties started for the spot, carrying bundles of fascines -on their backs, laid them on the lines, and then began digging the -trenches and throwing up the embankment by the light of their lanterns. -All the batteries at Louisburg were constructed in this simple fashion. -The work of making the platforms, getting up the cannon, and mounting -them, was attended with far greater labor and risk. - -The Advanced Battery opens Fire May 18. - -In this manner a fascine battery covered by a trench in front, on which -the provincials had been working like beavers for two days and nights, -was raised within two hundred and fifty yards of the West Gate, against -which it began sending its shot on the 18th. This was by much the most -dangerous effort that the besiegers had yet made, and the enemy at once -trained every gun upon it that would bear, in the hope of either -demolishing or silencing the work. It was so near that the men in the -trenches, and those on the walls, kept up a continual fire of musketry -at each other, interspersed with sallies of wit, whenever there was a -lull in the firing. The French gunners, who were kept well supplied with -wine, would drink to the besiegers, and invite them over to breakfast or -to take a glass of wine. - - [Illustration: THE LIGHTHOUSE, WITH DBRIS OF OLD WORKS.] - -Cannon discovered. - -In two days the fire of our guns had beaten down the drawbridges, part -of the West Gate, and some of the adjoining wall. Pepperell complains at -this time of his want of good gunners, also of a sufficient supply of -powder to make good the daily consumption, of which he had no previous -conception, but is cheered by finding thirty cannon sunk at low-water -mark on the opposite side of the harbor, which he designed mounting at -the lighthouse forthwith, for attacking the Island Battery. Gorham's -regiment was posted there with this object. Thus again were the enemy -furnishing means for their own destruction. Foreseeing that this -fortification would shut the port to ships coming to his relief, -Duchambon sent a hundred men across the harbor to drive off the -provincials. A sharp fight ensued, in which the enemy were defeated. - -Titcomb's Battery at Work. - -By this time another fascine battery situated by the shore, at a point -nine hundred yards from the walls, began raking the Circular Battery of -the enemy, in conjunction with the direct fire from our Advanced -Battery. It was called Titcomb's, from the officer in charge, Major -Moses Titcomb of Hale's regiment. These two fortifications were now -knocking to pieces the northwest corner of the enemy's ponderous works, -known as the Dauphin Bastion. We were now playing on Louisburg from -three batteries on the shore of the harbor, three in the rear of these, -and had another in process of construction at the lighthouse, all of -which, except the last, had been completed under fire within twenty -days, without recourse to any scientific rules whatever. - -Capture of the Vigilant. - -In spite of Warren's watchfulness one vessel had slipped through his -squadron into Louisburg unperceived, bringing supplies to the besieged, -An event now took place which, to use Pepperell's words, "produced a -burst of joy in the army, and animated the men with fresh courage to -persevere." The annual supply ship from France, for which our fleet had -been constantly on the lookout, had run close in with the harbor in a -thick fog, undiscovered by our vessels, and wholly unsuspicious of -danger herself. When the fog lifted she was seen and engaged by the -Mermaid, a forty-gun frigate, until the rest of the squadron could come -to her aid, when, after a spirited combat, the French ship was forced to -strike her colors. The prize proved to be the Vigilant, a new sixty-gun -ship, loaded with stores and munitions for Louisburg. She was soon put -in fighting trim again, and manned by drafts made from the army and -transports. - -Warren proposes to attack. - -By the 24th, two more heavy ships, which the ministry had sent out -immediately upon receiving Shirley's advices that the expedition had -been decided upon,[25] now joined Warren, who at length felt himself -emboldened to ask Pepperell's co-operation in the following plan of -attack. It was proposed to distribute sixteen hundred men, to be taken -from the army, among the ships of war, all of which should then go into -the harbor and attack the enemy's batteries vigorously. Under cover of -this fire, the soldiers, with the marines from the ships, were to land -and assault the city. Pepperell himself was to have no share in this -business, except as a looker-on, but was to put his troops under the -command of an officer of marines who should take his orders from Warren -only. - -This implied censure to the conduct of the army and its chief, followed -up the next day by the tart question of "Pray how came the Island -Battery not to be attacked?" seems to have goaded Pepperell into giving -the order for a night attack upon that strong post. Indeed, Pepperell's -perplexities were growing every hour. On the day he received Warren's -cool proposition to take the control of the army out of his hands, he -had been obliged to send off a flying column in pursuit of a force which -his scouts had reported was at Mir Bay, fifteen miles from his camp. In -fact, the forces which Duchambon had recalled from Annapolis were -watching their chance either to make a dash into Louisburg, or throw -themselves upon the besiegers' trenches unawares. - -Island Battery stormed May 27. -Gallantry of William Tufts, Jr. - -Notwithstanding the hazard, it was determined to storm the Island -Battery. For this purpose, four hundred volunteers embarked in -whale-boats on the night of the 27th, and rowed cautiously round the -outer shore of the harbor toward the back of the island, in the -expectation of finding that side unguarded. They were, however, -discovered by the sentinels in season to thwart the plan of surprise. -The garrison was alarmed. Still the brave provincials would not turn -back. Cannon and musketry were turned on them from the island and city. -Through this storm of shot, by which many of the boats were sunk before -they could reach the shore, only about half the attacking force passed -unscathed. In scrambling up the rocks through a drenching surf, most of -their muskets were wet with salt water, and rendered useless. Not yet -dismayed, the assailants fought their numerous foes hand to hand for -nearly an hour. Captain Brooks, their leader, was cut down in the -_mle_. One William Tufts, a brave lad of only nineteen, got into the -battery, climbed the flagstaff, tore down the French colors, and -fastened his own red coat to the staff, under a shower of balls, many of -which went through his clothes without harming him. Sixty men were slain -before the rest would surrender, but these were the flower of the army, -whose loss saddened the whole camp, when the enemy's exulting cheers -told the story of the disaster, at break of day. About a hundred and -eighty-nine men were either drowned, killed, or taken in this desperate -encounter. It was an exploit worthy of the men, but there was not one -chance in ten of its being successful. For once Pepperell had allowed -feeling to get the better of judgment by taking that chance. - -Pepperell could now say to Warren that his proposal would not be agreed -to. His effective force had been reduced by sickness to twenty-one -hundred men, six hundred of whom were at that moment absent from camp. -As a compliance with Warren's requisition for sixteen hundred men would -be equivalent to exposing everything to the uncertain chances of a -single bold dash, Pepperell's council very wisely concluded that it was -far better to hold fast what had been gained, than to risk all that was -hoped for. They offered to lend the commodore five hundred soldiers, and -six hundred sailors, if he would go and assault the Island Battery, in -his turn, but Warren's only reply was to urge the completion of the -Lighthouse Battery for that work. - -The siege had now continued thirty days without decisive results. So far -Duchambon had showed no sign of yielding, and Pepperell found it -difficult to get information as to the state of the garrison. An -expedient was therefore hit upon which was calculated to test both the -temper and condition of the besieged thoroughly: for although the -capture of the Vigilant had been witnessed from the walls of Louisburg, -it had not produced the impression that the besiegers had expected. This -was the key to what now took place. - -Effect of Stratagem tried. - -Maisonforte, captain of the Vigilant, was still a prisoner on board the -fleet. He was given to understand that the provincials were greatly -exasperated over the cruel treatment of some prisoners, who had been -murdered after they were taken, and he was asked to write to Duchambon -informing him just how the French prisoners were treated, to the end -that such barbarities as had been complained of might cease, and -retaliation be avoided. - -Maisonforte readily fell into the trap laid for him. He unhesitatingly -wrote the letter as requested, it was sent to Duchambon by a flag, and -was delivered by an officer who understood French, in order to observe -its effect. The letter thus conveyed to Duchambon the disagreeable news -of the Vigilant's capture, of which he had been ignorant, and it made a -visible impression. He now knew that his determination to hold out in -view of the expected succors from France, was of no further avail. This -correspondence took place on the 7th. - -Lighthouse Battery completed. -Island Battery silenced. - -By the arrival of ships destined for the Newfoundland station, the fleet -had been increased to eleven ships carrying five hundred and forty guns. -On the 9th two deserters came into our lines, who said that the garrison -could not hold out much longer unless relieved. On the 11th, which was -the anniversary of the accession of George II., a general bombardment -took place, in which the new Lighthouse Battery joined, for the first -time. The effect of its fire upon the Island Battery was so marked, that -Warren now declared himself ready to join in a general attack, whenever -the wind should be fair for it. For this attempt Pepperell pushed -forward his own preparations most vigorously. Boats were got ready to -land troops at different parts of the town. The Circular Battery was -about silenced. All the 13th, 14th, and 15th a furious bombardment was -kept up. Our marksmen swept the streets of the doomed city, with -musketry, from the advanced trenches, so that no one could show his head -in any part of it without being instantly riddled with balls. The -artillerists at the Island Battery were driven from their posts, some -even taking refuge from our shells by running into the sea. Our boats -now passed in and out of the harbor freely, with supplies, without -molestation. It was evident that the fall of this much dreaded bulwark -had brought the siege practically to a close. - -On the 14th the whole fleet came to an anchor off the harbor in line of -battle. It made a splendid and imposing array. At the same time the -troops were mustered under arms, and exhorted to do their full duty when -the order should be given them to advance upon the enemy's works. In the -midst of these final preparations for a combined and decisive assault, -an ominous silence brooded over the doomed city. It was clear to all -that the crisis was at hand. - -Duchambon felt that he had now done all that a brave and resolute -captain could for the defence of the fortress. He saw an overwhelming -force about to throw itself with irresistible power upon his dismantled -walls, in every assailable part at once. His every hope of help from -without had failed him. Food for his men and powder for his guns were -nearly exhausted. He was now confronted with the soldier's last dread -alternative of meeting an assault sword in hand, with but faint prospect -of success, or of lowering the flag he had so gallantly defended. The -wretched inhabitants, who had endured every privation cheerfully, so -long as there was hope, earnestly entreated him to spare them the -horrors of storm and pillage. - -The Fortress surrenders. - -On the 15th, in the afternoon, while the two chiefs of the expedition -were in consultation together, Duchambon sent a flag to Pepperell -proposing a suspension of hostilities until terms of capitulation should -be agreed upon. This was at once granted until eight o'clock of the -following morning. Duchambon's proposals were then submitted and -rejected as inadmissible, but counter proposals were sent him, to which, -on the same day, he gave his assent, by sending hostages to both -Pepperell and Warren, saving only that the garrison should be allowed to -march out with the honors of war. For reasons to be looked for, no -doubt, in his pride as a professional soldier, and in his reluctance to -treat with any other, he addressed separate notes to the land and naval -commanders. As neither felt disposed to stand upon a point of mere -punctilio, Duchambon's request was immediately acceded to. A striking -difference, however, is to be observed between Pepperell's and Warren's -replies to the French commander. In his own Pepperell generously, and -honorably, makes the full ratification of this condition subject to -Warren's approval. In the commodore's there is not one word found -concerning the general of the land forces, or of his approbation or -disapprobation, any more than if he had never existed; but in Warren's -note the extraordinary condition is annexed "that the keys of the town -be delivered to such officers and troops _as I shall appoint to receive -them_, and that all the cannon, warlike and other stores in the town, be -also delivered up to the said officers." - -On the 17th Warren took formal possession of the Island Battery, and -shortly after went into the city himself to confer with the governor. In -the meantime, conceiving it to be his right to receive the surrender, -Pepperell had informed the governor of his intention to put a detachment -of his own troops in occupation of the city defences that same -afternoon. This communication was immediately shown to Warren, who at -once addressed Pepperell, in evident irritation, upon the "irregularity" -of his proceedings, until the articles of surrender should have been -formally signed and sealed. The fact that he had just proposed to -receive the surrender of the fortress himself was not even referred to, -nor does it appear that Pepperell ever knew of it. One cannot overlook, -therefore, the presence of some unworthy manoeuvring, seconded by -Duchambon's professional vanity, to claim and obtain a share of the -honor of this glorious achievement, not only unwarranted by the part the -navy had taken in it, since it had never fired a shot into Louisburg, or -lost a man by its fire: but calculated to mislead public opinion in -England. - -An unpublished letter of General Dwight, written three days after the -entry of the provincial troops, relates the closing scenes of this truly -memorable contest. It runs as follows:-- - - [Illustration: REMAINS OF CASEMATES AT LOUISBURG.] - -"We entered the city on Monday last (17th) about five o'clock P.M., with -colors flying, drums, hautboys, violins, trumpets, etc. Gentlemen and -ladies caressing (the French inhabitants) as well they might, for a New -England dog would have died in the holes we drove them to--I mean the -casemates where they dwelt during the siege. - -"This fortress is so valuable, as well as large and extensive, that we -may say the one half has not been conceived.... Sometimes I am ready to -say a thousand men in a thousand years could not effect it. Words cannot -convey the idea of it.... One half of ye warlike stores for such a siege -were not laid in; however, the Vigilant (French supply ship) being taken -and Commodore Warren's having some supply of stores from New England was -very happy, and so it is that his readiness has been more than equal to -his ability." - -Governor Duchambon puts his whole force at thirteen hundred men at the -beginning of the siege, and at eleven hundred at its close. About two -thousand men were, however, included in the capitulation, of which -number six hundred and fifty were veteran troops. The besiegers' shot -had wrought destruction in the city. There was not a building left -unharmed or even habitable, by the fifteen thousand shot and shells that -Pepperell's batteries had thrown into it. - -When Pepperell saw the inside of Louisburg he probably realized for the -first time the magnitude of the task he had undertaken. On looking -around him, he said, with the expeditionary motto in mind no doubt, "The -Almighty, of a truth, has been with us." - -As the expedition began, so it now ended, with a prayer, which has come -down to us as a part of its history. Pepperell celebrated his entry into -Louisburg by giving a dinner to his officers. When they were seated at -table, the general called upon his old friend and neighbor, the Rev. Mr. -Moody of York, to ask the Divine blessing. As the parson's prayers were -proverbial for their length, the countenances of the guests fell when he -arose from his chair, but to everybody's surprise the venerable chaplain -made his model and pithy appeal to the throne of grace in these words: - -"Good Lord! we have so many things to thank thee for, that time will be -infinitely too short to do it: we must therefore leave it for the work -of eternity." - -[22]General John Nixon is one of those referred to. - -[23]Douglass (Summary), Belknap ("History of New Hampshire") and - Hutchinson ("History of Massachusetts Bay") have accounts of the - Louisburg expedition. Douglass and Hutchinson wrote - contemporaneously, and were well informed, the latter especially, - upon all points relating to the inception and organization. Of their - military criticism it is needless to speak. There is a host of - authorities, both French and English, most of which are collected in - Vol. V. "Narrative and Critical History of America." - -[24]Richard Gridley subsequently laid out the works at Bunker Hill and - Dorchester Heights, in much the same manner. - -[25]Shirley's second messenger, Captain Loring, on presenting his - despatches, was allowed but twelve hours in London, being then - ordered on board the Princess Mary, one of the ships referred to. - - - - - X - AFTERTHOUGHTS - - -And now comes the strangest part of the story. We get quite accustomed -to thinking of the American colonies as the football of European -diplomacy, our reading of history has fully prepared us for that: but we -are not prepared to find events in the New World actually shaping the -course of those in the Old. In a word, England lost the battle in -Europe, but won it in America. France was confounded at seeing the key -to Canada in the hands of the enemy she had just beaten. England and -France were like two duellists who have had a scuffle, in the course of -which they have exchanged weapons. Instead of dictating terms, France -had to compromise matters. For the sake of preserving her colonial -possessions, she now had to give up her dear-bought conquests on the -continent of Europe. Hostilities were suspended. All the belligerents -agreed to restore what they had taken from each other, and cry quits; -but it is plain that France would never have consented to such a -settlement at a time when her adversaries were so badly crippled, when -all England was in a ferment, and she hurrying back her troops from -Holland in order to put down rebellion at home, thus leaving the -coalition of which she was the head to stand or fall without her. France -would not have stayed her victorious march, we think, under such -circumstances as these, unless the nation's attention had been forcibly -recalled to the gravity of the situation in America. - -In some respects this episode of history recalls the story of the mailed -giant, armed to the teeth, and of the stripling with his sling. - -As all the conquests of this war were restored by the peace of -Aix-la-Chapelle, Cape Breton went to France again. - -Thus had New England made herself felt across the Atlantic by an -exhibition of power, as unlooked-for as it was suggestive to thoughtful -men. To some it was merely like that put forth by the infant Hercules, -in his cradle. But to England, the unnatural mother, it was a notice -that the child she had neglected was coming to manhood, ere long to -claim a voice in the disposal of its own affairs. - -To New England herself the consequences of her great exploit were very -marked. The martial spirit was revived. In the trenches of Louisburg was -the training-school for the future captains of the republic. Louisburg -became a watchword and a tradition to a people intensely proud of their -traditions. Not only had they made themselves felt across the ocean, but -they now first awoke to a better knowledge of their own resources, their -own capabilities, their own place in the empire, and here began the -growth of that independent spirit which, but for the prompt seizure of a -golden opportunity, might have lain dormant for years. Probably it would -be too much to say that the taking of Louisburg opened the eyes of -discerning men to the possibility of a great empire in the West; yet, if -we are to look about us for underlying causes, we know not where else to -find a single event so likely to give birth to speculative discussion, -or a new and enlarged direction in the treatment of public concerns. -What had been done would always be pointed to as evidence of what might -be done again. So we have considered the taking of Louisburg, in so far -as the colonies were concerned, as the event of its epoch.[26] - -Nor would these discussions be any the less likely to arise, or to grow -any the less threatening to the future of crown and colony, when it -became known that to balance her accounts with other powers England had -handed over Cape Breton to France again, thus putting in her hand the -very weapon that New England had just wrested from her, as the pledge to -her own security. The work was all undone with a stroke of the pen. The -colonies were still to be the football of European politics. - -Nobody in the colonies supposed this would be the reward of their -sacrifices--that they should be deliberately sold by the home -government, or that France, after being once disarmed, would be quietly -told to go on strengthening her American Gibraltar as much as she liked. -Yet this was what really happened, notwithstanding the Duke of -Newcastle's bombastic declaration that "if France was master of -Portsmouth, he would hang the man who should give up Cape Breton in -exchange for it." - -King George, who was in Hanover when he heard of the capture of -Louisburg, sent word to Pepperell that he would be made a baronet, thus -distinguishing him as the proper chief of the expedition. This -distinction, which really made Pepperell the first colonist of his time, -was nobly won and worthily worn. After four years of importunity the -colonies succeeded in getting their actual expenses reimbursed to them, -which was certainly no more than their dues, considering that they had -been fighting the battles of the mother country.[27] - -Warren was made an admiral. The navy came in for a large amount of prize -money, obtained from ships that were decoyed into Louisburg after it -fell, to the exclusion of the army.[28] This disposition of the spoils -was highly resented by the army, who very justly alleged that, while the -success of the army without the fleet might be open to debate, there -could be no question whatever of the fleet's inability to take Louisburg -without the army. - -[26]The surrender caused great rejoicing in the colonies, as was natural - it should, with all except those who had always predicted its - failure. For some reason the news did not reach Boston until July 2, - in the night. At daybreak the inhabitants were aroused from their - slumbers by the thunder of cannon. The whole day was given up to - rejoicings. A public thanksgiving was observed on the 18th. The news - reached London on the 20th. The Tower guns were fired, and at night - London was illuminated. Similar demonstrations occurred in all the - cities and large towns of the kingdom. At Versailles the news caused - deep gloom. De Luynes speaks of it thus in his Memoirs: "People have - been willing to doubt about this affair of Louisburg, but unhappily - it is only too certain. These misfortunes have given rise to - altercations among ministers. It is urged that M. Maurepas is at - fault in having allowed Louisburg to fall for want of munitions. The - friends of M. Maurepas contend that he did all that was possible, - but could not obtain the necessary funds from the Treasury." The - government got ready two fleets to retake Louisburg. One was - scattered or sunk by storms in 1746, and one was destroyed by Lord - Anson, in 1747, off Cape Finisterre. - -[27]The amount was 183,649 to Massachusetts, 16,355 to New Hampshire, - 28,863 to Connecticut, and 6,332 to Rhode Island. Quite a large - portion was paid in copper coins. - -[28]Among others the navy took a Spanish Indiaman, having $2,000,000, - besides gold and silver ingots to a large value, stowed under her - cargo of cocoa. The estimated value of all the prizes was nearly a - million sterling, of which enormous sum only one colonial vessel got - a share. - - - THE END - - - - - INDEX - - - A - Acadia (Nova Scotia), Louisburg designed to protect, 29. - Acadians, refuse to emigrate, 34; - and refuse to become British subjects, 35; - why called Neutrals, 36; - desire to remove elsewhere, 36. - Aix-la-Chapelle, Peace of, 127. - Annapolis, N. S., attempted capture of, 43; - attack on, frustrated, _note_ 100. - Auchmuty, Robert, proposes the taking of Louisburg, _note_ 58. - - - B - Boston, defenceless condition of, 11. - Bradstreet, Colonel John, at Louisburg, 70. - Brooks, Captain, killed at Louisburg, 113. - - - C - Canada, the key to, 12; - its political and economic weaknesses, 24 _et seq._; - compared with the English colonies, 25; - the fur monopoly, 26; - scheme for building up the colony, 28. - Canso, seized from Louisburg, 43, _note_ 45; - prisoners taken there prove useful, 49; - army rendezvous at, 69; - environs of, 76; - works thrown up at, 77. - Cape Breton Island, face of the country, 16; - mountains of, 17; - Gabarus Bay, 23; - first suggestions of its importance to Canada, 28; - natural products of, 29; - advantageous situation as a port of delivery and supply, 29; - left to Canada by stupid diplomacy, 30; - its chief harbors, 31; - the Bras d'Or, 31; - called Ile Royale, 32; - plan for getting colonists, 33, 34; - strategic points on the straits, 76; - ice blockade of, 77; - restored to France, 127. - Cape Breton Coast, approach to, 14; - blockaded by ice, 77. - Circular battery of Louisburg, its design, 93; - silenced, 116. - Coffin, Moses, of Newbury, Mass., anecdote of, 104. - Connecticut in Louisburg expedition, 57; - her forces join Pepperell, 78. - - - D - Dauphin Bastion, of Louisburg, 93; - destructive fire upon, 110. - De Costebello, at Louisburg, 33. - De Saxe, Marshal, defeats the English, 41. - Duchambon, commander of Louisburg, 84; - recalls a detachment, 95; - refuses to surrender, 96; - changes his mind, 117; - and opens a treaty, 118. - Dwight, Joseph, at Louisburg, 66 and _note_ 71. - - - E - English Harbor (Louisburg), 31. - Expeditionary Army, its composition, 66; - and equipment, 67, 68; - favoring conditions, 68; - sets sail for Louisburg, 69; - at Canso, 69; - council of war, 75; - sails for Louisburg, 80; - lands at Gabarus Bay, 84; - not backed up by the navy, 90; - transportation of artillery to the front, 94; - it tells on the men, 95; - the camp and camp life, 101 _et seq._ - - - F - Flat Point Cove, our army camps at, 85. - Fontenoy, English defeated at, 41. - Franklin, Benjamin, has no faith in Louisburg expedition, 57. - - - G - Gabarus Bay, the back door to Louisburg, 23; - Pepperell lands at, 80, 81. - Gibson, James, volunteers for Louisburg, 63, _note_ 70. - Green Hill, Louisburg shelled from, 95. - Gridley, Richard, engineer at Louisburg, 66; - an apt scholar, 105, _note_ 125. - - - H - Hale, Robert, at Louisburg, _note_ 71. - Hodges, Joseph, at Louisburg, _note_ 72. - Hutchinson, Thomas, gives casting vote for attacking Louisburg, - 55. - - - I - Island Battery, situation of, 15; - its value to the besieged, 93 and _note_ 100; - disastrous attack upon, 112, 113; - its fire silenced, 116; - in our hands, 119. - Ile Royale, see Cape Breton, 32. - Isle Madame, or Arichat, 76. - - - L - Lighthouse Point, 14; - is seized and fortified, 109. - Louisburg, the approach to, 14; - the harbor, 15; - old city, 15; - old fortifications perambulated, 17; - hills back of, 17; - natural defences of, 18; - demolition of the works, 19; - and present state of, 19; - Citadel, 20; - natural obstacles to surmount, 21; - bomb-proofs, 21; - impregnable from sea, 21; - graveyard and its inmates, 22; - Royal Battery, 23; - reasons why the fortress was erected, 24 _et seq._; - to be a great mart, 28; - to help Acadia, 29; - called English Harbor, 31; - chosen for a fortress, 32; - why called Louisburg, 32; - operations begun, 33; - prisoners shipped to, from France, 37; - strength and cost of the fortress, 38 and _note_ 45; - could be defended by women, 39; - its armament, 39; - garrison sallies out upon Nova Scotia, 44; - its fall the salvation of New England, 47; - schemes for its capture, 50; - its garrison mutinies, 51; - forces being raised against it, 56, 57; - early suggestions for its conquest, _note_ 58; - is blockaded, 73; - is invested, 89; - its defences as related to the siege, 93; - progress of siege operations, 95 _et seq._; - summoned to surrender, 96; - breaching batteries, 106; - progress of siege, 109; - a relieving vessel gets in, 110; - capture of the Vigilant, 110; - stratagem tried, 115; - its success, 115; a general bombardment, 116; - a suspension of arms, 118; - the surrender, 123; - the garrison, 123, 124; - importance to Great Britain as a political make-weight, 126 - _et seq._; - restored to France, 127; - many-sided importance of the conquest to the colonies, 128, - 129; - disgust in the colonies at its restoration, 129; - cost of the campaign, _note_ 131; - rejoicings, _note_ 131. - - - M - Meserve, Lieutenant-Colonel, his services at Louisburg, 94. - Micmacs of Cape Breton, 37. - Mira River, settlements on, 16. - Moody, Rev. Samuel, his pithy prayer, 124. - Moore, Samuel, at Louisburg, _note_ 72. - Moulton, Jeremiah, at Louisburg, _note_ 71; - destroys St. Peter's, 96. - - - N - Newcastle, Duke of, anecdote of, 44. - New England alarmed by the creation of Louisburg, 39; - dreads the beginning of war, 42; - war is declared, 43; - menace to her commerce and fisheries, 46, 47; - aroused to take Louisburg, 54, 55; - extraordinary war measures in, 56, 57; - quality of expeditionary army, 62, 63; - enthusiasm in enlisting, 64; - reimbursed for her expenses, _note_ 131. - Newfoundland, French removed from, 33. - New Hampshire contingent, 69; _note_ 72. - New Jersey in Louisburg expedition, 57. - New York contributes to Louisburg expedition, 57. - Nixon, John, _note_ 125. - Nova Scotia (Acadia) turned over to England, 30; - invaded, 43; - relieved, 95. - - - P - Pennsylvania in Louisburg expedition, 57. - Pepperell, William, chosen to command, 60; - his qualifications, 61, 62; - impetus given by him to the project, 63, 64; - his regiment, _note_ 70; - hampered by instructions, 75; - finds Louisburg blocked up by ice, 77; - hails Warren's arrival with joy, 78; - confident of driving the enemy from Cape Breton, 79; - finds Shirley's plan impracticable, 83; - finds his task greater than he had supposed, 90; - his advances against the city properly made, 93; - is goaded into attacking the Island Battery, 112; - pushes forward preparations for a general assault, 116; - grants an armistice, 118; - his conduct contrasted with Warren's, 119; - made a baronet, 130. - Pitts, Ebenezer, at Louisburg, _note_ 71. - Pomeroy, Major Seth, at Louisburg, 89; - his record, _note_ 100. - - - Q - Quebec, as the bulwark of Canada, 11. - - - R - Raudots, father and son, their scheme for putting new life into - Canada, 26; - it proposes a great naval mart at Cape Breton, 28. - Rhode Island in Louisburg expedition, 56. - Richmond, Sylvester, at Louisburg, _note_ 71. - Royal Battery, situation and importance of, 23; - taken, 86; - attempt to retake it, 87; - its importance to Americans, 88. - Ryal, Captain, sent to England, 41. - - - S - St. Anne, described, 31. - Saint Ovide, at Louisburg, 35. - St. Peter's, destruction of, determined on, 76; - is effected, 96. - Seacoast defences of Mexico, Cuba, etc., 9; - of the English colonies, 10, 11; - of Canada, 11. - Shirley, Gov. William, saves Annapolis, 43; - notifies ministry, 44; - writes Commodore Warren, 44; - grasps the situation, 48; - his personal traits, 48, 49; - determines to take Louisburg, 50; - applies to legislature, 52; - meets defeat, 53; - arouses public sentiment, 54; - carries his point, 55; - sets to work, 56; - hears from Warren, 69; - attempts to order plan of attack, 73, 74. - Straits of Canso, 31. - - - T - Tournay, invested, 41. - Tufts, William, his bravery, 113. - Tyng, Commodore Edward, commands colonial fleet, 67; _note_ 72. - - - U - Utrecht, how the Peace of, affects the colonies, 30. - - - V - Vaughan, William, who he was and what he did, 49, 50; _note_ 58; - volunteers for Louisburg, 63; - leads a scouting party, 85; - and takes Royal Battery, 86. - Vigilant, French war-ship, taken, 110. - - - W - Waldo, Samuel, at Louisburg, 67 and _note_ 71; - occupies Royal Battery, and fires first shot, 89. - War of the Austrian Succession, its policy outlined, 40; - produces war between England and France, 41; - hostilities begin at Nova Scotia, 44. - Warren, Commodore Peter, orders sent to, 44; - arrives at Canso and proceeds off Louisburg, 78; - takes the Vigilant, 110; - is re-enforced, 111; - his plan for taking the city, 111; - agrees to a general attack, 116; - he ignores Pepperell, 119; - made an admiral, 130. - Whitefield, Rev. George, 62; - writes a motto for the flag, 65. - Wolcott, Gen. Roger, 67 and _note_ 71. - - - - - Transcriber's Notes - - ---Retained publication and copyright information from the original; this - eBook is public-domain in the U.S. - ---Silently corrected a few palpable typographical errors. - ---Retained the consistent spelling "Pepperell" for the man usually known - as "Pepperrell" - ---In the text versions, enclosed italicized text in _underscore_. - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Taking of Louisburg 1745, by Samuel Adams Drake - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TAKING OF LOUISBURG 1745 *** - -***** This file should be named 50583-8.txt or 50583-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/5/8/50583/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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} -p.book { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; } -p.review { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; font-size:80%; } -p.pcap { margin-left:0em; text-indent:0em; text-align:center; margin-top:0em; font-weight:bold; font-size:90%; } -p.pcapc { margin-left:4.7em; text-indent:0em; text-align:justify; } -span.pn { display:inline-block; width:4.7em; text-align:left; margin-left:0; text-indent:0; } -div.sidenote { max-width:50%; float:left; clear:left; - - margin-bottom:1em; font-weight:bold; font-size:90%; } - - -</style> -</head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's The Taking of Louisburg 1745, by Samuel Adams Drake - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Taking of Louisburg 1745 - -Author: Samuel Adams Drake - -Release Date: December 1, 2015 [EBook #50583] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TAKING OF LOUISBURG 1745 *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div id="cover" class="img"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="The Taking of Louisburg 1745" width="584" height="784" /> -</div> -<div class="img" id="ill1"> -<img id="fig1" src="images/i002.jpg" alt="Wm Pepperrell" width="476" height="800" /> -<p class="pcap">W<sup>m</sup> Pepperrell</p> -</div> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center"><b><i>Decisive Events in American History</i></b></p> -<h1><span class="smaller">THE</span> -<br />TAKING OF LOUISBURG -<br />1745</h1> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="smaller">BY</span> -<br />SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE -<br /><span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF “BURGOYNE’S INVASION OF 1777” ETC.</span></p> -<p class="tbcenter">BOSTON MDCCCXCI -<br />LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS -<br /><span class="smaller">10 MILK STREET NEXT “THE OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE”</span> -<br /><span class="small">NEW YORK CHAS. T. DILLINGHAM</span> -<br /><span class="smaller">718 AND 720 BROADWAY</span></p> -</div> -<p class="center smaller"><span class="sc">Copyright, 1890, -<br />By Lee and Shepard.</span></p> -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> -<dl class="toc"> -<dt class="small"><span class="lj"><span class="smaller">CHAPTER</span></span> <span class="smaller">PAGE</span></dt> -<dt><a href="#c1"><span class="cn">I. </span>Colonial Seacoast Defences</a> 9</dt> -<dt><a href="#c2"><span class="cn">II. </span>Louisburg Revisited</a> 13</dt> -<dt><a href="#c3"><span class="cn">III. </span>Louisburg to Solve Important Political and Military Problems</a> 24</dt> -<dt><a href="#c4"><span class="cn">IV. </span>Résumé of Events to the Declaration of War</a> 33</dt> -<dt><a href="#c5"><span class="cn">V. </span>“Louisburg must be taken”</a> 46</dt> -<dt><a href="#c6"><span class="cn">VI. </span>The Army and its General</a> 59</dt> -<dt><a href="#c7"><span class="cn">VII. </span>The Army at Canso</a> 73</dt> -<dt><a href="#c8"><span class="cn">VIII. </span>The Siege</a> 80</dt> -<dt><a href="#c9"><span class="cn">IX. </span>The Siege Continued</a> 101</dt> -<dt><a href="#c10"><span class="cn">X. </span>Afterthoughts</a> 126</dt> -</dl> -<div class="pb" id="Page_8">8</div> -<div class="img" id="ill2"> -<img id="fig2" src="images/i008.jpg" alt="ISLAND BATTERY, WITH LOUISBURG IN THE DISTANCE." width="775" height="500" /> -<p class="pcap">ISLAND BATTERY, WITH LOUISBURG IN THE DISTANCE.</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_9">9</div> -<h1 title="">THE TAKING OF LOUISBURG -<br />1745</h1> -<h2 id="c1">I -<br />COLONIAL SEACOAST DEFENCES</h2> -<p>The creation of great maritime fortresses, -primarily designed to hold with iron hand important -highways of commerce, like Gibraltar, or -simply to guard great naval arsenals, like -Kronstadt, or, again, placed where some great river -has cleft a broad path into the heart of a -country, thus laying it open to invasion, has long -formed part of the military policy of all maritime -nations.</p> -<p>In the New World the Spaniards were the first -to emphasize their adhesion to these essential -principles by the erection of strongholds at -Havana, Carthagena, Porto Bello, and Vera Cruz, -not more to guarantee the integrity of their colonial -<span class="pb" id="Page_10">10</span> -possessions, than to protect themselves -against the rapacity of the titled freebooters of -Europe, to whom the treasure fleets of Mexico -and the East offered a most alluring prey. When -Spain carried the purse, all the crowned heads of -Europe seem to have turned highwaymen.</p> -<p>With this single exception the seaboard defences -of the Atlantic coast, even as late as the middle -of the eighteenth century, were of the most trivial -character, nor was it owing to any provision for -defence that the chief ports of the English -colonies enjoyed the long immunity they did. -England left her colonies to stand or fall upon -their own resources. Fortunate beyond expectation, -they simply throve by neglect. France, with -a widely different colonial policy, did a little better, -but with a niggardly hand, while her system was -squeezing the life-blood out of her colonists, drop -by drop. Had there been a Drake or a Hawkins -in the Spanish service, Spain might easily have -revenged all past affronts by laying desolate every -creek and harbor of the unprotected North -Atlantic coast. She had the armed ports, as we -have just shown. She had the ships and sailors. -<span class="pb" id="Page_11">11</span> -What, then, was to have prevented her from -destroying the undefended villages of Charleston, -Philadelphia, New York, and Boston?</p> -<p>Though she set about it so tardily, France was -at length compelled to adopt a system of defence -for Canada, or see Canada wrested from her control. -In a most sweeping sense the St. Lawrence -was the open gateway of Canada. There was -absolutely no other means of access to all its vast -territory except through the long, little known, -and scarce-travelled course of the Mississippi—a -route which, for many reasons besides its isolation, -removed it from consideration as an avenue of -attack.</p> -<p>Quebec was as truly the heart of Canada as the -St. Lawrence was its great invigorating, life-giving -artery. It is true that Quebec began to -assume at a very early day something of its later -character as half city, half fortress, but the views -of its founders were unquestionably controlled as -much by the fact of remoteness from the sea, as -by Quebec’s remarkable natural capabilities for -blocking the path to an enemy.</p> -<p>Yet even before the memorable and decisive -<span class="pb" id="Page_12">12</span> -battle on the Plains of Abraham, by which Canada -was lost to France forever, the St. Lawrence had -been thrice ascended by hostile fleets, and Quebec -itself once taken by them. Mere remoteness was -thus demonstrated to be no secure safeguard -against an enterprising enemy. But what if that -enemy should seize and fortify the mouth of the -St. Lawrence itself? He would have put a -tourniquet upon the great artery, to be tightened -at his pleasure, and the heart of the colony, despite -its invulnerable shield, would beat only at his -dictation.</p> -<p>We will now pass on to the gradual development -of this idea in the minds of those who held -the destiny of Canada in their keeping.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_13">13</div> -<h2 id="c2">II -<br />LOUISBURG REVISITED</h2> -<p>The annals of a celebrated fortress are sure to -present some very curious and instructive phases -of national policy and character. Of none of the -fortresses of colonial America can this be said -with greater truth than of Louisburg, once the -key and stronghold of French power in Canada.</p> -<p>No historic survey can be called complete which -does not include the scene itself. Nowhere does -the reality of history come home to us with such -force, or leave such deep, abiding impressions, as -when we stand upon ground where some great -action has been performed, or reach a spot hallowed -by the golden memories of the past. It -gives tone, color, consistency to the story as nothing -else can, and, for the time being, we almost -persuade ourselves that we, too, are actors in the -great drama itself.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_14">14</div> -<div class="sidenote">The Cape Breton Coast.</div> -<p>It is doubtless quite true that the first impressions -one gets when coming into Louisburg from -sea must be altogether disappointing. Indeed, -speaking for myself, I had formed a vague notion, -I know not how, that I was going to see another -Quebec, or, at least, something quite like that antique -stronghold, looming large in the distance, -just as the history of the fortress itself looms up -out of its epoch. On the contrary, we saw a low, -tame coast, without either prominent landmark or -seamark to denote the harbor, except to those who -know every rock and tree upon it, lifting -nowhere the castellated ruins that -one’s eyes are strained to seek, and chiefly formidable -now on account of the outlying shoals, -sunken reefs, and intricate passages that render -the navigation both difficult and dangerous to -seamen.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Lighthouse Point.</div> -<p>On drawing in toward the harbor, we pass between -a cluster of three small, rocky islets at the -left hand, one of which is joined to that -shore by a sunken reef; and a rocky -point, of very moderate elevation, at the right, on -which the harbor lighthouse stands, the ship channel -<span class="pb" id="Page_15">15</span> -being thus compressed to a width of half a mile -between the innermost island and point.</p> -<p>The harbor is so spacious as to seem deserted, -and so still as to seem oppressive.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Island Battery.</div> -<p>The island just indicated was, in the days of the -Anglo-French struggles here, the key to this harbor, -but the opposite point proved the -master-key. Neither of the great war -fleets that took part in the two sieges of Louisburg -ventured to pass the formidable batteries of -that island, commanding as they did the entrance -at short range, and masking the city behind them, -until their fire had first been silenced from the -lighthouse point yonder. When that was done, -Louisburg fell like the ripe pear in autumn.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Old Louisburg.</div> -<p>The old French city and fortress, the approach -to which this Island Battery thus securely covered, -rose at the southwest point of the harbor, -or on the opposite to the present -town of Louisburg, which is a fishing and -coaling station for six months in the year, and for -the other six counts for little or nothing. In -summer it is land-locked; in winter, ice-locked. -Pack ice frequently blockades the shores of the -<span class="pb" id="Page_16">16</span> -whole island until May, and snow sometimes lies -in the woods until June. Yet in Cape Breton they -call Louisburg an open harbor, and its choice as -the site for a fortress finally turned upon the -belief that it was accessible at all seasons of the -year. As to that, we shall see later.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Face of the Country.</div> -<p>As for the country lying between Sydney and -Louisburg, all travellers agree in pronouncing it -wholly without interesting features. And the few -inhabitants are scarcely more interesting than the -country. In a word, it is roughly heaved about in -a series of shaggy ridges, sometimes -rising to a considerable height, through -which the Mira, an arm of the sea, forces its way -at flood-tide. There is a settlement or two upon -this stream, as there was far back in the time of -the French occupation, but everything about the -country wears a forlorn and unprosperous look; -the farms being few and far between, the houses -poor, the land thin and cold, and the people—I -mean them no disparagement—much like the land, -from which they get just enough to live upon, and -no more. Fortunately their wants are few, and -their habits simple.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_17">17</div> -<div class="sidenote">Remains of the Fortress.</div> -<p>Louisburg is certainly well worth going nine -hundred miles to see, but when, at last, one stands -on the grass-grown ramparts, and gets -his first serious idea of their amazing -strength and extent, curiosity is lost in wonder, -wonder gives way to reflection, and reflection leads -straight to the question, “What do all these miles -of earthworks mean?” And I venture to make -the assertion that no one who has ever been to -Louisburg will rest satisfied till he has found his -answer. The story is long, but one rises from its -perusal with a clearer conception of the nature of -the struggle for the mastery of a continent.</p> -<p>Perhaps the one striking thought about this place -is its utter futility. Man having no further use -for it, nature quietly reclaims it for her own again. -Sheep now walk the ramparts instead of sentinels.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Dominating Hills.</div> -<p>Upon looking about him, one sees the marked -feature of all this region in the chain of low hills -rising behind Louisburg. But a little -back from the coast the hills rise higher, -are drawn more compactly together, and assume -the semi-mountainous character common to the -whole island.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_18">18</div> -<div class="sidenote">Green Hill.</div> -<p>As this chain of hills undulates along the coast -here, sometimes bending a little back from it, or -again inclining out toward it, one of its -zigzags approaches within a mile of -Louisburg. At this point, several low, lumpy -ridges push off for the seashore, through long -reaches of boggy moorland, now and then disappearing -beneath a shallow pond or stagnant pool, -which lies glistening among the hollows between. -Where it is uneven the land is stony and unfertile; -where level, it is a bog. This rendered the -land side as unfavorable to a besieging force as -the nest of outlying rocks and reefs did the sea -approaches. A continued rainfall must have -made it wholly untenable for troops.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Fortified Line.</div> -<p>It is one of these ridges just noticed as breaking -away from the main range toward the seashore, -and so naturally bent, also, as to touch the sea at -one end and the harbor at the other, -that the French engineers converted -into a regular fortification; while within the space -thus firmly enclosed by both nature and art, the -old city of the lilies stretched down a gentle, -grassy slope to the harbor shore.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_19">19</div> -<div class="sidenote">Demolition of the City.</div> -<p>Not one stone of this city remains upon another -to-day. After the second siege (1758) the English -engineers were ordered to demolish it, -and so far as present appearances go, -never was an order more effectually carried out. -All that one sees to-day, in room of it, is a poor -fishing hamlet, straggling along the edge of the -harbor, the dwellings being on one side, and the -fish-houses and stages on the other side of the Sydney -road, which suddenly contracts into a lane, -and then comes to an end, along with the village -itself, in a fisherman’s back-yard.</p> -<p>Not so, however, with the still massive earthworks, -for the British engineers were only able, -after many months’ labor, and with a liberal use -of powder, to partly execute the work of demolition -assigned them.</p> -<p>I spent several hours, at odd times, in wandering -about these old ruins, and could not help being -thankful that for once, at least, the destroying -hand of man had been compelled to abandon its -work to the rains and frosts of heaven.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_20">20</div> -<div class="sidenote">Citadel or King’s Bastion.</div> -<p>Beginning with the citadel, in which the formalities -of the surrender took place, I found it still -quite well defined, although nothing now remains -above ground except some old foundation walls to -show where long ranges of stone buildings -once stood. Here were the different -military offices, the officers’ quarters and the -chapel. The shattered bomb-proofs, however, -were still distinguishable, though much choked up -with débris, and their well-turned arches remain -to show how firmly the solid masonry -resisted the assaults of the engineers. -In these damp holes the women, children, and -non-combatants passed most of the forty-seven -days of the siege. From this starting-point one -may continue the walk along the ramparts, without -once quitting them, for fully a mile, to the point -where they touch the seashore among the -inaccessible rocks and heaving surf of the ocean -itself.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Casemates.</div> -<p>These ramparts nowhere rise more than fifty feet -above the sea-level, but are everywhere of amazing -thickness and solidity. The moat was originally -eighty feet across, and the walls stood thirty feet -above it, but these dimensions have been much -reduced by the work of time and weather. A -<span class="pb" id="Page_21">21</span> -considerable part of the line was further defended -by a marsh, through which a storming column -would have found it impossible to advance, and -hardly less difficult to make a retreat. The -besiegers were therefore obliged to concentrate -their attack upon one or two points, and -these had been rendered the most -formidable of the whole line in consequence -of the knowledge that the other parts were -comparatively unassailable. In other words, the -besieged were able to control, in a measure, where -the besiegers should attack them.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Natural Obstacles made use of.</div> -<p>Although the partly ruined bomb-proofs are the -only specimens of masonry now to be seen in -making this tour, the broad and deep excavation -of the moat and covered-way, and the clean, well-grassed -slopes of the glacis, promise to hold -together for another century at least. Brambles -and fallen earth choke up the embrasures. It is -necessary to use care in order to avoid treading -upon a toad or a snake while you are groping -among the mouldy casemates or when crossing -the parade. Those magical words “In the King’s -name,” so often proclaimed here with salvos of -<span class="pb" id="Page_22">22</span> -artillery, have now no echo except in the sullen -dash of the sea against the rocky shores outside -the perishing fortress, and</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“What care these roarers for the name of King?”</p> -</div> -<div class="sidenote">Graveyard, Point Rochefort.</div> -<p>Still following the sheep-paths that zigzag about -so as nearly to double the distance, I next turned -back toward the harbor, leaving on my right the -bleak and wind-swept field in which, to -the lasting reproach of New England, -five hundred of her bravest sons lie -without stone or monument to mark their last -resting-place. It is true that most of these men -died of disease, and not in battle; yet to see the -place as I saw it, in all its pitiful nakedness, -isolation, and neglect, is the one thing at -Louisburg that a New Englander would gladly -have missed; and he will be very apt to walk on -with a slower and less confident step, and with -something less of admiration for the glory which -consigns men to such oblivion as this.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_23">23</div> -<div class="sidenote">Royal Battery.</div> -<p>To give anything like an adequate idea of how -skilfully all the peculiarities of the ground were -in some cases made use of in forming the -defences, or in others, with equal art, overcome, -would require a long chapter to itself. In order -to render the main fortress more secure, the -French engineer officers selected a spot three-fourths -of a mile above it, on the harbor shore, -on which they erected a battery that -raked the open roadstead with its fire. -It was a very strong factor in the system of -defences as against a sea attack. This isolated -work was called the Royal Battery, or in the -English accounts, the Grand Battery. Yet, so far -from contributing to the successful defence of the -fortress, it became, in the hands of the besiegers, -a powerful auxiliary to its capture. But the whole -system of defence here shows that the marshes -extending on the side of Gabarus Bay, where a -landing was practicable only in calm weather, -were considered an insuperable obstacle to the -movements of artillery; and without artillery -Louisburg could never have been seriously -attacked from the land side. Against a sea -attack it was virtually impregnable.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_24">24</div> -<h2 id="c3">III -<br />LOUISBURG TO SOLVE IMPORTANT POLITICAL AND MILITARY PROBLEMS</h2> -<p>Having glanced at the purely military exigencies, -which had at length forced themselves upon -the attention of French statesmen, and having -gone over the ground with the view of impressing -its topographical features more firmly in our minds, -we may now look at the underlying political and -economic causes, out of which the French court -finally matured a scheme for the maintenance of -their colonial possessions in Canada in the broadest -sense.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_25">25</div> -<div class="sidenote">French Colonial System.</div> -<div class="sidenote">Its Unsatisfactory Workings.</div> -<p>In creating Louisburg the court of Versailles -had far more extended views than the building of -a strong fortress to guard the gateway into Canada -would of itself imply. Unquestionably that was -a powerful inducement to the undertaking; but, -in the beginning, it certainly appears to have been -only a secondary consideration. For a long time -the condition of affairs in the colony had been far -from satisfactory, while the future promised -little that was encouraging. Compared -with the English colonies, its progress was -slow, irregular, and unstable. Agriculture was -greatly neglected. So were manufactures. The -home government had exercised, from the first, -a guardianship that in the long run proved fatal to -the growth of an independent spirit. There were -swarms of governmental and ecclesiastical dependents -who laid hold of the fattest perquisites, or -else, through munificent and inconsiderate grants -obtained from the crown, enjoyed monopolies of -trade to the exclusion of legitimate competition. -These leeches were sucking the life-blood out of -Canada. So far, then, from being a self-sustaining -colony, the annual disbursements of the -crown were looked to as a means to -make good the deficiency arising between -what the country produced and what it consumed. -Without protection the English colonies -steadily advanced in wealth and population; with -protection, Canada, settled at about the same time, -scarcely held her own.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_26">26</div> -<p>Two very able and sagacious men, the intendants -Raudot, were the first who had the courage -to lay before the court of Versailles the true condition -of affairs, and the ability to suggest a -remedy for it.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Fur Trade Monopoly.</div> -<p>These intendants represented that the fur trade -had always engrossed the attention of the Canadians, -to the exclusion of everything -else. Not only had the beaver skin -become the recognized standard for all exchanges -of values, but the estimated annual product of the -country was based upon it, very much as we should -reckon the worth of the grain crop to the United -States to-day. It was also received in payment -for revenues. Now, after a long experience, what -was the result of an exclusive attention to this -traffic? It was shown that the fur trade enriched -no one except a few merchants, who left the country -as soon as they had acquired the means of -living at their ease in Old France. It had, therefore, -no element whatever of permanent advantage -to the colony.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_27">27</div> -<div class="sidenote">Danger of Exclusive Attention to it.</div> -<p>It was also shown that this fur trade was by no -means sufficient to sustain a colony of such importance -as Canada unquestionably might become -under a different system of management; for -whether the beaver should finally become -extinct through the greed of the -traders, or so cheapened by glutting the -market abroad as to lose its place in commerce -entirely, it was evident that precisely the same -result would be reached. In any case, the business -was a precarious one. It limited the number -of persons who could be profitably employed; it -bred them up to habits of indolence and vice without -care for the future; and it kept them in ignorance -and poverty to the last. But, what was -worst of all, this all-engrossing pursuit kept the -population from cultivating the soil, the true and -only source of prosperity to any country.</p> -<p>Other cogent reasons were given, but these -most conclusively set forth what a mercantile -monopoly having its silent partners in the local -government and church, as well as in the royal -palace itself, had been able to do in the way of -retarding the development of the great native -resources of Canada. It was so ably done that no -voice was raised against it. And with this most -<span class="pb" id="Page_28">28</span> -lucid and fearless exposé of the puerile use thus -far made of those resources the memorialist statesmen -hoped to open the king’s eyes.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The two Raudots offer a Remedy.</div> -<p>They now proposed to wholly reorganize this -unsound commercial system by directing capital -and labor into new channels. Such -natural productions of the country as -masts, boards, ship-timber, flax, hemp, -plaster, iron and copper ores, dried fish, whale and -seal oils, and salted meats, might be exported, they -said, with profit to the merchant and advantage to -the laboring class, provided a suitable port were -secured, at once safe, commodious, and well situated -for collecting all these commodities, and -shipping them abroad.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Cape Breton brought to Notice.</div> -<p>To this end, these intendants now first brought -to notice the advantages of Cape Breton for such -an establishment. Strangely enough, -up to this time little or no attention had -been paid to this island. Three or four -insignificant fishing ports existed on its coasts, -but as yet the whole interior was a shaggy wilderness, -through which the Micmac Indians roamed -as freely as their fathers had done before Cartier -<span class="pb" id="Page_29">29</span> -ascended the St. Lawrence. Its valuable deposits -of coal and gypsum lay almost untouched in their -native beds; its stately timber trees rotted where -they grew; its unrivalled water-ways, extending -through the heart of the island, served no better -purpose than as a highway for wandering savages.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Acadia to be helped.</div> -<p>By creating such a port as the Raudots suggested, -the voyage from France would be shortened -one half, and the dangerous navigation of the -St. Lawrence altogether avoided, since, instead of -large ships having to continue their voyages to -Quebec, the carrying trade of the St. Lawrence -would fall to coasting vessels owned in the colony. -A strong hand would also be given to -the neighbor province, the fertile yet -unprotected Acadia, which might thus be preserved -against the designs of the English, while a -thriving trade in wines, brandies, linens, and rich -stuffs might reasonably be expected to spring up -with the neighboring English colonies.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_30">30</div> -<div class="sidenote">A Military and Naval Arsenal proposed.</div> -<p>These were considerations of such high national -importance as to at once secure for the project an -attention which purely strategic views could hardly -be expected to command. And yet, the forming -of a military and naval depot, strong enough to -guarantee the security of the proposed port, and -in which the king’s ships might at need -refit, or take refuge, or sally out upon -an enemy, was an essential feature of -this elaborate plan, every detail of which was -set forth with systematic exactness. For seven -years the project was pressed upon the French -court. War, however, then engaging the whole -attention of the ministry, the execution of this -far-seeing project, which had in view the demands -of peace no less than of war, was unavoidably put -off until the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, by giving -a wholly new face to affairs in the New World, -compelled France to take energetic measures for -the security of her colonial possessions.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Peace of Utrecht.</div> -<p>By this treaty of Utrecht France surrendered -to England all Nova Scotia, all her conquests in -Hudson’s Bay, with Placentia, her most important -establishment in Newfoundland. At the -same time the treaty left Cape Breton -to France, an act of incomparable folly on the -part of the English plenipotentiaries who, with the -map lying open before them, thus handed over to -<span class="pb" id="Page_31">31</span> -Louis the key of the St. Lawrence and of Canada. -No one now doubts that the French king saw in -this masterpiece of stupidity a way to retrieve all -he had lost at a single stroke. The English commissioners, -it is to be presumed, saw nothing.</p> -<div class="sidenote">English Harbor chosen.</div> -<p>Having the right to fortify, under the treaty, it -only remained for the French court to determine -which of the island ports would be best adapted to -the purpose, St. Anne, on the north, or English -Harbor on the south-east coast. St. Anne was a -safe and excellent haven, easily made impregnable, -with all the materials requisite for building and -fortifying to be found near the spot. Behind it -lay the fertile côtes of the beautiful Bras d’Or, -with open water stretching nearly to the Straits -of Canso. On the other hand, besides being -surrounded by a sterile country, materials of every -kind, except timber, must be transported to -English Harbor at a great increase of labor and -cost. More could be done at St. Anne with two -thousand francs, it was said, than with two hundred -thousand at the rival port. But the difficulty of -taking ships of large tonnage into St. Anne -through an entrance so narrow that only one could -<span class="pb" id="Page_32">32</span> -pass in or out at the same time, finally gave the -preference to English Harbor, which had a ship -channel of something less than two -hundred fathoms in breadth, a good -anchorage, and plenty of beach room -for erecting stages and drying fish. It was, moreover, -sooner clear of ice in spring.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Name changed to Louisburg.</div> -<p>The first thing done at Cape Breton was to -change the old, time-honored name of the island—the -very first, it is believed, which signalled the -presence of Europeans in these waters—to -the unmeaning one of Ile Royale. -English Harbor also took the name of -Louisburg, in honor of the reigning monarch. -Royalty having thus received its dues, the work -of construction now began in earnest.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_33">33</div> -<h2 id="c4">IV -<br />RÉSUMÉ OF EVENTS TO THE DECLARATION OF WAR</h2> -<p>We will now rapidly sketch the course of events -which led to war on both sides of the Atlantic.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Colonists provided for.</div> -<p>Having been obliged to surrender Nova Scotia -and Newfoundland, the French court determined -to make use of their colonists in those places for -building up Louisburg.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Acadians will not emigrate.</div> -<p>In the first place, M. de Costebello, who had just -lost his government of the French colony of -Placentia, in Newfoundland, under the terms of -the treaty, was ordered to take charge of the -proposed new colony on Cape Breton, and in -accord also with the provisions of that treaty, the -French inhabitants of Newfoundland -were presently removed from that -island to Cape Breton. But the Acadians of -Nova Scotia who had been invited, and were fully -<span class="pb" id="Page_34">34</span> -counted upon to join the other colonists, now -showed no sort of disposition to do so. In their -case the French authorities had reckoned without -their host. These always shrewd Acadians were -unwilling to abandon the fertile and well-tilled -Acadian valleys, which years of toil had converted -into a garden, to begin a new struggle with the -wilderness in order to carry out certain -political schemes of the French court. -Though patriots, they were not simpletons. So -they sensibly refused to stir, although their -country had been turned over to the English. In -this way the French authorities were unexpectedly -checked in their first efforts to secure colonists of -a superior class for their new establishment in -Cape Breton.</p> -<p>How strange are the freaks of destiny! Could -these simple Acadian peasants have foreseen -what was in store for them at no distant day, at -the hands of their new masters, who can doubt -that, like the Israelites of old, driving their flocks -before them, they too would have departed for the -Promised Land with all possible speed?</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_35">35</div> -<div class="sidenote">A Thorn in the Side of the English.</div> -<p>Finding them thus obstinate, it was determined -to make them as useful as possible where they -were, and as a reconquest of Acadia was one of -those contingencies which Louisburg was meant to -turn into realities, whenever the proper -side of the moment should arrive, nothing was -neglected that might tend to the holding -of these Acadians firmly to their ancient allegiance; -to keeping alive their old antipathies; to -arousing their fears for their religion, or to strongly -impressing them with the belief that their legitimate -sovereign would soon drive these English -invaders from the land, never to return. For the -moment the king’s lieutenants were obliged to -content themselves with planting this thorn in -the side of the English.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Why called Neutrals.</div> -<p>Acting upon the advice of the crafty Saint -Ovide, De Costebello’s successor, the Acadians -refused to take the oath of allegiance proffered -them by the British governor of Nova Scotia—though -they had refused to emigrate they said -they would not become British subjects. When -threatened they sullenly hinted at an uprising of -the Micmacs, who were as firmly attached to the -French interest as the Acadians themselves. -<span class="pb" id="Page_36">36</span> -The governor, therefore, prudently forbore to -press matters to a crisis, all the more readily because -he was powerless to enforce obedience; -and thus it came to pass that -the French inhabitants of Nova Scotia, under -English dominion, first took the name of neutrals.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Victims to French Policy.</div> -<p>Perceiving at last how they were being ground -between friend and foe, the Acadians began -hoarding specie, and to leave off improving their -houses and lands. A little later they are found -applying to the Governor-General of Canada for -grants of land in the old colony, to which they -might remove, and where they could dwell in -peace, for they somehow divined that they must -be the losers whenever fresh hostilities should -break out between the French and English, if, as -it seemed inevitable, the war should involve them -in its calamities. But that astute official returned -only evasive answers to their petition. His royal -master had other views, to the successful -issue of which his lieutenants were -fully pledged, and so it is primarily to French -policy, after all, that the wretched Acadians owed -<span class="pb" id="Page_37">37</span> -their exile from the land of their fathers. What -followed was merely the logical result.</p> -<p>But in consequence of their first refusal to -remove to Louisburg only a handful of the -Micmacs responded to Costebello’s call, by pitching -their wigwams on the skirt of the embryo city.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Laborers from the Galleys.</div> -<p>Laborers were wanted next. For the procuring -of these the Governor-General of Canada, the -Marquis de Vaudreuil, hit upon the novel idea of -transporting every year from France -those prisoners who were sentenced to -the galleys for smuggling. They were to come -out to Canada subject to the severe penalty of -never again being permitted to return to their -native land, “for which,” said the cunning -marquis, “I undertake to answer.”</p> -<p>Lord Bacon, in one of his essays, makes the -following comments upon this iniquitous method -of raising up colonies: “It is a shameful and -unblessed thing,” he says, “to take the scum of -people, and wicked condemned men to be the -people with whom you plant; and not only so, but -it spoileth the plantations; for they will ever live -like rogues, and not fall to work, but be lazy, and -<span class="pb" id="Page_38">38</span> -do mischief and spend victuals: and be quickly -weary, and then certify over to their country to -the discredit of the plantation.”</p> -<p>Meanwhile, the sceptre that had borne such -potent sway in Europe dropped from the lifeless -hand of Louis the Great, to be taken up by the -“crowned automaton,” Louis XV.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Strength of Louisburg.</div> -<p>Pursuant to the policy thus outlined, which had -no less in view than the rehabilitation of Canada, -the recovery of Nova Scotia, the mastery of the -St. Lawrence, and the eventual restoration of -French prestige in America, France had in thirty -years created at Louisburg a fortress so strong -that it was commonly spoken of as the Dunkirk -of America. To do this she had lavished millions.<a class="fn" id="fr_1" href="#fn_1">[1]</a> -Beyond question it was the most formidable place -of arms on the American continent, far exceeding -in this respect the elaborate but antiquated -strongholds of Havana, Panama, -and Carthagena, all of which had been built and -fortified upon the old methods of attack and -defence as laid down by the engineers of a previous -century: while Louisburg had the important -advantage of being planned with all the skill that -<span class="pb" id="Page_39">39</span> -the best military science of the day and the most -prodigal expenditure could command. When their -work was done, the French engineers boastingly -said that Louisburg could be defended by a -garrison of women.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Armament of Louisburg.</div> -<p>The fortress, and its supporting batteries, -mounted nearly one hundred and fifty pieces of -artillery on its walls, some of which were of the -heaviest metal then in use. It was -deemed, and indeed proved itself, during -the progress of two sieges, absolutely impregnable -to an attack by a naval force alone. From this -stronghold Louis had only to stretch out a hand to -seize upon Nova Scotia, or drive the New England -fishermen from the adjacent seas.</p> -<p>In New England all these proceedings were -watched with the keenest interest, for there, at -least, if nowhere else, their true intent was so -quickly foreseen, their consequences so fully -realized, that the people were more and more -confounded by the imbecility which had virtually -put their whole fishery under French control.</p> -<p>As the situation in Europe was reflected on this -side of the Atlantic, it is instructive to look there -<span class="pb" id="Page_40">40</span> -for the storm which, to the terror and dismay of -Americans, was now darkly overspreading the -continent.</p> -<div class="sidenote">War of the Austrian Succession.</div> -<p>The crowned gamblers of Europe had begun -their costly game of the Austrian succession. -Upon marching to invade Silesia, Frederick II., -the neediest and most reckless gamester of them -all, had said to the French ambassador, -“I am going, I believe, to play your -little game: and if I should throw -doublets we will share the stakes.” Fortune -favored this great king of a little kingdom. He -won his first throw, seeing which, for she was at -first only a looker-on, France immediately sent two -armies into Bavaria to the Elector’s aid. This -move was not unexpected in London. Ever since -England had forced hostilities with Spain, in 1740, -it was a foregone conclusion that the two branches -of the House of Bourbon would make common -cause, whenever a favorable opportunity should -present itself. England now retaliated by voting -a subsidy to Maria Theresa, and by taking into -pay some sixteen thousand of King George’s -petted Hanoverians, who were destined to fight -<span class="pb" id="Page_41">41</span> -the French auxiliary contingent. England and -France were thus casting stones at each other over -the wall, or, as Horace Walpole cleverly put it, -England had the name of war with Spain without -the game, and war with France without the name.</p> -<div class="sidenote">English defeated in Flanders.</div> -<p>It was inevitable that the war should now settle -down into a bitter struggle between the two great -rivals, France and England. On the 20th of -March, 1744, the court of Versailles formally -declared war. England followed on the 31st. -Flanders became the battle-field between a hundred -and twenty-five thousand combatants, led, -respectively, by the old Count Maurice -de Saxe and the young Duke of Cumberland. -In May, 1745, the French -marshal suddenly invested Tournay,<a class="fn" id="fr_2" href="#fn_2">[2]</a> the greatest -of all the Flemish fortresses. The Duke of -Cumberland marched to its relief, gave battle, and -was thoroughly beaten at Fontenoy. This disaster -closed the campaign in the Old World. It left the -English nation terribly humiliated in the eyes of -Europe, while France, by this brilliant feat of -arms, fully reasserted her leadership in Continental -affairs.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_42">42</div> -<div class="sidenote">Situation in New England.</div> -<p>But what had been a sort of Satanic pastime in -the Old World became a struggle for life in the -New. The people of New England, being naturally -more keenly alive to the dangers menacing -their trade, than influenced by a romantic sympathy -with the absurd quarrels about the Austrian -succession, anxiously watched for the first signal -of the coming conflict. They knew the enemy’s -strength, and they were as fully aware of their -own weaknesses. Still there was no flinching. -The home government, being fully occupied with -the affairs of the Continent, and with the political -cabals of London, limited its efforts to arming a -few forts in the colonies, and to keeping -a few cruisers in the West Indian -waters; but neither soldiers, arsenals, nor magazines -were provided for the defence of these -provinces, upon whom the enemy’s first and hardest -blows might naturally be expected to fall, nor were -such other measures taken to meet such an -extraordinary emergency as its gravity would seem -in reason to demand.</p> -<p>Luckily for them, the colonists had been taught -in the hard school of experience that Providence -<span class="pb" id="Page_43">43</span> -helps those who help themselves. To their own -resources they therefore turned with a vigor and -address manifesting a deep sense of the magnitude -of the crisis now confronting them.</p> -<div class="sidenote">French seize Canso.</div> -<p>The proclamation of war was not published in -Boston until the 2d of June, 1744. Having earlier -intelligence, the French at Louisburg had already -begun hostilities by making a descent -upon Canso,<a class="fn" id="fr_3" href="#fn_3">[3]</a> a weak English post situated -at the outlet of the strait of that name, and -so commanding it, and within easy striking distance -of Louisburg. News of this was brought to -Boston so seasonably that Governor Shirley had -time to throw a re-enforcement of two hundred -men into Annapolis, by which that post was saved; -for the French, after their exploit at Canso, soon -made an attempt upon Annapolis, where they -were held in check until a second re-enforcement -obliged them to retire.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Captain Ryal sent to London, November, 1744.</div> -<p>Governor Shirley lost no time in notifying the -ministry of what had happened, and he -particularly urged upon their attention -the defenceless state of Nova Scotia, -where Annapolis alone held a semi-hostile population -<span class="pb" id="Page_44">44</span> -in check. To the end that the situation -might be more fully understood, he sent an -officer, who had been taken at Canso, with the -despatch.</p> -<p>At this time the incompetent Duke of Newcastle -held the post of prime minister. When he -had read the despatch he exclaimed, “Oh, yes—yes—to -be sure. Annapolis must be defended.—troops -must be sent to Annapolis. Pray where is -Annapolis? Cape Breton an island! wonderful! -Show it me on the map. So it is, sure enough. -My dear sir” (to the bearer of the despatch), “you -always bring us good news. I must go tell the -King that Cape Breton is an island.”</p> -<div class="sidenote">January, 1744.</div> -<p>It will be seen, later, that Shirley’s timely application -to the ministry, on behalf of Nova Scotia, -involved the fate of Louisburg itself. -Orders were promptly sent out to Commodore -Warren, who was in command of a cruising -squadron in the West Indies, to proceed as early -as possible to Nova Scotia, for the purpose of protecting -our settlements there, or of distressing the -enemy, as circumstances might require.</p> -<p>Shirley himself had also written to Warren, -<span class="pb" id="Page_45">45</span> -requesting him to do this very thing, at the same -time the ministry were notified, though it was yet -too early to know the result of either application. -All eyes were now opened to Louisburg’s dangerous -power. But, come what might, Shirley was -evidently a man who would leave nothing undone.</p> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_1" id="fn_1">[1]</a><span class="sc">Louisburg</span> had cost the enormous sum of 30,000,000 livres or -£1,200,000 sterling.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_2" id="fn_2">[2]</a><span class="sc">Pepperell</span> was besieging Louisburg at the same time the French -were Tournay.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_3" id="fn_3">[3]</a><span class="sc">Canso</span> was taken by Duvivier, May 13, 1744. The captors burnt -everything, carrying the captives to Louisburg, where they remained till -autumn, when they were sent to Boston. These prisoners were able to -give very important information concerning the fortress, its garrison, and -its means of defence.</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_46">46</div> -<h2 id="c5">V -<br />“LOUISBURG MUST BE TAKEN”</h2> -<p>However Shirley’s efforts to avert a present -danger might succeed, nobody saw more clearly -than he did that his measures only went half way -toward their mark. With Louisburg intact, the -enemy might sweep the coasts of New England -with their expeditions, and her commerce from -the seas. The return of spring, when warlike -operations might be again resumed, was therefore -looked forward to at Boston with the utmost uneasiness. -Merchants would not risk their ships -on the ocean. Fishermen dared not think of putting -to sea for their customary voyages to the -Grand Banks or the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here -was a state of things which a people who lived by -their commerce and fisheries could only contemplate -with the most serious forebodings. It was -fully equivalent to a blockade of their ports, a -<span class="pb" id="Page_47">47</span> -stoppage of their industries, with consequent stagnation -paralyzing all their multitudinous occupations.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Public Opinion aroused.</div> -<p>Naturally the subject became a foremost matter -of discussion in the official and social circles, in -the pulpits, and in the tavern clubs of the New -England capital. It was the serious -topic in the counting-house and the -table-talk at home. It drifted out among the -laboring classes, who had so much at stake, with -varied embellishment. It went out into the country, -gathering to itself fresh rumors like a rolling -snowball. In all these coteries, whether of the -councillors over their wine, of the merchants -around their punch-bowls, of the smutty smith at -his forge, or the common dock-laborer, the same -conclusion was reached, and constantly reiterated—Louisburg -must be taken!—Yes; Louisburg -must be taken! Upon this decision the people -stood as one man.</p> -<p>It did not, however, enter into the minds of -even the most sanguine advocates of this idea that -they themselves would be shortly called upon to -make it effective in the one way possible. Such -<span class="pb" id="Page_48">48</span> -a proposal would have been laughed at, at first. -The general voice was that the land and naval -forces of the kingdom ought to be employed for -the reduction of Louisburg, because no others -were available; but, meantime, a public opinion -had been formed which only wanted a proper -direction to turn it into a force capable of doing -what it had decided upon. There was but one -man in the province who was equal to this task.</p> -<p>That some other man may have had the same -idea is but natural, when the same subject was -uppermost in the minds of all; but where others -tossed it to and fro, like a tennis-ball, only this -one man grasped it with the force of a master -mind.<a class="fn" id="fr_4" href="#fn_4">[4]</a> He was William Shirley, governor of -Massachusetts.</p> -<div class="sidenote">William Shirley.</div> -<p>Governor Shirley soon showed himself the man -for the crisis. He was a lawyer of good abilities, -with a political reputation to make. He had a -clear head, strong will, plausible manner, -and immovable persistency in the -pursuit of a favorite project. If not a military -man by education, he had, at any rate, the military -instinct. He was, moreover, a shrewd manager, -<span class="pb" id="Page_49">49</span> -not easily disheartened or turned aside from his -purpose by a first rebuff, yet knowing how to yield -when, by doing so, he could see his way to carry -his point in the end.</p> -<p>The French, we remember, had made some -prisoners at Canso, who were first taken to -Louisburg, and then sent to Boston on parole. -These captives knew the place, but our smuggling -merchantmen knew it much better. They were -able to give a pretty exact account of the condition -of things at the fortress. We are now looking -backward a little. But what seems to have made -the strongest impression was the news that the -garrison itself had been in open mutiny during the -winter, most of the soldiers being Swiss, whose -loyalty, it was supposed, had been more or less -shaken.<a class="fn" id="fr_5" href="#fn_5">[5]</a></p> -<div class="sidenote">William Vaughan.</div> -<p>Whether William Vaughan,<a class="fn" id="fr_6" href="#fn_6">[6]</a> a New Hampshire -merchant resident in Maine, first broached the -project of taking Louisburg to Shirley, cannot now -determined, but, let the honor belong -primarily where it may, Vaughan’s -scheme, as outlined by him, was too absurd for -serious consideration, however strongly he may -<span class="pb" id="Page_50">50</span> -have believed in it himself. He seems to have -belonged to the class of enthusiasts at whose -breath obstacles vanish away; yet we are bound -to say of him that his own easy confidence, with -his habit of throwing himself heart and soul into -whatever he undertook, gained over a good many -others to his way of thinking. Shirley therefore -encouraged Vaughan, who, after rendering really -valuable services, became so thoroughly imbued -with the notion that he was not only the originator -of the expedition, but the chief actor in it, that -the value of those services is somewhat obscured.</p> -<p>Governor Shirley’s project now was to take -Louisburg, with such means as he himself could -get together. He, too, was more or less carried -away by the spirit which animated him, as men -must be to make others believe in them, but he -never lost his head. To a cool judgment, some of -Shirley’s plans for assaulting Louisburg seem -almost, if not quite, as irrational as Vaughan’s, -yet Shirley was not the man to commit any overt -act of folly, or shut his ears to prudent counsels. -Being so well acquainted with the temper and -spirit of the New England people, he knew that, -<span class="pb" id="Page_51">51</span> -before they would fight, they must be convinced. -To this end, he strengthened himself with the -proper arguments, wisely keeping his own counsel -until everything should be ripe for action. He -knew that the garrison of Louisburg was mutinous, -that its isolated position invited an attack, and -that the extensive works were much out of repair. -Moreover, he had calculated, almost to a -day, the time when the annual supplies -of men and munitions would arrive from -France. He knew that Quebec was too distant -for effectively aiding Louisburg. An attack under -such conditions seemed to hold out a tempting -prospect of success; yet realizing, as Shirley did, -that under any circumstances, no matter how -favorable or alluring they might seem, the enterprise -would be looked upon as one of unparalleled -audacity, if not as utterly hopeless or visionary, -he determined to stake his own political fortunes -upon the issue and abide the result.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Counting the Chances of Success.</div> -<p>The garrison of Louisburg had been, in fact, in -open revolt, the outbreak proving so serious that -the commanding officer had begged his government -to replace the disaffected troops with others, -<span class="pb" id="Page_52">52</span> -who could be depended upon. Shirley, therefore, -reckoned on a half-hearted resistance or none at -all. In a word, it was his plan to surprise -and take the place before it could -be re-enforced.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Shirley’s Plan.</div> -<p>After obtaining a pledge of secrecy from the -members, Shirley proceeded to lay his project -before the provincial legislature of Massachusetts, -which was then in session. The governor’s statement, -which was certainly cool and dispassionate, -ran somewhat to this effect: “Gentlemen of the -General Court, either we must take Louisburg or -see our trade annihilated. If you are of my mind -we will take it. I have reason to know that the -garrison is insubordinate. There is good ground -for believing that the commandant is afraid of his -own men, that the works are out of repair and -the stores running low. I need not dwell further -on what is so well known to you all. Now, with -four thousand such soldiers as this and the -neighboring provinces can furnish, aided by a -naval force similarly equipped, the place must -surely fall into our hands. I have, moreover, -strong hopes of aid from His Majesty’s ships, now -<span class="pb" id="Page_53">53</span> -in our waters. But the great thing is to throw -our forces upon Louisburg before the enemy can -hear of our design. Secrecy and celerity are -therefore of the last importance. Consider well, -gentlemen, that such an opportunity is not likely -to occur again. What say you? is Louisburg to -be ours or not?”</p> -<div class="sidenote">Shirley’s Plan rejected.</div> -<p>The conservative provincial assembly deliberated -upon the proposal with closed doors, and with -great unanimity rejected it. The sum -of its decision was this: “If we risk -nothing, we lose nothing. Should the enemy -strike us, we can strike back again. We can ruin -his commerce as well as he can destroy ours. Our -policy is to stand on the defensive. Very possibly -the men might be raised, but where are the -arsenals to equip them; where is the money to -come from to pay them; where are the engineers, -the artillerists, the siege artillery, naval stores, -and all the warlike material necessary to such a -siege? Why, we haven’t a single soldier; we -haven’t a penny. Surely your excellency must be -jesting with us. It is a magnificent project, but -visionary, your excellency, quite visionary.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div> -<p>To make use of parliamentary terms, the governor -had leave to withdraw, but those who -dreamed that he would abandon his darling scheme -at the first rebuff it met with, did not know -William Shirley.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Subject again brought up.</div> -<p>The affair was now no longer a secret. Indeed, -it had already leaked out through a certain pious -deacon, who most inconsiderately prayed for its -success in the family circle. The project had been -scotched, not killed. Men discussed it everywhere, -now that it was an open secret, and the -more it was talked of, the more firmly it took hold -on the popular mind. The very audacity of the -thing pleased the young and adventurous spirits, -of whom there were plenty in the New England -of that day. Vaughan now set himself to work -among the merchants, who saw money to be made -in furnishing supplies of every kind for the expedition; -while on the other hand, if nothing was to -be done, their ships and merchandise must lie idle -for so long as the war might last. Little by little -the indefatigable Shirley won men over to his views. -People grew restive under a policy of inaction. -Public sentiment seldom fails of having a wholesome -<span class="pb" id="Page_55">55</span> -effect upon legislatures, be they ever so -settled in their own opinions. It was so in this -case. Presently a petition, signed by many of -the most influential merchants in the -province, was laid on the speaker’s desk, -so again bringing the subject up for -legislative action.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Project adopted.</div> -<p>This time the governor carried his point after -a whole day’s animated debate. The measure, -however, narrowly missed a second, and, perhaps, -a final defeat, it having a majority of one vote -only; and this result was owing to an accident -which, as it was a good deal talked about at the -time it happened, may as well be mentioned here. -It so chanced that one of the opposition, while -hurrying to the House in order to record his vote -against the measure, had a fall in the street, and -was taken home with a broken leg. -There being a tie vote in consequence, -Mr. Speaker Hutchinson gave the casting vote in -favor of the measure, and so carried it.</p> -<p>If there had been hesitation before, there was -none now. In order to prevent the news from -getting abroad, all the seaports of Massachusetts -<span class="pb" id="Page_56">56</span> -were instantly shut by an embargo.<a class="fn" id="fr_7" href="#fn_7">[7]</a> The neighboring -provinces were entreated to do the same -thing. The supplies asked for were voted without -debate. Even the emission of paper money, that -bugbear of colonial financiers, was cheerfully consented -to in the face of a royal order forbidding it. -Those who before had been strongest in opposition -now gave loyal support to the undertaking.</p> -<p>Free to act at last, Shirley now showed his -splendid talent for organizing in full vigor. The -work of raising troops, of chartering transports, of -collecting arms, munitions, and stores of every -kind, went on with an extraordinary impulse. -Common smiths were turned into armorers; wheelwrights -into artificers; women spent their evenings -making bandages and scraping lint. Shirley’s -board of war, created for the exigency, took supplies -wherever found, paying for them with the -paper money the Legislature had just authorized -for the purpose. The patience with which these -extraordinary war measures were submitted to -best shows the temper of the people. The neighboring -governments were entreated to join in the -expedition and share in the glory. Rhode Island, -<span class="pb" id="Page_57">57</span> -Connecticut, and New Jersey each promised contingents. -The other provinces declined having -anything to do with it, though New York made -a most seasonable loan of ten heavy cannon, upon -Shirley’s urgent entreaty, without which the siege -must have lagged painfully. The governor had, -indeed, suggested, when the deficiency of artillery -was spoken of, that the cannon of the Royal Battery -of Louisburg would help to make good that -deficiency; but, as it was facetiously said at the -time, this was too manifest a disposal of the skin -before the bear was caught, though it is quite -likely that the notion of supplying themselves -from the enemy may have tickled the fancy of the -young recruits.</p> -<p>When the application reached Philadelphia, -Franklin expressed shrewd doubts of the feasibility -of the undertaking. The provincial assembly -did, however, vote some supply of provisions, -as its contribution toward a campaign which nobody -believed would be successful. New Jersey -also contributed provisions and clothing. This -was not quite what Shirley had hoped for, but -could not in the least abate his efforts.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_58">58</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_4" id="fn_4">[4]</a><span class="sc">Suggestions</span> looking to a conquest of Cape Breton were made by -Lieutenant-Governor Clarke of New York, some time in the year 1743 -(“Documentary History of New York,” I., p. 469). He suggests taking -Cape Breton as a first step toward the reduction of all Canada. Then, -Judge Auchmuty of the Vice-Admiralty Court of Massachusetts printed -in April, 1744, an ably written pamphlet discussing the best mode of -taking Louisburg.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_5" id="fn_5">[5]</a><span class="sc">The Revolt</span> occurred in December, over a reduction of pay. The -soldiers deposed their officers, elected others in their places, seized the -barracks, and put sentinels over the magazines. They were so far pacified, -however, as to have returned to their duty before the English expedition -arrived. Under date of June 18, one day after the surrender, Governor-General -Beauharnois advises the Count de Maurepas of this revolt. He -urges an entire change of the garrison.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_6" id="fn_6">[6]</a><span class="sc">Vaughan</span> was a mill-owner, and carried on fishing also at Damariscotta, -Me. He knew Louisburg well. Conceiving himself slighted by -those in authority at Louisburg, he went from thence directly to England, -in order to prefer his claim for compensation as the originator of the -scheme. He died of smallpox at Bagshot, November, 1747. He insisted -that fifteen hundred men, assisted by some vessels, could take Louisburg -by scaling the walls. “A man of rash, impulsive nature.”—<i>Belknap.</i> -“A whimsical, wild projector.”—<i>Douglass.</i></div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_7" id="fn_7">[7]</a><span class="sc">News</span> that an armament was preparing at Boston was carried to -Quebec, by the Indians, without, however, awakening the governor’s -suspicions of its true object.</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_59">59</div> -<h2 id="c6">VI -<br />THE ARMY AND ITS GENERAL</h2> -<p>The next, and possibly most vital step of all, -since the fate of the expedition must turn upon it, -was to choose a commander. For this important -station the province was quite as deficient in men -of experience as it was in materials of war: with -the difference that one could be created of raw -substances while the other could not. Here the -nicest tact and judgment were requisite to avoid -making shipwreck of the whole enterprise. Not -having a military man, the all-important thing was -to find a popular one, around whom the provincial -yeomanry could be induced to rally. But since he -was not to be a soldier, he must be a man held -high in the public esteem for his civic virtues. It -was necessary to have a clean man, above all -things: one placed outside of the political circles -of Boston, and who, by sacrificing something himself -to the common weal, should set an example of -<span class="pb" id="Page_60">60</span> -pure patriotism to his fellow-citizens. Again, it -was no less important to select some one whose -general capacity could not be called in question. -Hence, as in every real emergency, the people -cast about for their very best man from a political -and personal standpoint, who, though he might -have</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Never set a squadron in the field,”</p> -</div> -<p>could be thoroughly depended upon to act with -an eye single to the good of the cause he had -espoused.</p> -<div class="sidenote">William Pepperell to command.</div> -<p>In this exigency Shirley’s clear eye fell on -William Pepperell, of Kittery, a gentleman of -sterling though not shining qualities, whose -wealth, social rank, and high personal worth -promised to give character and weight -to the post Shirley now destined him -for. He was now forty-nine years old. -Having held both civil and military offices under -the province, Pepperell could not be said to be -worse fitted for the place than others whose claims -were brought forward, while, on the other hand, it -was conceded that hardly another man in the -province possessed the public confidence to a -<span class="pb" id="Page_61">61</span> -greater degree than he did. Still, he was no -soldier, and the simple conferring of the title of -general could not make him one, while his -practical education must begin in the presence of -the enemy—a school where, if capable men learn -quickly, they do so, as a rule, only after experiencing -repeated and severe punishments. That raw -soldiers need the best generals, is a maxim of -common-sense, but Shirley, in whom we now and -then discover a certain disdain for such judgments, -seems to have had no misgivings whatever as to -Pepperell’s entire sufficiency so long as he, Shirley, -gave the orders, and kept a firm hand over his -lieutenant; nor can it be denied that if the expedition -was to take place at all when it did, the -choice was the very best that could have been -made, all things considered.</p> -<p>That Shirley may have been influenced, in a -measure, by personal reasons is not improbable, and -the fact that Pepperell was neither intriguing nor -ambitious, no doubt had due weight with a man -like Shirley, who was both intriguing and ambitious, -and who, though he ardently wished for -success, did not wish for a rival.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_62">62</div> -<p>No one seems to have felt his unfitness more -than Pepperell himself, and it is equally to his -honor that he finally yielded to considerations -directly appealing to his patriotism and sense of -duty. “You,” said Shirley to him, “are the only -man who can safely carry our great enterprise -through; if it fail the blame must lie at your -door.” Much troubled in mind, Pepperell asked -the Rev. George Whitefield, who happened to be -his guest, what he thought of it. The celebrated -preacher kindly, but decidedly, advised Pepperell -against taking on himself so great a responsibility, -telling him that he would either make himself -an object for execration, if he failed, or of -envy and malignity, if he should succeed.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Morale of the Army.</div> -<p>Shirley’s pertinacity, however, prevailed in the -end. Pepperell’s own personal stake in the successful -issue of the expedition was known to be as -great as any man’s in the province, hence, his -putting himself at the head of it did -much to induce others of like good -standing and estate to join him heart and hand, -and their example, again, drew into the ranks a -greater proportion of the well-to-do farmers and -<span class="pb" id="Page_63">63</span> -mechanics than was probably ever brought -together in an army of equal numbers, either -before or since. Hence, at Louisburg, as in our -own time, when any extraordinary want arose, the -general had only to call on the rank and file for -the means to meet it.</p> -<p>Several gentlemen, who had the success of the -undertaking strongly at heart, volunteered to go -with Pepperell to the scene of action. Among -them were that William Vaughan, previously -mentioned, and one James Gibson, a prominent -merchant of Boston, who wrote a journal of the -siege from observations made on the spot, besides -contributing five hundred pounds toward equipping -the army for its work.<a class="fn" id="fr_8" href="#fn_8">[8]</a></p> -<div class="sidenote">A Crusade preached.</div> -<p>Pepperell’s appointment soon justified Shirley’s -forecast. It gave general satisfaction among all -ranks and orders of men. On the day that he -accepted the command Pepperell advanced five -thousand pounds to the provincial treasury. He -also paid out of his own pocket the bounty money -offered to recruits in the regiment he was raising -in Maine. Orders were soon flying in every -direction, and very soon everything caught the -<span class="pb" id="Page_64">64</span> -infection of his energy. The expedition at once -felt an extraordinary momentum. Volunteers -flocked to the different rendezvous. In fact, -more offered themselves than could be accepted. -Again the loud burr of the drum,</p> -<blockquote> -<p>“The drums that beat at Louisburg and thundered in Quebec,”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>was heard throughout New England. The one -question of the day was “Are you going?” In -fact, little else was talked of, for, now that the -mustering of armed men gave form and consistency -to what was so lately a crude project only, -the fortunes of the province were felt to be -embarked in its success. True to its traditions, -the clergy preached the expedition into -a crusade. Again the old bugbear of -Romish aggression was made to serve the turn of -the hour. Religious antipathies were inflamed to -the point of fanaticism. One clergyman armed -himself with a large hatchet, with which he said -he purposed chopping up into kindling wood all -the Popish images he should find adorning the -altars of Louisburg. Still another drew up a plan -of campaign which he submitted to the general. -<span class="pb" id="Page_65">65</span> -“Carthage must be destroyed!” became the -watchword, while to show the hand of God powerfully -working for the right, the celebrated George -Whitefield wrote the Latin motto, embroidered on -the expeditionary standard,—</p> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">“Never despair, Christ is with us.”</p> -</div> -<p>Thus the church militant was not only represented -in the ranks and on the banner, but it was -equally forward in proffering counsel. For example: -one minister wrote to acquaint Shirley how -the provincials should be saved from being blown -up, in their camps, by the enemy’s mines. He -wanted a patrol to go carefully over the camping-ground -first. While one struck the ground with -a heavy mallet, another should lay his ear to it, -and if it sounded suspiciously hollow, he should -instantly drive down a stake in order that the spot -might be avoided.</p> -<p>Such anecdotes show us how earnestly all classes -of men entered upon the work in hand. How to -take Louisburg seemed the one engrossing subject -of every man’s thoughts.</p> -<p>Having glanced at the qualifications of the general, -<span class="pb" id="Page_66">66</span> -we may now consider the composition of the -army. We have already drawn attention to the -excellent quality of its material. In embodying it -for actual service, the old traditions of the British -army were strictly followed.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Army by Regiments.</div> -<p>The expeditionary corps was formed in ten battalions. -They were Pepperell’s,<a class="fn" id="fr_9" href="#fn_9">[9]</a> Wolcott’s<a class="fn" id="fr_10" href="#fn_10">[10]</a> (of -Connecticut), Waldo’s,<a class="fn" id="fr_11" href="#fn_11">[11]</a> Dwight’s<a class="fn" id="fr_12" href="#fn_12">[12]</a> (nominally -an artillery battalion), Moulton’s,<a class="fn" id="fr_13" href="#fn_13">[13]</a> -Willard’s, Hale’s,<a class="fn" id="fr_14" href="#fn_14">[14]</a> Richmond’s,<a class="fn" id="fr_15" href="#fn_15">[15]</a> Gorham’s, and -Moore’s<a class="fn" id="fr_16" href="#fn_16">[16]</a> (of New Hampshire). One hundred and -fifty men of this regiment were in the pay of -Massachusetts. Pepperell’s, Waldo’s, and Moulton’s -were mostly raised in the District of Maine. -Pepperell said that one-third of the whole force -came from Maine. Dwight was assigned to the -command of the artillery, with the rank of brigadier; -Gorham to the special service of landing the -troops in the whaleboats, which had been provided, -and of which he had charge. There was also an -independent company of artificers, under Captain -Bernard, and Lieutenant-Colonel Gridley was -appointed chief engineer of the army.</p> -<p>Pepperell held the rank of lieutenant-general; -<span class="pb" id="Page_67">67</span> -Wolcott, that of major-general; and Waldo that -of brigadier, the second place being given to Connecticut, -in recognition of the prompt and valuable -assistance given by that colony.</p> -<div class="sidenote">It goes badly equipped.</div> -<p>As a whole, the army was neither well armed -nor properly equipped, or sufficiently provided -with tents, ammunition, and stores. -Too much haste had characterized its -formation for a thorough organization, or for attention -to details, too little knowledge for the instruction -in their duties of either officers or men. It -is true that some of them had seen more or less -bush-fighting in the Indian wars, and that all were -expert marksmen or skilful woodsmen, but to call -such an unwieldy and undisciplined assemblage -of men, who had been thus suddenly called away -from their workshops and ploughs, an army, were -a libel upon the name.</p> -<p>Commodore Edward Tyng<a class="fn" id="fr_17" href="#fn_17">[17]</a> was put in command -of the colonial squadron destined to escort -the army to its destination, to cover its landing, -and afterwards to act in conjunction with it on the -spot.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_68">68</div> -<div class="sidenote">Hutchinson, Belknap.</div> -<p>The writers of the time tell us that “the winter -proved so favorable that all sorts of outdoor business -was carried on as well, and with as great despatch, -as at any other season of the -year.” The month of February, in particular, -proved very mild. The rivers and harbors -were open, and the fruitfulness of the preceding -season had made provisions plenty. Douglass -thinks that “some guardian angel” must have -preserved the troops from taking the small-pox, -which broke out in Boston about the time of their -embarkation. All these fortunate accidents were -hailed as omens of success.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Provincial Navy.</div> -<p>Thanks to the enthusiasm of the young men in -enlisting, and the energy of the authorities in -equipping them, the four thousand men called for -were mustered under arms, ready for service, in a -little more than seven weeks. In this short time, -too, a hundred transports had been -manned, victualled, and got ready for -sea. The embargo had provided both vessels and -sailors. More than this, a little squadron of fourteen -vessels, the largest carrying only twenty -guns, was created as if by enchantment. Here -was shown a vigor that deserved success.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_69">69</div> -<p>The Connecticut and New Hampshire contingents -were also ready to march, but Rhode Island -had not yet completed hers. By disarming Castle -William in Boston harbor, or borrowing old -cannon wherever they could be found, Shirley -had managed to get together a sort of makeshift -for a siege-train. All being ready at last, after a -day of solemn fasting and prayer throughout New -England, the flotilla set sail for the rendezvous at -Canso in the last week of March. “Pray for us -while we fight for you,” was the last message of -the departing provincial soldiers to their friends -on shore.</p> -<p>Equal good-fortune attended the transportation -of the army by sea to a point several hundred -miles distant, during one of the stormiest months -of the year. By the 10th of April the whole force -was assembled at Canso in readiness to act -offensively as soon as the Cape Breton shores -should be free of ice. All this had been done -without the help of a soldier, a ship, or a penny -from England. At the very last moment Shirley -received from Commodore Warren, in answer to -his request for assistance, a curt refusal to take -<span class="pb" id="Page_70">70</span> -part in the enterprise without orders, and Shirley -could only say to Pepperell when he took leave of -him, that his best and only hope lay in his own -resources.</p> -<p>But by this time the enthusiasm which had -carried men off their feet had begun to cool. The -excitements, under the influence of which this -or that obstacle had been impatiently brushed -aside, had given way to the sober second thought. -One by one they rose grimly before Pepperell’s -troubled vision like the ghosts in Macbeth. Land -the troops and storm the works had been the -popular way of disposing of a fortress which the -French engineers had offered to defend with a -garrison of women.</p> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_8" id="fn_8">[8]</a><span class="sc">Gibson</span> was very active during the siege, especially when anything of -a dangerous nature was to be done. He was a retired British officer. He -was one of the three who escaped death, while on a scout, May 10. With -five men he towed a fireship against the West Gate, under the enemy’s -fire, on the night of May 24. It burnt three vessels, part of the King’s -Gate, and part of a stone house in the city. Being done in the dead of -night, it caused great consternation among the besieged.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_9" id="fn_9">[9]</a><span class="sc">Pepperell</span>’s own regiment was actually commanded by his lieutenant-colonel, -John Bradstreet, who was afterwards appointed lieutenant-governor -of Newfoundland, but on the breaking out of the next war with -France, he served with distinction on the New-York frontier, rising -through successive grades to that of major-general in the British army. -Bradstreet died at New York in 1774.</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_10" id="fn_10">[10]</a><span class="sc">General Roger Wolcott</span> had been in the Canada campaign of -1711 without seeing any service. He was sixty-six when appointed over the -Connecticut contingent under Pepperell. Wolcott was one of the foremost -men of his colony, being repeatedly honored with the highest posts, -those of chief judge and governor included. David Wooster was a -captain in Wolcott’s regiment.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_11" id="fn_11">[11]</a><span class="sc">Samuel Waldo</span> was a Boston merchant, who had acquired a chief -interest in the Muscongus, later known from him as the Waldo Patent, -in Maine, to the improvement of which he gave the best years of his -life. Like Pepperell, he was a wealthy land-owner. They were close -friends, Waldo’s daughter being betrothed to Pepperell’s son later. His -patent finally passed to General Knox, who married Waldo’s grand-daughter.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_12" id="fn_12">[12]</a><span class="sc">Joseph Dwight</span> was born at Dedham, Mass., in 1703. He served in -the Second French War also. Pepperell commends his services, as chief -of artillery, very highly.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_13" id="fn_13">[13]</a><span class="sc">Jeremiah Moulton</span> was fifty-seven when he joined the expedition. -He had seen more actual fighting than any other officer in it. Taken -prisoner by the Indians at the sacking of York, when four years old, he -became a terror to them in his manhood. With Harmon he destroyed -Norridgewock in 1724.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_14" id="fn_14">[14]</a><span class="sc">Robert Hale</span>, colonel of the Essex County regiment, had been a -schoolmaster, a doctor, and a justice of the peace. He was forty-two. His -major, Moses Titcomb, afterwards served under Sir William Johnson, and -was killed at the battle of Lake George.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_15" id="fn_15">[15]</a><span class="sc">Sylvester Richmond</span>, of Dighton, Mass., was born in 1698; colonel -of the Bristol County regiment. He was high sheriff of the county for -many years after his return from Louisburg. Died in 1783, in his eighty-fourth -year. Lieutenant-Colonel Ebenezer Pitts of Dighton, and Major -Joseph Hodges of Norton, of Richmond’s regiment, were both killed -during the campaign.</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_72">72</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_16" id="fn_16">[16]</a><span class="sc">Samuel Moore</span>’s New Hampshire regiment was drafted into the -<i>Vigilant</i>. His lieutenant-colonel, Meserve, afterward served under -Abercromby, and again in the second siege of Louisburg under Amherst, -dying there of small-pox. Matthew Thornton, signer of the Declaration, -was surgeon of Moore’s regiment.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_17" id="fn_17">[17]</a><span class="sc">Edward Tyng</span>, merchant of Boston, son of that Colonel Edward -who was carried a prisoner to France, with John Nelson, by Frontenac’s -order, and died there in a dungeon.</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div> -<h2 id="c7">VII -<br />THE ARMY AT CANSO</h2> -<div class="sidenote">The Plan of Attack.</div> -<p>The crude plan of attack, as digested at Boston, -consisted in an investment of Louisburg by the -land forces and a blockade by sea. To -enforce this blockade, Shirley had sent -out some armed vessels in advance of the expedition, -with orders to cruise off the island, and to -intercept all vessels they should fall in with, so -that news of the armament might not get into -Louisburg, by any chance, before its coming.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Shirley’s Project.</div> -<p>This was all the more necessary because Shirley -had indulged hopes, from the first, of taking the -place by surprise, and so obstinately -was he wedded to the notion that the -thing was practicable, that he had drawn up at -great length a plan of campaign of which this -surprise was the chief feature, and in which he -undertook to direct, down to the minutest detail, -<span class="pb" id="Page_74">74</span> -where, how, and when the troops should land, -what points they should attack, what they should -do if the assault proved a failure or only partially -successful, where they should encamp, raise batteries -and post guards; how the men must be -handled under fire, and even how the prisoners -should be disposed of, for Shirley, as we have -seen, was considerably given to counting his -chickens before they were hatched.</p> -<div class="sidenote">A Saving Clause.</div> -<p>Being a lawyer rather than a soldier, Shirley -had written out a brief instead of an order—clear, -concise, direct. But, lengthy as it was, the plan -had one redeeming feature, which turns -away criticism from the absurdities with -which it was running over. This was the postscript -appended to it: “Sir, upon the whole, -notwithstanding the instructions you have received -from me, I must leave it to you to act upon -unforeseen emergencies according to your best -discretion.” The reading of it must have lifted a -load from Pepperell’s mind! It really looked as if -Shirley had meant to be the real generalissimo -himself, and to capture Louisburg by proxy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_75">75</div> -<div class="sidenote">Pepperell’s Council.</div> -<p>Pepperell was still hampered, however, with a -council of war, consisting of all the general and -field officers of his army, whom he was required -to summon to his aid in all emergencies. -If it be true that in a multitude of -counsels there is wisdom, then Pepperell was to be -well advised, for his council aggregated between -twenty and thirty members.</p> -<p>Pepperell seems to have conceived that he ought -to submit himself wholly to Shirley’s guidance, -since he himself was now to serve his first -apprenticeship in war, for it was now loyally -attempted to carry out Shirley’s instructions to -the letter. In all these preliminary arrangements -the difference between Shirley’s brilliancy and -dash and Pepperell’s methodical cast of mind is -very marked indeed. It would sometimes seem -as if the two men ought to have changed places.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Why the army was at Canso.</div> -<div class="sidenote">Importance of St. Peter’s.</div> -<p>Shirley had appointed the rendezvous to be at -Canso, which place had been abandoned soon -after it was taken from us; first, because -it was the natural base for operations -against Cape Breton, and next so -that if the descent on Louisburg failed, Canso -and the command of the straits would, at least, -<span class="pb" id="Page_76">76</span> -have been recovered. It was, as we have said, -within easy striking distance of Louisburg. Out -in front of Canso, between the Nova Scotia and -Cape Breton shores, lay Isle Madame or Arichat, -on which a few French fishermen were living. -Across the water from Arichat, at the entrance to -the Bras d’Or, lay the Village of St. -Peter’s, the second in point of importance -in Cape Breton, Louisburg being the first. -At Arichat everything that was being done at -Canso could be easily seen and communicated to -St. Peter’s. At St. Peter’s word could be sent to -Louisburg by way of the Bras d’Or Lakes. It -therefore stood Pepperell in hand to clear his -vicinity of these spies and informers without -delay, unless he wished to find the enemy forewarned -and forearmed.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Ice Blockade at Louisburg.</div> -<p>Shirley had directed Pepperell to destroy St. -Peter’s. Pepperell, therefore, sent a night expedition -there, which, however, returned -without accomplishing its purpose. But -his greatest fear, lest supplies or re-enforcements -should get into Louisburg by sea, was -set at rest on finding that the field or pack-ice, -<span class="pb" id="Page_77">77</span> -which had come down out of the St. Lawrence, -and the east winds had driven up against the -shores of Cape Breton, formed a secure blockade -against all comers, himself as well as the enemy. -This contingency had not been sufficiently -weighed.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Canso fortified.</div> -<p>Meanwhile, Pepperell set to work fortifying -Canso. A blockhouse, ready framed, had been -sent out for the purpose. This was now -set up, garrisoned, and christened Fort -Prince William. Some earthworks were also -thrown up to cover this new post. In these occupations, -or in scouting or exercising, the troops -were kept employed until the ice should move off -the shores.</p> -<div class="sidenote">French Cruiser driven off.</div> -<p>On the 18th of April a French thirty-gun ship -was chased off the coast, while trying to run into -Louisburg. Being the better sailer, she -easily got clear of the blockading vessels, -after keeping up for some hours a sharp, running -fight. Even this occurrence does not seem -to have fully opened the eyes of the French commandant -of Louisburg to the true nature of the -danger which threatened him, since he has declared -<span class="pb" id="Page_78">78</span> -that he thought the vessels he saw watching the -harbor were only English privateers. Perhaps -nothing about the whole history of this expedition -is more strange than that this officer should have -remained wholly ignorant of its being at Canso for -nearly three weeks.</p> -<div class="sidenote">April 23, Warren’s Fleet arrives.</div> -<div class="sidenote">Effect on the Army.</div> -<p>The army had been lying nearly two weeks inactive, -when, to Pepperell’s great surprise as well -as joy, Commodore Warren appeared -off Canso with four ships of war, and, -after briefly communicating with the -general, bore away for Louisburg. At last he had -received his orders to act in concert with Shirley, -and, like a true sailor, he had crowded all sail for -the scene of action. His coming put -the army in great spirits, for it was supposed -to be part of the plan, already concerted, by -which the attack should be made irresistible. And -for once fortune seems to have determined that -the bungling of ministers should not defeat the -objects had in view.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_79">79</div> -<div class="sidenote">April 24, Connecticut Forces arrive.</div> -<p>On the following day, the Connecticut forces -joined Pepperell. The shores of Cape Breton were -now eagerly scanned for the first appearance of -open water, but even as late as the 28th Pepperell -wrote to Shirley, saying, “We impatiently wait -for a fair wind to drive the ice out -of the bay, and if we do not suffer for -want of provisions, make no doubt but -we shall, by God’s favor, be able soon to drive -out what else we please from Cape Breton.” The -consumption of stores, occasioned by the unlooked-for -detention at Canso, had, in fact, become a -matter of serious concern with Pepperell, whose -nearest source of supply was Boston.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_80">80</div> -<h2 id="c8">VIII -<br />THE SIEGE</h2> -<div class="sidenote">Fleet sails from Canso, April 29.</div> -<p>Our guard-vessels having reported the shores -to be at last free from ice, and the wind coming -fair for Louisburg, the welcome signal -to weigh anchor was given on the -29th of April. On board the fleet all -was now bustle and excitement. In a very short -time a hundred transport-vessels were standing -out of Canso Harbor, under a cloud of canvas, for -Gabarus Bay, the place fixed upon by Shirley for -making the contemplated descent.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Night Assault given up.</div> -<p>Bound to the letter of his orders, Pepperell -seems to have first purposed making an attempt -to put Shirley’s rash project in execution. To do -this, he must have so timed his movements -as to reach his anchorage after -dark, have landed his troops without being able to -see what obstacles lay before them, have marched -them to stations situated at a distance from the -place of disembarkation, over ground unknown, -and not previously reconnoitred, to throw them -against the enemy’s works before they should be -discovered. And this most critical of all military -operations, a night assault, was to be attempted -by wholly undisciplined men.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_81">81</div> -<div class="img" id="ill3"> -<img id="fig3" src="images/i081.jpg" alt="SIEGE of LOUISBOURG in 1745." width="992" height="600" /> -<p class="pcap"><span class="sc">SIEGE of LOUISBOURG in 1745.</span></p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_83">83</div> -<p>Providentially for Pepperell, the wind died away -before he could reach the designated point of disembarkation, -so that this mad scheme perished -before it could be put to the test; but early the -next morning the flotilla was discovered entering -Gabarus Bay, five miles southeast from the fortress, -and in full view from its ramparts. So, also, -the New England forces could see the gray turrets -of the redoubtable stronghold rising in the distance, -and could hear the bells of Louisburg pealing -out their loud alarm. The fortress instantly -fired signal guns to call in all out parties. It is -said that there had been a grand ball the night -before, and that the company had scarce been -asleep when called up by this alarm. The booming -of artillery, sounding like the drowsy roar of -an awakening lion, was defiantly echoed back from -<span class="pb" id="Page_84">84</span> -the bosom of the deep, and borne on the cool -breeze to the startled foemen’s ears the distant -roll of drum, and bugle blast, peopled the lately -deserted sea with voices of the coming strife.</p> -<p>Duchambon, commander of the fortress, instantly -hurried off a hundred and fifty men to -oppose the landing of our troops.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Landing at Gabarus Bay, April 30.</div> -<p>The fleet quickly came to an anchor, and the -signal was hoisted for the troops to disembark at -once. Before them stretched the lonely Cape -Breton shore, on which the breakers rose and fell -in a long line of foam. Though this heavy surf -threatened to swamp the boats, the men crowded -into them as if going to a merry-making. -It was a gallant and inspiring sight to -see them dash on toward the beach, -emulous who should reach it first, and eager to -meet the enemy, who were waiting for them there. -By making a feint at one point, and then pulling -for another at some distance from the first, the -boats gained an undefended part of the shore -before the French could come up with them. As -soon as one struck the ground, the men jumped -into the water, each taking another on his back -<span class="pb" id="Page_85">85</span> -and wading through the surf to the shore. In -this manner the landing went on so rapidly that, -when the enemy finally came up, they were easily -driven off, with the loss of six or seven men killed, -and some prisoners. Before it was dark two thousand -men bivouacked for the night within cannon -shot of Louisburg.</p> -<p>Vaughan now led forward a party after the -retreating enemy, who, finding themselves pursued, -set fire to thirty or forty houses outside the -city walls.</p> -<p>On the next day, the work of landing the -rest of the army, the artillery and stores, was -pushed to the utmost, though the heavy surf -rendered this a work of uncommon difficulty. -Pepperell now pitched his camp in an orderly -manner next the shore, at a place called Flat Point -Cove, where he could communicate with the -transports and fleet, and they with him. He now -took his first step towards clearing the two miles -of open ground lying between him and Louisburg -harbor, with the view of fixing the location of his -batteries, and of driving the enemy inside the -walls of the fortress.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_86">86</div> -<div class="sidenote">Royal Battery deserted.</div> -<p>To this end four hundred men were sent out to -destroy the enemy’s magazines situated at the -head of the harbor, Vaughan again marching with -them. This detachment having set fire to some -warehouses containing naval stores, the -smoke from which drifted down upon -the Royal Battery, the officer in command there, -convinced that the provincials were about to fall -upon him, spiked his cannon and abandoned the -works in haste, though not till after receiving -permission to do so.</p> -<p>In the morning, as Vaughan was returning to -camp with only thirteen men, the deserted -appearance of the battery caused him to carefully -examine it, when, seeing no signs of life about the -place,—no flag flying or smoke rising or sentinels -moving about,—he sent forward an Indian of his -party, who, finding all silent, crept through an -embrasure, and undid the gate to them. Vaughan -then despatched word to the camp that he was in -possession of the place, and was waiting for a -re-enforcement and a flag; but meantime, before -either could reach him, one of his men climbed up -the staff, and nailed his red coat to it for a flag.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_87">87</div> -<div class="sidenote">Vaughan attacked.</div> -<p>At about the same hour Duchambon was sending -a strong detachment back to the battery, to -complete the work of destruction that his lieutenant -had left unfinished. At least this is -his own statement. It was supposed -that the battery was still unoccupied or occupied -weakly, otherwise the French would hardly have -risked much for its possession. When this -detachment came round in their boats to the landing-place, -near the battery, Vaughan’s little band -attacked them with great spirit, keeping them at -bay until other troops had time to join him, when -the discomfited Frenchmen were driven back -whence they came.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Advantage of this Capture.</div> -<p>Thus unexpectedly did one of the most formidable -defences fall into our hands; for though its -isolated situation invited an attack, and though -communication with the city could be easily cut -off except by water, the prompt attempt -to recover the Royal Battery implies -that its abandonment was at least premature. Yet -as this work was primarily a harbor defence only, -it was evidently not looked upon as tenable against -a land attack, although it is quite as clear that the -<span class="pb" id="Page_88">88</span> -time had not yet come for deserting it. But the -fact that it was left uninjured instead of being -blown up assures us that the garrison must have -left in a panic.</p> -<p>But whether the French attached much or little -consequence to this battery so long as it remained -in their hands, it became in ours a tremendous -auxiliary to the conquest of the city. By its -capture we obtained thirty heavy cannon, all of -which were soon made serviceable, besides a large -quantity of shot and shell, than which nothing -could have been more acceptable at this time. -And although only three or four of its heavy guns -could be trained upon the city, its capture -removed one of the most formidable obstacles to -the entrance of our fleet. It also afforded an -excellent place of arms for our soldiers, whose -confidence was greatly strengthened. In a word, -the siege was making progress.</p> -<p>We cannot help referring here to the fact that -notwithstanding Shirley’s idea had met with so -much ridicule it had, nevertheless, come true in -one part at least, since if the proposal to turn the -enemy’s own cannon against them had seemed -<span class="pb" id="Page_89">89</span> -somewhat whimsical when it was broached, it -certainly proved prophetic in this case, for within -twenty-four hours after its taking the guns of the -Royal Battery were thundering against the city.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Firing begun.</div> -<p>Pepperell had at once ordered Waldo’s regiment -into the captured battery. The enemy had not -even stopped to knock off the trunnions of the -cannon, so that the smiths, under the direction of -Major Pomeroy,<a class="fn" id="fr_18" href="#fn_18">[18]</a> who was himself a gun-smith, -had only to drill them out again. -Waldo fired the first shot into the city. It is said -to have killed fourteen men. The fire was maintained -with destructive effect, and it drew forth a -reply from the enemy, with both shot and shell.</p> -<p>The siege may now be said to have fairly begun, -and begun prosperously. Both sides had stripped -for fighting, and it remained to be seen whether -Pepperell’s raw levies would continue steadfast -under the many trials of which these events were -but a foretaste.</p> -<p>Louisburg was now practically invested on the -land side, the fleet, with its heavy armament, -remaining useless, however, with respect to active -co-operation in the siege itself, because its commander -<span class="pb" id="Page_90">90</span> -dared not take his ships into the harbor -under fire of the enemy’s batteries. The army -and navy were acting therefore without that concert -which alone would have allowed their united -strength to be effectively tested. On its part, the -navy was simply making a display of force which -could not be employed, though it maintained a -strict blockade. In any case, then, the brunt of -the siege must fall on the army, since, as Warren -informed Pepperell, the fleet could take no part in -battering the city until the harbor defences should -first have been taken or silenced. And when this -was done, the siege must probably have been near -its end, fleet or no fleet.</p> -<p>Pepperell manfully turned, however, to a task -which he had supposed would be shared between -the commodore and himself. If he was no longer -confident under fresh disappointments, they developed -in him unexpected firmness and most heroic -patience. Let us see what this task was, and in -what manner the citizen-general set about it. -That it was done with true military judgment is -abundantly proved by the fact that, when Louisburg -was assaulted and taken in 1758, by the combined -land and naval forces of Amherst and Boscawen, -Pepperell’s plan of attack was followed -step by step, and to the letter.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_91">91</div> -<div class="img" id="ill4"> -<img id="fig4" src="images/i091.jpg" alt="TOWN AND FORTIFICATIONS OF LOUISBOURG IN 1745." width="974" height="600" /> -<p class="pcap">TOWN <span class="small">AND</span> FORTIFICATIONS OF LOUISBOURG <span class="small">IN</span> 1745.</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_93">93</div> -<div class="sidenote">The Harbor Defences.</div> -<p>The most formidable of the harbor defences -were the Island Battery, to which attention has -been called in a previous chapter, the -Circular Battery, a work situated at the -extreme northwest corner of the city walls, and -forming the reverse face of the powerful Dauphin -Bastion, from which the West Gate of the city -opened, with the Water Battery, or Batterie de la -Gréve, placed at the opposite angle of the harbor -shore.<a class="fn" id="fr_19" href="#fn_19">[19]</a> The cross-fire from these two batteries -effectually raked the whole harbor from shore to -shore, but it was by no means so dangerous as -that of the Island Battery, where ships must pass -within point-blank range of the heaviest artillery.</p> -<p>Such, then, was the admirable system of harbor -defences still remaining intact, even after the fall -of the Royal Battery. Instead, therefore, of concentrating -his whole fire upon one or two points, -in his front, with a view of breaching the walls in -the shortest time, and of storming the city at the -head of his troops, Pepperell was made to throw -<span class="pb" id="Page_94">94</span> -half his available fire upon the batteries that were -not at all in his own way, though they blocked the -way to the fleet.<a class="fn" id="fr_20" href="#fn_20">[20]</a></p> -<p>It will be seen that these circumstances imposed -upon Pepperell a task of no little magnitude. -They compelled him to attack the very strongest, -instead of the weakest, parts of the fortress, and -necessarily confined the siege operations within a -comparatively small space of the enemy’s long line.</p> -<p>No time was lost in getting the siege train over -from Gabarus Bay to the positions marked out for -erecting the breaching batteries. The infinite -labor involved in doing this can hardly be understood -except by those who have themselves gone -over the ground. Every gun and every pound of -provisions and ammunition had to be dragged two -miles, through marshes and over rocks, to the -allotted stations. This transit being impracticable -for wheel-carriages, sledges were constructed by -Lieutenant-Colonel Meserve of the New Hampshire -regiment, to which relays of men harnessed -themselves in turn, as they do in Arctic journeys, -and in this way the cannon, mortars, and stores -were slowly dragged through the spongy turf, -<span class="pb" id="Page_95">95</span> -where the mud was frequently knee-deep, to the -trenches before Louisburg. None but the rugged -yeomen of New England—men inured to all sorts -of outdoor labor in woods and fields—could have -successfully accomplished such a herculean task. -But such severe toil as this was soon put half the -army in the hospitals.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Nova Scotia freed of Invaders.</div> -<p>By the 5th of May Pepperell had got two mortar-batteries -playing upon the city from the base -of Green Hill, over which the road passes to -Sydney. Meantime, Duchambon, seeing himself -blockaded both by sea and by land, had hurriedly -sent off an express to recall the troops that had -gone out some time before against Annapolis, in -concert with a force sent from Quebec, -little dreaming that he himself would -soon be attacked.<a class="fn" id="fr_21" href="#fn_21">[21]</a> The first fruits of -Shirley’s sagacity ripened thus early in relieving -Nova Scotia from invasion.</p> -<div class="sidenote">First Sabbath in Camp.</div> -<p>The 5th being Sunday, divine service was held -in the chapel of the Royal Battery. -Pepperell’s hardy New Englanders listened -to the first Protestant sermon ever preached, -perhaps, on the island of Cape Breton, from the -<span class="pb" id="Page_96">96</span> -well-chosen text “Enter into His gates with -thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.” -After their devotions were over, we are told that -the troops “fired smartly at the city.”</p> -<p>Meantime, also, Colonel Moulton, who had been -left at Canso for the purpose, rejoined the army -after destroying St. Peter’s. Two sallies made by -the enemy against the nearest mortar-battery had -been repulsed. Its fire, augmented by some forty-two-pounders -taken from the Royal Battery, already -much distressed the garrison, its balls coming -against the caserns and into the town, where they -traversed the streets from end to end, and riddled -the houses in their passage. It never ceased firing -during the siege. In his report Duchambon calls -it the most dangerous of any that the besiegers -raised.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Garrison summoned.</div> -<p>On the 7th a flag was sent into the city with a -summons to surrender. Firing was suspended -until its return, with Duchambon’s defiant -message, that inasmuch “as the -King had confided to him the defence of the fortress, -he had no other reply but by the mouths of -his cannon.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_97">97</div> -<div class="sidenote">Scouting Party defeated.</div> -<p>This check prompted a disposition to attack the -city by storm at once, but upon reflection more -moderate counsels prevailed, and the attempt was -put off. Pepperell went on with his approaches -toward the West Gate, under a constant fire from -all the enemy’s batteries. And as every collection -of men drew the enemy’s fire to the spot, this -work could only be done at night, under great disadvantages. -The balls they sent him were picked -up and returned from his own cannon with true -New England thrift, in order to husband his own -ammunition. While thus engaged with the enemy -in his front, he had also to keep an eye upon the -outlying parties of French and Indians in his rear, -who had been scraped together from scattered settlements, -and were lurking about his camp with -the view of raiding it unawares. On May 10, a -scouting party of twenty-five men from Waldo’s -regiment was sent out to find and drive off these -marauders. While they were engaged -in plundering some dwelling-houses at -one of the out-settlements, they themselves were -unexpectedly attacked by a superior force, and all -but three killed, the Indians murdering the prisoners -<span class="pb" id="Page_98">98</span> -in cold blood. On the following day our -men returned to the scene of disaster, and after -burying their fallen comrades, they burned the -place to the ground.</p> -<p>With these events the campaign settled down -into the slow and laborious operations of a regular -siege; and here began those inevitable bickerings -between the chiefs of the land and naval forces, -which, in a man of different temper than Pepperell -was, might have led to serious results.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Disagreements.</div> -<p>In Shirley, his lawful captain-general, Pepperell -had always a superior whose orders he felt bound -to obey to the best of his ability, cost what it -might. Fortunately, Shirley’s power of annoyance -was limited by distance, though he kept up -an animated fire of suggestions. In -Warren, however, the brusque and impulsive -sailor, Pepperell now found a tutor and -a critic, whose irritation at the subordinate part -he was playing showed itself in unreasonable -demands upon his slow but sure coadjutor, and -now and then even in a hardly concealed sneer. -As time wore on, Warren grew more and more -restive and importunate, while Pepperell continued -<span class="pb" id="Page_99">99</span> -patient, calm, and methodical to the last. Warren -would call his fleet-captains together, hold a council, -discuss the situation from his point of view, -and send off to Pepperell the result of their deliberations, -with the final exhortation attached, “For -God’s sake let <i>us</i> do something!”—that “something” -being that Pepperell should practically finish -the siege without him, as we have already -shown. Warren was a man standing at a door -to keep out intruders, while the two actual adversaries -were fighting it out inside. He might occasionally -halloo to them to be quick about it, but he -was hardly in the fight himself.</p> -<p>Pepperell would then get his council together in -his turn, and, smarting under the sense of injustice, -would submit the lecture that Warren had read -him, with its thinly veiled irony, and unconcealed -hauteur, to which the imputation of ignorance was -not lacking. The situation would then be again -discussed in all its bearings, from the army’s standpoint, -which might be stated as follows: The fortress -cannot be stormed until we have made a -practicable breach in the walls. We must finish our -batteries before this can be done. Or let the commodore -<span class="pb" id="Page_100">100</span> -bring in his ships and assist in silencing -the enemy’s fire. The army is losing strength -every day by sickness, while the fleet is gaining -by the arrival of fresh ships. We cannot, if we -would, pull the commodore’s chestnuts out of the -fire and our own too.</p> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_18" id="fn_18">[18]</a><span class="sc">Major Seth Pomeroy</span> of Northampton, Mass., was lieutenant-colonel -of Williams’s regiment in the battle of Lake George, 1755, succeeding -to the command after Williams’s death. At the beginning of the -Revolution he fought as a volunteer at Bunker Hill.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_19" id="fn_19">[19]</a><span class="sc">Reference</span> should be made to the plan at <a href="#Page_91">page 91</a>. It will greatly -simplify the siege operations to the reader if he will keep in mind the fact -that the land attack was wholly confined within the points designated by -A and B on this plan, or between the Dauphin and King’s bastions. For -our purpose, it is only necessary to add that the harbor front was defended -by a strong wall of masonry, joining the Water Battery, G, with the Dauphin -Bastion, A. In this wall were five gates, leading to the water-side. -It was the point at which the city would be exposed to assault from shipping -or their boats.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_20" id="fn_20">[20]</a><span class="sc">The Island Battery</span> could not materially hinder the progress of -the siege, and must have fallen with the city. The Circular Battery could -not fire upon the besiegers at all, as it bore upon the harbor, but Warren -insisted that he could not go in until these two works were silenced. If -the time spent in doing this had been wholly employed in battering down -the West Gate and its approaches, the city might have been taken without -the fleet, leaving out of view, of course, the supposition of a repulse to -the storming party. It is a strong assertion to say that the city could -not have been taken without the fleet, because no trial was made.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_21" id="fn_21">[21]</a><span class="sc">The Attack</span> upon Annapolis having failed, these troops tried to -get back to Louisburg, but were unable to do so. With their assistance -Duchambon thinks he could have held out.</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_101">101</div> -<h2 id="c9">IX -<br />THE SIEGE CONTINUED</h2> -<div class="sidenote">Camp Routine.</div> -<p>The routine of camp life is not without interest -as tending to show what was the temper of the -men under circumstances of unusual trial and -hardship. They were housed in tents, most of -which proved rotten and unserviceable, or in -booths, which they built for themselves out of -poles and green boughs cut in the neighboring -woods. The relief parties, told off each -day for work in the trenches, were -marched to their stations after dark, as the enemy’s -fire swept the ground over which they must -pass. For a like reason, the fatigue parties could -only bring up the daily supplies of provisions and -ammunition to the trenches from Gabarus Bay, -after darkness had set in. By great good-fortune, -the weather continued dry and pleasant; otherwise -the bad housing and severe toil must have -<span class="pb" id="Page_102">102</span> -told on the health of the army even more severely -than it did, while work in the trenches would -have been suspended during the intervals of wet -weather.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Spirit of the Army.</div> -<p>A force like this, composed of men who were -the equals of their officers at home, not bound -together by habits of passive obedience formed -under the severe penalties of martial law, could -not be expected to observe the exact discipline of -regular soldiers. It was not attempted to enforce -it. Not one case of punishment for infraction of -orders is reported during the siege. But officers -and men had in them the making of far better soldiers -than the ordinary rank and file of armies. -There were men in the ranks who rose to be -colonels and brigadiers in the revolutionary contest.<a class="fn" id="fr_22" href="#fn_22">[22]</a> -The hardest duty was performed without -grumbling; the most dangerous service -found plenty of volunteers; and Pepperell -himself has borne witness that nothing -pleased the men better than to be ordered off on -some scouting expedition that promised to bring -on a brush with the enemy.</p> -<p>This spirit is plainly manifest in the letters -<span class="pb" id="Page_103">103</span> -which have been preserved. In one of them -Major Pomeroy tells his wife that “it looks as if -our campaign would last long; but I am willing -to stay till God’s time comes to deliver the city -into our hands.” The reply is worthy of a woman -of Sparta: “Suffer no anxious thoughts to rest in -your mind about me. The whole town is much -engaged with concern for the expedition, how -Providence will order the affair, for which religious -meetings every week are maintained. I leave you -in the hand of God.”</p> -<p>There is not a despatch or a letter of Pepperell’s -extant, in which this dependence upon the Over-ruling -Hand is not acknowledged. The barbaric -utterance that Providence is always on the side of -the strongest battalions would have shocked the -men of Louisburg as deeply as it would the men -of Preston, Edgehill, and Marston Moor. The -conviction that their cause was a righteous one, -and must therefore prevail, was a power still active -among Puritan soldiers: nor did they fail to give -the honor and praise of achieved victory to Him -whom they so steadfastly owned as the Leader of -Armies and the God of Battles.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_104">104</div> -<p>There were not wanting incidents which the -soldiers treasured up as direct manifestations of -Divine favor. Moses Coffin, of Newbury, who -officiated in the double capacity of chaplain and -drummer, and who had been nicknamed in consequence -the “drum ecclesiastic,” carried a small -pocket-Bible about with him wherever he went. -On returning to camp, after an engagement with -the enemy, he found that a bullet had passed -nearly through the sacred book, thus, undoubtedly, -saving his life.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Frolics in Camp.</div> -<p>The relaxation from discipline has been more or -less commented upon by several writers, as if it -implied a grave delinquency in the head of the -army. We are of the opinion, however, that it -was the safety-valve of <i>this</i> army, under the -extraordinary pressure laid upon it. So while we -may smile at the comparison made by Douglass, -who says that the siege resembled a “Cambridge -Commencement,” or at the antics described by -Belknap,<a class="fn" id="fr_23" href="#fn_23">[23]</a> we need not feel ourselves -bound to accept their conclusions. This -author says: “Those who were on the spot, have -frequently in my hearing laughed at the recital -<span class="pb" id="Page_105">105</span> -of their own irregularities, and expressed their -admiration when they reflected on the almost -miraculous preservation of the army from destruction. -They indeed presented a formidable front -to the enemy, but the rear was a scene of confusion -and frolic. While some were on duty at the -trenches, others were racing, wrestling, pitching -quoits, firing at marks or birds, or running after -shot from the enemy’s guns for which they -received a bounty.”</p> -<div class="sidenote">Our Fascine Batteries.</div> -<p>In his unscientific way, Pepperell was daily -tightening his grasp upon Louisburg. Gridley,<a class="fn" id="fr_24" href="#fn_24">[24]</a> -who acted in the capacity of chief engineer, had -picked up from books all the knowledge he -possessed, but he soon showed a natural -aptitude for that branch of the service. -Dwight, the chief of artillery, is not known ever -to have pointed a shotted gun in his life. Instead -of gradual approaches, of zigzags and épaulements, -the ground was simply staked out where -the batteries were to be placed. After dark the -working parties started for the spot, carrying -bundles of fascines on their backs, laid them on -the lines, and then began digging the trenches -<span class="pb" id="Page_106">106</span> -and throwing up the embankment by the light of -their lanterns. All the batteries at Louisburg -were constructed in this simple fashion. The -work of making the platforms, getting up the -cannon, and mounting them, was attended with -far greater labor and risk.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Advanced Battery opens Fire May 18.</div> -<p>In this manner a fascine battery covered by a -trench in front, on which the provincials had been -working like beavers for two days and nights, was -raised within two hundred and fifty yards of the -West Gate, against which it began sending its shot -on the 18th. This was by much the -most dangerous effort that the besiegers -had yet made, and the enemy at once -trained every gun upon it that would bear, in the -hope of either demolishing or silencing the work. -It was so near that the men in the trenches, and -those on the walls, kept up a continual fire of musketry -at each other, interspersed with sallies of -wit, whenever there was a lull in the firing. The -French gunners, who were kept well supplied with -wine, would drink to the besiegers, and invite -them over to breakfast or to take a glass of wine.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_107">107</div> -<div class="img" id="ill5"> -<img id="fig5" src="images/i107.jpg" alt="THE LIGHTHOUSE, WITH DÉBRIS OF OLD WORKS." width="781" height="500" /> -<p class="pcap">THE LIGHTHOUSE, WITH DÉBRIS OF OLD WORKS.</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_109">109</div> -<div class="sidenote">Cannon discovered.</div> -<p>In two days the fire of our guns had beaten -down the drawbridges, part of the West Gate, -and some of the adjoining wall. Pepperell complains -at this time of his want of good gunners, -also of a sufficient supply of powder to make good -the daily consumption, of which he had no previous -conception, but is cheered by finding -thirty cannon sunk at low-water mark -on the opposite side of the harbor, which he -designed mounting at the lighthouse forthwith, -for attacking the Island Battery. Gorham’s -regiment was posted there with this object. Thus -again were the enemy furnishing means for their -own destruction. Foreseeing that this fortification -would shut the port to ships coming to his -relief, Duchambon sent a hundred men across -the harbor to drive off the provincials. A sharp -fight ensued, in which the enemy were defeated.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Titcomb’s Battery at Work.</div> -<p>By this time another fascine battery situated by -the shore, at a point nine hundred yards from the -walls, began raking the Circular Battery -of the enemy, in conjunction with the -direct fire from our Advanced Battery. -It was called Titcomb’s, from the officer in charge, -Major Moses Titcomb of Hale’s regiment. These -<span class="pb" id="Page_110">110</span> -two fortifications were now knocking to pieces -the northwest corner of the enemy’s ponderous -works, known as the Dauphin Bastion. We were -now playing on Louisburg from three batteries -on the shore of the harbor, three in the rear of -these, and had another in process of construction -at the lighthouse, all of which, except the last, -had been completed under fire within twenty days, -without recourse to any scientific rules whatever.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Capture of the Vigilant.</div> -<p>In spite of Warren’s watchfulness one vessel -had slipped through his squadron into Louisburg -unperceived, bringing supplies to the besieged, -An event now took place which, to use -Pepperell’s words, “produced a burst of -joy in the army, and animated the men with fresh -courage to persevere.” The annual supply ship -from France, for which our fleet had been constantly -on the lookout, had run close in with the -harbor in a thick fog, undiscovered by our vessels, -and wholly unsuspicious of danger herself. When -the fog lifted she was seen and engaged by the -Mermaid, a forty-gun frigate, until the rest of the -squadron could come to her aid, when, after a -spirited combat, the French ship was forced to -<span class="pb" id="Page_111">111</span> -strike her colors. The prize proved to be the -Vigilant, a new sixty-gun ship, loaded with stores -and munitions for Louisburg. She was soon put -in fighting trim again, and manned by drafts made -from the army and transports.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Warren proposes to attack.</div> -<p>By the 24th, two more heavy ships, which the -ministry had sent out immediately upon receiving -Shirley’s advices that the expedition had been -decided upon,<a class="fn" id="fr_25" href="#fn_25">[25]</a> now joined Warren, who at length -felt himself emboldened to ask Pepperell’s co-operation -in the following plan of attack. It was -proposed to distribute sixteen hundred men, to be -taken from the army, among the ships of war, all -of which should then go into the harbor and -attack the enemy’s batteries vigorously. Under -cover of this fire, the soldiers, with the -marines from the ships, were to land -and assault the city. Pepperell himself -was to have no share in this business, except as a -looker-on, but was to put his troops under the -command of an officer of marines who should -take his orders from Warren only.</p> -<p>This implied censure to the conduct of the -army and its chief, followed up the next day by -<span class="pb" id="Page_112">112</span> -the tart question of “Pray how came the Island -Battery not to be attacked?” seems to have -goaded Pepperell into giving the order for a night -attack upon that strong post. Indeed, Pepperell’s -perplexities were growing every hour. On the -day he received Warren’s cool proposition to take -the control of the army out of his hands, he had -been obliged to send off a flying column in pursuit -of a force which his scouts had reported was at -Mirá Bay, fifteen miles from his camp. In fact, -the forces which Duchambon had recalled from -Annapolis were watching their chance either to -make a dash into Louisburg, or throw themselves -upon the besiegers’ trenches unawares.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Island Battery stormed May 27.</div> -<div class="sidenote">Gallantry of William Tufts, Jr.</div> -<p>Notwithstanding the hazard, it was determined -to storm the Island Battery. For this purpose, -four hundred volunteers embarked in whale-boats -on the night of the 27th, and rowed cautiously -round the outer shore of the harbor -toward the back of the island, in the expectation -of finding that side unguarded. -They were, however, discovered by the sentinels -in season to thwart the plan of surprise. The -garrison was alarmed. Still the brave provincials -<span class="pb" id="Page_113">113</span> -would not turn back. Cannon and musketry were -turned on them from the island and city. Through -this storm of shot, by which many of the boats -were sunk before they could reach the shore, only -about half the attacking force passed unscathed. -In scrambling up the rocks through a drenching -surf, most of their muskets were wet with salt -water, and rendered useless. Not yet dismayed, -the assailants fought their numerous foes hand to -hand for nearly an hour. Captain Brooks, their -leader, was cut down in the <i>mêlée</i>. -One William Tufts, a brave lad of only -nineteen, got into the battery, climbed -the flagstaff, tore down the French colors, and -fastened his own red coat to the staff, under a -shower of balls, many of which went through his -clothes without harming him. Sixty men were -slain before the rest would surrender, but these -were the flower of the army, whose loss saddened -the whole camp, when the enemy’s exulting cheers -told the story of the disaster, at break of day. -About a hundred and eighty-nine men were either -drowned, killed, or taken in this desperate -encounter. It was an exploit worthy of the men, -<span class="pb" id="Page_114">114</span> -but there was not one chance in ten of its being -successful. For once Pepperell had allowed -feeling to get the better of judgment by taking -that chance.</p> -<p>Pepperell could now say to Warren that his -proposal would not be agreed to. His effective -force had been reduced by sickness to twenty-one -hundred men, six hundred of whom were at that -moment absent from camp. As a compliance with -Warren’s requisition for sixteen hundred men -would be equivalent to exposing everything to the -uncertain chances of a single bold dash, Pepperell’s -council very wisely concluded that it was far -better to hold fast what had been gained, than to -risk all that was hoped for. They offered to lend -the commodore five hundred soldiers, and six -hundred sailors, if he would go and assault the -Island Battery, in his turn, but Warren’s only -reply was to urge the completion of the Lighthouse -Battery for that work.</p> -<p>The siege had now continued thirty days without -decisive results. So far Duchambon had -showed no sign of yielding, and Pepperell found -it difficult to get information as to the state of the -<span class="pb" id="Page_115">115</span> -garrison. An expedient was therefore hit upon -which was calculated to test both the temper and -condition of the besieged thoroughly: for although -the capture of the Vigilant had been witnessed -from the walls of Louisburg, it had not produced -the impression that the besiegers had expected. -This was the key to what now took place.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Effect of Stratagem tried.</div> -<p>Maisonforte, captain of the Vigilant, was still -a prisoner on board the fleet. He was given to -understand that the provincials were -greatly exasperated over the cruel treatment -of some prisoners, who had been -murdered after they were taken, and he was asked -to write to Duchambon informing him just how -the French prisoners were treated, to the end that -such barbarities as had been complained of might -cease, and retaliation be avoided.</p> -<p>Maisonforte readily fell into the trap laid for -him. He unhesitatingly wrote the letter as -requested, it was sent to Duchambon by a flag, -and was delivered by an officer who understood -French, in order to observe its effect. The letter -thus conveyed to Duchambon the disagreeable -news of the Vigilant’s capture, of which he had -<span class="pb" id="Page_116">116</span> -been ignorant, and it made a visible impression. -He now knew that his determination to hold out -in view of the expected succors from France, was -of no further avail. This correspondence took -place on the 7th.</p> -<div class="sidenote">Lighthouse Battery completed.</div> -<div class="sidenote">Island Battery silenced.</div> -<p>By the arrival of ships destined for the Newfoundland -station, the fleet had been increased to -eleven ships carrying five hundred and forty guns. -On the 9th two deserters came into our lines, who -said that the garrison could not hold out much -longer unless relieved. On the 11th, which was -the anniversary of the accession of George II., a -general bombardment took place, in -which the new Lighthouse Battery -joined, for the first time. The effect -of its fire upon the Island Battery was so marked, -that Warren now declared himself ready to join in -a general attack, whenever the wind should be fair -for it. For this attempt Pepperell pushed forward -his own preparations most vigorously. Boats were -got ready to land troops at different parts of the -town. The Circular Battery was about silenced. -All the 13th, 14th, and 15th a furious bombardment -was kept up. Our marksmen swept the -<span class="pb" id="Page_117">117</span> -streets of the doomed city, with musketry, from -the advanced trenches, so that no one could show -his head in any part of it without being instantly -riddled with balls. The artillerists at the Island -Battery were driven from their posts, some even -taking refuge from our shells by running -into the sea. Our boats now passed in -and out of the harbor freely, with supplies, without -molestation. It was evident that the fall of this -much dreaded bulwark had brought the siege -practically to a close.</p> -<p>On the 14th the whole fleet came to an anchor -off the harbor in line of battle. It made a -splendid and imposing array. At the same time -the troops were mustered under arms, and -exhorted to do their full duty when the order -should be given them to advance upon the enemy’s -works. In the midst of these final preparations -for a combined and decisive assault, an ominous -silence brooded over the doomed city. It was -clear to all that the crisis was at hand.</p> -<p>Duchambon felt that he had now done all that a -brave and resolute captain could for the defence -of the fortress. He saw an overwhelming force -<span class="pb" id="Page_118">118</span> -about to throw itself with irresistible power upon -his dismantled walls, in every assailable part at -once. His every hope of help from without had -failed him. Food for his men and powder for his -guns were nearly exhausted. He was now confronted -with the soldier’s last dread alternative of -meeting an assault sword in hand, with but faint -prospect of success, or of lowering the flag he -had so gallantly defended. The wretched inhabitants, -who had endured every privation cheerfully, -so long as there was hope, earnestly entreated him -to spare them the horrors of storm and pillage.</p> -<div class="sidenote">The Fortress surrenders.</div> -<p>On the 15th, in the afternoon, while the two -chiefs of the expedition were in consultation -together, Duchambon sent a flag to Pepperell -proposing a suspension of hostilities until terms -of capitulation should be agreed upon. This was -at once granted until eight o’clock of the following -morning. Duchambon’s proposals were then -submitted and rejected as inadmissible, but -counter proposals were sent him, to -which, on the same day, he gave his -assent, by sending hostages to both Pepperell and -Warren, saving only that the garrison should be -<span class="pb" id="Page_119">119</span> -allowed to march out with the honors of war. -For reasons to be looked for, no doubt, in his pride -as a professional soldier, and in his reluctance to -treat with any other, he addressed separate notes -to the land and naval commanders. As neither -felt disposed to stand upon a point of mere -punctilio, Duchambon’s request was immediately -acceded to. A striking difference, however, is to -be observed between Pepperell’s and Warren’s -replies to the French commander. In his own -Pepperell generously, and honorably, makes the -full ratification of this condition subject to -Warren’s approval. In the commodore’s there is -not one word found concerning the general of the -land forces, or of his approbation or disapprobation, -any more than if he had never existed; but in -Warren’s note the extraordinary condition is -annexed “that the keys of the town be delivered -to such officers and troops <i>as I shall appoint to -receive them</i>, and that all the cannon, warlike and -other stores in the town, be also delivered up to -the said officers.”</p> -<p>On the 17th Warren took formal possession of -the Island Battery, and shortly after went into the -<span class="pb" id="Page_120">120</span> -city himself to confer with the governor. In the -meantime, conceiving it to be his right to receive -the surrender, Pepperell had informed the governor -of his intention to put a detachment of his own -troops in occupation of the city defences that -same afternoon. This communication was immediately -shown to Warren, who at once addressed -Pepperell, in evident irritation, upon the “irregularity” -of his proceedings, until the articles of -surrender should have been formally signed and -sealed. The fact that he had just proposed -to receive the surrender of the fortress himself -was not even referred to, nor does it appear that -Pepperell ever knew of it. One cannot overlook, -therefore, the presence of some unworthy manœuvring, -seconded by Duchambon’s professional -vanity, to claim and obtain a share of the honor -of this glorious achievement, not only unwarranted -by the part the navy had taken in it, since it had -never fired a shot into Louisburg, or lost a man -by its fire: but calculated to mislead public opinion -in England.</p> -<p>An unpublished letter of General Dwight, -written three days after the entry of the provincial -troops, relates the closing scenes of this truly -memorable contest. It runs as follows:—</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_121">121</div> -<div class="img" id="ill6"> -<img id="fig6" src="images/i121.jpg" alt="REMAINS OF CASEMATES AT LOUISBURG." width="766" height="500" /> -<p class="pcap">REMAINS OF CASEMATES AT LOUISBURG.</p> -</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_123">123</div> -<p>“We entered the city on Monday last (17th) -about five o’clock <span class="small">P.M.</span>, with colors flying, drums, -hautboys, violins, trumpets, etc. Gentlemen and -ladies caressing (the French inhabitants) as well -they might, for a New England dog would have -died in the holes we drove them to—I mean the -casemates where they dwelt during the siege.</p> -<p>“This fortress is so valuable, as well as large -and extensive, that we may say the one half has -not been conceived.... Sometimes I am ready -to say a thousand men in a thousand years could -not effect it. Words cannot convey the idea of -it.... One half of ye warlike stores for such a -siege were not laid in; however, the Vigilant -(French supply ship) being taken and Commodore -Warren’s having some supply of stores from New -England was very happy, and so it is that his -readiness has been more than equal to his -ability.”</p> -<p>Governor Duchambon puts his whole force at -thirteen hundred men at the beginning of the -siege, and at eleven hundred at its close. About -<span class="pb" id="Page_124">124</span> -two thousand men were, however, included in the -capitulation, of which number six hundred and -fifty were veteran troops. The besiegers’ shot had -wrought destruction in the city. There was not -a building left unharmed or even habitable, by the -fifteen thousand shot and shells that Pepperell’s -batteries had thrown into it.</p> -<p>When Pepperell saw the inside of Louisburg -he probably realized for the first time the magnitude -of the task he had undertaken. On looking -around him, he said, with the expeditionary motto -in mind no doubt, “The Almighty, of a truth, has -been with us.”</p> -<p>As the expedition began, so it now ended, with -a prayer, which has come down to us as a part of -its history. Pepperell celebrated his entry into -Louisburg by giving a dinner to his officers. -When they were seated at table, the general -called upon his old friend and neighbor, the Rev. -Mr. Moody of York, to ask the Divine blessing. -As the parson’s prayers were proverbial for -their length, the countenances of the guests fell -when he arose from his chair, but to everybody’s -surprise the venerable chaplain made his -<span class="pb" id="Page_125">125</span> -model and pithy appeal to the throne of grace in -these words:</p> -<p>“Good Lord! we have so many things to thank -thee for, that time will be infinitely too short to do -it: we must therefore leave it for the work of -eternity.”</p> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_22" id="fn_22">[22]</a><span class="sc">General John Nixon</span> is one of those referred to.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_23" id="fn_23">[23]</a><span class="sc">Douglass</span> (Summary), <span class="sc">Belknap</span> (“History of New Hampshire”) -and <span class="sc">Hutchinson</span> (“History of Massachusetts Bay”) have accounts of -the Louisburg expedition. Douglass and Hutchinson wrote contemporaneously, -and were well informed, the latter especially, upon all points -relating to the inception and organization. Of their military criticism it -is needless to speak. There is a host of authorities, both French and -English, most of which are collected in Vol. V. “Narrative and Critical -History of America.”</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_24" id="fn_24">[24]</a><span class="sc">Richard Gridley</span> subsequently laid out the works at Bunker -Hill and Dorchester Heights, in much the same manner.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_25" id="fn_25">[25]</a><span class="sc">Shirley</span>’s second messenger, Captain Loring, on presenting his -despatches, was allowed but twelve hours in London, being then ordered -on board the Princess Mary, one of the ships referred to.</div> -<div class="pb" id="Page_126">126</div> -<h2 id="c10">X -<br />AFTERTHOUGHTS</h2> -<p>And now comes the strangest part of the story. -We get quite accustomed to thinking of the -American colonies as the football of European -diplomacy, our reading of history has fully prepared -us for that: but we are not prepared to find -events in the New World actually shaping the -course of those in the Old. In a word, England -lost the battle in Europe, but won it in America. -France was confounded at seeing the key to -Canada in the hands of the enemy she had just -beaten. England and France were like two -duellists who have had a scuffle, in the course of -which they have exchanged weapons. Instead of -dictating terms, France had to compromise matters. -For the sake of preserving her colonial -possessions, she now had to give up her dear-bought -conquests on the continent of Europe. -Hostilities were suspended. All the belligerents -<span class="pb" id="Page_127">127</span> -agreed to restore what they had taken from each -other, and cry quits; but it is plain that France -would never have consented to such a settlement -at a time when her adversaries were so badly -crippled, when all England was in a ferment, and -she hurrying back her troops from Holland in -order to put down rebellion at home, thus leaving -the coalition of which she was the head to stand -or fall without her. France would not have -stayed her victorious march, we think, under such -circumstances as these, unless the nation’s attention -had been forcibly recalled to the gravity of -the situation in America.</p> -<p>In some respects this episode of history recalls -the story of the mailed giant, armed to the teeth, -and of the stripling with his sling.</p> -<p>As all the conquests of this war were restored -by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, Cape Breton -went to France again.</p> -<p>Thus had New England made herself felt across -the Atlantic by an exhibition of power, as -unlooked-for as it was suggestive to thoughtful -men. To some it was merely like that put forth -by the infant Hercules, in his cradle. But to -<span class="pb" id="Page_128">128</span> -England, the unnatural mother, it was a notice -that the child she had neglected was coming to -manhood, ere long to claim a voice in the disposal -of its own affairs.</p> -<p>To New England herself the consequences of -her great exploit were very marked. The martial -spirit was revived. In the trenches of Louisburg -was the training-school for the future captains of -the republic. Louisburg became a watchword and -a tradition to a people intensely proud of their -traditions. Not only had they made themselves -felt across the ocean, but they now first awoke to -a better knowledge of their own resources, their -own capabilities, their own place in the empire, -and here began the growth of that independent -spirit which, but for the prompt seizure of a -golden opportunity, might have lain dormant for -years. Probably it would be too much to say that -the taking of Louisburg opened the eyes of -discerning men to the possibility of a great -empire in the West; yet, if we are to look about -us for underlying causes, we know not where else -to find a single event so likely to give birth to -speculative discussion, or a new and enlarged -<span class="pb" id="Page_129">129</span> -direction in the treatment of public concerns. -What had been done would always be pointed to -as evidence of what might be done again. So we -have considered the taking of Louisburg, in so -far as the colonies were concerned, as the event -of its epoch.<a class="fn" id="fr_26" href="#fn_26">[26]</a></p> -<p>Nor would these discussions be any the less -likely to arise, or to grow any the less threatening -to the future of crown and colony, when it became -known that to balance her accounts with other -powers England had handed over Cape Breton to -France again, thus putting in her hand the very -weapon that New England had just wrested from -her, as the pledge to her own security. The work -was all undone with a stroke of the pen. The -colonies were still to be the football of European -politics.</p> -<p>Nobody in the colonies supposed this would be -the reward of their sacrifices—that they should -be deliberately sold by the home government, or -that France, after being once disarmed, would be -quietly told to go on strengthening her American -Gibraltar as much as she liked. Yet this was -what really happened, notwithstanding the Duke -<span class="pb" id="Page_130">130</span> -of Newcastle’s bombastic declaration that “if -France was master of Portsmouth, he would hang -the man who should give up Cape Breton in -exchange for it.”</p> -<p>King George, who was in Hanover when he -heard of the capture of Louisburg, sent word to -Pepperell that he would be made a baronet, thus -distinguishing him as the proper chief of the -expedition. This distinction, which really made -Pepperell the first colonist of his time, was nobly -won and worthily worn. After four years of -importunity the colonies succeeded in getting -their actual expenses reimbursed to them, which -was certainly no more than their dues, considering -that they had been fighting the battles of the -mother country.<a class="fn" id="fr_27" href="#fn_27">[27]</a></p> -<p>Warren was made an admiral. The navy came -in for a large amount of prize money, obtained -from ships that were decoyed into Louisburg -after it fell, to the exclusion of the army.<a class="fn" id="fr_28" href="#fn_28">[28]</a> This -disposition of the spoils was highly resented by -the army, who very justly alleged that, while the -success of the army without the fleet might be -open to debate, there could be no question whatever -<span class="pb" id="Page_131">131</span> -of the fleet’s inability to take Louisburg -without the army.</p> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_26" id="fn_26">[26]</a><span class="sc">The surrender</span> caused great rejoicing in the colonies, as was -natural it should, with all except those who had always predicted its -failure. For some reason the news did not reach Boston until July 2, in -the night. At daybreak the inhabitants were aroused from their slumbers -by the thunder of cannon. The whole day was given up to rejoicings. -A public thanksgiving was observed on the 18th. The news reached -London on the 20th. The Tower guns were fired, and at night London -was illuminated. Similar demonstrations occurred in all the cities and -large towns of the kingdom. At Versailles the news caused deep gloom. -De Luynes speaks of it thus in his Memoirs: “People have been willing -to doubt about this affair of Louisburg, but unhappily it is only too certain. -These misfortunes have given rise to altercations among ministers. -It is urged that M. Maurepas is at fault in having allowed Louisburg to -fall for want of munitions. The friends of M. Maurepas contend that he -did all that was possible, but could not obtain the necessary funds from -the Treasury.” The government got ready two fleets to retake Louisburg. -One was scattered or sunk by storms in 1746, and one was destroyed by -Lord Anson, in 1747, off Cape Finisterre.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_27" id="fn_27">[27]</a><span class="sc">The amount</span> was £183,649 to Massachusetts, £16,355 to New -Hampshire, £28,863 to Connecticut, and £6,332 to Rhode Island. Quite -a large portion was paid in copper coins.</div> -<div class="fndef"><a class="fn" href="#fr_28" id="fn_28">[28]</a><span class="sc">Among others</span> the navy took a Spanish Indiaman, having $2,000,000, -besides gold and silver ingots to a large value, stowed under her cargo -of cocoa. The estimated value of all the prizes was nearly a million -sterling, of which enormous sum only one colonial vessel got a share.</div> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="small">THE END</span></p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_133">133</div> -<h2 id="c11">INDEX</h2> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_A"><b>A</b></dt> -<dt>Acadia (Nova Scotia), Louisburg designed to protect, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</dt> -<dt>Acadians, refuse to emigrate, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</dt> -<dd>and refuse to become British subjects, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</dd> -<dd>why called Neutrals, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</dd> -<dd>desire to remove elsewhere, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</dd> -<dt>Aix-la-Chapelle, Peace of, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</dt> -<dt>Annapolis, N. S., attempted capture of, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</dt> -<dd>attack on, frustrated, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</dd> -<dt>Auchmuty, Robert, proposes the taking of Louisburg, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_B"><b>B</b></dt> -<dt>Boston, defenceless condition of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</dt> -<dt>Bradstreet, Colonel John, at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</dt> -<dt>Brooks, Captain, killed at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_C"><b>C</b></dt> -<dt>Canada, the key to, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</dt> -<dd>its political and economic weaknesses, <a href="#Page_24">24</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</dd> -<dd>compared with the English colonies, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</dd> -<dd>the fur monopoly, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</dd> -<dd>scheme for building up the colony, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</dd> -<dt>Canso, seized from Louisburg, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</dt> -<dd>prisoners taken there prove useful, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</dd> -<dd>army rendezvous at, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</dd> -<dd>environs of, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</dd> -<dd>works thrown up at, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</dd> -<dt>Cape Breton Island, face of the country, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</dt> -<dd>mountains of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</dd> -<dd>Gabarus Bay, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</dd> -<dd>first suggestions of its importance to Canada, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</dd> -<dd>natural products of, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</dd> -<dd>advantageous situation as a port of delivery and supply, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</dd> -<dd>left to Canada by stupid diplomacy, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</dd> -<dd>its chief harbors, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</dd> -<dd>the Bras d’Or, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</dd> -<dd>called Ile Royale, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</dd> -<dd>plan for getting colonists, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</dd> -<dd>strategic points on the straits, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</dd> -<dd>ice blockade of, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</dd> -<dd>restored to France, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</dd> -<dt>Cape Breton Coast, approach to, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</dt> -<dd>blockaded by ice, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</dd> -<dt>Circular battery of Louisburg, its design, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</dt> -<dd>silenced, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</dd> -<dt>Coffin, Moses, of Newbury, Mass., anecdote of, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</dt> -<dt>Connecticut in Louisburg expedition, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</dt> -<dd>her forces join Pepperell, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</dd> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_D"><b>D</b></dt> -<dt>Dauphin Bastion, of Louisburg, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</dt> -<dd>destructive fire upon, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</dd> -<dt>De Costebello, at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</dt> -<dt>De Saxe, Marshal, defeats the English, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</dt> -<dt>Duchambon, commander of Louisburg, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</dt> -<dd>recalls a detachment, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</dd> -<dd>refuses to surrender, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</dd> -<dd>changes his mind, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</dd> -<dd>and opens a treaty, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</dd> -<dt>Dwight, Joseph, at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_66">66</a> and <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_E"><b>E</b></dt> -<dt>English Harbor (Louisburg), <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</dt> -<dt>Expeditionary Army, its composition, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</dt> -<dd>and equipment, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</dd> -<dd>favoring conditions, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</dd> -<dd>sets sail for Louisburg, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</dd> -<dd>at Canso, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</dd> -<dd>council of war, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</dd> -<dd>sails for Louisburg, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</dd> -<dd>lands at Gabarus Bay, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</dd> -<dt class="pb" id="Page_134">134</dt> -<dd>not backed up by the navy, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</dd> -<dd>transportation of artillery to the front, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</dd> -<dd>it tells on the men, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</dd> -<dd>the camp and camp life, <a href="#Page_101">101</a> <i>et seq.</i></dd> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_F"><b>F</b></dt> -<dt>Flat Point Cove, our army camps at, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</dt> -<dt>Fontenoy, English defeated at, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</dt> -<dt>Franklin, Benjamin, has no faith in Louisburg expedition, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_G"><b>G</b></dt> -<dt>Gabarus Bay, the back door to Louisburg, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</dt> -<dd>Pepperell lands at, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</dd> -<dt>Gibson, James, volunteers for Louisburg, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</dt> -<dt>Green Hill, Louisburg shelled from, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</dt> -<dt>Gridley, Richard, engineer at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</dt> -<dd>an apt scholar, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</dd> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_H"><b>H</b></dt> -<dt>Hale, Robert, at Louisburg, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</dt> -<dt>Hodges, Joseph, at Louisburg, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> -<dt>Hutchinson, Thomas, gives casting vote for attacking Louisburg, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_I"><b>I</b></dt> -<dt>Island Battery, situation of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</dt> -<dd>its value to the besieged, <a href="#Page_93">93</a> and <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</dd> -<dd>disastrous attack upon, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</dd> -<dd>its fire silenced, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</dd> -<dd>in our hands, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</dd> -<dt>Ile Royale, see Cape Breton, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</dt> -<dt>Isle Madame, or Arichat, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_L"><b>L</b></dt> -<dt>Lighthouse Point, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</dt> -<dd>is seized and fortified, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</dd> -<dt>Louisburg, the approach to, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</dt> -<dd>the harbor, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</dd> -<dd>old city, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</dd> -<dd>old fortifications perambulated, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</dd> -<dd>hills back of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</dd> -<dd>natural defences of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</dd> -<dd>demolition of the works, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</dd> -<dd>and present state of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</dd> -<dd>Citadel, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</dd> -<dd>natural obstacles to surmount, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</dd> -<dd>bomb-proofs, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</dd> -<dd>impregnable from sea, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</dd> -<dd>graveyard and its inmates, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</dd> -<dt class="pb" id="Page_135">135</dt> -<dd>Royal Battery, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</dd> -<dd>reasons why the fortress was erected, <a href="#Page_24">24</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</dd> -<dd>to be a great mart, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</dd> -<dd>to help Acadia, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</dd> -<dd>called English Harbor, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</dd> -<dd>chosen for a fortress, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</dd> -<dd>why called Louisburg, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</dd> -<dd>operations begun, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</dd> -<dd>prisoners shipped to, from France, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</dd> -<dd>strength and cost of the fortress, <a href="#Page_38">38</a> and <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</dd> -<dd>could be defended by women, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</dd> -<dd>its armament, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</dd> -<dd>garrison sallies out upon Nova Scotia, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</dd> -<dd>its fall the salvation of New England, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</dd> -<dd>schemes for its capture, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</dd> -<dd>its garrison mutinies, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</dd> -<dd>forces being raised against it, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</dd> -<dd>early suggestions for its conquest, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</dd> -<dd>is blockaded, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</dd> -<dd>is invested, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</dd> -<dd>its defences as related to the siege, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</dd> -<dd>progress of siege operations, <a href="#Page_95">95</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</dd> -<dd>summoned to surrender, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</dd> -<dd>breaching batteries, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</dd> -<dd>progress of siege, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</dd> -<dd>a relieving vessel gets in, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</dd> -<dd>capture of the Vigilant, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</dd> -<dd>stratagem tried, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</dd> -<dd>its success, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>; a general bombardment, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</dd> -<dd>a suspension of arms, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</dd> -<dd>the surrender, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</dd> -<dd>the garrison, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</dd> -<dd>importance to Great Britain as a political make-weight, <a href="#Page_126">126</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</dd> -<dd>restored to France, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</dd> -<dd>many-sided importance of the conquest to the colonies, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</dd> -<dd>disgust in the colonies at its restoration, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</dd> -<dd>cost of the campaign, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</dd> -<dd>rejoicings, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</dd> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_M"><b>M</b></dt> -<dt>Meserve, Lieutenant-Colonel, his services at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</dt> -<dt>Micmacs of Cape Breton, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</dt> -<dt>Mira River, settlements on, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</dt> -<dt>Moody, Rev. Samuel, his pithy prayer, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</dt> -<dt>Moore, Samuel, at Louisburg, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> -<dt>Moulton, Jeremiah, at Louisburg, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</dt> -<dd>destroys St. Peter’s, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</dd> -</dl> -<div class="pb" id="Page_136">136</div> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_N"><b>N</b></dt> -<dt>Newcastle, Duke of, anecdote of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</dt> -<dt>New England alarmed by the creation of Louisburg, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</dt> -<dd>dreads the beginning of war, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</dd> -<dd>war is declared, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</dd> -<dd>menace to her commerce and fisheries, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</dd> -<dd>aroused to take Louisburg, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</dd> -<dd>extraordinary war measures in, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</dd> -<dd>quality of expeditionary army, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</dd> -<dd>enthusiasm in enlisting, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</dd> -<dd>reimbursed for her expenses, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</dd> -<dt>Newfoundland, French removed from, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</dt> -<dt>New Hampshire contingent, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>; <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> -<dt>New Jersey in Louisburg expedition, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</dt> -<dt>New York contributes to Louisburg expedition, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</dt> -<dt>Nixon, John, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</dt> -<dt>Nova Scotia (Acadia) turned over to England, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</dt> -<dd>invaded, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</dd> -<dd>relieved, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</dd> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_P"><b>P</b></dt> -<dt>Pennsylvania in Louisburg expedition, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</dt> -<dt>Pepperell, William, chosen to command, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</dt> -<dd>his qualifications, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</dd> -<dd>impetus given by him to the project, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</dd> -<dd>his regiment, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</dd> -<dd>hampered by instructions, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</dd> -<dd>finds Louisburg blocked up by ice, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</dd> -<dd>hails Warren’s arrival with joy, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</dd> -<dd>confident of driving the enemy from Cape Breton, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</dd> -<dd>finds Shirley’s plan impracticable, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</dd> -<dd>finds his task greater than he had supposed, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</dd> -<dd>his advances against the city properly made, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</dd> -<dd>is goaded into attacking the Island Battery, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</dd> -<dd>pushes forward preparations for a general assault, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</dd> -<dd>grants an armistice, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</dd> -<dd>his conduct contrasted with Warren’s, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</dd> -<dd>made a baronet, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</dd> -<dt>Pitts, Ebenezer, at Louisburg, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</dt> -<dt class="pb" id="Page_137">137</dt> -<dt>Pomeroy, Major Seth, at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</dt> -<dd>his record, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</dd> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_Q"><b>Q</b></dt> -<dt>Quebec, as the bulwark of Canada, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_R"><b>R</b></dt> -<dt>Raudots, father and son, their scheme for putting new life into Canada, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</dt> -<dd>it proposes a great naval mart at Cape Breton, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</dd> -<dt>Rhode Island in Louisburg expedition, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</dt> -<dt>Richmond, Sylvester, at Louisburg, <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</dt> -<dt>Royal Battery, situation and importance of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</dt> -<dd>taken, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</dd> -<dd>attempt to retake it, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</dd> -<dd>its importance to Americans, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</dd> -<dt>Ryal, Captain, sent to England, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_S"><b>S</b></dt> -<dt>St. Anne, described, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</dt> -<dt>Saint Ovide, at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</dt> -<dt>St. Peter’s, destruction of, determined on, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</dt> -<dd>is effected, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</dd> -<dt>Seacoast defences of Mexico, Cuba, etc., <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</dt> -<dd>of the English colonies, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</dd> -<dd>of Canada, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</dd> -<dt>Shirley, Gov. William, saves Annapolis, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</dt> -<dd>notifies ministry, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</dd> -<dd>writes Commodore Warren, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</dd> -<dd>grasps the situation, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</dd> -<dd>his personal traits, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</dd> -<dd>determines to take Louisburg, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</dd> -<dd>applies to legislature, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</dd> -<dd>meets defeat, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</dd> -<dd>arouses public sentiment, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</dd> -<dd>carries his point, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</dd> -<dd>sets to work, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</dd> -<dd>hears from Warren, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</dd> -<dd>attempts to order plan of attack, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</dd> -<dt>Straits of Canso, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_T"><b>T</b></dt> -<dt>Tournay, invested, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</dt> -<dt>Tufts, William, his bravery, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</dt> -<dt>Tyng, Commodore Edward, commands colonial fleet, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>; <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_U"><b>U</b></dt> -<dt>Utrecht, how the Peace of, affects the colonies, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<div class="pb" id="Page_138">138</div> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_V"><b>V</b></dt> -<dt>Vaughan, William, who he was and what he did, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>; <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</dt> -<dd>volunteers for Louisburg, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</dd> -<dd>leads a scouting party, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</dd> -<dd>and takes Royal Battery, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</dd> -<dt>Vigilant, French war-ship, taken, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<dl class="index"> -<dt class="center" id="index_W"><b>W</b></dt> -<dt>Waldo, Samuel, at Louisburg, <a href="#Page_67">67</a> and <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</dt> -<dd>occupies Royal Battery, and fires first shot, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</dd> -<dt>War of the Austrian Succession, its policy outlined, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</dt> -<dd>produces war between England and France, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</dd> -<dt class="pb" id="Page_139">139</dt> -<dd>hostilities begin at Nova Scotia, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</dd> -<dt>Warren, Commodore Peter, orders sent to, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</dt> -<dd>arrives at Canso and proceeds off Louisburg, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</dd> -<dd>takes the Vigilant, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</dd> -<dd>is re-enforced, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</dd> -<dd>his plan for taking the city, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</dd> -<dd>agrees to a general attack, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</dd> -<dd>he ignores Pepperell, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</dd> -<dd>made an admiral, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.</dd> -<dt>Whitefield, Rev. George, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</dt> -<dd>writes a motto for the flag, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</dd> -<dt>Wolcott, Gen. Roger, <a href="#Page_67">67</a> and <i>note</i> <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</dt> -</dl> -<h2 id="c12">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> -<ul><li>Retained publication and copyright information from the original; this eBook is public-domain in the U.S.</li> -<li>Silently corrected a few palpable typographical errors.</li> -<li>Retained the consistent spelling “Pepperell” for the man usually known as “Pepperrell”</li> -<li>In the text versions, enclosed italicized text in _underscore_.</li></ul> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Taking of Louisburg 1745, by Samuel Adams Drake - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TAKING OF LOUISBURG 1745 *** - -***** This file should be named 50583-h.htm or 50583-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/5/8/50583/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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