Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
Encyclopedia
The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

 (known in the United States as the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

) in 1758 which ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...

 and led directly to the loss of Quebec
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year.

Background

The British government realized that with the Fortress of Louisbourg
Fortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg is a national historic site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia...

 under French control, there was no way that the Royal Navy could sail down the St. Lawrence River for an attack on Quebec unmolested. After an expedition against Louisbourg in 1757
Louisbourg Expedition (1757)
The Louisbourg Expedition was a failed British attempt to capture the French fortress of Louisbourg on Île Royale during the Seven Years' War ....

 led by Lord Loudon
John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun
Major-General John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun was a British nobleman and army officer.-Early career:Campbell inherited the peerage on the death of his father in 1731, becoming Lord Loudoun. The earl raised a regiment of infantry that took part in the Jacobite Rising of 1745 on the side of the...

 was turned back due to a strong French naval deployment, the British under the leadership of William Pitt
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...

 resolved to try again with new commanders.

Pitt assigned the duty of capturing the fortress to Major General Jeffrey Amherst. Amherst's brigadiers were Charles Lawrence, James Wolfe
James Wolfe
Major General James P. Wolfe was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada...

 and Edward Whitmore, and command of naval operations was assigned to Admiral Edward Boscawen
Edward Boscawen
Admiral Edward Boscawen, PC was an Admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall. He is known principally for his various naval commands throughout the 18th Century and the engagements that he won, including the Siege of Louisburg in 1758 and Battle of Lagos...

. The chief engineer was John Henry Bastide
John Henry Bastide
Lieutenant-General John Henry Bastide was a British army officer and military engineer who played a significant role in the early history of Nova Scotia...

 who had been present at the first siege of Louisbourg
Siege of Louisbourg (1745)
The Siege of Louisbourg took place in 1745 when a New England colonial force aided by a British fleet captured Louisbourg, the capital of the French province of Île-Royale during the War of the Austrian Succession, known as King George's War in the British colonies.Although the Fortress of...

 in 1745 and was chief engineer at Fort St Philip, Minorca, in 1756 when the British had surrendered the fort and the island to the French after a long siege.

As they had in 1757, the French planned to defend Louisbourg by a large naval build-up. However, the French fleet sailing from Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

 was blockaded in Cartagena
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...

 by a British force, and a relief force defeated at the Battle of Cartagena
Battle of Cartagena (1758)
The Battle of Cartagena took place on 28 February 1758 off the Spanish port of Cartagena during the Seven Years War. A British fleet under Henry Osborn, which had blockaded a French fleet in Cartagena, attacked and defeated a French force under Michel-Ange Duquesne de Menneville coming to their...

. After this the French abandoned their attempt to reinforce Louisbourg from the Mediterranean, meaning there would be few ships available to actively oppose the British off Louisbourg.

Order of battle

British forces assembled at Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

 where army and navy units spent most of May training together as the massive invasion fleet came together. On 29 May the Royal Navy fleet departed from Halifax for Louisbourg. The fleet consisted of 150 transport ships and 40 men-of-war. Housed in these ships were almost 14,000 soldiers, almost all of whom were regulars
Regular army
A regular army consists of the permanent force of a country's army that is maintained under arms during peacetime.Countries that use the term include:*Australian Army*British Army*Canadian Forces, specifically "Regular Force"*Egyptian army*Indian Army...

 (with the exception of four companies of American rangers). The force was divided into three divisions: Red, commanded by James Wolfe, Blue, commanded by Charles Lawrence and White commanded by Edward Whitmore. On 2 June the British force anchored in Gabarus Bay, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Louisbourg.

The French commander (and governor of Île Royale) Chevalier de Drucour
Augustin de Boschenry de Drucour
Augustin de Boschenry de Drucour was a French military officer, who led the French defence in the Siege of Louisbourg....

 had at his disposal some 3,500 regulars as well as approximately 3,500 marines and sailors from the French warships in the harbour. However, unlike the previous year, the French navy was unable to assemble in significant numbers, leaving the French squadron at Louisbourg outnumbered five to one by the British fleet. Drucour ordered trenches to be prepared and manned by some 2000 French troops, along with other defences, such as an artillery battery, at Kennington Cove.

Siege

Weather conditions in the first week of June made any landing impossible and the British were only able to mount a bombardment of the improvised shore defenses of Gabarus Bay from a frigate. However, conditions improved, and at daybreak on 8 June Amherst launched his assault using a flotilla of small boats, organized in 3 divisions, each commanded by one of his brigadiers. French defenses were initially successful and after heavy losses, Wolfe ordered a retreat. However, at the last minute, a boatload of light infantry in Wolfe's division found a rocky inlet protected from French fire and secured a beach head. Wolfe redirected the rest of his division to follow. Outflanked, the French retreated rapidly back to their fortress.

Continuing heavy seas and the difficulty inherent to moving siege equipment over boggy terrain delayed the commencement of the formal siege. In the meantime, Wolfe was sent with 1,220 picked men around the harbour to seize Lighthouse Point, which dominated the harbour entrance. This he did on 12 June. After eleven days, on 19 June, the British artillery batteries were in position and the orders were given to open fire on the French. The British battery consisted of seventy cannon and mortars of all sizes. Within hours, the guns had destroyed walls and damaged several buildings.

On 21 July a mortar round from a British gun on Lighthouse Point struck a 74 gun French ship of the line, L'Entreprenant, and set it ablaze. A stiff breeze fanned the fire, and shortly after the L'Entreprenant caught fire, two other French ships had caught fire. L'Entreprenant exploded later in the day, depriving the French of the largest ship in the Louisbourg fleet.

The next major blow to French morale came on the evening of 23 July, at 10:00. A British "hot shot" set the King's Bastion on fire. The King's Bastion was the fortress headquarters and the largest building in North America in 1758. Its destruction eroded confidence and reduced morale in the French troops and their hopes to lift the British siege.

Most historians regard the British actions of 25 July as the "straw that broke the camel's back". Using a thick fog as cover, Admiral Boscawen sent a cutting-out party to destroy the French ships in the harbour. The British raiders eliminated the last two French ships of the line, capturing the Bienfaisant
HMS Bienfaisant (1758)
Bienfaisant was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1754.She was captured by the Royal Navy on the night of 25 July 1758 during a cutting out expedition ordered by Admiral Edward Boscawen during the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg. Bienfaisant and the 74-gun Prudent were the last...

and burning the Prudent, thus clearing the way for the Royal Navy to enter the harbour. James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

, who later became famous as an explorer, took part in this operation and recorded it in his ship's log book.

Capitulation

On 26 July the French surrendered. Having fought a spirited defence, the French expected to be granted "honours of war" as given to the surrendering British at the Battle of Minorca
Battle of Minorca
The Battle of Minorca was a naval battle between French and British fleets. It was the opening sea battle of the Seven Years' War in the European theatre. Shortly after Great Britain declared war on the House of Bourbon, their squadrons met off the Mediterranean island of Minorca. The fight...

. However, Amherst refused, tales of the atrocities supposedly committed by France's native allies at the surrender of Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry probably fresh in his mind. The defenders of Louisbourg were ordered to surrender all of their arms, equipment and flags. These actions outraged Drucour, but because the safety of the non-combatant inhabitants of Louisbourg depended upon him he reluctantly accepted the terms of surrender. The Cambis regiment refused to honour the terms of surrender, breaking their muskets and burning their regimental flags rather than hand them over to the British victors.

Aftermath

Louisbourg had held out long enough to prevent an attack on Quebec in 1758. However the fall of the fortress led to the loss of French territory across Atlantic Canada. From Louisbourg, British forces spent the remainder of the year routing French forces and occupying French settlements in what is today New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

 and Newfoundland. The second wave of the Acadian expulsion began. The British engaged in the St. John River Campaign
St. John River Campaign
The St. John River Campaign occurred during the French and Indian War when Colonel Robert Monckton led a force of 1150 British soldiers to destroy the Acadian settlements along the banks of the Saint John River until they reached the largest village of Sainte-Anne des Pays-Bas in February 1759...

, the Petitcodiac River Campaign
Petitcodiac River Campaign
The Petitcodiac River Campaign was a series of British military operations from June to November 1758, during the French and Indian War, to deport the Acadians that either lived along the Petitcodiac River or had taken refuge there from earlier deportation operations, such as the Ile Saint-Jean...

, the Ile Saint-Jean Campaign
Ile Saint-Jean Campaign
The Ile Saint-Jean Campaign was a series of military operations in fall 1758, during the French and Indian War, to deport the Acadians that either lived on Ile Saint-Jean or had taken refuge there from earlier deportation operations...

, and the removal of Acadians in the Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign (1758)
Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign (1758)
The Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign occurred during the French and Indian War when British forces raided villages along present-day New Brunswick and the Gaspé Peninsula coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Sir Charles Hardy and Brigadier-General James Wolfe were in command of the naval and...

.

The loss of Louisbourg deprived Quebec and New France of naval protection, opening the Saint Lawrence to attack. Louisbourg was used in 1759 as the staging point for General Wolfe
James Wolfe
Major General James P. Wolfe was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada...

's famous Siege of Quebec
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War...

 ending French rule in North America. Following the surrender of Quebec, British forces and engineers set about methodically destroying the fortress with explosives, ensuring that it could not return to French possession a second time in any eventual peace treaty. By 1760, the entire fortress was reduced to mounds of rubble. In 1763 the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...

 saw France formally cede Canada, including Cape Breton Island, to the British. In 1768 the last of the British garrison departed along with most of the remaining civilian inhabitants.

Royal Navy Fleet throughout the siege

!width="26%" |Ship
!width="9%" |Guns
!width="33%" |Admiral
!width="32%" |Captain> |HMS Namur
HMS Namur (1756)
HMS Namur was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 3 March 1756....


|90
|Edward Boscawen
Edward Boscawen
Admiral Edward Boscawen, PC was an Admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall. He is known principally for his various naval commands throughout the 18th Century and the engagements that he won, including the Siege of Louisburg in 1758 and Battle of Lagos...


|Buckle> |HMS Royal William
HMS Prince (1670)
HMS Prince was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett II at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1670. A contemporary shipyard model and a drawing by Willem van de Velde the Elder give a good impression how she looked...


|84
|Sir Charles Hardy
Charles Hardy
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Hardy was a Royal Navy officer and colonial governor of New York.-Early career:Born at Portsmouth, the son of a vice admiral, Charles Hardy joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in 1731....


|Evans> |HMS Princess Amelia
HMS Princess Amelia (1757)
HMS Princess Amelia was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 7 March 1757....


|80
|Admiral Phillip Durrell
|Bray> |HMS Invincible
HMS Invincible (1747)
The Invincible was a 74-gun French ship of the line, later a third-rate of the Royal Navy.During the early part of the 18th century British ship designers had made few significant advances in design, whereas French shipbuilding benefited from a remarkably creative period. At the time of the capture...


|74
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|Bentley> |HMS Dublin
HMS Dublin (1757)
HMS Dublin was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 May 1757 at Deptford.She was broken up in 1784....


|74
|
|George Rodney
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782...

> |HMS Terrible
HMS Terrible (1747)
HMS Terrible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had previously served in the French Navy under the same name.-French career and capture:...


|74
|
|Collins> |HMS Northumberland
HMS Northumberland (1750)
HMS Northumberland was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Plymouth Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 1 December 1750....


|70
|
|Lord Colville> |HMS Vanguard
HMS Vanguard (1748)
HMS Vanguard was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 April 1748. She was built by Philemon Ewer at his East Cowes yard on the Isle of Wight to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, at a cost of £8,009...


|70
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|Swanton> |HMS Orford
HMS Orford (1749)
HMS Orford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard, and launched in 1749....


|70
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|Spry> |HMS Burford
HMS Burford (1757)
HMS Burford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1754, and launched in 1757.Burford was sold out of the navy in 1785....


|70
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|Gambier> |HMS Somerset
HMS Somerset (1748)
HMS Somerset was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 18 July 1748. She was the third vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name. Somerset was involved in several notable battles of the...


|70
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|Hughes> |HMS Lancaster
HMS Lancaster (1694)
HMS Lancaster was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Bursledon on 3 April 1694.She was rebuilt according to the 1719 Establishment at Portsmouth, from where she was relaunched on 1 September 1722...


|70
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|George Edgcumbe
George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
Admiral George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, PC was a British peer, naval officer and politician....

> |HMS Devonshire
HMS Devonshire (1745)
HMS Devonshire was a 66-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the dimensions laid out in the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard, and launched on 19 July 1745....


|66
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|Gordon> |HMS Bedford
HMS Bedford (1698)
HMS Bedford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich Dockyard on 12 September 1698. She carried twenty-two 24-pounder guns and four culverins on the lower deck; twenty-six 12-pounder guns on the upper deck; fourteen sakers on the quarter-deck and...


|64
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|Fowke> |HMS Captain
HMS Captain (1743)
HMS Captain was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built according to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard, and launched on 14 April 1743....


|64
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|Amherst> |HMS Prince Frederick
HMS Expedition (1679)
HMS Expedition was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1679.Expedition was rebuilt as a 70-gun third rate in 1699 at Chatham Dockyard. She was rebuilt for a second time as a 70-gun third rate to the 1706 Establishment at Portsmouth Dockyard,...


|64
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|Man> |HMS Pembroke
HMS Pembroke (1757)
HMS Pembroke was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Plymouth Dockyard to the draught specified in the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1752, and launched on 2 June 1757....


|60
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|John Simcoe> |HMS Kingston
HMS Kingston (1697)
HMS Kingston was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Frame in Hull and launched on 13 March 1697. She had an eventful career, taking part in numerous engagements.-Career:...


|60
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|Parry> |HMS York
HMS York (1753)
HMS York was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Plymouth Dockyard to the draught specified in the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 10 November 1753....


|60
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|Hugh Pigot> |HMS Prince of Orange
HMS Prince of Orange (1734)
HMS Prince of Orange was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the 1719 Establishment at Deptford Dockyard, and launched on 5 September 1734....


|60
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|Ferguson> |HMS Defiance
HMS Defiance (1744)
HMS Defiance was a 58-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the dimensions laid out in the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Deptford, and launched on 12 October 1744....


|60
|
|Baird> |HMS Nottingham
HMS Nottingham (1703)
HMS Nottingham was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 10 June 1703. She was the first ship to bear the name....


|60
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|Marshall> |HMS Centurion
HMS Centurion (1732)
HMS Centurion was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on 6 January 1732. At the time of Centurion's construction, the 1719 Establishment dictated the dimensions of almost every ship being built...


|54
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|William Mantell> |HMS Sutherland
HMS Sutherland (1741)
HMS Sutherland was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Rotherhithe according to the dimensions laid out in the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and launched on 15 October 1741....


|50
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|Rous>

See also

  • Great Britain in the Seven Years War
    Great Britain in the Seven Years War
    The Kingdom of Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years' War which lasted between 1756 and 1763. Britain emerged from the war as the world's leading colonial power having gained a number of new territories at the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and established itself as the...

  • France in the Seven Years War
    France in the Seven Years War
    France was one of the leading participants in the Seven Years' War which lasted between 1754 and 1763. France entered the war with hopes of achieving a lasting victory both in Europe against Prussia, Britain and their German Allies and across the globe against their major colonial rivals...

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