Three Years of Warfare: Cape Breton and Louisburg

The year 1758 opened gloomily for the British colonies. The successes of the year before had all been in favor of the French, and they now occupied positions which gave them special advantages in the continuance of the war. The taking of Oswego had destroyed all English control of the Northern lakes; the capture of Fort William Henry gave the French possession of Lakes Champlain and George, and a position in the heart of the British territory; and the retention of Fort Duquesne gave them possession of the country west of the Alleghanies, and enabled them to exert a powerful influence over the Indians. Yet, despite this gloomy aspect of affairs, the British prepared for the next year's campaign with unabated energy and courage. William Pitt, now prime minister of England, put all his vigor and ability into the prosecution of the war. Twelve thousand troops were sent over under General Amherst, and General Abercombie, who was now made commander-in-chief of the British forces, was at the head of much the greatest army as yet ever seen in America, consisting of fifty thousand men, of whom twenty-two thousand were regular troops.]

Three expeditions were proposed for this year: the first, against Louisburg; the second, against Ticonderoga and Crown Point; and the third, against Fort Duquesne. On the first expedition, Admiral Boscawen sailed from Halifax on the 28th of May, with a fleet of twenty ships of the line and eighteen frigates, and an army of fourteen thousand men under the command of General Amherst, and arrived before Louisburg on the 2nd of June. The garrison of that place, commanded by the Chevalier de Dracourt, an officer of courage and experience, was composed of two thousand five hundred regulars, aided by six hundred militia. The harbor being secured by five ships of the line, one fifty-gun ship, and five frigates, three of which were sunk across the mouth of the basin, it was found necessary to land at some distance from the town. When, with some difficulty but little loss, the landing was effected at the creek of Cormoran, and the artillery and stores were brought on shore, General Wolfe was detached with two thousand men to seize a post occupied by the enemy at the Lighthouse point, from which the ships in the harbor and the fortifications in the town might be greatly annoyed. On the approach of that gallant officer, the post was abandoned; and several very strong batteries were erected there. Approaches were also made on the opposite side of the town, and the siege was pressed with resolute but slow and cautious vigor. A very heavy cannonade being kept up against the town and the vessels in the harbor, a bomb at length set on fire and blew up one of the great ships, and the flames were communicated to two others, which shared the same fate. The English admiral now sent six hundred men in boats into the harbor, to make an attempt on the two ships of the line which still remained in the basin; and one of them, that was aground, was destroyed, and the other was towed off in triumph. This gallant exploit putting the English in complete possession of the harbor, and several breaches being made practicable in the works, the place was deemed no longer defensible, and the governor offered to capitulate. His terms, however, were refused; and it was required that the garrison should surrender as prisoners of war, or sustain an assault by sea and land. These humiliating terms, though at first rejected, were afterwards acceded to; and Louisburg, with all its artillery, provisions, and military stores, as also Island Royal, St. John's, and their dependencies, were placed in the hands of the English, who, without further difficulty, took entire possession of the island of Cape Breton. In effecting this conquest about four hundred of the assailants were killed or wounded. The conquerors found two hundred and twenty-one pieces of cannon and eighteen mortars, with a very large quantity of stores and ammunition. The inhabitants of Cape Breton were sent to France in English ships; but the garrison, sea-officers, sailors, and marines, amounting collectively to five thousand six hundred and thirty-seven, were carried prisoners to England. The garrison lost upwards of fifteen hundred men, and the town was left "almost a heap of ruins."