A.J.B. Johnston, The Summer of 1744: A Portrait of Life in 18th-Century Louisbourg (Ottawa: National Sites, Parks Service, Environment Canada. 1991)

 © PARKS CANADA

Appendix: 

1744 - A Calendar of Events

The following calendar of events focuses on the summer of 1744, hence the greatest detail is to be found on the dates falling within the period I June to 30 September. Events before and after that period are mentioned only if they were considered to have special significance for the inhabitants of Louisbourg. There were also many events of considerable importance, such as the arrival of captured British vessels in port, the precise dates of which are unknown and therefore not listed. Finally, the presence of the British prisoners in town is not an "event" but should be kept in mind as an extremely important factor of life in Louisbourg throughout that summer.

(I) January: 

• January 1 The Circumcision (feast day marking the circumcision of the infant Jesus). 
• January 6 Epiphany.

(II) February: 

• February 2 The Presentation and the Purification (feast day celebrating the presentation of Jesus in the Temple by the Virgin Mary). 
• February 19 Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. 
• February 25 Feast Day of St. Matthias the Apostle (1744 being a leap year, this feast day was celebrated on the 25th; in other years it was on the 24th). 
• February 26, 28, 29 Ember Days - Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after the first Sunday in Lent; a time of fasting.

(III) March: 

• 15 March 15 Louis XV declares war on George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover. 
• March 18 Minister of the Marine, the Comte de Maurepas, writes Jean-Baptiste-Louis Le Prévost Duquesnel, the commandant, and François Bigot, the commissaire-ordonnateur of Isle Royale, informing them of the war. 
• March 19 Feast Day of St. Joseph, First Patron of New France. 
• March 25 Incarnation and Annunciation Day. March 
• 27 Ship sails from Saint-Malo for Louisbourg carrying the official despatches of the minister of the Marine, including his letter announcing the outbreak of hostilities.

(IV) April: 

• April 5, 6, 7 Easter Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. 
• April 9 George II of Great Britain declares war on Louis XV of France.

(V) May: 

• May 1 Feast Day of St. Philip and St. James (the Less) the Apostles. 
• May 3 Ship from Saint-Malo arrives in Louisbourg with the news of war. Thousands of miles away the Argonaute, one of the Compagnie des Indes ships, rounds the Cape of Good Hope. 
• May 11, 12, 13 Rogation Days (three days preceding the movable feast of Ascension, which is always a Thursday); a time of abstinence. 
• May 14 Ascension Day 
• Mid-May to May 22  Preparations under way for the expedition against Canso. 
• May 23 Expedition under François Du Pont Duvivier's command sets out for Canso. A merchant vessel out of Glasgow sails into Boston harbour carrying the first news to the American colonists that Great Britain is at war with France. 
• May 24 Pentecost (Whit Sunday). Duvivier expedition arrives in Canso during the early morning hours. Around dawn the assault begins. The British garrison makes a brief show of resistance before capitulating. 
• May 25 Monday after Pentecost (feast day). The Argonaute reaches Ascension Island and its captain receives instructions to head for Louisbourg. 
• May 26 Tuesday after Pentecost (feast day). 
• May 27, 28, 29 Ember Days - Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after Pentecost; a time of fasting. On the 29th the Argonaute sails for Isle Royale. 
• Late May On an unspecified day in late May the Duvivier expedition returns to Louisbourg with prisoners and booty.

(VI) June:

• June early days Vessel sent to Port Toulouse with supplies for the garrison there; returns to Louisbourg bringing six cannons. 
• June 4 The Signe, commanded by François Bauchet de Saint-Martin, captures a British prize near Canso. Two Compagnies franches soldiers die in the hospital at Louisbourg: Jean Camina dit Beauregard and François Caillou dit la Lancette. 
• June 8 The Signe captures a prize near Sable Island. 
• June 9 Birth at Louisbourg of a daughter to Guillaume La Croyx and Marguerite Lango; baptised in the barracks chapel later the same day by Athanase Guégot, Recollet curé of Louisbourg. 
• June 10 Birth at Louisbourg of a son to Louis Fé1ix Vallée, lieutenant of the artillery company, and Marie-Josephe Le Large; baptised in the barracks chapel by Guégot. Out at sea the Signe, commanded by Saint- Martin, captures a prize. The Succès, to be commanded by Pierre Morpain, is hired to serve as the coast-guard vessel of Isle Royale. 
• June 11 Two more prizes taken by Saint-Martin's Signe. Near Canso Island Jean Fougères of Port Toulouse captures an English schooner without possessing an authorized commission as a privateer. Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts asks the General Court of the colony for support for a series of defensive measures, including sending reinforcements to Annapolis Royal. 
• June 12 Marriage in the barracks chapel of Jean Le Bezot, a native of France, and 16-year-old Marie-Louise Paris, of Louisbourg. Out at sea the Marie Josephe, commanded by Pierre Detcheverry, takes a British prize and the Signe, under Saint-Martin, captures a British schooner. 
• June 13 Birth of a son to Gabriel Rousseau de Villejouin, captain of one of the Compagnies franches, and Anne Angélique de Gannes de Falaise; baptised in the barracks chapel by Isidore Caulet, Recollet military chaplain. In Massachusetts the House of Representatives votes to raise 500 volunteers to defend the frontiers of the colony, but no commitment is made to send troops to Nova Scotia. Reports of the fall of Canso begin to reach Boston. The St. Charles, a privateer commanded by Nicolas Baron, and the St. Joseph, a transport vessel commanded by Franqois Briand, sail out of Louisbourg heading for the Newfoundland coast. 
• June 15 Françoise Pugnant, age 34 and the wife of Jean Benard, dies in Louisbourg; her newborn child had died a month earlier. Paul Mascarene, lieutenant governor of Annapolis Royal, receives word of the fall of Canso. 
• June 16 Françoise Pugnant is buried in the parish cemetery by Guégot. On the Newfoundland coast the St. Charles and St. Joseph pillage an abandoned British fishing station. The St. Joseph is sent back to Louisbourg with all the booty (dried cod, fish oil, salt). 
• June 18 The St. Charles, under Baron's command, captures two British sloops at Burin. Thomas Hamel, in command of the Tourneur de Grandville, captures a British brigantine. 
• June 19 Burial in the parish cemetery by Guégot of the infant son of Captain Rousseau de Villejouin.
• June 20 Birth of a daughter to Jean-Jacques Le Moine and Marie Rau. 
• June 21 Le Moine girl is baptised in the barracks chapel by Caulet. The Bailliage prosecutor, Jean Delaborde, submits his recommendation for the sentence to be given to Valdrien Louis dit le Bourguignon, accused of theft. Jean Vildieu, a 26- to 27-year-old native of Brittany, dies in Louisbourg.
• June 22 Bourguignon is interrogated for the last time in the chambers of the Conseil Supérieur; he still denies his guilt. Jean Vildieu is buried in the parish cemetery by Gudéot. 
• June 23 Birth of a son to Pierre Derieux and Jeanne Dubourg. In Boston the House of Representatives decides that two volunteer companies of 60 men each can be raised and sent to Annapolis Royal. 
• June 24 Feast Day of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. Baptism in the barracks chapel by Caulet of the Derieux boy. The Massachusetts House of Representatives votes to raise an additional 500 men to defend the colony from possible French and Indian attacks. 
• June 25 Birth of a son to Jean-Baptiste Dyon and Anne-Magdeleine Lachaume. 
• June 26 Dyon child baptised in the barracks chapel by Gu6got. 
• June 28 Birth of a daughter to Jodocus Koller and Marie Catherine Auger; baptised in the barracks chapel by Caulet. 
• June 29 Feast Day of St. Peter and St. Paul the Apostles. Out to sea Hamel's Tourneur de Grandville captures a British schooner heading for Hamburg. 
• June 30 Governor Shirley, in receipt of a letter from Mascarene at Annapolis Royal asking for reinforcements as soon as possible, requests the House of Representatives take prompt measures to bolster the tenuous British hold on Nova Scotia.

(VII) July: 

• July 1 Massachusetts House of Representatives increases the financial inducement for volunteering to go to Annapolis Royal from £20 to £25 but refuses to authorize an increase in the number of men to be sent there beyond the 120 already approved. 
• July 3 Baptism of a girl born that day to Jean Barré and Perrine Bonnier; baptism performed by Guégot in the barracks chapel. Servanne Bonnier intervenes in a family dispute between Angdlique Butel and Butel's daughter, and is embroiled in a lengthy exchange of insults with Butel. 
• July 4 The Cantabre, with an 80-man crew, commanded by Joannis Dolabaratz, is captured 15 leagues off Cape Cod by the Prince of Orange, commanded by Edward Tyng. Angélique Butel submits a written complaint to the acting judge of the Bailliage, Michel Henel de Cournoyer, about Servanne Bonnier's behaviour. Cournoyer directs that all witnesses appear before him at nine in the morning of 6 July. A son is born to Jean Lavalde and Catherine Heleine Pinet.
• July 5 Baptism in the barracks chapel by Caulet of the Lavalde child. Birth, and baptism in the chapel by Caulet, of a daughter of François Heningue, a soldier in the Karrer Regiment, and Anne Marie Stein. Out to sea, Philippe Leneuf de Beaubassin, in command of the Cesar, captures two vessels off Cape Cod.
• July 6 The César captures another vessel off the Massachusetts coast. In Louisbourg, 13 witnesses testify before the Bailliage on the Bonnier-Butel shouting match. An Irishman named Thomas Bernard dies and is buried by Guégot in the parish cemetery.
• July 7 Servanne Bonnier submits to the Bailliage her version of her verbal clash with Butel. The Bailliage prosecutor, Jean Delaborde, decides that Bonnier should appear in person before the court for questioning.
• July 8 The coast guard of Isle Royale, the Succès, commanded by Morpain, captures two British prizes, the Nancy and the Kinsbury.
• July 10 The court usher of the Bailliage, Joseph-Félix Chesnaye, informs Servanne Bonnier that she is to appear before the Bailliage on 17 July at nine in the morning.
• July 11 The British settlers at Annapolis Royal become aware of the approach of a force of 300 Micmac warriors and a few French.
• July 12 Annapolis Royal is attacked. Before the assault is repulsed, some buildings are set on fire and two British soldiers killed. Two vessels sail from Boston carrying 70 soldiers and supplies to reinforce the garrison at Annapolis.
• July 15 The first of two vessels carrying British prisoners from Louisbourg arrives in Boston.
• July 16 The reinforcements from Massachusetts arrive at Annapolis Royal. The siege by the Micmacs is lifted and they retreat to the Minas area. At Louisbourg, the first of six Compagnie des Indes vessels, the Philibert, enters harbour.
• July 17 Servanne Bonnier is questioned by the court of the Bailliage. The Argonaute, another ship belonging to the Compagnie des Indes, reaches port. John Bradstreet's schooner arrives in Boston with more prisoners and Duquesnel's request for a general exchange of French and British prisoners.
• July 19 A son is born to André Carrerot and Marie-Josephte Chéron.
• July 20 The Carrerot child is baptised in the barracks chapel by Guégot. Four fishing vessels from Louisbourg are captured by British privateers.
• July 21 A daughter is born to Michel Rodrigue and Marguerite Lartigue.
• July 22 The Rodrigue child is baptised in the barracks chapel by Guégot. Well out to sea the warship Ardent, en route to Louisbourg, captures a British vessel. A third Compagnie des Indes ship, probably the Pientieue, arrives in Louisbourg.
• July last week of month: The warship Caribou arrives in Louisbourg from Canada.
• July 25 Feast Day of St. James the Apostle.
• July 26 Feast Day of Ste. Anne.
• July 27 Massachusetts House of Representatives passes legislation making all trade with the French illegal. The founh and fifth Compagnie des Indes ships to make port, the Mars and Baleine, sail into harbour.
• July 29 Duvivier expedition to capture Annapolis Royal sets out from Louisbourg with the Succès and four smaller vessels. Angélique Butel requests the Bailliage to conclude her case against Servanne Bonnier.
• July 30 Heavy winds force the vessels in the Duvivier expedition to seek safe anchorages in Gabarus and Louisbourg.
• July 31 A second contingent of British reinforcements (53 men, including some Pigwacket Indians) sets out from Boston for Annapolis Royal. Off Long Island, New York, the Signe, commanded by Saint-Martin, captures two vessels, one of which is let go due to a shortage of provisions aboard the Signe, and 28 of the prisoners are released.