H B 6 - DAUPHIN BASTION: PRELIMINARY REPORT (1720 - 1745) BY MARGARET FORTIER

NOTE:
Presently, the illustrations and graphs are not included here.
For these, please consult the original report in the archives of the Fortress of Louisbourg

In 1730 concern over the construction of an eperon projected in front of the circular battery began to show itself. It was stated in December of that year that one of the things still undone at the Dauphin Bastion was the eperon. [127] A plan, also from 1730, showed the eperon for the first time. The projected work would begin and end with short walls running, as the fausse braye, along the shore. In between these two sections of wall would be a work protruding out into the sea. The eperon would begin, therefore, at the north side of the Dauphin Gate and proceed a few feet along the shore. It would then turn at a right angle and move out to sea. After some distance the wall would turn and head back toward shore, forming an obtuse angle with the last part of the work. The two sections of the eperon which followed the shore line would each be pierced by three openings, while the body of the work would have 18 .[128] (Plate 4)

According to an exterior view offered on an accompanying profile, the openings were in the form of loopholes. The portion of the wall in which these loopholes would be situated was straight, but just below the loopholes the wall began to slope outward until it reached bottom. The profile itself, taken through the easternmost section of the eperon offers several dimensions when scaled. [129]

	Pieds	Pouces
Distance from circular battery to wall	34
Width of parapet	3
Height of wall below ground - inside	15
Height of wall above ground - inside	9
Height of wall to loophole - inside	5
Width of foundation	11
With of wall at base	7	6
Width of wall at ground level	6

Two views drawn in 1731 project the eperon with a cut stone facing up as high as the level of the gound. [130] One does not indicate what material was to be used for the top portion of the eperon. [131] But, the other shows this top area to be made of rubble masonry with cut stone to be used at the corners. [132]

The other pre-construction plans of the eperon suggest pretty much the same general shape as was shown on the 1730 plan. [133] The differences arise in the number of embrasures and the nature of the angles and curves of the work.

There was a second profile of the easternmost section of the eperon. The exact location at which the line was drawn is not known. Dimensions can be obtained through scaling. [134]

	Pieds	Pouces
Distance from battery to wall	35
Height of wall below ground - inside	18
Width of foundation	9
Height of foundation	6
Width of wall at base	7
Width of wall at ground level	5
Width of wall exposed at ground level	2	6
Height of eperon above ground	5	6

In October of 1733 it was stated that the construction of an eperon was essential if an enemy were to be prevented from reaching the inside of the city. Despite the urgency of the situation and the fact that all necessary materials were ready for use nothing had yet been done toward the erection of the eperon. [135]

A detailed plan of the eperon and surrounding area appeared in 1734. According to this plan, the eperon was to have five masonry sides. It would begin only a short distance from the north side of the Dauphin Gate. The first section of the wall would proceed out into the sea for some distance, turn slightly and continue a matter of feet. This section would then turn so that the third section of wall would run parallel to the shore. After a short distance, the fourth section would result from another turn, this time back toward land. The fourth section would turn finally back toward the shore, so that when the last section met the shore a 90^o angle would be formed. A stockade of posts joined together in some way, probably by crossbeams, extends out further into the sea from the second section of the eperon. [136] (Figure 3)

Though distortion is highly possible in plan of this type, a fair idea of the projected measurements of the eperon might be obtained by scaling. Since the finished eperon was constructed in the form shown on this plan, it may be that the dimensions were fairly close to those of the finished product. [137]

	Pieds	Pouces
Length of first section inside	57
Length of the first side outside	54	8
Length of the second side - inside	5
Length of the second side - outside	8
Length of the third side - inside	7	2
Length of the third side - outside	7	6
Length of the fourth side - inside	4	10
Length of the fourth side - outside	9
Length of the fifth side - inside	57	4
Length of the fifth side - outside	54	6
Width of the first section at shore	5	8
Width of the fifth section at shore	6
Width at juncture of first and second sides	6	2
Width at juncture of second and third sides	6
Width at juncture of third and fourth sides	6	2
Width at juncture of fourth and fifth sides	6	2
Width at mouth of eperon	29	6
Width at top, of eperon	15
Distance from corps de garde of officers to first section	11
Distance from battery to eperon	36	9

A cross-section of the eperon provided by the same plan indicated that the exterior and summit of the eperon were to be planked. A terreplein or banquette which slopes down to the interior of the eperon appears on both sides. A drain is shown piercing the cut stone wall between the officers' corps de garde and the eperon. The top of this wall - the part above ground level - is -planked. The bottom two thirds of the wall is shown with a slope as it was on earlier projections. [138] (Figure 4)

Verrier's absence from Louisbourg in 1734 prevented the start of work on the eperon from being made that year since it was felt that his presence was, in this case, most necessary. [139] Once it was begun, however, the eperon's construction did not take long. In October of 1735 it was reported that the eperon and the stockade had been finished and six cannon had been mounted. [140]

Post-construction plans show the eperon as described above, with the added feature of three embrasures on each of the long sides. [141] One 1737 plan and one plan with no date given depict a gun platform behind each of the embrasures. [142]

Heavy damage was suffered by the eperon in the course of the first siege. Although several attempts were made to reestablish the parapets, the eperon was generally considered to have been totally destroyed when fighting ceased and the toll was taken. [143]