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PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL REPORT, ROYAL BATTERY NUMBER 2

By John Humphreys 

October 15, 1964

(Fortress of Louisbourg Report Number H F 5)

SECTION II F

STABLES

As described elsewhere in this Report, [1] it was customary for the officers of companies in garrison at the Royal Battery to keep livestock and fowl in the rooms of the battery's barracks buildings, thus causing considerable damage and necessitating repairs. To prevent this inconvenience Le Normant suggested in December 1736 that stables for the livestock might be built in the vicinity of the battery.[2] This suggestion met with ministerial approval in May 1737, on condition that the stables and barns to be built should not detract from nor interfere with the fortifications of the battery.[3] Simultaneously Le Normant and Brouillan were instructed to look into the matter of stables with Verrier, and to send an estimate of the probable expenditure to the Minister if the construction were to prove practicable.[4] In October of the same year St.Ovide and Le Normant reported that after consultation with Verrier, a location against the crenellated wall of the place d'armes had been chosen for the construction of the stables, although Verrier had not yet drawn up the plan or the estimative design.[5] On 2 January 1738 Verrier reported that he had given Le Normant the plans and estimations for the stables to be constructed in the place d'armes, and pointed out that they would be very useful" for accommodating the "menage" of the Commanding Officer. [6] These plans, probably those represented in Figure 8 of the Plans Appendix, were given royal approval on 6 May 1738, and a sum of 325£ was ordered for their construction during 1738.[7] The stables were completed by 24 October 1738. [8]

During after the siege of 1745 the crenellated wall of the place d'armes was totally demolished by the English, thus presumably destroying the stables also. An estimate for the reconstruction of the wall was made by Boucher in 1749, but it is unlikely that the stables were reconstructed, since the battery was not garrisoned in any considerable strength from that time until its demolition in 1748.[9]

SECTION II F

FOOTNOTES

1. See this Report, Section III.

2. AC C11B 1.18 ff. 122-125v, Le Normant to Minister, 20 December 1736.

3. AC B v.65 ff.463-466v, Minister to Le Normant, 3 May 1737.

4. AC B V.65 ff.467v-468v, Minister to Le Normant and St.Ovide, 6 May 1737.

5. AC C11B V.19 ff.37-41v, St. Ovide and Le Normant to Minister, 30 October 1737.

6. AC C11B V.20 ff.222-223, Verrier to Minister, 2 January 1738.

7. AC B V.66 ff.294-295, Minister to Bourville and Le Normant, 6 May 1738 / AN Colonies F1A V.34 ff.75-76, Unsigned, 12 Nay 1738.

8. AC C11B V.20 ff.62-72, Bourville and Le Normant to Minister, 24 October 1738.

9. AC C11B V.28 ff.303-320, Boucher, 30 August 1749.

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