Search
Website Design and Content © by Eric Krause,
Krause House Info-Research Solutions (© 1996)
All Images © Parks Canada Except
Where Noted Otherwise
Report Assembly/Rapport de l'assemblée © Krause
House
Info-Research Solutions
Researching the
Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada
Recherche sur la Forteresse-de-Louisbourg Lieu historique national du Canada
Letter of an Inhabitant of
Louisbourg Containing a History Exact and
Circumstantial of the Taking of Cape Breton By the English
Lettre d'un Habitant de
Louisbourg, Contenant une Relation Éxacte et
Circonstanciée de la Prise de L'Isle-Royale, par les Anglais
Quebec, Published by William the Sincere at the Sign of Truth, MDCCXLV
Quebec: Chez Guillaume Le Sincere à l'Image de la Vérité
[©
Parks Canada/Parcs Canada: Based on the Fortress of Louisbourg Rare Books 62-125 and 84-1379: George Wrong, (ed.),
The Anonymous Lettre d'Un Habitant De Louisbourg (Cape Breton)
Containing a narrative by an eye-witness of the siege in 1745, edited with
an English Translation (Toronto: Warwick Bro's and Rutter, 1897 and Toronto:
William Briggs, 1897)]
[The following selection was transcribed from Wrong's Book. In particular, it does not include the original French known as: "Lettre d'un Habitant de Louisbourg, Contenant une Relation Éxacte et Circonstanciée de la Prise de L'Isle-Royale, par les Anglais."]
Letter of an Inhabitant of
Louisbourg Containing a History Exact and
Circumstantial of the Taking of Cape Breton By the English
___________
This letter having fallen into my hands, I have thought it a duty to print it because of the service which it ought to accomplish for the other Colonies which have the same abuses. When the Court learns the truths contained in the letter which I now publish it will, doubtless, put their affairs in order and save other establishments, not less useful to the French than the one which the English have just seized, from meeting with a similar fate. It is to be feared that unhoped for success will lead the English on to further ventures. Already the trade which makes France so prosperous has suffered much ; renewed losses would ruin it utterly. What more powerful motive could we have to weigh all these things ? It is this that has led me to have no hesitation in printing this truthful letter. Some persons may take offence because their reputation or that of their relatives is not spared. But why did they not discharge their trust better ? The justice due to those who know how to fulfil their duty would then have been rendered to them.
LETTER OF AN INHABITANT
OF LOUISBOURG
I thank you, Sir and very dear friend, for the interest you take in the misfortune which has happened to me. If it had come upon myself alone I should feel it much less. I have not so much to complain of as have a multitude of miserable people, stripped of everything and without resources, who will be obliged to beg for a living if the Court does not provide for them, - sad results of a war in which we appear to be the only unfortunates! The first news of the conquests of our August Monarch* which we learn as we disembark are in truth wel1 fitted to fil1 the whole kingdom with pure and ecstatic joy. But how can we share it without alloy, over-whelmed as we are with the most terrible reverses and despoiled
*The French victory of Fontenoy, on May 11th, 1745, and the subsequent capture of Tournay, Ghent, Bruges and other places. - Ed.
of the possessions which
were the fruit of many years' labour ? We are unfortunate in this
respect, that the English, who up to present time have not been able to
succeed against the French, have made a beginning with us. May our loss
mark the only progress which they will make this year ! It is not the
least vexation felt by subjects as zealous as we are.
The first cause of our misfortune is, no doubt, the weakness of our
wretched colony, but one cannot help admitting that the numerous
mistakes which were made may have contributed as much or more. I
recommend you to keep secret what I am going to unveil to you ; in any
case I beg you at least not to reveal my name. It is often unsafe to
tell the truth, and especially with the artless candour which will guide
my pen. For a long time we were not unaware that a secret enterprise
against us was in preparation in New England. [1] Every
[1] What is called New England is a country of Southern America (sic). It is bounded on the north by New France, on the south by New York or the New Netherlands, on the east by the North Sea or the ocean. The aborigines of New England are the Almouchiquois. Boston is the capital.
day we were in receipt of information that they were arming along the whole coast, and we were certain that this could only mean some design upon Cape Breton.* There was then abundant time to take measures for protection against the threatened danger; something was done, but not all that should have been.
* The author uses invariably the French name, Isle Royale.- Ed.
Our situation, on the verge
of a pressing danger, was indicated to the Court by what happened
regarding the vessels Ardent and Caribou. We were seeking
prompt succour. Even if we had not asked for this, our weakness, obvious
and faithfully explained to the Minister, ought to have procured it for
us. Our colony was sufficiently important ; without it Canada is exposed
and difficult to hold.
The two ships of war of which I have just spoken ought to be blamed in
the first instance. If their commanders would have consented to aid in
an easy expedition against Acadia we should have ruined the English in
that country and made it impossible for them to plan the project which
they have accomplished. But an abuse prevails in the Navy of France
against which it is difficult to protest too much, though the protests
are always in vain. Most of the officers of the King's ships, induced by
the love of gain, carry on trade operations, although this is forbidden
by the Ordinances of His Majesty. It is impossible to conceive how
greatly commerce suffers from this, nor does the service gain anything.
Presumably, all this is unknown to the Minister, who has only the glory
of his master in view ; persons who are near him, however, have quite
different motives, for a share in this base traffic gives them a pretext
for self-justification and for concealing it from him.
It was only necessary to appear before this English colony, the neighbour of our unhappy island, and to land a few men. But, while this was being done, the trade ventures would have been neglected and the general welfare, that of the State, would have interfered with individual interests, [2] and this would have been contrary to received usage in a corps which, far from working to ruin the merchants, ought to protect them. Forgive these strong expressions ; although harsh they are true.
[2] This example has become contagious in all our colonies, where the generals, far from protecting commerce, are the first to injure it. They enrich themselves chiefly in the foreign trade which is so injurious to that of the subjects of the King. I speak here as an eye witness.
In place of this expedition,
which would have protected us from a misfortune that the State ought to
feel no less than we, they amused themselves by wasting time in useless
disputes. These resulted on the part of the captains of the royal ships
(MM. Maichin and de la Sauzai) in persistence in their refusal and on
that of our Governor (M. du Quesnel) in a complaint against their
conduct, which indeed it would not be easy to justify.
In seizing Acadia we should have freed ourselves from the menace of
enemies dangerously near and destroyed a considerable portion of the
facilities which they made use of against us. The naval commanders
argued that they had not the orders of the Court, -
as if it was necessary
for all the subjects of the King to have special orders before keeping
his enemies from doing him injury, when it was so easy to take from them
the means. M. du Quesnel could not induce them to support the enterprise
; in vain did he assert his official authority. It was necessary for him
to think of carrying through the matter alone. Would to God that he had
abandoned this mad undertaking or that he had never thought of this or
of the preceding one, of which I shall speak presently.
The ill-success which followed this enterprise is rightly regarded as
the cause of our loss. The English would perhaps not have troubled us if
we had not first affronted them. It is our love of aggression which has
cost us dearly ; I have heard more than one of our foes say this, and it
seems to me only too likely. It was the interest of the people of New
England to live at peace with us and they would undoubtedly have done so
if we had not been so ill-advised as to disturb the security which they
felt in regard to us. They expected that both sides would hold aloof
from the cruel war which had set Europe on fire, and that we, as well as
they, should remain on the defensive only. Prudence required this, but
that she does not always rule the actions of men we, more than any
others, have demonstrated.
As soon as our Governor learned of the declaration of war he formed vast
projects which have resulted in our present misfortune. God keep his
soul in peace ! Poor man, we owe him little ; he was whimsical,
changeable, given to drink, and when in his cups knowing no restraint or
decency. He had affronted nearly all the officers of Louisbourg and
destroyed their authority with the soldiers. It was because his affairs
were in disorder and he was ruined that he had been given the government
of Cape Breton. The foolish enterprise against Canso, which I shall
describe presently, and from which they tried in vain to dissuade him,
is the first cause of the loss of a colony so useful to the King.
How different was M. du Quesnel from his predecessor ! This was M.
Forant,* the son of a vice-admiral and the grandson
*M. de Forant died in 1740. - ED.
of an admiral of Denmark. His grandfather migrated very young on account of his religion. M. Forant had entered the navy when young and knew his profession. By his kindness and humanity he deserved to lead men. They feared him because they loved him. When he came from France he had great plans for the development of the colony of which the King had made him Governor. He died, however, at the end of nine or ten months, and when he died he left a sum of thirty thousand livres for educating and bringing up young ladies, daughters of officers dying at Louisbourg. This sum is in Paris and only the income from it is used. It is said that a sister of this charitable Governor will attempt to overturn this good settlement, but it is to be hoped that she will fail n a design so contrary to the well-being of the State and of Religion, which are equally benefited.
Too much prudence can not be shown in the choice of Governors for the colonies. As they are the soul of these establishments it is of infinite consequence that their sentiments should correspond to the dignity of the Prince whom they represent. But it is obvious that too many of them act from unworthy motives. In the proper place, how many things would I have to say on this point ! Some day, perhaps, I shall have occasion to make public what I have learned in the course of my journeys to several of our colonies.
May 10 1744
The ambition of M. du Quesnel was to distinguish himself against the English. To realize this noble and daring design he armed a schooner (goëlette [3] ) of fourteen guns, and a bateau [4], upon which he put about six hundred men, soldiers and sailors, to go first and seize the little island of Canso. This was to be the signal of a breach with our neighbours, the English. His
[3] A species of chip of peculiar construction, with raking masts which help her speed.
[4] A little ship with one mast, much used in America.
force soon came back
victorious. The enterprise, so much belauded, was in truth not worthy of
our attention ; we did not gain what it cost. The English established
upon this little island were, indeed, without the least defence. They
did not know that we were at war with their nation, for we had been the
first to hear of the declaration ; they did not even suspect that they
might be attacked. The island, moreover, was not fortified, England
having never taken any trouble to strengthen it. Some of her subjects
had built a wretched town, which we burned.
This is how that expedition resulted for which its author would have
believed himself to deserve the honours of a triumph ! Encouraged by
this feeble success, our Governor aspired to a more substantial victory.
Unable to get help from the commanders of the Ardent and the
Caribou he was still not disconcerted, but resolved alone to attain
the success of taking Acadia. He even appeared pleased that his glory
should be shared by no one else.
You are aware, Monsieur, that Acadia formerly belonged to us, and that
we ceded it to the English by the Treaty of Utrecht.* It is even yet
peopled by the old French inhabitants
* April 11th, 1713. -ED.
who occupied the country. It
was upon this fact that M. de Quesnel based his plan, and he certainly
made no mistake. We have experienced that they are still French at
heart. Would not this fact cause our conquerors to desire that not a
Frenchman should remain in Cape Breton ? It is, indeed, extremely
difficult for a people to renounce allegiance to a power such as France,
where reign monarchs whose virtues are so famous and who know how to
secure the affection of their subjects.
In July M. du Quesnel sent M. du Vivier, a company captain, with orders
to go by land to Baie Verte. This officer had two others with him from
the garrison of Louisbourg, and he took also two more at St. John
Island.* These five officers had a band of only ninety regular soldiers,
but on their way they collected from three to four hundred Indians and
arrived before Annapolis+ (Port Royal [5] ) with their little army.
Their camp was well situated. It was placed upon a hill, high enough to
be able to command the town, to which they were so and it was henceforth
called
* Now Prince Edward Island. -ED.
+ The English had captured
Port Royal finally in 1710, and it was henceforth called Annapolis by
them. -ED.
[5] This is the name of the Fort which is the one defence that Acadia
has. It was built by us.
near that they could almost
see and speak with those inside the fort. The French [6] subjects of
Great Britain received them with demonstrations of sincere joy, and
throughout rendered whatever services were in their power. M. du Vivier
had caused them to make ladders, to be used on the walls of the fort in
case there was a thought of entering it by assault, and they worked at
these with all the zeal that one could expect from the most faithful
subjects.
As orders had been given to treat them with great consideration, and
they deserved it, they were carefully paid for everything. The Governor
of the Fort, after our force had retired, told them that since France
had paid them for the ladders which they had made it was proper that
England should pay them to destroy them ; and in fact they were employed
to do this.
The appearance of the French before Annapolis so frightened the Governor
that he promised to surrender the Fort, without firing a shot, as soon
as he should see appear the two vessels, with the coming of which they
had menaced him. We were a long time before the place without anything
happening on the one
[6] This is to speak improperly, the French of Acadia being rather neutrals.
side or the other. Our
people got ready to attack as soon as the ships should appear, and, in
case the enemy should attempt a defence, they had caused the settlers to
prepare for them arrows, provided with an artifice for igniting fire, of
which they had already made trial. M. du Vivier was relieved of the
command by M. de Ganas, another captain of a free company, who had left
Louisbourg later. This second commander manoeuvred badly. Out of
patience because the ships for which he was waiting did not come, he
imprudently abandoned the investment arid retired more than fifty
leagues inland. It was this that caused the expedition to fail.
The cause of the delay of the two ships intended for this enterprise,
was, at first, the dispute of the Governor with the commanders of the
Ardent and the Caribou. M. du Quesnel always nattered himself
that he should gain them over. Seeing that they were inflexible, he took
his own course, which was to arm a merchant ship of La Rochelle, named
the Atlas, together with a brigantine, [7] the Tempest.
But he had not the satisfaction of seeing them sail, for he died
suddenly, in the month
[7] Light ship, fit for racing, and either rowed or sailed. It has no deck.
of October,* regretted as little as he deserved to be. Of any one else it would be said that death was caused by chagrin, but that could not rightly be imputed to him.
*1744. -ED.
M. du Chambon, Lieutenant of
the King, having taken command, caused the expedition to set out on the
twenty-third. This new commander could not do otherwise. The situation
was such that it was absolutely necessary to send this help to the
troops which were supposed still to be encamped before Annapolis, where,
in fact, they no longer were, as the two vessels perceived when they
arrived before the fort. They were obliged to turn back. This armament
was a loss, for although some prizes were taken on the return voyage,
they were not a sufficient compensation. If the commanders had wished
they could have taken a ship with a rich cargo, but they lost their
heads ; sad forecast of what was to happen during the siege !
Although it was to be expected that our expedition against Acadia would
succeed, because the enemy were very ill equipped to resist us, it
failed, and this led them to the conclusion that we were either afraid
or weak. They appear to have decided from this that they ought to take
advantage of so favourable a circumstance, since from that time they
worked with ardour upon the necessary military equipment. They did not
do as we did they helped each other. They armed in all their ports, from
Acadia along the whole coast ; they applied to England ; they sent, it
is said, even to Jamaica, in order to secure all the help possible. The
enterprise was planned prudently and they laboured all the winter to be
ready at the first fine weather.
These preparations could not
be kept so secret that something did not become known. From the first
moment we had information about them, and in abundant time to be able to
warn the Court by means of the two ships of war which had been of so
little service to us, for it is well to record that they lay peacefully
in port and did not deign to go out and give chase to certain privateers
which often cruised so near that they could have landed men, if they had
so wished. I was many times astonished that our ships did nothing, and
was not the only inhabitant to grumble at this strange inaction. Indeed,
it appears that this is common in all our colonies in America where I
have heard it said that there were the same causes of complaint.
We had the whole winter before us more time than was necessary to put
ourselves in a state of defense. We were, however, overcome with fear.
Councils were held, but the outcome was only absurd and childish.
Meanwhile the time slipped away ; we were losing precious moments in
useless discussions and in forming resolutions abandoned as soon as
made. Some things begun required completion; it was necessary to
strengthen here, to enlarge there, to provide for some posts, to visit
all those on the island, to see where a descent could be made most
easily, to find out the number of persons in a condition to bear arms,
to assign to each his place ; in a word, to show all the care and
activity usual in such a situation. Nothing of all this was done, and
the result is that we were taken by surprise, as if the enemy had
pounced upon us unawares. Even after the first ships of the enemy which
blockaded us had come we should have had time enough to protect
ourselves better than we did, for, as I shall show, they appeared
slowly, one after the other. Negligence and fatuity conspired to make us
lose our unhappy island.
I will now describe its geographical situation. Formerly it was called
Cape Breton* a name given it by the Bretons who first discovered it, and
the English and Dutch still call it by this name. It lies in north
latitude 45o 40' and about 377o or 378o
of longitude. It is about one hundred leagues in circumference and is
everywhere intersected by great bays. This Island is now the most
considerable of those which remained to us about the Gulf of St.
Lawrence [8] since Louis XIV gave up Newfoundland to the English by the
Treaty of Utrecht in 1714 (sic). Their wish to secure Newfoundland, on
account of its fisheries, was so great that it was one of the chief
motives which led them since 1713 to abandon the Empire and Holland, and
this movement, as is well known, was the salvation of France. All this
great Island was almost wholly wild and uninhabited. We used it only to
provide a place for the settlements which we were giving up (in
Newfoundland). We
* The author himself, as already noted, invariably calls it Isle Royale. - Ed.
[8] The Gulf of St. Lawrence
is the entrance to the River of that name which leads to Canada. It is
the largest river in the world, there being places where it is upwards
of five hundred leagues wide.
[The Gulf is not so wide, and the longitude is reckoned incorrectly,
Cape Breton lying between 317o and 319o. From
Paris, as now reckoned, the Island lies between 45o 30' and
47o 2' N. Lat., and between 62o 4' and 64o W. Long. ; from
Greenwich, between 45o 27' and 47o 3' N. Lat. and between 59o
47' and 61o 32' W. Long. -ED.]
gave it then the name
Isle
Royale and the town built there was called Louisbourg. The island lies
but two leagues distant from Acadia, from which it is separated only by
the Strait of Canso. The nearer the English were to us, the more reason
was there that we should fortify this new establishment to protect it
from attack, for the English are so jealous that they are impatient of
our being near them. They wished to have a monopoly of the cod fishery,
which is a most important trade, as experience should have convinced us.
This was not all. It was necessary that we should retain a position that
would make us at all times masters of the entrance to the River which
leads to New France. [9] Our considerable settlements in Canada imposed
this law upon us ; besides, it is absolutely necessary, in those
dangerous waters where the storms are very wild, to have a port of
refuge.
The Court, seeing the force of these reasons, neglected nothing to make
the Island formidable to any one who should wish to attack it. The
outlay was enormous and there is
[9] New France simply means the sum of all that we hold in Canada. We hare been in possession for nearly two hundred years.
scarcely a place which has cost the Court so much. It is certain that more than twenty millions were spent upon it. This was not, assuredly, because of any return from the colony, which is much more a burden than a source of profit ; but its usefulness to us is so great that France should sacrifice everything to get it back again out of the hands of the English. It protects our whole commerce in North America, and is also not less important for that which we carry on in the South, for, if the French held no place in this part of the North, vessels returning from Saint Domingo or Martinique would not, even in time of peace, be safe upon the Banks of Newfoundland. It is well known what the practice of the English is; the majority of them are engaged in piracy and the colonies most difficult of access are always for them the resort of sea-robbers and thieves, who plunder all the more securely because they receive underhand encouragement from their Governors. These have no scruple that restrains the wish to enrich themselves quickly, and in this they surpass even our Governors. Louisbourg is built upon a tongue of land which stretches out into the sea and gives the town an oblong shape. It is about half a league in circumference. The land is marshy. The houses are, for the most part, of wood; those of stone have been built at the King's expense and are designed to lodge His Majesty's troops and officers. To understand what the place must have cost one need only know that it was necessary to bring from France all the material for these houses, as well as that for the works of the place, which are considerable. The Dauphin's Bastion is very fine, as is also the King's. There is, too, a work called the Battery la Grave and a crenellated wall dominated by two cavaliers, with a wide view and a long range. Besides this, all around the town at the projecting and re-entering angles, are a variety of batteries of three or four guns, which were very effective during the siege. The King supports the greater part of the inhabitants ; the remainder live by fishing, and there are few well- to-do among them. On the Island are a number of villages in which a good many poor people, chiefly fishermen, are established.
It would not be difficult to improve this colony. It is only necessary that His Majesty should begin ship-building. Timber for the purpose is abundant ; all the inhabitants would have a useful occupation, and the advantage to the state would be that we should no longer have need to buy timber at great cost from the peoples of Northern Europe. It was shown in the case of the Caribou, [10] a vessel built in Canada, that the woods of Northern America are lighter and therefore better for the speed of a vessel. It is for this reason that the people of New England have such fast ships. Would it be less possible for us to succeed in this ? We could even make the pieces necessary for the construction of a vessel and take them to France numbered. The English, more ingenious than we, have adopted this plan and it works well. Why do we not imitate them ? Our navy would soon be equal to theirs and we should no longer see them so arrogant in their prosperity ; but we let them take advantage of our weakness, and, while we check them upon land, upon the sea they avenge themselves by destroying our commerce. Where is the navy of Louis the Great ?
[10] The Karibou or Caribou is an animal of North America very similar to the deer, having the same swiftness and agility. Like the deer, it has horns upon the head, but these are different from those of the European animal ; it is covered with long hair.
The outworks of Louisburg are not inferior to those within. A place so important, had it been well supplied and defended, would have brought to the English the same humiliation that they found before Cartagena.* The Royal Battery is about a quarter of a league distant from the town. This battery had at first forty pieces of artillery, but the embrasures being too near to one another, M. du Quesnel very wisely had it rebuilt, and the number of pieces reduced to thirty, of which twenty-eight are thirty-six- pounders ; two eighteen-pounders command the sea, the town, and the head of the bay.
The Island Battery, at the entrance, protects the harbour, and as it was
trained at the level of the water no ship could enter without being
sunk. It is placed opposite the Lighthouse Tower, [11] which is on the
other side, on the mainland. This battery has thirty-six
twenty-four-pounders.
* Admiral Vernon with a considerable English fleet attacked Cartagena unsuccessfully in in 1740. -Ed.
[11] Its name indicates its use. It is intended to give light to vessels, and a fire is lit there every night.
The entrance to the harbour
is further protected by a Cavalier, called the Maurepas Bastion, which
has twelve embrasures, but no cannon had been placed there, either
because it was not thought to be needful, or because it was regarded as
wasteful to multiply the possibilities of a too-rapid consumption of
gunpowder, of which a deficiency was feared.
Such were the fortifications of Louisbourg, upon which M. de Verville,
an able engineer, had commenced to work, but, being appointed Chief
Engineer at Valenciennes, he was succeeded by men who had never been
engaged in war and were rather architects than engineers.
Let us look now at the forces in the town. First of all was the Garrison composed of eight companies of seventy men each, including, it must be admitted, the sick, who were very numerous. In the second place, five or six hundred militia taken from the settlers of the neighbourhood were brought in, and these, added to the force in the town, made up from thirteen to fourteen hundred men. The militia could have been increased by three or four hundred men who were at Niganiche* and in the neighbourhood, but action was taken too late; communication was cut off by the time it was decided to send for them.
* The modern Inganish. -Ed.
The supply of munitions of
war and of food in the place was greater than has been made known,
especially of food, of which there was enough to enable us to hold out
longer than we did. I will give proof of this if it is demanded.
Moreover, who kept any deficiency from being remedied in good time? The
munitions of war were in like case. Since we were long threatened with a
siege it was necessary to retrench in everything and to live as if
scarcity already existed. Powder should not have been wasted in
enterprises the more foolish because, even when accomplished, they would
not have made our condition less serious ; besides these deprived us of
what might have been our salvation. A prudent commander before
undertaking anything would have weighed the matter carefully, but our
commander was the very one that did not do this. Nevertheless we had
still powder enough to last a long time, if they had known how to
economize. From what I am about to narrate it will be seen how it was
wasted.
Although we had some regular troops we had little reason to depend upon
them. An incident which happened on December 27th was well fitted to
lessen our confidence if we had had any. I will tell what it was. I am
not too well posted as to how the Court would have taken the outburst,
but it is certain that so bad an example remaining unpunished was fitted
to have dangerous consequences. The Swiss who are in our Colonies would
not fail on occasion to take advantage of the precedent.
Military discipline and the subordination that soldiers owe to officers
had been so badly maintained by our late Governor that the most
mischievous results followed. The day after Christmas, that of the
festival of Saint Stephen, the Swiss revolted and had the insolence to
come out without officers, drums beating, bayonets fixed, and swords in
hand. The officers who tried to restrain them were bitterly enraged at
this, and the matter reached such a point that those who wished to
approach them were aimed at and very nearly lost their lives ; they
would certainly have done so if prudence had not been used. The French
soldiers were as bad and mutinied also; it went so far that the whole
town was in alarm, not knowing where the revolt would end. The greatness
of the peril (for it is certain that they would have sacked everything
if they had only wounded one of their officers ; they have had the
effrontery to boast of this since) led to conciliation which calmed the
mutineers. It was promised that their grievances should be removed.
These were that the best things were sold to the settlers. It was a
question of the butter and bacon which the King furnishes; behold the
object of the mutiny! The mutineers did not complain of the bread nor of
any other provisions. [12] Possibly they had some cause of complaint,
[13] but their bad conduct ought nevertheless to have been punished.
Their offence is too striking to be overlooked. [14] Presumably they
would have been punished if it could have been done with safety, but
their judges were none of the bravest. In the end they were induced to
lay down their arms. The incident cost the King seven or eight thousand
livres. The rebels, taking
[12] Some say that they
complained also about the beans ; but their greatest grievance was about
the codfish, taken as booty at Canso, which M. du Quesnel had promised
to them, and which the officers had appropriated to themselves, for a
low price at long credit. Some of these knew how to enrich themselves by
trade.
[13] It is certain that the officers treated the soldier badly,
reckoning his pay fraudulently, and often making a profit out of his
work. These soldiers worked upon the fortifications and ought to have
been paid.
[14] I learn at this moment that orders from the Court have come, and that the guilty will be arraigned. They will be severely punished.*
* Three were executed and others punished. Collection de Manuscrits, III: 262, (Quebec, 1884). -Ed.
advantage of the fear in
which they were held, proceeded the next day to the commissary's door
and under frivolous pretexts such as that their money had been
previously kept back ; caused themselves to be paid all that they wished
and to be reimbursed even for their clothing. So ended the matter
without the bloodshed that had been feared.
Troops with so little discipline were scarcely able to inspire us with
confidence; we therefore did not think it well to make any sorties,
fearing that such men might range themselves on the side of the enemy.*
If anything can justify us, certainly it is the foresight that we showed
in this connection. In justice to them, indeed, it ought to be said
that they did their duty well throughout the siege; but who knows
whether they would have still done this if an opportunity had offered to
escape from the punishment of a crime which is rarely pardoned ? I
confess that I thought it only natural to distrust them.
*Two of the Swiss deserted to the English during the siege. Collections de Manuscrits, III :219, (Quebec, 1884). -ED.
1745
The enemy appeared in March,
a month usually extremely dangerous in a climate which seems to confound
the seasons, for the spring, everywhere else so pleasant, there is
frightful. The English, however, appeared to have enlisted Heaven in
their interests. So long as the expedition lasted they enjoyed the most
beautiful weather in the world, and this greatly favoured an enterprise
against which were heavy odds that it would fail on account of the
season. Contrary to what is usual there were no storms. Even the winds,
so unrestrained in those dreadful seas (Parages [15] ) in the
months of March, April, and May, were to them always favourable ; the
fogs (Brumes [16] ) so thick and frequent in these months that
ships are in danger of running upon the land without seeing it,
disappeared earlier than usual, and gave place to a clear and serene sky
; in a word, the enemy had always beautiful weather, as fine as they
could desire.
March 14
On the 14th March we saw the first hostile ships. There were as yet only two, and at first we took them for French vessels, but the manoeuvres soon undeceived us. Their number increased day by day and ships continued to arrive until the end of May. For a long time they cruised about without attempting anything. The general rendezvous was
[15] Parage used in a
nautical sense means a certain extent of sea.
[16] Brume in a nautical sense is what is called Brouillard
on land.
before our island, and they
came in from every direction, for Acadia, Placentia, Boston, and all
English America, were in arms. The European contingent did not come
until June. The enterprise was less that of the nation or of the King
than of the inhabitants of New England alone. These singular people have
a system of laws and of protection peculiar to themselves, and their
Governor carries himself like a monarch. So much is this the case that
although war was already declared between the two crowns, he himself
declared it against us of his own right and in his own name, as if it
was necessary that he should give his warrant to his master. His
declaration set forth that for himself and all his friends and allies he
declared war against us ; apparently he meant to speak for the savages
subject to them, who are called Indians, and whom it is necessary to
distinguish from those obedient to France. It will be seen that Admiral
Warren had no authority over the troops sent by the Governor of Boston
and that he was merely a spectator, although it was to him that we
finally surrendered, at his own request. So striking was the mutual
independence of the land army and the fleet that they were always
represented to us as of different nations. What other monarchy was ever
governed in such a way ?
May 11
The greater part of the
transports having arrived by the beginning of May, on the eleventh we
saw them, to the number of ninety-six, coming in order of battle from
the direction of Canso and steering for the Flat Point of the Bay of
Gabarus. We did not doubt that they would land there. Then it was that
we saw the need of the precautions that we ought to have taken. A
detachment of one hundred men from the garrison and militia was sent
thither quickly in command of M. Morpain, port captain. But what could
such a feeble force do against the multitude which the enemy was
disembarking ? The only result was that a part of our force was killed.
M. Morpain found about two thousand men already disembarked. He killed
some of them and retired.
The enemy took possession of the surrounding country and a detachment
pushed forward close to the Royal Battery. Now terror seized us all.
From this moment the talk was of abandoning the splendid battery, which
would have been our chief defence had we known how to make use of it.
Several tumultuous councils were held to consider the situation. Unless it was from a panic fear which never left us again during the whole siege, it would be difficult to give any reason for such an extraordinary action. Not a single musket had yet been fired against this battery, which the enemy could not take except by making approaches in the same manner as to the town and besieging it, so to speak, in the regular way. A reason for our action was whispered, but I am not myself in a position to speak decidedly. I have, however, heard its truth vouched for by one who was in the battery, but, my post being in the town, it was a long time since I had been to the Royal Battery. The alleged reason for such a criminal withdrawal is that there were two breaches which had never been repaired. If this is true the crime is all the greater, for we had had even more time than was necessary to put everything in order.
13
However this may be, the resolution was taken to abandon this powerful
bulwark, in spite of the protestations of some wiser heads, who lamented
to see such a stupid mistake made. They could get no hearers. In vain
did they urge that we should thus proclaim our weakness to the enemy,
who would not fail to profit by such huge recklessness, and would turn
this very battery against us ; that, to show a bold face and not
reinforce the courage of the enemy by giving him from the first day such
good hope of success, it was necessary to do all that we could to hold
this important post; that it was quite clear that we could hold it for
more than fifteen days, and that this delay could be utilized by
removing all the cannon to the town. The answer was, that the council
had resolved otherwise; and so on the 13th, by order of the
council, a battery of thirty pieces of cannon, which had cost the King
immense sums, was abandoned without undergoing the slightest fire. The
retreat was so precipitate that we did not take time to spike the guns
in the usual manner, so that on the very next day the enemy used them.
Meanwhile, some deluded themselves with a contrary hope ; I was on the
point of getting a wager accepted that they would make almost no delay
in attacking us. So flurried were we that, before the withdrawal from
the battery, a barrel of gunpowder exploded, nearly blew up several
persons, and burnt the robe of a Récollet friar. It was not from this
moment, however, that imprudence marked our actions for a long time we
had yielded to it.
14
What I had foreseen happened. From the fourteenth the enemy greeted
us with our own cannon, and kept up a tremendous fire against us. We
answered them from the walls, but we could not do them the harm which
they did to us in knocking down houses and shattering everything within
range.
16
While they kept up a hot fire upon us from the Royal Battery they
established a mortar platform upon the Rabasse height near the Barachois
[17] on the west side and these mortars began to fire on the sixteenth
day after the siege began. They had mortars in all the batteries
which they established. The bombs annoyed us greatly.
The same day the tardy resolution was taken to send to Acadia to summon
to our help a detachment which had left Quebec to act in concert with us
in the enterprise against Annapolis. The late M. du Quesnel, enamoured
of this expedition, had given notice of it to M. de Beauharnois.* This
Governor was
*Governor of Canada from 1726 to 1747. -ED
[17] Barachois is a lake into which the sea comes.
more prudent and wished to
have the authority of the Court which they wrote in concert to secure.
M. du Quesnel took it upon himself to proceed with the enterprise, while
M. de Beauharnois waited quietly for the orders of the Court. Meanwhile,
as it was necessary to have everything ready, in case the Court should
think it well to approve of the expedition, the Governor-General of
Canada sent a company lieutenant, M. Marin, with two other officers and
two hundred and fifty men, both Indians and French. Acadia is on the
mainland, [18] and on the same continent as Quebec. This detachment,
however, was not able to arrive as soon as ours. We did not learn of its
arrival until the month of March of this year.
The messenger whom M. Marin sent to us asked on his part for provisions
and munitions of war. We should have sent back the same messenger to
urge this officer to come to our help, but we were without forethought
and were so far from such wisdom that steps were taken in the month of
April to comply with his requests; we did not send provisions, however,
[18] It is claimed that it is the largest continent in the world. It ia easy to go from Canada to Acadia, but there are several rivers and lakes to cross. The Canadians often make the journey.
for he let us know that he
had recovered some. He was urgent in requesting powder and balls, and in
granting his wishes, we made two irreparable mistakes. In the first
place, we deprived ourselves of the help which this officer was able to
bring us ; instead of explaining our situation, as we should have done,
we gave him to understand that we were strong enough to defend
ourselves. In the second place, already short of ammunition, especially
powder, we further diminished our supply. There was some still more
uselessly wasted.
It is necessity that makes men reflect. In the month of May we began to
be anxious about the mistake we had made ; then, without thinking that,
with the enemy extending all along the coast and masters of the
surrounding country, it was impossible for M. Marin to penetrate to the
place, two messengers were sent, beseeching him to succour us. Both had
the good fortune to pass out, but they were obliged to make so wide a
circuit that they took nearly a month to reach him. The Canadian
officer, learning from them the extremity in which we found ourselves,
collected some Indians to strengthen his detachment, being resolved to
help us if he should reach us.
After a fight in crossing the strait, he had the chagrin to learn that
he had arrived too late, and that Louisbourg had surrendered. The brave
fellow had only time to throw himself into the woods with his five or
six hundred men, to get back to Acadia.
17
The enemy appeared to
wish to press the siege with vigour. They established near the Brissonet
Flats a battery, which began to fire upon the seventeenth, and they were
at work upon still another to play directly upon the Dauphin Gate,
between the houses of a man named LaRoche and of a gunner named Lescenne.
They did not content themselves with these batteries, although they
hammered a breach in our walls, but made new ones to support the first.
The marshy flat on the seashore at White Point proved very troublesome
and kept them from pushing on their works as they would have wished ; to
remedy this they dug several trenches across the flats, and, when these
had been drained, they set up two batteries which did not begin to fire
until some days afterwards. One of them, above the settlement of
Martissance, had several pieces of cannon, taken partly from the Royal
Battery and partly from Flat Point where the landing was made. They
intended it to destroy the Dauphin Bastion, and these
two last batteries nearly levelled the Dauphin Gate.
18
On the 18th we perceived a ship carrying the French flag, and
trying to enter the Port. It was seen that she was really a French ship,
and to help her to come in we kept up a ceaseless fire upon the Royal
Battery. The English could easily have sunk the ship had it not been for
the vigour of our fire, which never ceased, and they were not able to
keep her from entering. This little reinforcement pleased us. She was a
Basque vessel, and another had reached us in the month of April.
We were not so fortunate in regard to a ship of Granville, which tried
to enter a few days later, but, being pursued, was forced to run
aground. She fought for a long time. Her commander, whose name was
Daguenet, was a brave man, and surrendered only in the last extremity
and when overwhelmed by numbers. He had carried all his guns to one
side, and kept up such a terrible fire with them that he made the enemy
pay dearly and they were obliged to arm nearly all their boats to take
him. From this captain we learned that he had met the Vigilant,
and that it was from that unfortunate vessel that he heard of the
blockade of Cape Breton. This fact has a bearing upon what I am about to
relate.
In France it is thought that our fall was caused by the loss of this
vessel. In a sense this is true, but we should have been able to hold
out without her if we had not heaped error upon error, as you must have
seen by this time. It is true that, thanks to our own imprudence, we had
already begun to lose hope when this powerful succour approached us. If
she had entered, as she could have done, we should still hold our
property, and the English would have been forced to retire.
28 or 29
The Vigilant came in sight on the 28th or 29th of May about a league and a half distant from Santarye.* At the time there
*Scatari. -ED
was a north-east wind which
was a good one for entering. She left the English fleet two and a half
leagues to leeward. Nothing could have prevented her from entering, and
yet she became the prey of the English by a most deplorable fatality. We
witnessed her manoeuvres and there was not one of us who did not utter
maledictions upon what was so badly planned and so imprudent.
This vessel, commanded by M. de la Maisonfort, instead of holding on her
way, or of sending a boat to land for intelligence, as prudence
demanded, amused herself by chasing a privateer rigged as a Snow (Senault
[19] ), which unfortunately she encountered near the shore. This
privateer, which was commanded by one Brousse,* manoeuvred differently
from the French vessel, and retreated, firing continuously, with all
sail set, and leading her enemy on towards the English squadron ; her
plan succeeded, for the Vigilant found herself so entangled that
when she saw the danger it was impossible to save herself. At first two frigates [20]
attacked her. M. de la Maisonfort answered with a vigorous fire which
soon placed one of them hors de combat. Her mainmast was carried
away, she was stripped of all her rigging, and was compelled to retire.
Five other frigates, however, came and poured in a hot fire from all
sides ; the fight, which we watched in the open air, lasted from five
o'clock to ten in the evening. At length it was necessary for her to
yield to superior force and to surrender. The
*The officer referred to is no doubt Captain Rouse, commanding the "Shirley," a provincial ship. Rouse was subsequently an officer in the Royal Navy . Windsor, Narr and Crit. Hist. V : 437, note. -Ed.
[19] Ship with two masts.
[20] The frigate is a swift vessel which goes well and is fit for racing.
enemy's loss in the fight
was heavy and the French commander had eighty men killed or wounded ;
his ship was very little
damaged.
It is right to say to the credit of M. de la Maisonfort that he showed
great courage in the struggle, but the interests of the King demanded
that he should have proceeded to his destination. The Minister did not
send him to give chase to any vessel ; his ship was loaded with
ammunition and provisions, and his one business was to re-victual our
wretched town, which would never have been taken could we have received
so great a help ; but we were victims devoted to the wrath of Heaven,
which willed to use even our own forces against us. We have learned from
the English, since the surrender, that they were beginning to be short
of ammunition, and were in greater need of powder than we were. They had
even held councils with a view to raising the siege. The powder found in
the Vigilant soon dispelled this idea, and we perceived that
after the capture their firing increased greatly.
I know that the commander of this unfortunate vessel will say, to
justify himself, that it was important to capture the privateer in order
to govern himself by the information that he should thus secure. But
that does not excuse him ; he knew that Louisbourg was blockaded, and
that was enough ; what more was it necessary to know ? If he was afraid
that the English were masters of the place it was easy to find this out
by sending his cutter or his long-boat and sacrificing some men for the
sake of certainty. The Royal Battery ought not to have troubled him. We
should have done with it what we did in the case of the Basque ship,
whose entrance we aided by keeping up a hot fire. The loss of a
reinforcement so considerable caused even those to lose heart who had
been most determined. It was not difficult to suspect that we should be
obliged to throw ourselves on the clemency of the English, and several
thought that it was now necessary to ask for terms of capitulation. We
still held out, however, for more than a month and this is better than
one could have expected considering the prostration to which so sad a
spectacle had brought us.
The enemy was busy all the remainder of the month in cannonading and
bombarding us without making any appreciable progress which could arouse
their hopes. Since they did not attack in form, and, since they had no
entrenchments to cover themselves, they did not venture to approach too
near. All our shots carried while the greater part of theirs was wasted.
Hence we fired only when we thought well. The enemy would fire daily
from five to six hundred cannon shots to our twenty ; in truth our
scarcity of powder caused us to be careful. The musketry was of little
use.
I have forgotten to mention that in the early days of the siege the
enemy had summoned us to surrender, but we answered as our duty demanded
; the officer who was sent to make the proposition, seeing that we were
rejecting his offers, proposed that the ladies should be sent out with
the guarantee that they should not be insulted, and that they should be
protected in the few houses that were still standing, for the enemy when
they disembarked had burned or destroyed nearly everything in the
surrounding country. We declined the officer's proposal, for our women
and children were quite safe in the shelter we had made for them. Some
long pieces of wood had been put upon the casemates in a slanting
position and this so deadened the force of the bombs and turned them
aside that 1 heir momentum had no effect. It was underneath this that we
had, as it were, buried them.
June 6
At the beginning of June the besiegers appeared to acquire
renewed vigour. Dissatisfied with their slight success hitherto, they
began new undertakings, and planned to attack us from the sea. In order
to succeed they tried to surprise the Battery at the entrance. A
detachment of about 500 men, transported thither on the night of the
sixth, was cut in pieces by M. d'Aillebout, captain of a company, who
commanded there and fired upon them with grape shot ; more than three
hundred were left dead, and none were saved except those who asked for
quarter; the wounded were taken to our hospitals. On this occasion we
made one hundred and nineteen prisoners, and on our side had only three
killed or wounded, but we lost a gunner who was much regretted.
This advantage cheered us a little : we had as yet made no sortie, for
want of men, since, as I have observed, we did not depend at all upon
the regular troops, for the reason stated. It was, nevertheless, decided
to make one, and for this there was urgent need. Wishing to possess, at
any price, the battery at the entrance, the assailants commenced to
build a fort opposite this battery, to command it. A hundred resolute
men were chosen to go and dislodge them. M. Kol, a Swiss and a settler,
took command of them, having with him M. Beaubassin, a retired officer.
In the hands of these two brave men the sortie could not fail, and it
was conducted with all imaginable prudence and courage. They went to
land at the River Mira, where they halted some time, sending out a
scouting party towards Lorembec,* a place three or four leagues from the
town and still untouched ; it was reported to them that about three
hundred men had been seen. They advanced upon them, but the enemy,
seeing them coming, burned Lorembec and retired to the head of a
Barachois, upon the property of M. Boucher, an engineer. Although they
were entrenched there, our party, reinforced by thirty Indians found at
the Mira, attacked them so that they lost two hundred and thirty men, of
whom a hundred and fifty were killed and eighty wounded. Had not powder
given out the reverse would have been pressed farther.
*The modern Lorad. -Ed.
The number of the enemy,
however, increasing constantly, it was necessary to beat a retreat. The
Indians returned to station themselves beyond the river.
These Indians are very brave and warmly attached to the Trench. They
hate the English as much as they like us, and give them no quarter. It
will be impossible for the English to quell them, and France, if she
ever wishes to recover our colony by force, will always find in them
assistance all the more invaluable because they are without fear. They
are naturally good tempered, but when irritated are none the less
dangerous. Full of hatred for the English, whose ferocity they abhor,
they destroy all upon whom they can lay hands. Their rage against the
English nation is so great that it extends even to its savage allies. We
have heard them say that they would kill every Englishman who should
dare to venture into the forest.
It was our misfortune not to have had any of these Indians, who would
have rendered it possible for us to make frequent sorties; - or, rather,
this ought to be added to the number of the Mistakes that we made, for
it would have been very easy to bring together as many as we wished, but
it would have been necessary to make this provision before the English
arrived or the siege began. Our commanders' excuse, that one of the
causes of the surrender was that they had not enough men to make
sorties, and dislodge the enemy as they pushed forward new works, is not
valid ; upon them lay this responsibility ; they were given advice but
paid no heed.
An incident happened in the above action which shows the courage of the
Indians attached to our side, and deserves to be narrated. One of them,
called Little John, received a gun shot in the breast. His companions
thought that he was dead and, having no time to dig a grave, buried him
under the thicket. After three days the poor fellow rejoined them at the
place to which they had retired beyond the River Mira, and surprised
them very much for they could not believe that he was alive. These
Indians have marvellous vigour, are hardened to fatigue, and extremely
temperate, going voluntarily for several days without food. If, while
hunting, they meet a Frenchman and have only a little food, they deprive
themselves of it, telling him that, since he does not know how to fast
as long as they, he must keep it for himself. This trait expresses well
the generosity of their character. It was not their fault if they were
of little service to us during the siege. Notice was not given to them
before the means of communication were cut off, and they were thus not
able to lend us the help that we should have hoped for. Having sought
shelter in the woods, they tried several times to penetrate to the town.
Some of the English who had the temerity to ramble about were massacred
and several were killed by a band of from twenty to twenty -five Indians
at Gabarus, upon the property of M. Rondeau, pay-master of the Navy, who
wished to cut wood for the use of the hostile fleet. The English dreaded
them so much that, to guard against surprises, they burned all the woods
about Louisbourg.
When M. Kol returned and gave an account of his expedition, and of the
manner in which the Indians had supported him, there was a discussion
about sending munitions of war to them at once, both for themselves and
for certain other Indians who it was thought would come from Acadia. A
boat carrying five barrels of powder and thirty hundred weight of ball
was sent off and taken through the woods to an island in the River Mira,
where three men remained on guard, but we heard not a word of the
Indians. Here again was seen one of the mistakes so familiar to us. For
a long time the scarcity of powder had been complained of, yet upon the
slightest pretext and for pure uncertainties we deprived ourselves of
some of our supply. Nothing could better show how our heads were turned.
What could the Indians have done then, even if they had come? The enemy
no longer doubted about the final outcome; since the Vigilant was
taken they had reason to be convinced that we could not escape and our
loss of this vessel, in reducing us to extremities, placed them in a
position to keep everything waiting upon their initiative.
15
To make things worse, on the 15th a squadron of six warships from London reached the English. These, together with the frigates, cruised about in view of the town without firing a single shot. We have, however, since learned that if we had delayed capitulating, all the vessels would have brought their broadsides to bear upon us (se seroient embosser [21] ) and we should
[21] Embosser, a naval term which signifies to make fast; so that a ship embossee is a ship at her moorings and at anchor.
have had to undergo a most
vigorous fire. Their arrangements were not unknown; I will report the
order that they were to keep.
18 and 19
The enemy had not yet used
red hot bullets, but on the 18th and 19th they did so, with a success
which would and have been greater had there not been prompt action on
our part Three or four houses took fire, but it was quickly
extinguished. Promptitude in such emergencies was our single resource.
It was without doubt the arrival of the squadron which caused this new
greeting on the part of the land army, the General, who wished himself
to have the honour of conquering us, being very desirous of forcing us
to surrender before the fleet should put itself in a position to compel
us.
21
The Admiral on his side was anxious to secure the honour of reducing us. On the 21st an officer came to propose, on the Admiral's part, that, if we must surrender, it would be better to do so to him, because he would show us a consideration that, perhaps, we should not find with the commander of the land force. All this shows very little co-operation between the two generals, and sufficiently confirms the remark which I have already made; in fact one could never have told that these troops belonged to the same nation and obeyed the same prince. Only the English are capable of such oddities, which nevertheless form a part of that precious liberty of which they show themselves so jealous.
We answered the officer, whom Admiral Warren had sent with this message,
that we had no reply to give him, and that we should see which party it
would be well to avail ourselves of when we should arrive at such an
extremity. This swagger would have made any one laugh who had seen our
real embarrassment. It could not have been greater ; the officer must
have perceived it notwithstanding the bold countenance which we assumed,
since it is difficult for the face to conceal the emotions of the heart.
Councils were held more frequently than ever, but with no better results
; they met without knowing why, and knew not what to resolve. I have
often laughed at these meetings where nothing happened that was not
ridiculous, and which only revealed confusion and indecision. Care for
our defence no longer occupied us. If the English had known how to
profit by our fright they would soon have mastered us, sword in hand.
But it must be granted, to their credit, that they were as much afraid
as we were. Many a time all this has reminded me of the fable of the
Hare and the Frogs.*
*La Fontaine, Book II., Fable XIV. - Ed.
+ According to the Governor, Du Chambon, this officer was M. de Laperelle (Coll. de Manus. iii, 254) -Ed.
27
The object of our numerous
Councils was to draw up articles of capitulation. This occupied until
the twenty-seventh, when an officer, M. Lopinot.+ went out to carry
them to the commander of the land forces. It was hoped that the terms
would be more agreeable to him than to the Admiral but they were of so
extraordinary a character that, notwithstanding the anxiety of this
General that we should capitulate to him, he had scarcely the patience
to listen to them. I remember that in one article we demanded five
pieces of cannon and two brass mortars . Such propositions were little
in accord with our situation.
In order to succeed with one side or the other, the same conditions were
proposed to the Admiral. This negotiation was entrusted to M.
Bonaventure, company captain, who intrigued a great deal with Mr. Warren
and, although most of our articles were rejected, obtained,
nevertheless, terms sufficiently honourable. The capitulation was then
decided on the terms which have been publicly reported. It was announced
to us by two cannon shots from the Admiral's ship as M. Bonaventure had
been instructed. We were reassured a little by this news, for we had
reason to apprehend the saddest fate. We feared at every moment that the
enemy, awaking from their blindness, would press forward to carry the
place by assault. Everything invited them to do so. There were two
breaches, each about fifty feet wide ; one at the Dauphin Gate, the
other at the Spur, which is opposite. They have since told us that it
had been decided to attempt the assault the next day. The ships were to
support them and to bring their guns to bear in the following manner : -
Four war ships and four frigates were intended for the Dauphin bastion;
the same number of war ships and frigates, including the Vigilant,
were to attack the La Grave battery, and three other vessels and as many
frigates were ordered to keep close to the Island at the entrance. We
should never have been able to answer the fire of all these vessels, and
at the same time to have defended our breaches, so that it would have
been necessary to yield, no matter what efforts we made, and see
ourselves reduce to seeking clemency from a conqueror whose generosity
there was reason to distrust. The land army was composed only of a crowd
brought together without subordination or discipline, who would have
made us suffer all that the most furious insolence and rage can do. The
capitulation did not keep them from doing us considerable injury.
Thus, by the visible protection of Providence, we warded off a day which
would have been so full of misery for us. What, above all, caused our
decision was the small quantity of powder which we still had. I am able
to affirm that we had not enough left for three charges. This is the
critical point, and upon this it is sought to deceive the public who are
ill-informed ; it is desired to convince them that twenty thousand
pounds still remained. Signal falsehood ! I have no interest in
concealing the truth, and ought the more to be believed because I do not
pretend by this entirely to justify our officers. If they did not
capitulate too soon, they committed mistakes enough to prevent their
acquittal of the blame which they incurred. It is certain that we had no
more than thirty-seven kegs of powder, each of one hundred pounds this
is trustworthy, as is not all that is told to the contrary.
At first even we found only
thirty-five; but our further searches procured two others, hid,
apparently, by the gunners, who, it is known, are everywhere accustomed
to this pilfering. The articles of capitulation granted by Admiral
Warren provided in effect that the Garrison should march out with arms
and flags, which should afterwards be given up, to be restored to the
troops after their arrival in France ; that, if our own ships did not
suffice to transport our persons and effects to France, the English
would furnish transport as well as the necessary provisions for the
voyage ; that all the commissioned officers of the Garrison and also the
inhabitants of the town should be allowed to reside in their houses, and
to enjoy the free exercise of their religion without molestation, until
they could be removed ; that the non-commissioned officers and the
soldiers should be placed on board the British ships immediately after
the surrender of the town and the fortress, until they also should be
taken to France ; that our sick and wounded should receive the same care
as those of the enemy ; that the Commandant of the Garrison should have
the right to take out two covered wagons which should be inspected by
one officer only, to see that there were no munitions of war ; that, if
any persons of the town or garrison did not wish to be recognized by the
English, they should be permitted to go out masked.
These conditions were assuredly favourable ; more so than we could have
promised ourselves considering the grievous condition to which we were
reduced. Nothing could show better that the enemy were not yet cured of
their fear. They dreaded our fortifications and in this had abundant
reason to excuse them. Their mistake was in not having sufficient
insight to detect our want of ammunition. An able and experienced enemy
would soon have discovered this.
There were certain other articles added by Mr. Warren ; namely, that the
surrender and execution of each portion of the things mentioned above
should be done and accomplished as soon as possible ; that, for guaranty
of their execution, the Island battery, or one of the batteries of the
town, should be delivered up, with all the artillery and munitions of
war, to the troops of His Britannic Majesty before six o'clock in the
evening ; that the vessels lying before the harbour should be free to
enter immediately thereafter, and whenever the Commander-in-Chief should
deem proper ; that none of the officers, soldiers, or inhabitants of
Louisbourg, subjects of the King of France, should take up arms against
England or any of her allies, during a year, to be reckoned from the day
of signing the capitulation ; lastly, that all the subjects of His
Britannic Majesty held as prisoners in the town or on the Island should
be delivered up.
29
In consequence of this capitulation, signed " P. Warren " and " William Pepperrell," the war vessels, merchant ships, and transports entered the harbour of Louisbourg on the 29th. We have nothing but praise for the polished and engaging manners of the Admiral, who had his men well under control, and showed us all the attentions that one could expect from an enemy, generous and compassionate. Mr. Warren is a young man, about thirty-five years old, very handsome, and full of the noblest sentiments. That he sought to gratify us in everything we had proof at our departure ; we had need of a surgeon on the Linceston, the ship which carried us to Rochefort, and he obligingly gave us the surgeon of the Vigilant.
We have, however, much to complain of respecting the commander of the
land forces, who had not the same consideration for us, and allowed us
to be pillaged by his troops, in violation of the good faith due to our
capitulation, and of the public security. What could we expect from a
man who, it is said, is the son of a shoemaker of Boston ? The Governor,
whose favourite he was, had given him this command to the prejudice of
better men, who had murmured loudly about it. The officers of the
men-of-war had only open contempt for him ; those who served under his
orders did not respect him more. To punish us for not surrendering to
him, he did not cease to persecute us ; we can only impute to him all
the harm which was done us. Constantly, ineffective complaints were
carried to him against his men, who, after they were free to enter the
town threw themselves into our houses and took what pleased them. Our
lot was little different from that of a town given up to pillage.
We have another grievance against our conquerors. One of the articles of
capitulation provided that we should use our own vessels to carry us and
our effects to France, and that, if these did not suffice, the enemy
would furnish us with ships, as well as with provisions, for the voyage
; yet, by the most glaring injustice, they refused us the ships in the
harbour, on the ground that they belonged to some merchants of France,
as if we had not treated for all that was in the place. What was more
mortifying, they had the malice to let us get these ships ready for sea,
and it was only on the eve of sailing that they committed this unworthy
chicanery. Upon this fine pretext, which was at bottom only the law of
the strongest, they seized the cargoes of some of these same ships, in
which we should have found provisions for the voyage, instead of being
compelled nearly to die of hunger. The captains were compelled to buy
their ships back again.
This strange proceeding, which the Court of France is interested in
avenging, shows how little the word of an enemy like the English can be
depended upon, especially in those distant countries where honour is
among the things unknown. Here is another proof. There had been a
capitulation at Canso, by which M. Brastrik, the officer in command
there* could not serve before the month of June ; nevertheless, this
officer
*Captain Heron was in command at Canso, where Brastrik had a ship. Collection de Manuscrits III. : 202-3 (Quebec, 1884). The charge against Brastrik of violating his parole is repeated by the Governor Du Chambon. ib., 257. -Ed.
ventured to take up arms in the month of May. If the court acted wisely, it would practice reprisals, and make use at once of the troops which we have brought home, unless the English court should give satisfaction for an outrage on the laws of war recognized by all civilized nations.
Such is the description of the siege of Louisbourg, which, notwithstanding our fortifications, would not have lasted so long had we been attacked by an enemy better versed in the art of war. No complaint can be made of the settlers, who served with the same precision as did the troops themselves, and had to bear the greatest fatigues. The regular soldiers were distrusted [22] so that it was necessary to charge the inhabitants with the most dangerous duties. Children, ten and twelve years old, carried arms, and were to be seen on the ram parts, exposing themselves with a courage beyond their years. Our loss scarcely reached one hundred and thirty men, and it is certain that that of the English was more than two thousand. Yet their force was so great that for them this loss was inconsiderable. They had, at disembarking, as many as from
[22] A French soldier was hanged during the siege for projected treason ; he was found with a letter which he was carrying from a prisoner to the English general.
eight to nine thousand men.
We should have done them more injury if we had been able to make
sorties. I have told the causes which prevented our doing this. The
bombs and bullets of the enemy caused frightful desolation in our poor
town; most of our houses were demolished, and we were obliged to remove
the flour from the general magazine to expose it to the weather in the
King's garden ; we feared that it might be burned by the enemy, as most
of the bombs fell upon this magazine. More than three thousand five
hundred must have been fired against us. I do not know exactly how much
flour remained to us still, but I know that there was a large quantity,
and there were other provisions in proportion. These, however, could not
take the place of the munitions of war, which were absolutely exhausted.
We had no more bombs, and if we had had any they would have been
perfectly useless, for our mortars had cracked, after some shots had
been fired. All misfortunes were ours at once.
The enemy caused all to embark and did not wish to allow any settler to
remain upon the island. They would have driven out even the Indians if
that had been in their power. This conduct proves that they desire to
keep it. But if we succeed in taking Acadia* I see no difficulty in our
getting Cape Breton from them. It appears that the English court is
sending great forces thither ; this ought to awaken the attention of the
French court and to lead it to increase its force on the sea, with a
view to opposing the enemy's designs against Canada. When we came away
they assured us that they would be masters of it next year. We ought to
make sure that they have not a similar success in this enterprise, which
would give the last blow to our commerce. Would it be possible that it
should sustain so great a reverse under the invincible Louis XV., and
that, while so valiant a Monarch makes the Powers which dare to oppose
him tremble, he allows his subjects in the colonies to be exposed to the
violence of his enemies, and to be the only ones who succumb to the
fortune of war ? Are we less his subjects ? We should be very sorry to
depend upon any other Power.
* An expedition against Acadia was being planned in France at this time. (August, 1745).
I will finish this sad and
unhappy narrative, which makes me weep, by saying that the court should
extend its charity to an immense number of unfortunates who, if not
succoured, will die of hunger in France. We, the inhabitants of the
town, owing to the terms of capitulation, however badly executed have
still preserved something from the ruin of a fortune sufficiently
limited, but those who dwelt in the country have lost everything, as
they were exposed to the first fury of the enemy. I have seen numerous
families (for there is scarcely a country in the world that we have
peopled as we have our northern colonies) embark without having anything
to cover them, and wring compassion from even the English themselves. I
have succoured as many of them as my means have permitted, and several
others have followed my example. The court will not leave those to
perish whose fidelity has caused their misfortune.
Our commander, M. du Chambon, behaved very well after the reduction of
the place. He protected us with all his power against insolence on the
part of our conquerors, and he wished to be the last to leave the
colony, but the English forced him to embark. He left an officer to
represent him, and to see that the settlers were allowed to have what
they had a right to carry off, under the terms of the capitulation.
This, my dear friend, is a detailed narrative of this unhappy affair, of
which such diverse accounts are given. I can protest to you that I have
suppressed nothing of all which could come to my knowledge, and I am
inviolably bound to tell the truth, without wishing to injure anyone
through a desire for revenge or anything else. The same motive compels
me to render to the Minister* the justice which is his due. I hear that
he is blamed for some of the disaster to our colony, as if he could be
responsible for the faults of those to whose care he entrusted it. If
you share this popular mistake, the detailed account which I have given
can save you from it Can we, indeed, yield to notions so little in
accordance with the foresight of this great Minister, to whom the navy
owes much, and to whom it would owe still more if he were given the
power to restore it to its ancient lustre ? One must be ignorant of what
is going on to make such a mistake. Let him be listened to ; let him be
the only one upon whom depends the strength of this potent support of
our glory and splendour ; let him be given sufficient sums to build as
many ships as we need, and let that no longer be regarded by the court
as a thing indifferent which deserves, perhaps, the chief and the most
serious attention. I warrant you that then you would soon see the navy
upon the old footing that it had formerly under Louis XIV. But as long
as his hands are tied and he gets only small and ineffective grants of
money, and attention is turned away from this motive power of our
greatness and strength, every penetrating and impartial mind will take
care not to blame him for the blows levied at our maritime commerce, to
which the state is more indebted than is imagined.
* The well known Comte de Maurepas whose long official life ended only in 1781. -Ed.
Believe it as perfectly true that Louisbourg had been sufficiently furnished with provisions and munitions of war ; that the Minister had reason to rely upon his own wisdom and care in this respect, and that the want of economy and the wastefulness of those placed in charge are what should be blamed. Could he foresee that they would foolishly consume [23] the pro-
[23] What did most to consume our powder were the privateering armaments which were planned from the time that we knew of the declaration of war. The officers were interested in the Privateers and this procured for the settler as much powder as he wished. I will say here that trade was controlled by the officers, that they purchased the cargoes as soon as they arrived, and that they obliged the inhabitants to buy their goods by their weight in gold. They have, however, an excuse in the small salaries which the Court paid them.
visions devoted to the needs
of a useful colony ? And if he had suspected it, how could he have acted
otherwise than as he did? As soon as he learns that Cape Breton is
menaced, and is notified of its condition, he sends instantly a ship of
sixty-four guns to carry thither all that would be necessary for the
longest resistance. The event has shown that she could get in ; must he
have divined that imprudence would put her in the power of the enemy ?
It is said that she ought not to have been sent alone ; it is easy to
say this but it was not so easy to do otherwise. For a long time the
condition of our marine has been such that an expedition could not be
undertaken the instant the occasion offered ; time is necessary to make
preparations, and if the fleet which left Brest under the orders of M.
du Perier was intended, as is believed, to come to our aid, then it is
evident that the Minister neglected nothing to save us from the
misfortune which has overtaken us. It was known in France that this was
merely an enterprise of one colony against another, that England had not
yet sent out any fleet (for that which went started only very late).
One, therefore, could not imagine that the Vigilant would be
taken and that we should surrender so soon. Thus, on slight reflection,
it is clear that the Minister is not in the least to blame, and that it
is unjust to charge that his prudence deserted him on this occasion. It
is the more blameworthy to think this of him since the fortifications of
Louisbourg are the product of his wise insight, and he has always
endeavoured to keep up a colony whose importance he realized. Is it
reasonable to imagine that he has wished to lose the product of so much
care and expense?
In saying all this I have paid only the respect which I owe to truth.
Adieu, my dear friend ; love me well always, and rely upon the fondest
return and the liveliest gratitude.
I am, etc.
B. L. N.
At . . . August 28th, 1745