NEW ENGLAND VESSELS IN THE EXPEDITION AGAINST LOUISBOURG, 1745 By Howard Millar Chapin, A.B., (1887-1940), of Providence, R.I.

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Researching the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada
Recherche sur la Forteresse-de-Louisbourg Lieu historique national du Canada

The expedition of 1745 against Louisbourg is of particular interest, not only on account of the brilliant achievement of the capture of one of the world's strongest fortresses by an ill-trained and ill-equipped Colonial army, but likewise because of the size and success of the Colonial naval contingent. The largest naval force that had been raised in the American Colonies convoyed the army, and, in conjunction with the British fleet under Commodore Warren, blockaded Louisbourg. These Colonial vessels, as truly American as their successors of subsequent centuries, were a sort of prophecy of American prowess on the seas to come. The hard, diligent, unceasing labors and trying experiences of these early seamen have been in a sense thrown into a shadow by the more showy exploits of the land forces, whose aims could nevertheless not have been attained save through the assistance of the Colonial fleet, which convoyed the troops, assisted in the blockade, acted as scouts, guards, and messengers, and kept open the line of communication for supplies and ammunition from New England to the army in the field. [1]

The American Navy did not spring forth full- fledged at the outbreak of the Revolution, like Pallas Athene from the head of Zeus. Its roots go back to the Colonial privateersmen and the naval expeditions against the French and Spanish. An outline of the naval manoeuvres of the most extensive and important of these expeditions is here for the first time drawn together from scattered and fragmentary contemporary sources. While the account is in no sense exhaustive and final, yet it presents for the first time in convenient form the records of the movements of the vessels and will enable information discovered in the future to be easily checked and verified. [1] The date and place of sailing of the first Colonial naval contingent in the secret expedition against Louisbourg in 1745 seems to be still shrouded in almost as much mystery as it was when it occurred. Governor Shirley on Apr. 3 said that the six vessels had sailed about three weeks before; but, as some sailed before Mar. 13 and three sailed on Mar. 16, it is clear that Shirley was speaking roughly, combining the two contingents and approximating the date.

On Mar. 6, 1744/5, the snow [2] Prince of Orange, 14 guns, [3] Capt. Joseph Smithhurst, and the ship Fame, 24 guns, Capt.Thomas Thompson, were ordered to cruise in consort under Capt. Smithurst's orders. The Prince of Orange probably sailed from Boston in company with the brigantine [4] Boston Packet, 12 guns, Capt. William Fletcher, to Cape Ann Harbor, where they were joined by the Fame. The Fame and the Caesar had, in the latter part of February, been ordered to proceed from Newport, R.I., to the place of rendezvous, then specified as Cape Ann. These two vessels, usually called by contemporary writers the "Rhode Island ship" and the "Rhode Island snow," were privateers, and both belonged to Philip Wilkinson and Daniel Ayrault, Jr., of Newport. Thomas Hutchinson, on behalf of the Province of Massachusetts, went to Newport and chartered these vessels for this expedition, and Newport merchants subscribed some 8000 pounds towards the hire of the Caesar and probably also of the Fame. The same captains and crews were retained. The Fame was a ship of 250 tons and the Caesar a snow of 130 tons. Each of these vessels carried as many swivel guns as carriage guns. At this period it was customary to carry as many, if not more, swivel guns as carriage guns, although only carriage guns were reckoned in descriptions of the vessels. Many of the transports carried swivel guns, and the larger merchant vessels carried carriage guns as a matter of precaution. The Prince of Orange, called the "Province snow," and the Boston Packet, sometimes called the "Boston galley," [5] were owned by the Province, the latter having been purchased for use in this expedition.

The Prince of Orange and the vessels with her were sighted off Brown Banks, about 90 leagues from Boston, on Mar. 15. The "Habitant" says that two of the English Colonial cruisers were sighted off Louisbourg on Mar. 14, [6] but this date is too early. On the other hand Parkman says that the cruisers first arrived there on Mar. 25, which is four days later than the time when the Molineux actually arrived off Louisbourg.

The snow Caesar, 14 guns, Capt. John Griffith, was ordered on Mar. 12 to impress 20 seamen and then to follow the ships that had already sailed from Cape Ann under Captain Smithurst's command. On the next day, Mar. 13, this order was countermanded, and the Caesar was ordered to sail in company with the Massachusetts and to act under Commodore Tyng's orders. If the Caesar was at Cape Ann at this time, she soon went to Boston, where she certainly was three days later. [7]

Commodore Edward Tyng, in the ship Massachusetts, a new frigate of 20 guns, his flagship, [8] sailed from Boston about noon on Mar. 16, in company with the ship Molineux, 24 guns, Capt. Jonathan Snelling, a nd the snow Caesar. The Massachusetts had been purchased by the Province, while she was still on the stocks, and the Molineux had been chartered for the expedition. Cleaves says that Tyng sailed from Boston on Mar. 12; but, if this is so, either he went only to Nantasket, or else he returned.

The Molineux, on the voyage to Cape Breton, lost sight of the Massachusetts and the Caesar on Mar. 18, in a fog. The next day she was on George's Banks, and sighted the Massachusetts again on the following day and Louisbourg Harbor on the 20th.

One shudders to think of the hardships of the crews of these little vessels, tossed about in the stinging cold winds of the North Atlantic in early spring, amid icebergs and ice fields, beaten upon by snow, sleet, and chilling rain, and now and then shut in by a dense fog, all the while off a hostile coast and with scarcely any of our modern aids to navigation.

Upon reaching Cape Breton Island the fleet stood on and off, blockading icebound Louisbourg, and waiting for the delayed arrival of the land forces under the convoy of Captains Rous and Saunders.

On Mar. 17 two of the Massachusetts armed sloops, the Resolution, often called the Resolute, 10 guns, Capt. David Donahue [9], which was owned by Thomas Tillebrown, William Bowdoin, Jacob Griggs, and Andrew Hall, and was leased to the Province for 1200 pounds per month, old tenor, and the Bonetta, 6 guns, Capt. Robert Becket, sometimes called Beckwith [10], preceded the main body of the Massachusetts contingent, sailing from Boston and apparently touching at Piscataqua, and, while coasting along Nova Scotia, touched at Knowles Harbor or Owl's Head. Upon seeing some Indians Captain Donahue hoisted French colors on his own sloop and French colors with English colors under them on the Bonetta, so that the Indians thought that it was a French privateer with a prize. Three of the Indians came on board to trade, and Captain Donahue immediately put them in irons. From these Indians it was learned that the French intended to besiege Port Royal, now Annapolis Royal. These two sloops with their prisoners reached Canso, the French Canseau, on Mar. 25.

The Molineux came down from Cape Breton to Canso, where she arrived Mar. 26. The land forces were expected there at this time, but only the Resolution and Bonetta had as yet arrived. The Molineux stayed at Canso during a few days of bad weather, and sailed on the afternoon of Mar. 29 for Louisbourg.

On Mar. 15 the New Hampshire Colony sloop Abigail, 10 guns, Capt. John Fernald, with several transports, sailed from Portsmouth to Newcastle, and on Mar. 21 the entire New Hampshire fleet of twelve vessels sailed from Newcastle for Canso, where they arrived Mar. 31.

Meanwhile the Massachusetts soldiers had been embarking at Charlestown, Boston, and elsewhere, and the vessels had been assembling at King's Roads, now Nantasket, in Boston Harbor. Three vessels arrived there on or before, probably on, Mar. 17, thirteen on the 18th, two on the 19th, two on the 20th, ten on the 21st, ten on the 22d, eight on the 23d and seven on the 24th. Cleaves says that fifty-two sailed on the 24th, thus leaving apparently three at Boston. We know that two were left.

At four o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday, Mar. 24, the first Massachusetts contingent of some 2800 men, in fifty-one vessels, under the convoy of the snow Shirley, often called the Shirley galley, 24 guns, Capt. John Rous, sailed from King's Roads. George Whitefield, the evangelist, had given the expedition somewhat the aspect of a crusade by suggesting as a motto for their flag: Nil desperandum Christo duce.

They reached Sheepscot on the 26th. The second contingent, of 200 men, sailed on the 26th from Boston. At nine in the morning on the 29th the fleet of sixty-three sail weighed anchor at Sheepscot and proceeded on its way. A slight accident occurred, one of the sloops running on a rock. In addition to the Shirley, the fleet was guarded by three other armed vessels, the Province sloop Massachusetts, 10 guns, Capt. Thomas Saunders, a sloop of 8 guns, Captain Swan, and a sloop of 6 guns, Captain Bush (alias Bosch). The names and the captains of only a few of the fifty- nine transports which made up the fleet have as yet been discovered.

The Humming Bird was commanded by Captain Honiwell, the Hannah and Mary by Capt. David Carmida, the schooner Fishhawk by Captain Newmarch, the schooner Sally by Capt. Joseph Smith and the schooner Seaflower by Captain Wadlin. There is said to have been a sloop Seaflower, commanded by Capt. Jonathan Sayward of York, Me. (Burrage, Maine at Louisbourg, pages 22, 86.) There was a schooner Elizabeth and also a sloop Elizabeth. The three despatch packets were commanded by Capt. Moses Bennet (who gave up his command of the Bonetta to go into this service), Capt. Joseph Smith, and Capt. Michael Hodge. These vessels were to ply between Boston and General Headquarters. Captain Loring and Captain Giddings each commanded a schooner. Other transports were commanded by Mr. Dodd, Captain Stone, Captain Lovett, Captain West, Mr. Hammond, Mr. Allen, Captain Daggett, Robert White, Samuel Barnes, and Captain Mitchell, the last-named in a sloop owned by Nathaniel Sparhawk. Captain Stone's vessel and a Captain Adam's vessel were left behind and did not reach Sheepscot with the Shirley.

As might be expected at that season of the year, the fleet was scattered by the bad weather that was encountered on the voyage. A northeast storm raged all day on the 30th and through the following night. Then during Sunday, Mar. 31, the vessels tossed about all day in a calm, with high, sickly swells left over from the storm. Another storm raged all day Monday.

According to Dr. Usher Parsons (Life of Pepperell, page 57) some of the transports arrived at Canso on Apr. 1. Certainly the sloop Massachusetts, Captain Saunders, and six transports with her arrived on the 2d. The Shirley, carrying Pepperell and Rous, with twenty vessels, arrived on the 4th. On that day the ship Massachusetts reached Canso from Louisbourg.

Meanwhile the Molineux sighted a vessel on Apr. 1 and gave chase. The chase lasted all day, and the vessel put into Canso. Captain Snelling on that account considered the vessel a friend. The Molineux lay off the harbor that night, but got becalmed in the morning when she tried to enter the harbor. At least seventeen vessels could be seen in the harbor. When the wind sprang up later in the day the Molineux put to sea. On Apr. 3 she spoke the Prince of Orange, the Caesar, and the Fame, part of the fleet blockading Louisbourg. There were rumors of an incipient mutiny among the crew of the Molineux on the 4th. She put back into Canso on the following morning about 8 o'clock.

The Boston Packet, Captain Fletcher, about 15 leagues east of Cape Breton, captured on Apr. 2 a sloop loaded with rum, wine, brandy, and indigo from Martinique, and brought her into Canso on the forenoon of the 5th. This was the first prize taken in the expedition, and was usually spoken of as the "Martinico sloop." The Molineux and the schooner Hannah and Mary reached Canso on this day (Apr. 5). Pomeroy says that there were sixty-eight vessels at Canso on this date, and Craft says that on the 7th there were five vessels cruising off Cape Breton. These were the Fame, Caesar, Prince of Orange, Molineux, and the ship Massachusetts. The two last-mentioned, the Molineux and the ship Massachusetts, sailed from Canso for Cape Breton Apr. 7, and were joined by the Boston Packet on the following day. Seven more transports arrived at Canso on the 8th and 9th. [11] Nine more transports, the last, except for one, of those battered about and delayed by the storm, came in on the 11th. These included the Humming Bird, Captain Honiwell, Captain Lovett's vessel, and Captain West's vessel. One diarist states that twelve transports arrived on the 8th and twelve more on the 11th. Of these, three reached Island Harbor on or before Apr. 9. The transport that Cleaves was on reached there at 6 P.M. on the 9th. The Resolution and two transports arrived at Island Harbor and reached Canso at 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the 11th.

The prize "Martinico sloop," which had been captured by Fletcher in the Boston Packet, sailed for Boston with despatches Apr. 11. She reached Portsmouth, N.H., on the 20th, sailed again the next day, and reached Boston Apr. 22. Apparently it was planned to send a duplicate copy of the despatches by a brigantine, in case the "Martinico sloop" should be taken by the French or lost at sea, but instead the duplicates were finally sent by the first packet, Capt. Moses Bennett, which sailed about Apr. 28. Bennett probably reached Boston about May 4 and probably brought back Shirley's letter of May 5, doubtless arriving at Chapeaurouge Bay about the 11th.

On Apr. 10 Giddings and some other soldiers in a whaleboat pursued a French shallop off the mouth of Canso Harbor, but without success. Captain Donahue in the Resolution was sent to the Gut of Canso on the 12th, where about 10 o'clock on the following morning, at Doe Island, he captured eight Indians, of whom it is said that one was a chief and one a queen, and brought them back prisoners to Canso on Apr. 14. Captains Cobb and ' B---------" was perhaps Capt. Israel Bayley, of the same regiment as Capt. Silvanus Cobb. On Apr. 15 the Molineux, while cruising off Cape Breton Island, was surrounded by vast cakes of ice, some of them nearly 50 feet thick. Such were the hardships encountered by these hardy Colonial sailors.

On the next day, Apr. 16, the Boston Packet and the Molineux chased two French brigantines. One escaped, and the other was overtaken by the Molineux amidst the ice and fog, about 10 leagues from Canso. The Molineux fired three guns at her, whereupon the brigantine struck her colors, without offering any resistance. She proved to be the Victory, 6 guns, formerly commanded by Captain Loring, [12] and captured by the French in 1744. She had a cargo of rum, molasses, coffee, sugar, chocolate, and syrup, valued at 25,000 pounds, and was bound from Martinique for Louisbourg. She had recently captured two Cape Ann schooners, what to-day would doubtless be called Gloucester fishermen. The Boston Packet convoyed the Victory into Canso on Apr. 17.

On that day a vessel was sighted off Canso, and Captains Donahue, Becket, and Swan went in chase. [13] It being calm, eleven whaleboats towed the Resolution out of the harbor. At dawn on the 18th the Molineux captured a schooner which had been taken by the French brigantine St. Jean, 8 guns, about a week before. After taking the schooner, the Molineux gave chase to the St. Jean and followed her all day. Before the Molineux came up with her, however, the French vessel was overtaken and captured by the Resolution, Captain Donahue, a league or two from Canso. About 6 o'clock in the afternoon Captains Donahue and Swan brought the prize into Canso and sailed again before dusk. Capt. William Adams was a prisoner on board of the brigantine, and reported that his vessel, the schooner St. Peter, while carrying despatches from Boston to Newfoundland, had been captured by the St. Jean on Apr. 12. Captain Brimblecomb was also a prisoner on the St. Jean, his vessel having been captured by her.

According to Stearns, Captains Donahue and Becket captured a Cape Ann schooner that had been taken by the French the day before and brought her into Canso on Apr. 18. This is doubtless identical with the schooner taken by the Molineux, mentioned above. The discrepancies in the different accounts are no greater than one might expect to find in reports circulated in camp. Cleaves (who is sometimes contradictory and in some instances a day later than other diarists) and another diarist state that two recaptured schooners were brought in on the 19th, doubtless referring to this schooner which appears to have been Captain Brimblecomb's, and to the one taken by the Prince of Orange and mentioned later, which came in during the afternoon. The Bonetta, Captain Becket, sailed on the 19th, but found nothing but an iceberg and returned about 2 P.M.

No sooner had the Molineux come up with the Resolution and the St. Jean, then reports of heavy cannon fire were heard. The Molineux followed the sound, and soon joined the ship Massachusetts, the Fame, and the Caesar, who were fighting the French frigate Renommée, 36 guns, Captain Kersaint. This ship had been sighted off Canso Harbor on the 18th, and the Shirley, Captain Rous, the sloop Massachusetts, Captain Saunders, and the Abigail, Captain Fernald, had been sent in chase about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The Renommée escaped in the thick weather and darkness, but was chased again by the fleet in the morning. Stearns states that she was chased by nine Colonial cruisers, and escaped. Commodore Tyng of the ship Massachusetts wrote the following account of the engagement:

The Shirley fired 115 guns at the Renommée in this encounter. Captains Fernald and Saunders commanded the other two vessels that made up the nine mentioned as being in the chase.

On Apr. 19 Captain Smithurst's mate brought into Canso a Cape Ann Schooner that had been recently taken by the Prince of Orange off Chapeaurouge Bay (Gabarus Bay), and Captain Saunders returned. Captain Swan sailed at 3 P.M. Captain Fernald, in the New Hampshire Colony sloop Abigail, recaptured the schooner St. Peter on the 18th off Chapeaurouge Bay, and brought her into Canso on April 20. [14] Pomeroy states that this was the sixth prize brought into Canso.

The Resolution, Captain Donahue, returned to Canso on the 20th, and, carrying thirty soldiers and an officer and accompanied by the Bonetta, Captain Becket, sailed about 6 P.M. on Apr. 21 from Canso for the Bay of Vert, where they were to cruise for the purpose of intercepting and capturing provision vessels, and had orders not to land. On this day, also, Lieut. Col. Edward Evelith of the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment was sent, with seventy men, two schooners (or sloops, according to one diarist), one of which was perhaps the schooner Fishhawk, and five whaleboats, against the town of St. Peter's, on Cape Breton Island. On Apr. 21 Joseph Emerson, chaplain of the Molineux, wrote:

The Shirley returned to Canso Apr. 21. On Apr. 22 the Molineux and the ship Massachusetts were cruising near each other off Cape Breton. On this day H.M.S. Eltham, 40 guns, Capt. Philip Durell, arrived at Canso from Piscataqua, after a voyage of six days. She was the first of His Majesty's vessels to join the Colonial forces. When she received her orders to join the expedition, she was just on the point of sailing for England as convoy for the mast ships, as the vessels were called that carried to Europe the American timber that was to be used for vessels' masts. At 6 o'clock in the evening one of the transports, which had been given up as lost, arrived at Canso in good condition.

It was at first planned to add the St. Jean to the fleet of Colonial cruisers and to send her out in search of the St. Peter, but later this was decided to be inadvisable. She was, however, ordered to carry water, wood, and provisions from Canso to the fleet off Louisbourg on Apr. 22. That night a disorderly affray occurred on board the brigantine Victory, and her commander, Capt. John Friend, was on that account replaced by Capt. William Adams.

On the 23d Lieutenant Colonel Evelith returned to Canso from St. Peter's, where he had burned some French houses. He brought with him a French prize sloop laden with wood. They had captured another sloop, but were forced to abandon her, and a third sloop that they chased ran ashore.

Commodore Peter Warren with H.M.S. Superb, 60 guns, Capt. Richard Tiddeman, H.M.S. Launceston, 40 guns, Capt. Warwick Calmady, and H.M.S. Mermaid, 40 guns, Capt. James Douglas touched at Canso on Apr. 23, in the forenoon, and then proceeded to Cape Breton to join the Colonial cruisers blockading Louisbourg. The Abigail, Captain Fernald, was sent to blockade the harbor of St. Peter's.

On the morning of Apr. 24 the three men-of-war under Commodore Warren joined the fleet off Louisbourg. The Boston Packet took a schooner loaded with wood, which was formerly commanded by Captain Donnel and had been captured by the French off Annapolis Basin in 1744. The Fame captured a sloop that ran ashore while attempting to escape. She also was loaded with wood. In the afternoon a shallop was taken. These vessels came from St. Peter's and were captured at Margaret's Bay.

It is now necessary to go back in point of time to Apr. 14, when the Connecticut contingent, consisting of five sloops, two brigantines, [15] and one schooner, eight vessels in all, seven transports and the Connecticut Colony guard sloop Defence, [16] 12 guns, commanded by Captain Prentice, sailed from New London at 11 o'clock Sunday morning. It should be noted that both the Massachusetts and the Connecticut contingents sailed on Sunday. The Rhode Island Colony sloop Tartar, a brig of 14 guns, Capt. Daniel Fones, accompanied the Connecticut fleet as an additional safeguard. They reached Holmes Hole (Vineyard Haven) on the 13th, Nantucket on the 15th, and Cape Sable on the 21st. One of the transports was the schooner Charming Molly, Captain Byles. Another Connecticut transport was the sloop Diamond, Capt. Ephraim Doane, and five others appear to have been commanded by Captains Coit, Robbins, Mumford, Talcott, and Lais. It is possible that some of these were not in this fleet, but came up to Louisbourg later with reënforcements or supplies. Capt. Aaron Bull commanded a Connecticut transport sloop which arrived at Louisbourg on Aug. 10. This vessel may have been in the fleet which sailed on Apr. 14 and may have returned to Connecticut in May, June, or July.

The French cruiser Renommée was sighted by the Connecticut fleet on Apr. 23 off Pope's Head. The Tartar left the fleet and went out to meet the Renommée, firing two bow chasers at her. The French ship replied with two broadsides of at least 60 cannon. The Tartar, greatly inferior in armament, lead the Renommée away from the transports, which were thereby enabled to reach Tor Bay, N.S., in safety. The Tartar's jib halliards were shot away, and Captain Fones found it necessary to cut down the waist of the Tartar in order to make her sail better. After an eight hour's chase to windward the Tartar proved herself a better sailer than the Renommée and escaped in the night.

The Connecticut transports and the Defence reached Canso on Apr. 24 at 11 A.M. (or, according to Cleaves, at 9 A. M.), and reported that the Tartar had probably been captured by the French ship. At noon Captain Swan sailed from Canso with despatches for Commodore Warren. On Apr. 25, at 5 o'clock, the snow Caesar, Captain Griffith, arrived at Canso from Cape Breton, with news that the ice had gone from Louisbourg. She took on wood and water. At 1 o'clock in the afternoon the Tartar fired five guns and came to anchor at Canso, only slightly damaged by her combat with the Renommée. Captain Fernald returned from his expedition against St. Peter's, having touched at the Isle de Madame. On this day, off Louisbourg, a French ship of 14 guns, laden with wine, etc., escaped Commodore Warren in the fog, but six hours later was attacked by the ship Massachusetts. She, however, again escaped in the fog and night, and got into Louisbourg. The Massachusetts lost one man in the engagement.

On Apr. 26 Captain Swan reached Canso, with news that the fleet off Louisbourg had captured three French vessels two days before. Lieutenant General Pepperell transferred his headquarters from the Shirley to the sloop Massachusetts, Captain Saunders's vessel. Captain Rous in the Shirley and Captain Fones in the Tartar sailed from Canso in quest of the Renommée. They cruised to the westward and fell in with the Renommée to the west of George's Banks where they attacked her, but, being a better sailer, she escaped. The Shirley continued westward and reached Nantasket on May 2.

Between 5 and 7 o'clock in the morning of Apr. 29 the New England armada sailed from Canso, in four divisions of transports, under the convoy of "an armed snow and two armed sloops." Light winds prevented their reaching Chapeaurouge Bay before night, as had been hoped. Commodore Warren and some of his fleet which now included the Colonial cruisers as well as His Majesty's ships, were sighted in the afternoon, and a brigantine laden with supplies was sent out to them. Colonel Moulton, with four or five vessels under convoy of the Abigail, Captain Fernald, made an attack on St. Peter's with 270 men.

After a day and night at sea the fleet and army under Pepperell arrived at Chapeaurouge Bay about 10 o'clock in the morning on Apr. 30. Meanwhile the Resolution and the Bonetta, preceding the transports, had destroyed the villages of St. Pierre, [17] St. Esprit, and Fourche. Commodore Warren's men-of-war bombarded the forts of Louisbourg, while the troops disembarked 10 miles away at Chapeaurouge Bay, their landing being covered by the gunfire from the vessels of Captains Fletcher, Saunders, and Bush. The village at Lorembec was also destroyed.

In the morning of Apr. 30 a French ship was chased by some of the cruisers into Manaton (Menadon) Bay, eastward from Louisbourg. The Molineux, the Fame, the Launceston, and the Eltham were in the chase, and the Molineux finally got close enough to attack and capture the French vessel. [18] She was the Marie de Grace, 14 guns, from Granville for Louisbourg, laden with supplies. Commodore Warren asked Pepperell for several fast-sailing schooners to carry messages, three schooners to attend him off Louisbourg, some for fishing, a fast schooner to send to Newfoundland with despatches and Captain Bush's sloop to blockade the mouth of the harbor at night. Pepperell replied that he would send such vessels as soon as they were unloaded. He also suggested that Commodore Warren should join with Brig. Gen. Samuel Waldo and himself and fit out a brigantine as a privateer on their own account. This plan, however, does not appear to have been carried out. The Defence and the brigantine referred to, which was valued at 1910 pounds, old tenor, at Canso, and which had a cargo of clothing for the sailors, together with Mr. Dodd's vessel, took prisoners and despatches out to the fleet on May 2. The Defence returned and anchored in Chapeaurouge Bay that night. The Boston Packet chased a sloop and a schooner into one of the bays east of Louisbourg, but they escaped because there were no light-draft schooners to go after them.

The Defence cruised off Louisbourg on May 3. Five of the desired schooners reached Commodore Warren on the he 4th, and were soon followed by two more and by one to take despatches to Newfoundland. The fifth schooner, the Fishhawk, Captain Newmarch, sailed from Chapeaurouge Bay on the 4th. On this day the fleet drew up in line of battle in front of Louisbourg Harbor, and the ship Massachusetts, the Prince of Orange, the Fame, the Defence, the Eltham, and at least one schooner sailed eastward in search of two ships said to be in a harbor there.

Meanwhile Captain Donahue had been repulsed in the Bay of Vert, and Capt. Richard Jacques, who accompanied him, had been killed. In this expedition the Resolution went as far as the Isle de St. Jean, where a landing party burnt a considerable number of houses, destroyed the cattle, and frightened the inhabitants, thus deterring them from sending help or supplies to Louisbourg. Returning with two small prize sloops, the Resolution reached Canso on or before May 4.

The expedition under Colonel Moulton destroyed the town of St. Peter's, burnt four schooners, and then returned with one prize schooner to Canso, where they turned the prisoners over to the garrison there. Then they proceeded eastward, and joined the main body of the army at Chapeaurouge Bay on the 5th. Captain Donahue at Canso on May 7 discovered and frustrated a plot among the French prisoners to carry off the brigantine Victory.

The second of the four supply vessels mentioned by Shirley seems to have been the sloop Good Intent, Captain Bradford, which left Boston about Apr. 24 and reached Canso May 8, having run ashore at the mouth of the harbor the previous night and lost her boom. The third vessel was the sloop Philadelphia, Capt. John Stinson, which sailed from Boston about Apr. 26. The "fourth sloop" doubtless came in the fleet that was convoyed by the Shirley. On May 8 the Resolution, Captain Donahue, and the Bonetta, Captain Becket, went on a short cruise to the harbor of St. Peter's and places adjacent, and Captain Arno was put in command of one of Donahue's prize sloops and sent with despatches to Chapeaurouge Bay.

Captains Donahue and Becket were in search of French vessels said to be laid up in the vicinity of St. Peter's. They found and captured a sloop, a schooner, and at least one other vessel, probably a sloop, and returned to Canso on or before May 10. On that day Captain Donahue sighted a ship to the westward which was thought to be H.M.S. Bien Aimé, Capt. Clark Gayton, which had sailed from Nantasket on May 3.

The Resolution, Captain Donahue, joined the fleet off Louisbourg, and came into Chapeaurouge Bay on the 11th, and a schooner that had been in the expedition to the eastward returned to Chapeaurouge Bay. The Tartar, Captain Fones, which had returned to the fleet after her cruise with the Shirley in pursuit of the Renommée, was sent to the eastward to summon to Chapeaurouge Bay the vessels that had not as yet returned from that expedition and also the Mermaid and the Molineux, that were cruising to the eastward. The Tartar cruised on this mission for five days, meeting the Defence on the 13th and presumably some of the other vessels, and returned to Chapeaurouge Bay, where she lay on the 16th. The aforesaid expedition reached St. Ann's Bay on the 6th. The schooners (apparently there was more than one in the expedition) went in to the bay during the morning, and the Defence went in and landed men in the afternoon. The next day a landing party with the Eltham's barge and yawl attacked and burnt St. Ann, a town of about 20 houses and between 20 and 40 shallops. They took one prisoner and much loot, consisting of 12 or 15 feather beds, 3 or 4 cases of bottles, chests with clothes, iron pots, brass kettles, candlesticks, frying pans, pewter plates, spoons, etc.

On the 8th the Prince of Orange and the Defence weighed anchor at 4 P.M. and sailed northward. They captured a shallop, but turned it adrift in a snowstorm. On the 9th they reached Aganish [Nigonish] Bay and burnt a town of 80 houses. They also destroyed the towns of Bradore and Bayonne, as well as St. Ann. At noon they started back for Louisbourg, but were forced to lay to until the 12th on account of stormy weather. On the 13th the Defence met the Tartar about sunrise and reached Chapeaurouge Bay about 11 o'clock. On the 8th the ship Massachusetts ran afoul of the Eltham in the fog at night, stove in the latter's larboard quarter, and tore her mainsail. The Massachusetts carried away her bowsprit in the crash. The Eltham reached Louisbourg some time between May 13 and 16. Capt. Moses Bennett, in command of one of the despatch packets, sailed from Chapeaurouge Bay on the 12th and reached Boston on the 17th. Captain Donahue, in the Resolution, sailed with despatches and prisoners on the 12th for Boston, stopping on the way at Canso for his cable, anchor, and boat which he had left there. He reached Boston on the 18th. The Molineux spoke the ship Massachusetts on the 12th and the Bien Aimé on the 13th. Captain Gayton, in the Bien Aimé, who had left Nantasket May 3, was off Louisbourg on the 13th, having spoken the ship Massachusetts, the Molineux, and a schooner from Chapeaurouge Bay on that day. This same day a French snow of 150 tons, from Bordeaux, successfully ran the blockade and entered Louisbourg. Some packet or transport arrived on the 13th or 14th, for Giddings records receiving a letter from New England on May 14. On the 14th, also, some shallops were fitted with swivel guns, in order to assist landing parties. On May 13 two fire ships, one an old ship of 150 tons and the other a schooner, were sent into Louisbourg in an unsuccessful attempt to burn the French snow, which was thought to have powder on board. Warren and Pepperell were constantly sending schooners with despatches back and forth between the fleet and the camp.

Meanwhile Captain Rous, in the Shirley, sailed from Boston early in May (about May 3), convoying five transports, the Massachusetts ones commanded by Captains Bramham, Clark, Rackwood, and Jones, and the New Hampshire one by Captain Ward. On the voyage, [19] he fell in with the French frigate Renommée, which attacked one of the transports and forced her to strike her colors. The Renommée then left her to chase the Shirley, thus enabling the captured vessel to escape. Rous ordered two of the others to go inshore, where the Renommée could not follow them, and by this means they escaped. Three of them reached Canso by May 10. The other two made a harbor west of Canso, and finally arrived at Canso a day or so later. The Shirley outsailed the Renommée and reached Canso in safety. On the 15th the Shirley sailed from Canso, convoying the aforesaid five transports and the Good Intent and the Philadelphia, which had reached Canso a few days earlier. This fleet reached Chapeaurouge Bay on the 16th. [20]

A schooner left Chapeaurouge Bay on the 15th, touched at Canso on the 17th, and arrived at Boston on May 24. The schooner that had been sent to Newfoundland with despatches, returning, arrived at Chapeaurouge Bay on or before the 15th.

On this day also four transports sailed from Canso for Boston. They were the brigantine Victory, Capt. William Adams, the brigantine St. Jean, Captain Richardson, the schooner St. Peter, Captain Davis, and the prize sloop taken by Donahue, which was commanded by Captain Arno. On the 15th two schooners commanded by Mr. Allen and Mr. Hammond were sent on a fishing expedition from Chapeaurouge Bay. They touched at Canso on the evening of the 16th and again on the evening of the 17th. They sailed in the morning, but were driven back by bad weather. On the 19th they sailed again for Chapeaurouge Bay, Mr. Hammond carried despatches from Cutter to Pepperell, and reached Chapeaurouge Bay on the 21st. The Victory, Captain Adams, reached Boston on May 22, as also a schooner taken by the Boston Packet.

The brigantine St. Jean and Captain Arno reached Boston before May 23, as also another sloop and a schooner, both prizes of Captain Donahue. A schooner which left Chapeaurouge Bay on the 15th and Canso on the 17th arrived at Boston on the 24th. This was probably the schooner Charming Molly, Captain Byles, carrying wounded soldiers, which sailed from Canso on the 17th in company with the schooner Seaflower, Captain Wadlin, which carried French civilians from the Isle de Madame. On the 16th the Bonetta, Captain Becket, sailed from Canso for the Gut of Canso, in search of timber, and also for the Isle de Madame.

On May 16 the Superb, Eltham, Launceston, Tartar, and Shirley were off Louisbourg, and a council of war was held on board the Superb, which was attended by Warren, Durell, Calmady, Tiddeman, Rous, and Fones.

On May 17 Warren wrote to Pepperell: "Captain Gayton and all our cruizers except the Road Island ship are now in sight," apparently ignoring the absence of the Prince of Orange. In direct contradiction to this, Pepperell wrote on the 19th to Warren: "When Capt.Gayton arrives, pray the favour of you that I may know of it," and again on the 19th: "I can't conceive where Gayton and Smythers are," and on the 20th to Warren: "Capt. Gayton is not yet arrived." Either Pepperell did not know that Gayton was seen by Warren on the 17th or else he was expected to go into Chapeaurouge Bay and failed to do so.

The apparent contradiction in the data in regard to the Prince of Orange, Captain Smithurst, can perhaps be explained by the fact that Pepperell and Warren issued orders to the captains of vessels without regard as to whether or not the vessels were present. On May 11 it was voted to send fourteen Massachusetts transports to Boston under convoy of Captain Smithurst. On the 12th Pepperell wrote to Warren: "I have this day sent the schooner Prince of Orange to Boston, ordering to wait on you for your packets." The Prince of Orange was a snow, not a schooner. Warren on the 13th wrote: "Smythers was with the Eltham, and I believe will soon be in." Smythers, alias Smithurst, was captain of the Prince of Orange and was with the Eltham on the expedition to St. Ann on the 7th and 8th and perhaps later. On the 13th Warren asked Pepperell: "Shall I send Smythers when he arrives to Boston, agreeable to Mr. Shirley's request to you?", and on the 19th Pepperell, as stated above, wrote: "I cant conceive where Gayton and Smythers are." On the 21st Pepperell wrote: "Some of them you may order on board Smithers which he may carry with him to Boston, as Gov. Shirley desires he may he sent to guard the coast of New England." Smithurst had not sailed by the 21st and was not with the fleet on the 24th. Pepperell wrote to Shirley on June 2: "I have heard nothing of Smithurst since his being in bad weather on his passage from St. Ann's." Governor Shirley wrote on June 2: "I am in some pain for Smithurst," and on July 19 he conceded the loss of the Prince of Orange, attributing it to a storm. A French privateer was captured on July 13 by the Boston Packet, and from this vessel it was learned that the Prince of Orange had been captured by the Renommée, which reached Canada (McLennan says the Baie des Castors in Acadia) some thirty-two days before, that is, about June 12. It must have been earlier than that date, however, for the Renommée crossed the Atlantic and arrived at Brest on June 19. The Prince of Orange was probably captured between the time when she parted from the Defence on May 12 and the time when she would naturally have reached the fleet off Louisbourg, that is, not later than May 16 or 17. Curiously enough, after capturing the snow Prince of Orange, the Renommée crossed the Atlantic, joined De Salvert's squadron, and sailed again for America, capturing on this voyage, late in July or early in August, another Prince of Orange, one of the so-called "mastships," from which the French fleet obtained its first news of the fall of Louisbourg.

H.M.S. Trethocick (Trecothick), a supply vessel for Commodore Warren's fleet, arrived at Chapeauro uge Bay on May 18. On this day the Tartar was ordered to cruise to the eastward of Louisbourg. A French brigantine appeared, and the Tartar immediately went in chase and soon captured her in the Bay of Scatarie. She was the Deux Amies, called also by various authorities the Deux Amie, Deux Amis, and perhaps also the Two Friends (cf. McLennan, Louisbourg, page 144, footnote), 80 tons, Capt. Dominick Chatson, bound from St. Jean de Luz, near Bayonne, France, for Louisbourg, with a cargo of wine, brandy, provisions, oil, nets, cordage, and salt. The Tartar took the Deux Amies into Chapeaurouge Bay on the 19th, being joined on the way by H.M.S. Launceston. From the Deux Amies it was learned that a French fleet of four men-of- war (one of 72 guns, and three of 56 guns each) and three company ships of 30 guns each might be daily expected. On May 18 Captain Fletcher in the Boston Packet landed a party about 10 miles from Louisbourg, on Chapeaurouge Bay, some distance from the camp. They were attacked by Indians and lost seven or eight men killed and three captured. The Molineux went into Chapeaurouge Bay for wood and water on the 19th.

The French ship Vigilant, 64 guns, Capt. Alexandre Boisdescourt, Marquis de la Maisonfort, attacked H.M.S. Mermaid about 1 P.M. on May 19. The latter led the French ship toward the fleet off Louisbourg. The Vigilant pursued the Mermaid until the fleet came in sight. Then she attempted to escape, instead of chase, and the Mermaid in turn chased her. The Shirley, Captain Rous, joined in the chase at 3 P.M. (at 6 P.M., according to the log of the Mermaid) and "plyed his Bow Chace very well" until 7 o'clock. The Superb, Launceston, Eltham, and the ship Massachusetts joined in the chase. The larger vessels easily outsailed the Massachusetts and the Shirley, and soon disappeared in the fog that had set in. The Vigilant, after being very badly battered by gunfire, surrendered to the Mermaid about 9 o'clock in the evening. Waldo wrote on May 21 that he thought he saw the large French ship following Commodore Warren into Chapeaurouge Bay on the evening past. Bradstreet states that the Vigilant was brought into Chapeaurouge Bay on the 21st. Captain Douglas of the Mermaid was given the command of the Vigilant, and Captain Montague was put in command of the Mermaid.

The ship Massachusetts, Captain Tyng, brought a letter from Commodore Warren to General Pepperell at Chapeaurouge Bay on the 21st, and H.M.S. Bien Aimé, Captain Gayton, arrived. In the afternoon H.M.S. Launceston ran afoul of the Molineux in the fog and almost capsized her. The Launceston's forechains were carried away. As is usual in war, sickness claimed many victims. Commodore Warren states that he had to man the Shirley out of the transports and left only four men on each transport. He suggested that the prisoners be put on the Caesar, Fame, Molineux, and the Prince of Orange. A schooner with despatches from Canso reached Chapeaurouge Bay. Captain Saunders, who apparently had charge of the vessels at Chapeaurouge Bay, wrote to General Pepperell that he had sent two schooners with wood and water out to the fleet, had watered the Fame, Molineux, and Tartar, and had sent Captain Daggett to the fleet with powder and shot.

A large ship of 60 guns, supposed to be the Aurora Borealis but really H.M.S. Princess Mary, Captain Edwards, joined the fleet on the 22d, and Captain Smith of the packet service sailed from Chapeaurouge with despatches, touching at Canso on the 23d and arriving at Boston on May 30. Cleaves under date of May wrote: "go tens [? Gaytons] men to[ok] a French shalloway from St. Johns [? Isle St. Jean] to Lovesburge [Louisbourg] laden with corn and rye.." On May 22 Captain Donnel's schooner, that had been retaken by the Boston Packet, arrived at Boston. She must have sailed from Canso or Chapeaurouge Bay about the middle of the month.

The ship Massachusetts was in Chapeaurouge Bay on the 23d, and on the 24th H.M.S. Hector joined the fleet and the Defence anchored in Chapeaurouge Bay. The Defence sailed out of the Bay and joined the fleet off Louisbourg on the 26th.

About the middle of May Captain Newmarch, in the schooner Fishhawk, was sent with dispatches to Annapolis Royal. On the 19th he was attacked by Indians, in eleven canoes, at Annapolis Harbor, between the basin and the fort , and, after the Indians had fired about 200 shots, he was forced to return. He arrived at Canso on the 26th, and reported that a 60-gun French ship had recently been at Liscomb's Harbor. Captain Newmarch continued on to Chapeaurouge Bay, where he arrived on the 31st. On May 30 the Vigilant was brought into Chapeaurouge Bay to be refitted. Captain Becket, in the Bonetta, went from Canso to the Isle de Madame, and returned with news that 1000 French and Indians would soon go to Cape Breton via the Gut of Canso. On this cruise Captain Becket landed at the Isle de la Madelaine and burned eleven house there. Becket planned to go to "Santa Spirit" [St. Esprit] to burn that place, but Cutter, the commandant at Canso, would not spare him so long from guarding that port.

At a council of war held June 1 it was decided to man the Vigilant out of the transports and land forces, leaving only two men on each transport. Commodore Warren sent despatches to General Pepperell by Mr. Loring and by Captain Newmarch in the Fishhawk. The Susurnam, a brigantine from Nantes, laden with wine and brandy, was captured by the Mermaid on June 1 or 2, Wolcott and Bradstreet saying that she was taken on the 1st, while the logs of the Mermaid and the Eltham and also Warren, Pepperell, and Bidwell give the date as the 2d. According to the Launceston's log, she was brought to the fleet on the 3d. The Molineux was sent in chase to the eastward on the 2d. An anonymous diarist says that a ship and a brig were taken on June 1, and Bradstreet says a ship and a snow, evidently meaning a brig. The rumor of the capture of two vessels was apparently current in camp. Wolcott describes the vessel as a brig of 15 tons, probably an error for 150 tons on 15 guns. Captain Rous in the Shirley, together with two schooners, was ordered to Annapolis with despatches on June 1, and a vessel with despatches for Boston was to be convoyed by the Shirley as far as Cape Sable. In case Annapolis was found to be in danger, one schooner was to be sent to Boston and the other to Louisbourg.

On June 2 the Defence anchored off the camp. Later in the day (or, according to Wolcott, Bradstreet, and an anonymous diarist, on the 3d) Captain Donahue, in the Resolution, arrived from Boston in eight days, with a large mortar, shells, and powder. Captain Bush was sent to the Lighthouse Battery with carriages for the cannon, and Commodore Warren sent Mr. Loring in a schooner to assist Bush with the landing. The Shirley sailed on the 2d, in company with two schooners, for Annapolis. Captain Giddings, in a schooner, sailed from Chapeaurouge Bay on June 3 (June 4 according to Pepperell's diary, but June 3 according to a letter of Pepperell's written on the 5th and also a subsequent letter) with despatches, and arrived at Boston on June 15th after "a 10 days voyage." It is possible that Giddings joined the Shirley and was convoyed as far as Cape Sable, as ordered.

On June 3 Commodore Warren ordered the Boston Packet, Captain Fletcher, into the Bay as an additional guard to help Captain Saunders in case of trouble with the prisoners. Captain Griffith in the Caesar captured a large sloop from Canada, laden with flour and other provisions, a few miles east of the lighthouse. She ran ashore while trying to escape. This vessel brought the news that 1000 reinforcements were coming from the siege of Annapolis to the relief of Louisbourg. The Launceston's log, under the date of June 4, says that she was "joined by privateer's sloop and prize."

At a council of war held on June 3 it was voted to man the Vigilant out of the Fame, Caesar, and Molineux, leaving forty men on each, and then send these three vessels to New England with prisoners. It was also voted to retain the Tartar in His Majesty's service until further orders. Cleaves says that Colonel Evelith's schooner came in from Annapolis on the 3d and that the prize ship [? the Vigilant] sailed out of the Bay.

Bidwell records that a "frigas" [frigate], with nineteen men, was taken at night on June 3 near Scatarie. This perhaps refers to the Susurnam. Captain Beckett, in the Bonetta, with only thirty- one men, sailed from Canso on May 28 and cruised at sea, returning on June 1.

Captain Bennett sailed from Boston about May 27 and reached Canso after a voyage of six days, on the afternoon of June 2 and Chapeaurouge Bay on the 4th. Evidently the schooner Montague and another schooner belonging at Annapolis had been captured by the French, for Governor Shirley on June 3 wrote that he hoped to retake them. He also wrote: "The Canso soldiers I got sent away in an armed Billander [21] sufficient to clear the Gut of the enemy."

Engineer John H. Bastide, in the "Ordinance Packet" Amplus, Captain Donnell, left Annapolis on May 27 and reached Canso on June 4. Mr. Bastide then sent a despatch to Commodore Warren by the Bonetta, Captain Becket's "little sloop," which reached Chapeaurouge Bay on the 5th. Mr. Bastide in the Amplus sailed from Canso on the 5th and reached Chapeaurouge Bay on June 6.

Bradstreet says that two vessels were captured on June 4, evidently referring to the "Carolina rice ship" [22] and the "Canada sloop," the latter mentioned by him as taken on the 3d. Pepperell also refers to her on both the 3d and 4th. She was captured on the 3d at night, and was apparently brought into Chapeaurouge Bay on the 4th; hence the repeated entries. Pepperell wrote that, if Captain Bush and Captain Loring in a schooner had not been at the entrance of the harbor, the sloop would probably have got in. The so-called "Carolina rice ship" was chased by the Molineux and the Princess Mary on June 4 and was captured by the latter. She was a brigantine of 200 tons and 12 tons, and had been recently captured by the French ship Renommée. On this day also the ship Massachusetts and the Fame sailed to the relief of Annapolis.

On June 5 the Defence weighed anchor and cruised to the west of the lighthouse, the Abigail, Captain F ernald, was ordered to replace Captain Bush's vessel in guarding the mouth of the harbor, and the Bonetta, Captain Becket, arrived from Canso with news that the French had raised the siege of Annapolis and were sending reënforcements to Louisbourg. The Molineux was ordered to Chapeaurouge Bay to take on board 150 French prisoners for Boston. The Hopestill sailed from Chapeaurouge Bay on June 5 at 7 o'clock in the evening, reached Casco Bay on June 18 and sailed on the 20th for Boston, where she arrived at 1.12 at night on the 21st. On June 6 Captain Bush came on shore at Chapeaurouge Bay.

The Tartar, Captain Fones, sailed on June 6 for Canso, where she arrived on the 7th, and sailed immediately to join the Resolution and the Bonetta, which had already sailed for the Gut of Canso on the evening of the 6th.

H.M.S. Chester, 50 guns, joined the fleet on June 9, and Warren sent word of the fact to Pepperell. Pepperell, also, sent a despatch to Warren by a shallop.

The fourteen transports which were to be convoyed to Boston by the Prince of Orange, according to the order of May 11, sailed June 10 under the convoy of the Bien Aimé, Captain Glayton, as the Prince of Orange was still missing. There were twenty-six vessels in this convoy, including the Molineux, Caesar, and four New Hampshire transports. A schooner was despatched from Chapeaurouge Bay for Canso with messages on this day.

About June 4 Captain Donahue, in the Resolution, sailed from Chapeaurouge Bay for Canso and the Gut. Captain Bush was ordered to Boston with prisoners on June 6, but these orders were probably countermanded, as he apparently did not make this voyage.

The Tartar was off Louisbourg on June 6 and was ordered to take Bush's place at the mouth of the harbor.

Warren wrote on this date, Jun. 6, that he had ordered the Defence to the Gut of Canso; but this was either a slip of the pen or else the order was changed, for the Tartar was sent. Commodore Warren sent a schooner to Annapolis on the 7th to recall the Massachusetts and Fame and to order the Shirley to Boston.

Six transports were ordered out to the fleet on June 11, and on the 13th all of the transports in Chapeaurouge Bay, fifty-four in number, sailed out to the fleet to strip the vessels for action.

Meanwhile, on June 12, H.M.S. Sunderland, 60 guns, H.M.S. Canterbury, 60 guns, H.M.S. Lark, 40 guns, a prize of 20 guns, and the ordinance store ship for Annapolis, the Blacket and Fenwick, Captain Kitchenman, arrived; two wood sloops were sent out to the fleet; and the Defence and Boston Packet sent a plundering expedition on shore near "Laten." The land forces at the Royal Battery seized seventeen shallops, thirty whaleboats, and a schooner, and Mr. Shipman on June 12 ran the schooner out of the harbor to the fleet. A shallop had been kept plying between the fleet and Grand Battery with messages.

The Resolution, Captain Donahue, reached Canso on June 5, with General Pepperell's orders of the 3d; the Tartar, as has been noted, arrived on the 7th; Captain Hodgkins arrived with supplies from Chapeaurouge Bay on the 11th, and sailed again for Chapeaurouge Bay, in company with "the small sloop," on or before June 14. Captain Bramham's sloop was at Canso on June 14, and sailed on the 15th for Chapeaurouge Bay. On that day the schooner Sally, Captain Smith, arrived at Canso from Boston in ten days, and reached Chapeaurouge Bay on the 18th.

Louisbourg capitulated on June 16, 1745, and the fleet of warships and transports sailed into the harbor on the 17th. On the 18th the French ship St. Francis Xavier, 300 tons, 12 guns, from Bordeaux, laden with wine and brandy, appeared off the lighthouse and was captured by H.M.S. Chester. Governor Wolcott credits the capture to the Connecticut sloop Defence, Captain Prentice, which probably assisted the Chester. The schooner Sally, Captain Smith, one of the despatch packets, arrived from Boston and Canso.

At Boston Captain Giddings, in a schooner, arrived on the 15th, the Molineux, Captain Snelling, with 143 prisoners on the 17th, and on the 19th the Caesar, Captain Griffith, a prize ship of 16 guns, and (in the evening) the Bien Aimé, Captain Gyton. Between June 20 and 27 several transports with troops sailed from Boston for Cape Breton Island. The Boston News-Letter states that Captain Snelling, in the ship Caesar, sailed June 25. This error has been followed by Windsor and Preble. It was really the Molineux, Captain Snelling, carrying 110 soldiers, that sailed from Nantasket early in the morning of the 25th, and not the snow Caesar, which was a vessel of 14 guns and was commanded by John (not George) Griffith. (Cf. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 44, page 76.) She had under convoy a schooner and a sloop, but lost sight of them in a thunderstorm on June 29.

Captain Bennett sailed from Louisbourg on the 20th and reached Boston July 2, with the first news of the capture of Louisbourg. Early in the morning of the next day, July 3, which was Commencement Day, Governor Shirley ordered all the bells in Boston to be rung and guns fired to announce and celebrate the victory.

Captain Bush sailed from Louisbourg for England on the 22d with Captain Montague and a joint letter from Warren and Pepperell to the Duke of Newcastle. The vessel was reported by a French prize to have been captured and taken into Saint- Malo, yet Captain Montague, with the news of the surrender of Louisbourg, arrived in England on July 20. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, July 23, the Tower and park guns in London were fired in honor of the capture of Cape Breton, and in the evening London was illuminated, amidst the blaze of many bonfires.

The Shirley, Captain Rous, arrived off Louisbourg from Annapolis, with artillery, on the 24th, but was prevented by a heavy fog from entering the harbor until the 25th. [23] She saluted the fleet with 17 guns. Coit's, Mumford's, and Robbins's vessels were taken into the King's pay on the 24th. This was doubtless a result of the action of the council of war, which on June 22 advised that eight vessels be used as transports to carry the prisoners to France, viz., two brigantines and a schooner belonging to Connecticut (probably the vessels commanded by Coit, Mumford, and Robbins), two sloops belonging to Boston, commanded by Bramham and Clark, a schooner (? the St. Peter) of York, commanded by Adams, a sloop of Portsmouth (the Abigail), "Jno. Furnell, Master," and two vessels commanded by Robert White and Saml Barnes. As the only schooner in the Connecticut contingent of Apr. 14 was the Charming Molly, Captain Byles, that had sailed for New England in May, it would seem probable that this schooner and one or both of the brigantines had come later with supplies or reënforcements. The embarkation of the French prisoners and refugees on the transports and warships for their journey to France began on June 24.

The Tartar joined the Resolution and the Bonetta in the Gut of Canso about June 8. The fleet of three vessels, under the command of Fones, cruised for a week in search of the enemy reënforcements, but without success. On the 15th, near Tachquamnash in Askmacouse Harbor, Famme Goose Bay, at six in the morning, smoke was sighted to leeward. The Tartar and Bonetta went in pursuit, believing it to be from the fires of the French and Indian troops. Soon after they had disappeared from sight, two sloops, two schooners, a shallopway, and about fifty Indian canoes appeared. The wind having dropped, the Resolution was left helplessly becalmed, and was easily surrounded and attacked by the lighter craft. Captain Donahue and his vessel were dangerously near capture, when a freshening breeze brought back the Tartar and Bonetta. When these vessels brought their guns to bear on the French and Indians, many were killed. The enemy then retreated into shoal water, the Resolution pursuing them at pistol-shot range until she ran aground, but later she was floated. The French and Indians retreated up the narrow creeks and sought refuge in the woods. They were under the command of M. Marin, a Canadian officer, and were about 1200 in number, being the reënforcements sent from the siege of Annapolis Royal to the relief of Louisbourg. This defeat which they suffered at Famme Goose Bay prevented their crossing to Cape Breton Island and reaching Louisbourg. Two days after the repulse the forces under Pepperell entered the city of Louisbourg.

The fleet under Fones cruised for another week in order to prevent a second attempt of the reënforcements to cross to Cape Breton Island, and then, on the 22d, Captain Fones despatched the Bonetta, Captain Beckett, to Canso with news of the defeat of Marin. The Bonetta arrived at Canso June 23.

Returning from Canso, the Bonetta rejoined Fones' fleet and cruised with them until the 26th, when Fones sent additional despatches to Commodore Warren. The Bonetta carried these, touching at Canso on the 27th, speaking the Defence off St. Esprit on the 29th, and reaching Chapeaurouge Bay the same day. Meanwhile the Tartar and the Resolution continued to guard the Gut of Canso. On Saturday, June 29, they sighted four Indians at a place called Fustic, about a league west of the Gut. Captain Donahue and eleven of his men went ashore in his launch to investigate, and were suddenly surrounded and cut off by about 300 Indians. The Tartar, being within musket shot of the shore, tried to cover the landing party with gunfire, but Captain Donahue and five of his men were killed, the other six being captured. The Indians are reported to have cut open Donahue's chest, to have sucked his blood, and then to have eaten Donahue and the other five slain. Captain Fones in the Tartar, with Captain Donahue's Resolution, reached Canso July 7 with the sad news of Donahue's death, and on the 8th the Resolution sailed into Louisbourg Harbor with her colors hoisted at half-mast. Captain David Donahue was the only naval commander to lose his life in the expedition of 1745 against Louisbourg. [24] Capt. Joseph Richardson was appointed captain of the Resolution.

The Massachusetts, Captain Tyng, returning from Annapolis, passed Canso on June 26 without stoppin g, apparently not seeing the signals of Captain Cutter, the commandant there, and therefore must have reached Louisbourg about the 27th. The Defence sailed from Louisbourg on June 28, spoke the Bonetta, Captain Becket, about 8 o'clock on the 29th off St. Esprit, and anchored at Canso on June 30.

H.M.S. Hector, Captain Cornwall, sailed from Louisbourg June 30 with despatches, and arrived at Boston July 9, "in eight days." The Defence sailed from Canso at 7 A.M. on July 3. The Diamond, Capt. Ephraim Doane, sailed from Louisbourg with sick soldiers on July 2 and reached Canso at 3 P.M. on July 3, sailing again from Canso July 5 for New London.

Captain Giddings, who sailed from Boston June 22 with despatches and several vessels and one company of Colonel Choate's regiment, arrived at Chapeaurouge Bay July 2 and anchored at Louisbourg July 3. Captain Edman also arrived at Louisbourg on the 3d, with a company of Worcester County men.

At least one of the transports that sailed from Boston with part of Colonel Choate's regiment, a day or so after Captain Giddings sailed, arrived at Canso July 3.

On July 3 there arrived at Louisbourg the Fame from Annapolis, a schooner, probably Captain Giddings's, from Boston, the Defence from Canso, and a 20-gun man-of-war, with 200 soldiers, from Newfoundland. H.M.S. Launceston and several transports sailed for France with about 1200 refugees, H.M.S. Lark for Newfoundland, and H.M.S. Superb, Captain Tiddeman, for Boston. Some of the transports may have sailed for New England on July 3.

Captain Robbins, Captain Cerl [? Coit], Captain Mumford and several sloop transports, six vessels in all, sailed for France July 4, and a schooner from New England, with troops (Cleaves says two transports), arrived.

On July 5 Captain Saunders with dispatches, H.M.S. Eltham, a schooner (apparently the Hopestill), and the "Annapolis store ship" Blacket and Fenwick, Captain Kitcherman [Kitchenman] sailed for Boston. Captain Saunders arrived on the 14th; the Eltham, the storeship, and a prize sloop with 204 prisoners arrived on the 17th. This last- mentioned may have been one of the vessels that sailed for Canso on the 5th.

The Defence and "two other sloops" sailed from Louisbourg July 5 for Canso, where the Defence arrived on the 6th.

On July 12, in latitude 42° 16', between Cape Sable and the Isle of Shoals, the Diamond spoke Captain Saunders in an armed vessel that had sailed from Louisbourg after the Diamond sailed.

Commodore Warren issued orders dated July 5 to Captain Fones and Captain Donahue. The latter, however, had been killed, and Captain Fones was still in the Gut of Canso or Bay of Vert. Captain Fones may have received these orders when the Tartar reached Canso on the 7th, or he may have joined Commodore Warren's squadron on the 8th and then received them. In either case he seems to have returned immediately to the Bay of Vert, following these instructions, and to have gone to Isle de St. Jean, to seize that island and bring away prisoners or hostages. They landed at St. Peter's, on Isle de St. Jean, and according to Pollard, "devestated the establishment of le sieur Roma, and another [estate belonging] to la Joie, then under the command of an Ensign of foot, M. Dupont Duvivier, and 15 men. Duvivier escaped to the woods and when a party of English advanced into the forest, they were set on by Duvivier, reinforced by a number of Indians and 28 men were killed." [25] July 5, in the morning, a schooner arrived at Louisbourg from Boston via Canso, having on board Colonel Choate and two companies of soldiers. The Shirley, Captain Rous, sailed July 6 amid the salutes of the men-of-war, with despatches for England, where she arrived after a voyage of three weeks. The Molineux, Captain Snelling, with a sloop and schooner, arrived at Louisbourg from Boston with recruits on the 6th.

On the 4th the Molineux spoke a schooner that had sailed on the 23d from Boston for Louisbourg. A Rhode Island schooner commanded by James Jordon arrived at Canso in the afternoon of July 8. [26] On the 9th seven transports sailed from Louisbourg for Boston with prisoners, and a sloop commanded by Trefethen sailed for Portsmouth. Another diarist says that eight schooners sailed for New England with prisoners on the 9th. A schooner sailed for France on the 10th.

The Defence sailed from Canso for St. Peter's on July 11, spoke Captain Hammond, who was bound for Louisbourg, on the 13th, and returned to Canso on the 15th. A schooner, Captain Jordon from Canso, three weeks out from Rhode Island, arrived at Louisbourg July 11, and five or six schooners with prisoners and soldiers, together with the Fame, Captain Thompson, with sick soldiers, sailed at 10 A.M. for Boston. Captain Mitchell, in command of a sloop transport, Donahue's Resolution, Captain Richardson, and two schooners (one diarist says two sloops and two schooners) were in the fleet of five or six vessels that sailed for New England on the 12th.

The Boston Packet, Captain Fletcher, on July 13 took a French privateer schooner, 4 guns (4 cannon and 12 swivel guns), from Canada, laden with provisions, and from this vessel it was learned that the Prince of Orange had been captured by the Renommée several weeks before.

Several wood sloops returned from St. Ann to Louisbourg on July 14; a transport sailed at 6 A.M. from Louisbourg, reached Canso on the 15th, passed Cape Negro on the 23rd, and reached Boston on the 29th; and the Amplus sailed from Louisbourg about 7 A.M., spoke a brigantine from Massachusetts on the 15th, and at four in the afternoon of the 16th put into Canso, where they found strawberries ripe. The Amplus sailed from Canso at dawn the next day, sighted several vessels from Boston, passed Cape Sable on the 26th, sighted Cape Ann on the 28th, reached Nantasket on the 29th, and anchored at Boston before sunset.

Late in June or early in July Captain Wickham arrived at Boston from Newport with 74 Rhode Island sailors for the Vigilant, 61 of whom were embarked before July 3 on the snow Caesar. The Caesar was delayed in Boston until July 9, when she was ordered to sail forthwith, and she arrived at Louisbourg July 16, having convoyed six or seven vessels with troops from "the neighboring governments," that is, Rhode Island and Connecticut. These vessels doubtless included the two Rhode Island transports (Sheffield mentions two brigantines, the Success and the Susan), the brigantine Success (which was hired by the Colony before June 18, 1745, from William Ellery and Philip Tillinghast, both of Newport), and the schooner Beaver, Captain Cahoone, which sailed from Newport July 2, with three companies of Rhode Island soldiers.

Two sloops, under Captain Chapman and Captain Fitch, with troops from Connecticut, arrived at Louisbourg on July 17, and apparently also Capt. John Wise arrived from Portsmouth, whither he sailed back, arriving there before July 25. The Molineux, Captain Snelling, sailed at 10 A.M. for Boston with 150 prisoners, passed White Head on the 18th, at midnight on the 19th, in a fog, ran afoul of a sloop bound from Boston to Newfoundland, passed Cape Negro on the 24th and spoke a sloop thirteen days out from Louisbourg, and on the 28th, at 2 A.M., anchored in Boston Harbor.

Some vessels going east passed Canso on July 17, and two more on July 18. Captain Adams sailed from Boston with letters on July 17, and Captain Stephenson on or soon after that date, both for Louisbourg.

Meanwhile the sloop Massachusetts, Captain Saunders, had arrived at Boston on July 14, and had been ordered on July 16 to go to the fort on the St. George's River. She immediately sailed on this mission, and, returning, reached Boston before Aug. 19.

Captain Daniel and others from Louisbourg, in a sloop for New England, arrived at Canso July 16, and at night another sloop for the same destination arrived there. They both sailed on the 17th.

On July 18, the ship Massachusetts sailed for Boston, some vessels sailed for France, and a sloop arrived. A ship sailed for France on July 19. The ship Massachusetts reached Boston before Aug. 1.

The Defence sailed from Canso at sunrise on July 20, and reached Louisbourg a little before sunset. A snow sailed for France, and a ship arrived from Boston, with women as well as men.

Captain Bennett, Captain Elwell, and other transports arrived from Boston July 22, and a large French vessel was sighted off the harbor.

At 9 A.M. On the 23rd the Defence, Princess Mary, and Canterbury went in pursuit of the French ship and took her in the afternoon. [27] She proved to be the Charmante, an East Indiaman of 28 guns, from Bengal. With the first broadside she struck, then hoisted her colors again, tried to escape, and struck again as the English vessels closed in on her. She was said to be worth 200,000 pounds.

The Boston Packet and several wood sloops came into Louisbourg July 23, and on the next day the Defence, Princess Mary, Canterbury, and Charmante sailed into Louisbourg Harbor. One diarist says that new recruits arrived from New England on the 24th. Captain Wise sailed from New Hampshire on or after July 9 with letters, and reached Louisbourg on or before July 25.

On July 25 a large Rhode Island schooner, commanded by Captain Burton or Barton, arrived at Louisbourg. In the afternoon the French Malouin Ship [28] sailed for France with refugees, and was convoyed off the coast to a distance of 60 leagues by the Tartar, Captain Fones, in order that she might not speak to any of the expected Indiamen. Captain Lovett's vessel went to St. Peter's to get wood.

The Caesar was in Louisbourg Harbor on July 20, and was ordered to carry French prisoners to Rhode Island. She was still at Louisbourg on the 24th, but must have sailed soon afterwards. She arrived at Newport Aug. 11, 1745, and was thereupon discharged from service. The Fame arrived at Boston July 28, was still there on July 31, and was then ordered to Newport. She was ordered to discharge Thomas Russell, John Vickary, Roger Vickary, and Thomas Armstrong, all of Essex, Mass., before leaving Boston. She arrived at Newport Aug. 7 and was thereupon discharged from service.

Captain Branscome sailed from New Hampshire for Louisbourg, with letters, on or after July 20.

Several transports and traders, including at least a sloop and a schooner from Boston, arrived at Louisbourg on the 25th or 26th. Some sloops went to St. Peter's and Chapeaurouge Bay to get wood. Captain Hodge and some others sailed on the 26th for New England, Hodge arriving at Boston Aug. 6. The Defence sailed from Louisbourg July 27 and reached Canso on the 28th. Ten wood sloops could be seen off Louisbourg bound for St. Peter's. In the afternoon two men-of-war brought in a prize topsail sloop, which was a tender from the Bay of St. Lawrence. According to Craft, twenty-two prize vessels were sold at public auction (vendue) on the 27th.

After the Tartar, Captain Fones, had left the French Malouin ship some 60 leagues south- southeast of Louisbourg, she returned. On her way back Captain Fones spied a ship, whereupon he hoisted French colors and decoyed her towards the harbor of Louisbourg, in order that she might be captured. The two vessels were sighted off Scatarie on July 28. The Chester and the Mermaid went in chase and soon captured the French vessel, which proved to be the Heron, 24 guns, an East Indiaman from Bengal. The Tartar came into Louisbourg Harbor in the morning of July 29, and the Chester, Mermaid and Heron arrived in the afternoon. [29] They fired a salute of fifteen guns, which was returned by Commodore Warren. According to the Briefs, the Tartar must have sailed for the Bay of Vert on a cruise on or shortly after July 29, but she seems to have been back again at Louisbourg on Aug. 7.

On July 29 a sloop from Boston arrived with livestock and lime, and apparently also a vessel from Salem. Captain Young and Captain Smith arrived from Boston at night with 230 men. Captain Branscome from Portsmouth, with a brigantine and schooner and three companies of New Hampshire troops, arrived July 30.

On July 31 the Boston Packet and the Defence were ordered to cruise off Louisbourg in the direction of Scatarie. The Defence, however, did not return from Canso until Aug. 6.

On Aug. 1 Captain Talcott sailed from Louisbourg for New London and Parsons sailed for New England. The Boston Packet, Captain Fletcher, was cruising to the eastward of Louisbourg, and on the evening of Aug. 1 she captured a barge which belonged to the Heron and which had gone in to Scatarie to get a pilot. The Frenchmen thought the Boston Packet was a French brigantine, as she was flying French colors; and therefore they went out to warn her not to go into Louisbourg and were taken prisoners by Captain Fletcher. The next morning the Boston Packet sighted a large French ship, which the officer from the Heron thought was the Triton, of 40 guns. The Boston Packet fired three signal guns to warn the ships in the harbor that she had seen a sail. She also sent the captured barge into the harbor with the news. Then, hoisting French colors, she tacked back and forth, trying to decoy the French ship into the harbor. Soon the Chester and the Sunderland, both under French colors, were towed out of the harbor and made sail. When they reached the Boston Packet all three bore down on the French ship, lowered their French colors, and raised English ones. Thereupon the Chester fired a single gun, and the French ship, the Notre Dame de la Deliverance, 22 guns, Pierre Litan, captain, struck. She was from the South Sea, with over 300,000 pounds sterling, in gold and silver, from Peru and a cargo of cocoa, Peruvian wool, and Jesuits' bark. She had sailed from Cadiz on this cruise over three years before. It is not surprising that a great amount of litigation followed the taking of so valuable a prize. The prize case of Notre Dame de la Deliverance was for many years in the courts, and much information in regard to the Colonial cruisers is found in the evidence there presented.

In the afternoon (Aug. 2) the warships and their prize came into Louisbourg Harbor. Captain Ward arrived from Kittery, Captain Powell from Casco, and some sloops with wood from St. Peter's. Captain Ward reported that he had seen five large ships and some sloops off Cape Sable. These were thought to be a French fleet.

A ship arrived from London on Aug. 3, a schooner from New York on the 4th, and the Defence, which sailed from Canso on the 5th at 6 A.M., arrived at Louisbourg on the 6th. On Aug. 7 the Tartar was sent on a cruise along the coast from Louisbourg to Canso, in order to meet and escort the Hector, in which Governor Shirley was expected, in case that vessel should hesitate to venture inshore in the fog. If the Tartar should not meet the Hector before she reached Canso, she was to return immediately to Louisbourg with a report on the conditions at Canso. She followed these instructions, reached Canso long before Shirley did, and returned to Louisbourg, where she arrived Aug. 15.

Capt. Zebulon Elwell, Captain Bennett, Captain Ryon, and others sailed from Boston Aug. 8. Bennett arrived at Boston Aug. 13, in five days - a fast trip. Captain Sherburn's schooner was wrecked on the rocks on Island Battery, while going after wood on the 9th. Several sloops returned from St. Peter's with wood, and a schooner, perhaps the Beaver, Captain Cahoone, arrived from Newport, R.I. Craft says that on Aug. 10 thirty-seven vessels belonging to the army were sold at public auction for 1419 pounds. Capt. Aaron Bull, in a sloop arrived Aug. 10, as well as a vessel from Charlestown and one from New York. Captain Branscome sailed for New England Aug. 13 .

The Tartar, Captain Fones, arrived at Louisbourg on the 15th from Canso, and on the same day a deputation, consisting of two priests and five agents, came from Isle de St. Jean. They may have come on the Tartar. A number of transports sailed for Shedbuckda for wood, and several traders came in.

H.M.S. Superb and H.M.S. Hector sailed from Boston Aug. 3 and reached Louisbourg at sunset on Aug. 16, bringing Governor Shirley, Mrs. Shirley, Mrs. Warren, and others. The next day, when Governor Shirley went on shore, the Hector fired seventeen guns, the Canterbury seventeen guns, and the city nineteen guns. Several vessels arrived from Boston on the 17th, and on the 18th the Massachusetts frigate, Captain Tyng, arrived, with several members of the Governor's Council and two companies of men.

About Aug. 20 a packet arrived from the West, that is, New England. A supply vessel from Massachusetts and several traders arrived on the 21st.

On Aug. 20 the Tartar was ordered to go to Newfoundland with despatches, and to take with her, under convoy, the schooner Elizabeth, with troops and stores. The Tartar's crew had been depleted by sickness, so that she had to recruit hands from the land forces. She sailed Aug. 23, successfully carried out this mission, and, returning, arrived at Louisbourg Sept. 9.

Soon after Aug. 23 the Beaver, Capt. Cahoone, a Rhode Island vessel, must have sailed from Louisbourg for Newport.

The Boston Packet came to Louisbourg Harbor on the 26th. News reached Louisbourg that a French privateer sloop had taken some English traders going to St. Ann, but had given back the vessels after taking off the cargoes. The Boston Packet and the Bonetta were sent in chase on the 27th, but, not sighting the privateer, returned. The Hector sailed Aug. 27.

On Aug. 29 a sloop was sighted off the harbor, and the Boston Packet and Tyng's lieutenant in the Bonetta went in chase. These entries of an anonymous diarist may refer to the same occurrences that Craft gives under the dates of Aug. 27 and 28. A sloop came into Louisbourg on the 30th. She had been taken by the privateer sloop which was chased by the Boston Packet. The Boston Packet came into Louisbourg about noon, but sailed immediately.

A ship was sighted off Louisbourg on the 31st, and six men-of-war went in chase. The ship Massachusetts sailed from Louisbourg Aug. 31 for Boston, where she arrived Sept. 7, after a six days' trip. She sailed again for Louisbourg on or after Sept. 13. Captain Lais, in a sloop with 60 or 70 men, sailed on the 31st for Connecticut.

Captain Spry, in a sloop, and the Resolution, Captain Richardson (or, according to Craft, Tucker's sloop), sailed in pursuit of a French privateer on Sept. 1. The Resolution, ran afoul of a vessel at night, but, after getting clear, followed her until daylight, when she took the chase as a prize. This was a Carolina rice ship of 14 guns, that had been taken by De Salvert's squadron three weeks before, east of Newfoundland. Captain Richardson brought her into Louisbourg on the 3d. She was the ship that was off Louisbourg on Saturday, Aug. 31, and had a cargo of rice, pitch, and tea. From her it was learned that the Renommée had returned to Brest and sailed again with De Salvert's squadron on July 6. The sloop Union, Captain Mayhew, was in Louisbourg Harbor on Sept. 3.

Captain Spry returned to Louisbourg Sept. 4, and a sloop and schooner sailed to cruise off Scatarie. The Resolution, Captain Richardson, was ordered to Annapolis on the 4th, and probably sailed on the 5th. She carried despatches in regard to De Salvert's presence, and was to go from Annapolis to the Harbor of Grand Passage, 10 leagues to the west of Annapolis, where she was to remain until Sept. 30, all the while on the watch for the approach of the French fleet. If it appeared, a whaleboat was to be sent to Annapolis and the Resolution was to return immediately to Louisbourg. Captain Clark, on his way from Louisbourg to Boston, put into Canso Sept. 8.

A schooner from Rhode Island arrived at Louisbourg, Sept. 8, having sighted De Salvert's squadron of five topsail vessels and one small one off Cape Sable on the 4th.

On Sept. 9 the Tartar, Captain Fones, arrived from Newfoundland, and Captain Miles came in from Connecticut.

The Boston Packet was sent on the 10th to Cape Sable, to look for the French fleet, and returned Sept. 25. A vessel arrived from Beaubassin in the Gut of Canso on the 13th, and Colonel Gorham sailed for Beaubassin the next day.

Capt. Aaron Bull sailed from Louisbourg for Connecticut on the 19th. Captain Sanford sailed for New York on the 22nd, and on the 23d Captain Bingham arrived in a sloop from New London and a brig arrived from New York. Colonel Gorham returned from the Bay of Vert on the 24th.

The Shirley, Captain Rous, arrived from England on the 24th, after a voyage of four weeks. She fired fifteen guns, and the Superb answered with thirteen guns. At 3 P.M. Commodore Warren raised his flag as Rear Admiral of the Blue, amidst the salutes of the ships and forts.

Several of the Colonial war vessels had already been discharged from service. The time of battles, of attacks, and of rich prizes had passed. The vessels still retained in service were thenceforth to have the dull lot of an army of occupation.

The ship Massachusetts, enlarged from a contemporary engraving of 1745. Curiously enough, the engraver mistook her rating of 20 guns for a broadside of 20 guns.

[1] This account of the movements of the Colonial vessels in the Louisbourg Expedition of 1745 is based primarily on the printed diaries of Rev. Adonijah Bidwell, Chaplain of the Fleet (REGISTER, vol. 27, pp 153-160), Benjamin Cleaves (ib., vol. 66, pp. 113-124), Sir William Pepperell (Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, New Series, vol. 20, pp. 141-176), Dudley Bradstreet (Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 31, pp. 417-446), Benjamin Stearns(ib., vol. 42, pp. 135-144), and Rev. Joseph Emerson (ib., vol. 44, pp. 65-84), the Pepperell Papers (Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Series 6, vol. 10), the Letters of Capt. George Curwen (Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, vol. 3, pp. 186-188), The Letters and Journal of Benjamin Craft (ib., vol. 6, pp. 181-194), the Journal of Lieut. Daniel Giddings (ib., vol. 48, pp. 293- 304), the Letters and Journal of Maj. Seth Pomeroy (in Trumbull's History of Northamptom, Massachusetts, vol. 2), Roger Wolcott's Journal (Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, vol. 1, pp. 131-161), and various anonymous manuscript diaries in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Other contemporary sources, such as the Massachusetts Provincial records and archives, the Suffolk County Court files, the Boston News-Letter, etc. have been used to substantiate and amplify the items in the diaries.

[2] A snow differs from a brig in that it has a trysail mast just abaft and close to the mainmast, which carries a trysail on a gaff and boom. The trysail mast goes into the maintop, and the trysail is furled without lowering the gaff.

[3] Bidwell has been followed in regard to the armaments. He is correct in five out of the six cases that can be verified.

[4] The terms brigantine and brig were used interchangeably at this period, the latter being an abbreviation or corruption of the former, and were applied to the sort of vessel now known as a brig.

[5] A galley carries its guns on a continuous or flush deck, unlike a frigate, which has deep waists and high poops. Cf. Preble in REGISTER, vol. 22, p 396.

[6] The Letter d'un Habitant, p. 36, reads: "Mars. 14. Ce fut le quatorze, que nous vimee les premiers Navires ennemis, ils n'etoient encore que deux et nous les primes d'abord pour des Vaisseaux Francais."

[7] The briefs in the case of Notre Dame de la Deliverance state that the Massachusetts frigate went to Cape Ann to pick up the Caesar, evidently following the original orders rather than the events. These briefs are often inaccurate in regard to details not pertinent to their arguments.

[8] She is often called the Massachusetts frigate, doubtless to distinguish her from the Province sloop Massachusets, Captain Saunders. A frigate is a ship of war, usually of two decks, light built and designed for swift sailing.

[11] Pepperell does not mention the arrival of any transports on the 8th, but one diarist states that he arrived on that day, and Pomeroy writes: "Monday at evening, which was the 8th of April, came in seven more."

[13] Pepperell says Captain Donahue and a schooner, but Pepperell is not always accurate in regard to rigs, and calls the Prince of Orange a schooner. George Curwen, in a letter dated Apr. 17, but perhaps finished later, says Donahue and Swan of Marblehead]

[14] According to Cleaves, at 3 o'clock, Apr. 21. Perhaps he means the preceding afternoon, as this item is followed by accounts of what happened in the morning. Cf. his record in regard to Brimblecomb.

[16] Francis Parkman in the Atlantic Monthly for March, 1891, p. 322, wrote: "two sloops hired in Connecticut of 16 guns each." Burrage, p. 22, follows Parkman. He states also that there were 13 vessels in the fleet, viz., Massachusetts, 9; Connecticut, 2; Rhode Island, 1; and New Hampshire, 1. There were in reality 15 armed vessels, viz., Massachusetts, 12 (of which 2 were hired from Rhode Island owners); Connecticut, 1; Rhode Island, 1; and New Hampshire, 1.

[17] Perhaps a fishing village on Isle St. Pierre, evidently not the town of St. Peter's. The Boston News-Letter for May 23 says that the fisheries at Forechetto and Lawrembeque were destroyed.

[18] The logs of the Launceston and the Mermaid enter this capture under the date of May 1. This is due to the fact that the nautical day in a ship's log always runs from noon of one day to noon of the next, and is called by the calendar day on which it ends, so that any events occurring in the afternoon or evening are entered under the date of the following day. Bradstreet records a rumor that two supply ships were taken.

[19] Kimball, Correspondence of the Colonial Governors of Rhode Island, vol. 1, p. 341, footnote, confuses this voyage with that of the Tartar in April.

[20] Pepperell says that the transports arrived on the 17th. Rous, however, was certainly off Louisbourg on the 16th, with at least some of the transports.

[21] A billander is a two-masted vessel, like a brig, but she has her mainsail bent to the whole length of a yard hanging fore and afte and inclined to the horizon at an angle of forty-five degrees, the foremost lower corner being secured to a ringbolt in the deck. She carries a square maintopsail and topgallant sail.

[22] One diarist says a brig, and Pomeroy says that the vessel was taken on the 5th and was said to be a 34-gun ship. Cleaves says that a big ship and a snow were taken on the 4th and two rice ships on the 5th. Evidently the rumors in camp exaggerated the number of prizes taken.

[23] Accounts vary, giving Rous's arrival on the 24th, the 25th, and the 26th. Cleaves gives Rous's arrival from Annapolis on June 26 and July 2.]

[24] David Donahue was mate on the Mary galley, of London, which was wrecked, 4 Sept. 1742, in the River Gambia, on the western coats of Afirca. The ship was plundered and destroyed by the natives, and her cargo of slaves escaped and barbarously murdered all of the crew except the captain and Donahue. Those two hid for twenty-seven days in the remains of the cabin, and finally made their escape and reached Senegal. But Donahue escaped death at the hands of the African savages only to be barbarously killed three years later by the Indians in Nova Scotia.

[25] James B. Pollard's Historical Sketch of the Eastern Regions of New France , p. 17. Cf. Also Thomas C. Haliburton' Nova Scotia, p. 123, and McLennan's Louisbourg, p. 166.

[27] Curwen states this in a letter dated July 25, and he adds that on the next day Colonel Gorham was to go in a sloop to Canada, with about 30 French prisoners.

[28] A ship hailing from or sailing from the port of Saint-Malo, on the English Channel, in the old French province of Brittany.

[29] One diarist states that this rich prize was brought in on the 28th, and that it had been taken a day or two ago. He also wrote similarly on Aug. 2 that that rich prize had been taken some days ago.

[Chapeaurouge Bay, mentioned in the article, is now known as Gabarus Bay. It is which is just to the southwest and within sighting distance of Fortress Louisbourg. Editor] ============END============= "Louisbourg Ships" Editor and Coordinator: Carroll Knox Transcribers: Faith Amadio Gloria Blanchard Peggy Feltmate Carroll Knox John Langill ___________ May 1998 *This electronic edition is brought to you by the volunteers of The Chignecto Project http://www.chignecto.net). The Chignecto Project's mission is to create easily-accessible electronic editions of genealogical and historical material for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for the public domain. We have exercised all possible diligence to ensure the accuracy of this edition. If you would like to ensure our volunteers stay inspired, please drop by our web site and thank them in our guest book. This edition is released to the public for not- for-profit use only, and for such use it may be freely distributed. For all other use, especially commercial, copyright applies and permission must be sought from The Chignecto Project. The Chignecto Project is not legally liable for any errors or omissions that may have crept in; this electronic text is provided on an "as is" basis. We wish to thank the Nova Scotia Mailing List (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6625/nsfaq.htm l) for its assistance in the coordination of this project, without which this would not have been possible.

*Chignecto Project Electronic Edition, May 1998.* Edition used: January 1923. New England Historic Genealogical Register (NEHGR) Vol. 77, No. 1 (1923) pp 59-71 and Vol. 77, No. 2 (1923) pp 95-110.

[Notes from Editor: As page numbers in electronic editions do not correspond to those in original printed versions, they are omitted from any Tables of Contents or Illustration Lists in works that we transcribe. Spellings are left as they were in the original work. Sentence & punctuation anomalies are also (mostly) left intact. Footnotes have been converted to endnotes and appear within [ ] brackets. Pound sterling is written as "pound", as the symbol does not translate reliably on all computers. Carroll Knox, Editor]

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