New England Raids Fort Louisbourg 1745

With France and England again at war in 1744, somebody had to rout the enemy from its Canadian stronghold. Pepperrell, at first, flatly declined the job. But Royal Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts pressed harder. No one in New England had more resources and a better reputation. Pepperrell relented, but still had to convince enough men to do the job in an era with no standing colonial army.

As American presidents do so well today, Shirley launched a pre-war propaganda campaign. The well-built French station at Louisbourg was a palpable threat to the lives of every New Englander, he explained. If we did not take the French out first, they might come for us. A pre-emptive strike was the only solution.

Certainly the large stone fortress did give the French (who had arrived there in the late 1500s well before the British) power along the St. Lawrence River and access all the way to the Great Lakes. Yes, the troops at Louisbourg had recently attacked the British outpost at Canso in nearby Nova Scotia. Yes, a few Maine towns had been terrorized by marauding French warships. But it wasn't until French privateers stationed at Louisbourg began picking off New England fishing boats and merchant ships that the locals took notice. Fish were to 18^th century economics what oil is today, and the Grand Banks were loaded with fish. So the men of New England signed on with Gen. Pepperrell for $25 per month and a free blanket per man. Ultimately, it was the lure of looting Louisbourg that brought many aboard the transport ships.

And one more thing – largely Protestant New Englanders were quite certain that God favored them over the Catholic French. Louisbourg made an ideal proving ground for the Almighty to make His will known.

Although Admiral Peter Warren became an English hero after the siege, much of the credit for victory must go to Pepperrell. According to Joe Frost of Eliot, Maine, a direct descendant, Sir William was a truly popular guy, a man's man. It was an era, unlike today, when the chief commander actually went to war. Although in his early 50s, Pepperrell personally accompanied his rag-tag militia of farm boys and fishermen, often speaking to them directly, running the show with a loose hand.

The French were expecting British naval reprisals. The star-shaped fortress at Louisbourg had been built for just that purpose. What they hadn't expected was the sheer number of plucky New Englanders who sailed to the defense of their precious fishing grounds. They hadn't expected the troops to begin the siege by land, quickly knocking out the Royal Battery, the weakest defense point, and turning the French cannons on the city.

Luckily for the French, there were few trained gunners. Cannon were as likely to explode as to fire on target. For many New Englanders, the trip was, initially, more like a holiday, than war. Men who were not misfiring the cannons might be wrestling, drinking, wasting ammunition with target practice, raiding local homes or playing an early version of tennis -- much to the chagrin of their general -- who dared not inflict harsh discipline for fear of losing control.

Life inside the fortress of Louisbourg was harsh even in the best of times with killing Nova Scotian winters and the cutting Atlantic winds. Food was always in short supply and the reluctant French soldiers defending the populace were often ragged, over-worked and poorly trained. Pepperrell and Warren, who often disagreed on strategy, knew a great deal about the workings and layout of the fortress. New England and British traders, defecting French soldiers and exchanged prisoners had documented its weaknesses. Highest on the list were low soldier morale and crumbling fort walls rebuilt with wood. Worst, the whole city was vulnerable from a high ground attack on the King's Bastion.

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