THE EIGHT WITH FRANCE FOR NORTH AMERICA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14281, 1 August 1908, Page 5

THE EIGHT WITH FRANCE FOR NORTH AMERICA

111.-THE TAKING OF LOUISBOURG,

In (he Witness of May 27 there is a series of eight portraits'of men whose lives were more or less connected with the struggle for North America, and two of these men are Wolfe and Amherst And what a host of historical associations spring up with the mention of their names. We are accustomed to associate Wolfo with the Heights of Abraham. as-Jt ho descended from heaven to fight that battle alone, and it is a matter for regret that so much history teaching is connected with isolated facts. Let us, then, assist to a more comprehensive view of the light with France for supremacy, by refcenee to another event id which .Wolfo was engaged, though as one of three brigadiers under General Amherst. In 1758, Great Britain was sunk m despondency. Chesterfield declared she was no longer a nation. But at-this time Pitt obtained a free hand, and, flinging '.he sordid part of tho Government to Newcastle, who revelled in it. devoted himself "not merely to reduce Franco to her legitimate sphere in America, and make her harmless against Great Britain in Europe, but to drive her wholly from the western hemisphere, to wrest from her every possession sho had outside her own borders, to leave' her crushed, humiliated, and powerless for aggression." With tnis purpose in view there were to be three expeditions in America, with Ticoiidevoga en Like Champlain, Fort Dnqucsnc and Louisbourg as their objectives; and of theso the last is tho only one we wish to refer-to at present. But how many know where Louisbourg is? It has disappeared- from most maps, for to-day it is little more than a collection of fishermen's htils by tho sea shore; but the author of" The Fight with France for North America" (A. G. Bradley) says of it: "It has not been given in modern times to many centres of note and power to enjoy within tho short 6paoe of a century and a-half at once such world-wide famo and such profound oblivion." And again: "With hov fino harbour, her natural defences, her commanding situation in the northern seas, Louisbourg only existed as a menaw to the enemies of ihoso who held her. a refuge to tho hunted. -i rallying point for the hunters of the ocean; the scourge of Nova Scotia, the curse of tho Newfoundland and the New England coasts, and a name as familiar then in Europe as it i 6 now iorgotten. Since its restoration to France fit had been taken by the New Engiandcrs. and restored bv treaty] a million sterling had been spent on its fortifications. Fnanquet, the eminent engineer, assisted by skilled artificers, had dono- the work, and from behind its two-mile circle gf Btone bastions and massive curtains of well-mortared (masonry nearly 400 cannon frowned defiance upon all new comers." It was against this -Louisbourg, "the Dunkirk of the North," situated just immediately south-west of - the extreme east point of Capo Breton Island, that Pitt directed one of his expeditions. Pitt's intentions as regards Canada were generally known, and fleets were preparing at Kochefort an<l Toulon to go west with m<jqi, armaments, and provisions. Hawkc, howevor, drove tho French fleet at Kochefort, helter-skelter on to their own rocks andsandbanks, while Osborn guarded the Straits of Gibraltar, and the Toulon squadron did not try to oust him from his position. Tho command of tho North American fleet waii given to Admiral Boscaweri, a grandson of: Arabella Churchill, and therefore of Marlborough blood. "Old Dreadnought," or "Wryn-neckod Dick," as he was indifferently called, was a bluff old sea dog with a Jargo outlook, and therefore above the potty ill-feeling aryl jealousy which so often exists when the two arms have to combine in a common cause. On February 19, 1758, Boscawen sailed from tho Solent with Wolfe and tho British contingent, whioh was to bo reinforced by the troops already at Halifax, and awaiting European co-operation Amherst followed after, but it was not until Juno 2 that the fleet of 200 ships of all kinds, and with an army of 12,000 on board, arrived off Louisbourg Harbour, on the shores of which the fortified town was garrisoned with 4000, and prepared'to stand a siege of 12 months, In tho harbour, too, were seven line-of-battleships and- five frigates carrying 550 guns and 3000 sailors ready to mist in .the defence, The fleet, however may be dismissed at once, for after' the British troops, landed, the French admiral, ' Dcagouttcs, rather than lese all his ships prudently sunk/four of them by night in the channel, to protect tho rest"': another, tno frigate Arethusa, "'bravely manned and commanded," with shot holes plugged, ran the gauntlet of tho British fleet in a fog and bore safely away to Franco to carry the news of the sore plight of Louisbourg; OUt). sailors, seeing their opportunity, seized two more, burning one to tho water's edge and.removing the other to a safe situation; at another time bombs set fire to one, and it- ignited two others, the tlntae being also burnt to the water's edge; >w j t ],° J% S Art »■ FjXmCh m POWCI ' »P°» tl'e Aorth Atlantic coast ceased to exist. But to return to the land force. After reeonnoitenmg in a heavy sea it was seen ated, the outlook however, WM not too promising. On tho morning 0 f June „ Wolfe tried- to effect a landing, but, on neanng ftb s h o re he was met with such a hail of bal and round shot that his ardent- soul shrank from landing his men further into such a murderous fire He was just on the point of signalling to his flotilla to eheer off, when three boats on the (lank, either unaware of or refuoin" to see the signal, were observed dashing°for a rocky ledge at the comer of the cove " Disciplinarian though ho was, Wolfe followed suit and effected a landing though boats wero smashed oaid men drowned in doing so; indeed, in the landing of the troops required, fully 100 boat 6 were destroyed. Gradually tho French retired witnin the fortifications, spiking the guns and burning everything as they fell back. It might be mentioned here 'that Wolfe " had with him a largo corps of light, infantry, .picked for their marksmanship from various regiments," and this corps he trained in tactics since more familiar, "but regarded at tho time as quite a strange innovation on the part of the vigorous and eccentric brigadier. ..It was merely a matter of advancing in loose formation, and using all the inequalities of- the ground for protection, coupled with a light and easy costume for the men, namely a sliort jacket, small round hat, and a kind of light woollen trousers, cut moderately tight."' It is said that one of the officers, more educated than the rest, said to Wolfe that, his corps reminded him of what Xenophon had written. "That is exactly -where I got the idea," replied Wolfe, "only these people never read anything, and consequently believe tho idea to be-a novel one." For a fortnight or more cngiiieflritig or other difficulties prevented Amher3t, Wolfe, and others assisting, from coming to close grips, and at first some friendly amenities were oxehanged between besiegers and besieged. Amherst, in a courtly way, sent Madaino Drucour, the governor's wife, some West Indian pine apples, and she. not to be outdone, rotrned the compliment by sending him a basket of wino, and her husband offered to wounded British officers the services of aJi exceptionally skilful physician. But the fighting soon became so desperate as to leave no time for littlo courtesies. "Two hundred big guns and mortara, plied upon both sides by skilled gunners, shook thai; desolate coast with such an uproar as no part of North America since its <{iscovery had ever felt, Twenty thousand disciplined' troops, soldiers and sailors, led by skilful and encrgotic commanders, made a warlike tableau the like of which had never yet been seen, with all tho blood that had licen spilled between the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence, while infinite valour animated both sides." By tho 26th there were but half a dozon guns ablo to reply "to tho 107 heavy pieces fired at dose range from the British batteries." Further resistance ,was useless, and the white flag was hoiated for a parley; but when Amherst's terms— " unconditional surrender within an hour"— wore announced, the French officers were for fighting to the last gun, but the 4000 citizens persuaded the military to accept Amherst's proposal. On July 27 "the French troops wero drawn up on parade before Whitmore, and, with gestures of rage and mortification, laid down their aims and filed gloomily off to the ships that were to take them to England. Five thousand six hundred and thirl y-ecven prisoners, soldiers and sailors, were' included in the surrender, and about 240 pieces of cannon and mortars, with a largo amount of ammunition and stores, foil into the hands •of the victors." As the British held Halifax, it was doc-idcd that there was no need for a Louisbourg, 6o " in 1760 a great crowd of workmen, navvies a-nd soldiers, toiled continuously for six months at the task of demolition, and the busy, famous, warlike town was in this strange fashion wiped out of existence." • '