Page 35 - New Englanders Take Louisbourg, 1745

ISSUE : Issue 19

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1978/6/1

bon, both surprised by the attack and still distrustful of his troop's loyalty, permitted only 100 men, imder the port captain, Morpain, to go out and oppose the landing (Arrow #15). The New Englanders initially pulled towards Flat Point but, upon seeing Morpain*s men, turned and raced up the coast to Kennington Cove. By the time Morpain reached them, his men were badly outnumbered. After pushing Mor? pain back, the New Englanders began a dis? orderly advance (Arrow #16) towards the town. Journal Entry: Early This Morning Wee had A View of the Citty i.e. the Steeples etc. A Calm and Pleasent Morning wee have But by A 11.O'clock the Surffs • Ran high which Made it Dificult Landing etc. • and altho the Enemie had'ent hearii of our Comming Before wee Came into Chapparough Bay (Gab? arus) • (Which Indeed is Very Wonderful.) Yet before wee had landed they had time E- nough to Come from the Citty (which was A- bout 4 Miles from where wee Landed and A- bout two and a half from where wee En? camped) So that there Came Out to Oppo'se Our Landing (As was Judg'd by Some) 150~ Men And had wee A Landed where they expec? ted, and where wee at first made an At? tempt wee Should Almost Certainly Suss- tain'd the Loss of A great Many men. But wee had orders to Land m Quite A Differ- rent place than what wee had Made a pre? tence of. Which gave them the Trouble of Travelling Above A Mile, in which time, A few of Us got Ashore, and altho the Number was but about 17 which met 'em att first yet they was Enabled to Defeat their De? sign and to turn 'em back by the way they Came. And not without the Loss of Several Men Slain, and Some taken. The Vessels al? so, which Where of force, Shot Upon 'em which Kill'd one while We Susstain'd no Loss Except one wounded in His knee and that Slightily. for which Let God have the Praise and Glory. I travelled Directly Up to the top of A high Hill (Lying a Mile And a Quarter West of the Citty) where wee had a fair View of it. The french Shot att Us Several times, one of the Balls we"? took Up while it was a roalling (wee Judge'd it to be A 24 Pounder) wee Lay this Night in the open air • -But wee Cut A few boughs to keep Us from the ground. Vastly the most Comfortable Nights Lodging This! Since I left Boston. Journal Entry: ...as the Lord ordered it. We mett them Beat them Back Killed Some Capituated others of themt & but one or two of our men Slitely wounded> as I passed by a Dead man Tho an Enemy it Shewed me my frailty. A View of the Fortress Louisbourg The next day proved to be quite busy for both sides. The New Englanders established a camp in the Flat Point/Freshwater Brook area and began ferrying supplies ashore there. A large party of New Englanders journeyed up to the Northeast Harbour (Ar? row #17) where they engaged in a day of burning and looting the French storehouses there. This kind of disorganized behaviour was to plague Pepperrell throughout the first week of the siege. The French themselves burned the houses between the Barachois and the Royal Bat? tery (point A). The French also abandoned the Royal Battery as indefensible;(Arrow l8) left the battery without properly spiking the cannon and left behind a supply of cannon balls. The following day a party of New Englanders under Vaughan (Arrow #19) capitalized on this French error by occu? pying the battery. They succeeded in beat? ing back a French force (Arrow #20) sent to retrieve the abandoned cannon balls. Under John Bradstreet's urging the New England force had brought "de-spiking" e- quipment so that they could drill out the touch holes of captured cannons. Brad- Celebrating 75 Years of Service J. W. Stephens Limited • uiiDiRS surniis NAROWAm AND ??AINTS WOODWOtKitS AND Mttt WOftK Phone the Lumber Number 564-5554 Sydf *'. rVoviflk Scotf' Local Distributors of Angelstone and Mason Windows A Pull Line of Flooring and Insulation.

Cape Breton's Magazine