16 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

opposite side deCIared war against her in 1743. But the New England Colonies being desirous of aiding the Mother Country in her struggle with France, organized within the limits of her own boundary a naval and military expedition, destined for the capture of the stronghold of Louisburg. It consisted of thir- teen ships carrying 200 guns and a land force numbering 4,770 men, with a heavy battering train and stores complete. General Pepperall, a merchant, was in command.

Having been joined by Commodore Warren with ten ships of the line and some frigates, on the 2nd May, 1745, they arrived in front of Louisburg, where the surprise was com- plete. Having previously received no intimation of a hostile visit the alarm and confusion were extreme, cannon were fired, bells were rung and officers and soldiers run hither and thither in the greatest dismay.

However the troops were landed and ammunition carefully stored. Soon breaching batteries opened fire, which, together with the fleet in front of the harbor, kept up a cannonade of no uncommon severity. On the first night of the bombardment the French had the misfortune to lose their most important fortress, the Grand Battery, in a very silly manner. It appears that a number of stores containing tar, pitch, wine and brandy, were in close proximity with the Grand Battery; during the night the enemy landed and set them on fire. The flames and smoke were so great, that through terror and stupidity the battery was abandoned by its defenders and taken possession Of by the New Englanders without the loss of one man.

The loss to the French of the Grand Battery was serious, and no doubt the principal cause of the fall of their stronghold. The heavy cannon of that Battery were turned against other fortifications. throwing shot of 42 pounds at every discharge, with tremendous effect throughout the siege. Defences were speedily ruined, guns were silenced, and the inhabitants, beset with a flaming tempest, besought the Governor, Dupont De- chambon, to avoid total ruin and capitulate; so on the 17th June, the forty-fifth day of the siege, the struggle ended. In accordance with the terms agreed to, the islands of Cape Breton and St. John were to become British Provinces.

After the fall of Louisburg a war vessel was despatched to St. Peter’s, St. John’s Island, where they landed and devastated