The Siege of Louisbourg

Louisbourg was the lock on the door to New France, the fortress you had to pass to reach the St. Lawrence and Quebec. The colonists had taken it once, in 1745, and watched London hand it back. In 1758 they came for it again.

The largest force Britain had ever sent against a single point in North America came ashore at Freshwater Cove into murderous fire. Wolfe signaled the recall, then a few boats that ignored it found a slot of rock, and the whole assault turned on it.

With the army ashore, the British strangled the fortress by the book. Batteries crept toward the walls, the fleet sealed the sea, and the French harbor squadron died by fire and a night boarding party.

Drucour surrendered on hard, unconditional terms. What followed fell on people who had not fought the siege: the deportation of the Acadians and a campaign against the settlements and the Mi’kmaq of the Gulf. And then the road to Quebec lay open.