17 Io attempt of Nicholson in 1710. Then the name of Port 1 7 4 5 Royal was changed to Annapolis (Royal) in honor of the Fortifications Beauharnois Louisburg Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil queen and, in 1713, Acadia was lost to the French forever. The treaty that confirmed Nova Scotia and New Foundland to England left France in undisputed possession of Cape Breton Island. France invited thither the French inhabitants of the ceded provinces and immediately began to fortify it in the most formidable manner. The fortifications of Quebec and Montreal were also strengthened and, in 1721, a post was established between Quebec and Montreal and another at Niagara. Vaudreuil died in 1725. successor. In 1726, M. de Beauharnois arrived as Vaudreuil's In his administration, traffic with the valley of the Mississippi was developed and the agricultural resources of the country were advanced. When, by special orders from France, Niagara was regularly fortified, the English post at Os wego was garrisoned. board was the construc- Cour la homem de Vinge quite tion of a French fort at Loveyar French Card Money, Twenty-four Livres, issued in 1735 At the entrance to the ments on the Saint Lawrence was important to France 1 7 1 3 and, in case of war, Cape Breton Island might be made 1 7 4 5 the near-by basis of important aggressive operations. For such reasons, France began to clothe her island sentinel in impenetrable armor. She built on the south east part a walled town with gate and ditch and drawbridge as in feudal times. The ramparts were of massive stone, thirty feet or more in height and fortified at every point accessible by an enemy. The ditch that girt the 1689 walls was eighty feet wide and two and a half miles in 1 7 4 5 circuit. At the entrance to the harbor was a little island and there the island battery with thirty 28 Medal Commemorating the Founding of Louisburg War Again Iberville pounders was planted. At the bottom of the harbor was the Grand or Royal Battery with thirty cannons most of which were 42-pounders. The imposing menace, worthy of a royal title, was called Louisburg. In 1744, war between France and England again broke out. As soon as the French commander at Louisburg heard that war had been declared, he picked up the English garrison at Canso and carried them off as prisoners of war. He sent another expedition with similar purpose to Annapolis (late Port Royal) but Governor Shirley of Massachusetts was too prompt of action for its success. Then Shirley concocted his wild scheme and, in 1745, sent Pepperrell and a force that took Louisburg from the French as will be told in greater detail in a later chapter. La Salle had found an empire which in loyalty to his king he called Louisiana. But La Salle was dead and the king was too poor to plant a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. Among those who seemed to realize that, when Frontenac died, the day of romance took leave of Canada and diplomacy supplanted daring, were four Le Moyne brothers who, under the titles of their seigniories, associated their names with the perilous adventure of that day. One of these was Pierre le Moyne, sieur d'Iberville, "The Cid of New France." Iberville aroused the interest of the French king and, in October, 1698, sailed from Brest with frigates, transports, colonists, and marines. Six weeks later, the expedition arrived at Santo Domingo; in January, it was off Pensacola coasting westward; in February, it passed Dauphin February 10, Island at the mouth of Mobile Bay and came to anchor under the shelter of an island later known as Ship Island. His Expedition January 26 1699 |