Louisbourg represented a commercial, religious and military threat to New England. When war was declared between Great Britain and France a group of prominent New Englanders, led by Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, devised a scheme for an attack on Louisbourg. An untrained army of New Englanders farmers, merchants and tradesmen was assembled to launch an assault on the strongest fortification in North America. Landing safely down the coast from Louisbourg, they dragged their cannon through the marsh to the hills opposite the fortress walls. The Royal Battery, prematurely abandoned by the French who failed to spike the can non properly, was occupied by the New Englanders and they turned the captured French guns against the fortress. During the siege, Louisbourg was all but destroyed by enemy fire. No one was safe in the town since the fortifications, which appeared so strong at first glance, had been poorly designed and disadvantageously located in relation to the surrounding hills. Civilians sought safety in the bomb-proof casements of the King's Bastion. Surrender came on 26 June, with the victorious New Englanders marching into town to the unlikely music of trumpets, flutes and violins. This illustration by an anonymous German artist captures, in a strangely compressed view, the tremendous barrage associated with the siege.
Courtesy: Webster Collection, New Brunswick Museum (no. 899)
