Siege of Louisbourg (1745)

Siege of Louisbourg
Part of War of the Austrian Succession
The Capture of Louisburg, 1745 by Peter Monamy
Date 11 May – 28 June 1745 Location Louisbourg, Île-Royale (present-day Cape Breton Island) Coordinates: 45°55′17″N 59°58′13″W / 45.92139°N 59.97028°W / 45.92139; -59.97028 Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain British America	France  Mi'kmaq Indians
Commanders and leaders
William Pepperrell Peter Warren John Bradstreet Edward Tyng	Louis Du Pont Duchambon Pierre Morpain Joseph Marin de la Malgue
Strength
4,200 militia, sailors & marines 90 ships & vessels	900 troops & marines 900 militia
Casualties and losses
100 killed or wounded 900 died of disease	50 killed or wounded 300 died of disease 1,400 surrendered

 Great Britain

The Siege of Louisbourg took place in 1745 when a New England colonial force aided by a British fleet captured Louisbourg, the capital of the French province of Île-Royale (present-day Cape Breton Island) during the War of the Austrian Succession, known as King George's War in the British colonies.

Louisbourg was a standing menace to all the Northern British colonies. It was such a haunt of privateers that it was called the American Dunkirk. It commanded the chief entrance of Canada, and threatened to ruin the fisheries, which were nearly as vital to New England as was the fur-trade to New France. The French government had spent twenty-five years in fortifying it, and the cost of its defenses was reckoned at thirty million livres.

Although the Fortress of Louisbourg's construction and layout was acknowledged as having superior seaward defences, a series of low rises behind them provided attackers places to erect siege batteries. The fort's garrison was poorly paid and supplied, and its inexperienced leaders mistrusted them. The colonial attackers were also lacking in experience, but ultimately succeeded in gaining control of the surrounding defences. The defenders surrendered in the face of an imminent assault.

Louisbourg was an important bargaining chip in the peace negotiations to end the war, since it represented a major British success. Factions within the British government were opposed to returning it to the French as part of any peace agreement, but these were eventually overruled, and Louisbourg was returned, over the objections of the victorious British North Americans, to French control after the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

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