Village Squire, 1978-08, Page 25TRAVEL
Two reasons
for heading east,
one for the fort,
one for the birds
BY
TONY SLOAN
Fortress Louisbourg, like a macabre
ghost from the mists of the 18th century,
stands again; a grim and massive
monument to international struggle,
suffering and death.
On a secluded bay in the southeasterly
corner of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia,
the greatest military installation ever built
by the French in North America was
attacked and captured by a 4000 man army
of volunteers from the New England
States. The conquest occurred during the
summer of 1745.
Three years later, the British returned
the Fortress to French by treaty.
This action caused such deep seated
resentment among the New England
colonists that many historians feel that
such high-handed bargaining between
European powers had a direct bearing on
subsequent events (American War of
Independence) nearly three decades later;
but that's another story. War continued to
flare between England and France and
Louisbourg was again captured from the
French. this time by English regulars, in
1758. The inhabitants were evacuated and
the British totally destroyed the Fortress
and town in 1760.
Today. after more than 16 years of
research and painstaking restoration, the
Fortress and commercial sector of the 18th
century French fishing and trading centre
of Louisbourg exists exactly as it did prior
to the conquest in 1745.
There is a special interest here for
visitors from New England, particularly
from Massachusetts, Connecticut and
Rhode Island, for it was their colonial
ancestors who fought and perhaps
eventually died here. It is actually less
likely that they died during the fighting
than in the terrible winter of occupation
following the conquest. An estimated 1200
New England volunteers perished from
dysentery, pneumonia and associated
causes brought on by polluted water, lack
of proper food, clothing, firewood and
shelter to protect them from the damp,
killing cold of the winter of 1744.
The American troops did not expect nor
were they equipped to form the garrison of
occupation following the capture of the
Fortress. Fearing a possible attempt by the
French to recapture Louisbourg, the
colonial leaders appealed to the soldiers
through their sense of duty to king, country
and personal honor (not necessarily in that
order) to stay on until they would be
relieved by British regulars.
The British relief force did not arrive
until the following spring due to the
extreme hazards of winter voyages at that
time. The American colonials, in the
interim, endured a winter of horror.
You see and experience the massive
fortress and town as it was prior to the
siege. You must imagine the extent of
damage caused by the thousands of
cannonballs and hundreds of mortar bombs
that were rained down upon the defenders
by attacking New Englanders.
Even such a simple thing today as a
drink of cold clean water from a water fount
was denied the colonial soldier. The wells,
damaged and polluted, were a major health
problem.
The visitor today may step back in time
and enjoy wholesome, well prepared food
and a pewter flagon of good red wine in the
cabaret of the 18th century Hotel de la
Marine.
The army of occupation subsisted or, in
scores of instances died, from a non -varied
diet of salt beef and even this pathetic fare
was in insufficient quantities. The
farm -raised New England volunteers,
accustomed to a wholesome diet of
vegetables and fresh meat, contracted a
form of dysentery, probably complicated
by a vitamin deficiency, that eventually
reached plague proportions. At the height
of the sickness, 14 to 17 soldiers were
dying daily.
The lot of the 18th century rank and file
soldier is authentically indicated by a tour
of the barracks in the King's Bastion.
Creature comforts were non-existent and
were rendered even less desirable
following the conquest and during the
period of occupation. The barracks was so
vermin -ridden and filthy that the colonials
, preferred to sleep in the open rather than
brave the stench of the soldiers quarters.
One cannot help getting caught up in the
romanticism of a bygone age and
peacetime routine of this bustling fishing
and trading center as depicted by the
restored Louisbourg today.
The grand tour (adults $2.00, families
$4.00) is a fascinating and enjoyable,
full-day experience. Fully uniformed
soldiers man the fortress while townspeop-
le in authentic costumes portray the life of
a bygone, almost alien, age.
However, it is not by accident that the
troops, when not out of character and
giving a history lecture, depict themselves
as a seedy looking lot with bored and surly
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