The Taking of Louisburg, 1745

by Samuel Adams Drake

Shirley’s Project.

This was all the more necessary because Shirley had indulged hopes, from the first, of taking the place by surprise, and so obstinately was he wedded to the notion that the thing was practicable, that he had drawn up at great length a plan of campaign of which this surprise was the chief feature, and in which he undertook to direct, down to the minutest detail, where, how, and when the troops should land, what points they should attack, what they should do if the assault proved a failure or only partially successful, where they should encamp, raise batteries and post guards; how the men must be handled under fire, and even how the prisoners should be disposed of, for Shirley, as we have seen, was considerably given to counting his chickens before they were hatched.

A Saving Clause.

Being a lawyer rather than a soldier, Shirley had written out a brief instead of an order—clear, concise, direct. But, lengthy as it was, the plan had one redeeming feature, which turns away criticism from the absurdities with which it was running over. This was the postscript appended to it: “Sir, upon the whole, notwithstanding the instructions you have received from me, I must leave it to you to act upon unforeseen emergencies according to your best discretion.” The reading of it must have lifted a load from Pepperell’s mind! It really looked as if Shirley had meant to be the real generalissimo himself, and to capture Louisburg by proxy.

Pepperell’s Council.

Pepperell was still hampered, however, with a council of war, consisting of all the general and field officers of his army, whom he was required to summon to his aid in all emergencies. If it be true that in a multitude of counsels there is wisdom, then Pepperell was to be well advised, for his council aggregated between twenty and thirty members.

Pepperell seems to have conceived that he ought to submit himself wholly to Shirley’s guidance, since he himself was now to serve his first apprenticeship in war, for it was now loyally attempted to carry out Shirley’s instructions to the letter. In all these preliminary arrangements the difference between Shirley’s brilliancy and dash and Pepperell’s methodical cast of mind is very marked indeed. It would sometimes seem as if the two men ought to have changed places.

Why the army was at Canso.

Importance of St. Peter’s.

Shirley had appointed the rendezvous to be at Canso, which place had been abandoned soon after it was taken from us; first, because it was the natural base for operations against Cape Breton, and next so that if the descent on Louisburg failed, Canso and the command of the straits would, at least, have been recovered. It was, as we have said, within easy striking distance of Louisburg. Out in front of Canso, between the Nova Scotia and Cape Breton shores, lay Isle Madame or Arichat, on which a few French fishermen were living. Across the water from Arichat, at the entrance to the Bras d’Or, lay the Village of St. Peter’s, the second in point of importance in Cape Breton, Louisburg being the first. At Arichat everything that was being done at Canso could be easily seen and communicated to St. Peter’s. At St. Peter’s word could be sent to Louisburg by way of the Bras d’Or Lakes. It therefore stood Pepperell in hand to clear his vicinity of these spies and informers without delay, unless he wished to find the enemy forewarned and forearmed.