My dear Mr. Winsor,—It gives me great pleasure to comply with your request, and to give my recollections of Louisburg as seen in September last.
The historical town of that name, or rather the ruin of the old fortress, lies perhaps three miles from the modern town, which is a small village, situated on the northeasterly side of the bay or harbor. The inhabitants of the neighborhood live, for the most part, by fishing and other business connected with that branch of industry, eking out their livelihood by the cultivation of a rocky and barren soil. The road from the village to the old fortress runs along the western shore of the bay, passing at intervals the small houses of the fishermen and leaving on the left the site of the Royal Battery, which is still discernible. This was the first outpost of the French taken at the siege, and its gallant capture proved subsequently to be of the greatest service to the English. From this point the ruins of the fortress begin to loom up and show their real character. Soon the walls are reached, and the remains of the former bastions on the land side are easily recognized. This land front is more than half a mile in length, and stretches from the sea on the left to the bay on the right, forming a line of works that would seem to be impregnable to any and all assaults. From its crown a good idea can be gained of the size of the fortifications, which extend in its entire circuit more than a mile and a half in length, and inclose an area of a hundred and twenty acres, more or less. The public buildings within the fortress were of stone, and, with the help of a guide, their sites can easily be made out. The burying-ground, on the point of land to the eastward, where hundreds of bodies were buried, is still shown; and the sheep and cattle graze all unconscious of the great deeds that have been done in the neighborhood. Taken all in all, the place is full of the most interesting associations, and speaks of the period when the sceptre of power in America was balancing between France and England; and Louisburg forms to-day the grandest ruin in this part of the continent.
Very truly yours,
Samuel A. Green.
It follows an English plan procured by Mr. Bancroft in London, and closely resembles the sketch owned by a descendant of Pepperrell, and herewith given. Haliburton in his History of Nova Scotia gives a similar plan, as well as a draught of the harbor. The plan of the town and the vicinity which is given by Brown in his Cape Breton is also reproduced herewith. The earliest of the more elaborate charts of the harbor is that published by Des Barres in Oct., 1781. We find a rude sketch of the Island battery in Curwen’s Journal as edited by Ward (Boston, 4th ed. 1864), which was sent by that observer from Louisbourg, July 25, 1745. A reproduction of this sketch, herewith given, needs the following key:—
PLAN OF ISLAND BATTERY.
“The embrasures in the front are not more than three feet above the ground.
1. Fronting mouth of harbor: 22 embrasures; 21 guns, 36 and 48 pounders.