Speaking of Amherst’s success at Louisbourg, Burrows, in his Life of Lord Hawke (London, 1883, p. 340), says: “So entirely has the importance of this place receded into the background that it requires an effort to understand why the success of Boscawen and Amherst should have been thought worthy of the solemn thanks of Parliament, and why the captured colors of the enemy should have been paraded through the streets of London.”
Mr. William S. Appleton, in the Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., vol. xi. pp. 297, 298, describes three medals struck to commemorate the siege of 1758. Cf. also Trans. Quebec Lit. and Hist. Soc., 1872-73, p. 79.
A view of Louisburg in North America, taken from near the light-house, when that city was besieged in 1758, is the title of a contemporary copperplate engraving published by Jefferys. (Carter-Brown, iii. p. 335.) Cf. the view in Cassell’s United States, i. 528.
The plan of the siege, here presented, is reproduced from Brown’s Hist. of Cape Breton (p. 297):—
Key: The French batteries to oppose the landing were as follows:—
C. One swivel.
D. Two swivels.
E. Two six-pounders.
F. One twenty-pounder and two six-pounders.
G. One seven-inch and one eight-inch mortar.
H. Two swivels.
I. Two six-pounders.
K. Two six-pounders.
N. Two twelve-pounders.
O. Two six-pounders.
P. Two twenty-four pounders.
Q. Two six-pounders.
R. Two twelve-pounders.
The points of attack were as follows:—
A. Landing of the first column.
B. Landing of the second column.
These troops carried the adjacent batteries and pursued their defenders towards the city. The headquarters of the English were now established at H Q, while the position of the various regiments is marked by the figures corresponding to their numbers. Three redoubts (R 1, 2, 3) were thrown up in advance, and two block-houses (B H 1, 2) were built on their left flank; and later, to assist communication with Wolfe, who had been sent to the east side of the harbor, a third block-house (B H 3) was constructed. Then a fourth redoubt was raised at Green Hill (G H R 4) to cover work in the trenches. Meanwhile the English batteries at the light-house had destroyed the island battery, and the French had sunk ships in the channel to impede the entrance of the English fleet. The first parallel was opened at T, T1, T2, and a rampart was raised, E P, to protect the men passing to the trenches. Wolfe now erected a new redoubt at R 5, to drive off a French frigate near the Barachois, which annoyed the trenches; and another at R 6, which soon successfully sustained a strong attack. The second (T 3, 4) and third (T 5, 6) parallels were next established. A boat attack from the English fleet outside led to the destruction and capture of the two remaining French ships in the harbor, opening the way for the entrance of the English fleet. At this juncture the town surrendered.
Cf. also the plans in Jefferys’ Natural and Civil Hist. of the French Dominions in North America (1760), and in Mante’s Hist. of the War (annexed). Parkman, in his Montcalm and Wolfe, ii. 52, gives an eclectic map. Father Abraham’s Almanac, published at Philadelphia and Boston in 1759, has a map of the siege.