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A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

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94 LOUISBOURG BESIEGED. [1745.n<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> the even<strong>in</strong>g, as prescribed <strong>in</strong> the governor'sreceipt for tak<strong>in</strong>g Louisbourg "while the enemywereasleep."^ But a lull <strong>in</strong> the w<strong>in</strong>d defeated thisplan ;<strong>and</strong> after sail<strong>in</strong>g all day, they found themselvesbecalmed towards night. It was not till the nextmorn<strong>in</strong>g that they could see the to^vn, — no very impos<strong>in</strong>gspectacle, for the build<strong>in</strong>gs, with a few exceptions,were small, <strong>and</strong> the massive ramparts thatbelted them round rose to no conspicuous height.Louisbourg stood on a tongue <strong>of</strong> l<strong>and</strong> which laybetween its harbor <strong>and</strong> the sea,<strong>and</strong> the end <strong>of</strong> whichwas prolonged eastward by reefs <strong>and</strong> shoals thatpartly barred the entrance to the port, leav<strong>in</strong>g anavigable passage not <strong>half</strong> a mile wide.This passagewas comm<strong>and</strong>ed by a powerful battery called the"Isl<strong>and</strong> Battery," be<strong>in</strong>g upon a small rocky isl<strong>and</strong>at the west side <strong>of</strong> the channel, <strong>and</strong> was also securedby another detached work called the "Gr<strong>and</strong>," or"Royal Battery," which stood on the shore <strong>of</strong>theharbor, opposite the entrance, <strong>and</strong> more than a milefrom the town. Thus a hostile squadron try<strong>in</strong>g t<strong>of</strong>orce its way <strong>in</strong> would receive a flank fire from theone battery, <strong>and</strong> a front fire from the other. Thestrongest l<strong>in</strong>e <strong>of</strong> defence <strong>of</strong> the fortress was drawnacross the base <strong>of</strong> the tongue <strong>of</strong>l<strong>and</strong> from the harboron one side to the sea on the other, — a distance <strong>of</strong>about twelve hundred yards.The ditch was eightyfeet wide <strong>and</strong> from thirty to thirty-six feet deep ;<strong>and</strong>-the rampart, <strong>of</strong> earth faced with masonry, was about1 The words quoted are used by General Wolcott <strong>in</strong> his journal.

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