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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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60 A MAD SCHEME. [1744.News <strong>of</strong> the declaration <strong>of</strong> war reached Louisbourgsome weeks before it reached Boston, <strong>and</strong> the Frenchmilitary governor, Duquesnel, thought he saw anopportunity to strike an unexpected blow for thepr<strong>of</strong>it <strong>of</strong> <strong>France</strong> <strong>and</strong> his own great honor.One <strong>of</strong> the French <strong>in</strong>habitants <strong>of</strong> Louisbourg hasleft us a short sketch <strong>of</strong> Duquesnel, whom he calls"capricious, <strong>of</strong> an uncerta<strong>in</strong> temper, <strong>in</strong>cl<strong>in</strong>ed todr<strong>in</strong>k, <strong>and</strong> when <strong>in</strong> his cups neither reasonable orcivil." ^ He adds that the governor had <strong>of</strong>fendednearly every <strong>of</strong>ficer <strong>in</strong> the garrison, <strong>and</strong> denounceshim as the "chief cause <strong>of</strong> our disasters." WhenDuquesnel heard <strong>of</strong> the declaration <strong>of</strong> war, hisfirstthought was to strike some blow beforethe Englishwere warned. The fish<strong>in</strong>g-station <strong>of</strong> Canseau was atempt<strong>in</strong>g prize, be<strong>in</strong>g a near <strong>and</strong> an <strong>in</strong>convenientneighbor, at the southern end <strong>of</strong> the Strait <strong>of</strong> Canseau,which separates the Acadian pen<strong>in</strong>sula from theisl<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> Cape Breton, or Isle Royale, <strong>of</strong> whichLouisbourg was the place <strong>of</strong> strength. Noth<strong>in</strong>g waseasier than to seize Canseau, which had no defencebut a wooden redoubt built by the fishermen, <strong>and</strong>occupied by about eighty Englishmen th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g nodanger. Early <strong>in</strong> May, Duquesnel sent Capta<strong>in</strong>Duvivier aga<strong>in</strong>st it, with six hundred, or, as theEnglish say, n<strong>in</strong>e hundred soldiers <strong>and</strong> sailors,escorted by two small armed vessels.The Englishsurrendered, on condition <strong>of</strong> be<strong>in</strong>g sent to Boston,1 Lettre d'un Habitant de Louisbourg contenant une Relation exacteet circonstanciife de la Prise de I'Isle Royale par les Anglois.

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