The Fortress of Louisbourg, a recommended destination for the whole family, is on the Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia and one of the National Historic Sites of Canada. In the true to original rebuilt parts of the town, history comes alive.
Louisbourg was originally founded by the French and expanded into an important port city. For their protection, a fort was built, which was conquered several times by the British.
The history of Louisbourg is closely linked to the history of the Acadians; those who did not swear on the crown, were deported to France or had to search for a new home in New England, Quebec and New Brunswick. After the reconquest by the French, the Acadians were allowed to return. Today, their descendants live in New Brunswick, as well as in Nova Scotia and PEI and represent a significant proportion of the population.
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More InformationThe present town is located in some distance from the fort. At the time of the wars, the fort surrounded the former bourgeois town and served as a protection and military defence against the British. A protection that the common people, the peasants and the poor did not enjoy. They had to eke out a living outside the walls.
An inn was reconstructed as an example of a dwelling of the ordinary people; it is surrounded by a wooden scaffold for drying fish.
The Britsh conquered the town twice. After the initial conquest it was awarded to the French in the second Aachen Peace from 1748.
This did not prevent the British from a second attempt of conquest. This time, 15,000 British with 39 warships were confronting 7000 French with 11 ships. The British took the town and destroyed it completely.
The fastening walls and ditches convey the impression of an impregnable town, but the protection of the back country was illusory. From the hills of the British peered out everything that happened in the fort and their artillery reached nearly every point.
Once the British had managed to establish a beachhead on land, the town fell after a seven-week siege. A year later, Quebec City be conquered by the British.
Please read on > Cabot trail – Cape Breton
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