Fortress of Louisbourg

Listen first. Wind comes in off the Atlantic and moves across the grass. Gulls call over the harbour. Somewhere behind the stone walls, a drum is beating, and you may hear the low voices of people speaking French. The air here often smells of salt and wood smoke, and on many mornings a grey fog rolls in from the sea and softens every roofline. This is the Fortress of Louisbourg, on the eastern edge of Cape Breton Island. It is a town that was lost and then rebuilt.

To understand why this place exists, think about fish. In the early eighteenth century, Atlantic cod was one of the most valuable goods in the world. Salted and dried, it fed armies and kept well on long voyages. In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht ended a long European war, and France lost much of its territory in this region. France kept this island, which it called Île Royale. Louisbourg became its new capital, a fishing port and a military stronghold in one.

The French chose this harbour for good reasons. It is deep, it is sheltered, and in many winters it stays free of ice. Ships from France, the Caribbean and New England came and went from this shore. Fishing boats worked the waters offshore. Around the harbour, fishermen dried their catch on wooden racks in the open air. The town that grew behind the walls held merchants, soldiers, priests, craftsmen, servants and families. Records also show that enslaved people lived and worked here. For a few decades, this town was one of the busiest ports in North America.

The walls you see were planned as a serious fortification in the European style. The design used angled bastions — pointed stone platforms that project out from the walls. From a bastion, soldiers could fire along the face of the next wall and cover any attackers below. Building all of this took many years and a great deal of money. Here is the first surprise. The fortress was strongest toward the sea. On the land side, the low hills around the town gave an enemy good positions for cannon.

That weakness mattered in 1745. An army of volunteers from New England sailed north to attack Louisbourg, with support from British warships. Many historians describe it as a bold gamble by colonists who were not professional soldiers. They landed, dragged cannon through marshy ground, and set up batteries on the higher land. After a siege of several weeks, the French garrison surrendered. News of the victory caused celebrations in towns across New England.

Now the second surprise. The colonists did not keep their prize. In 1748, a peace treaty in Europe returned Louisbourg to France. Many New Englanders felt betrayed, because they had paid for the victory with their own lives and money. The French returned, and the town carried on with its fishing and its trade. But the peace did not last long. Within a decade, Britain and France were at war again.

In 1758, a much larger British force arrived, with a large fleet and thousands of regular soldiers. One of the officers in this campaign was James Wolfe, who later led the British attack on Quebec. After weeks of bombardment, Louisbourg surrendered for the second time. The fall of the fortress opened the Saint Lawrence River to British ships. This helped make possible the campaign that ended French rule in Canada.

The British did not want the fortress to be useful to anyone again. In the early 1760s, their engineers blew up the walls with explosives. Over the next two centuries, the stones were carried away, grass covered the ruins, and the town almost disappeared. Sheep grazed where streets had been. For a long time, only low mounds and scattered foundations showed that a capital had once stood here.

The town in front of you is a reconstruction. In the 1960s, the Government of Canada began to rebuild part of the old town. One reason was historical. Another reason was economic, because the coal industry on Cape Breton was in decline and the project created work for local miners and labourers. Archaeologists excavated the site, and historians studied plans and documents from French archives. Workers then rebuilt the walls, houses and streets on their original foundations. About one quarter of the original town was reconstructed.

This is why Louisbourg feels so solid. Builders used traditional methods wherever they could, with cut stone, heavy timber, lime mortar and hand-made details. Notice the steep roofs and the tall chimneys, typical of French buildings of that period. Notice too how the houses differ. Some are fine stone homes for officers and merchants. Others are simple wooden buildings for fishermen and workers. The difference in walls and windows shows the difference in wealth.

The largest building is in the King's Bastion, the main fortified section of the town. Inside it stands a long barracks with officers' rooms and the governor's apartments. Soldiers lived in crowded rooms here, often far from home and on low pay. Walk through these rooms and look at the beds, the plain tables and the small windows. Then compare them with the governor's rooms. Life in Louisbourg depended very much on your rank.

Today, people in eighteenth-century costume work across the town and portray daily life in the year 1744, just before the first siege. You may see soldiers on parade, hear a musket fired, or smell bread from a bakery oven. In some places you can taste food prepared in the style of the period. Talk with these interpreters. Ask them about their work, their food, or the gossip of the town. Many of them have studied the period deeply.

When you have time, walk beyond the rebuilt streets. Much of the old town was never reconstructed, and its outlines remain under the grass. Across the harbour, the site of an early lighthouse looks out toward the open sea. From the edges of the site, you can see how small the town was against the size of the ocean. You can also understand why fog, cold and isolation shaped every life here.

Before you leave, stand for a moment on the walls and face the water. The same harbour that brought cod, wine and soldiers is still in front of you. The waves still come in over the same rocks. Behind you, the town looks complete, but remember that three quarters of it is still under the ground. As you walk back toward the gate, listen again — to the wind, the gulls, and perhaps a drum in the distance.