LOUISBURG, a t. in s.e. Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic coast, at the mouth of a small estuary; is the terminus of a railroad 30 in. in length from Sydney across the co. of Cape Breton. It had formerly a finely built stone fortress, mounting 65 cannon and 16 tnor tars, erected by emigrants from the French settlements after the peace of Utrecht in 1713, and named in honor of Louis XIV. The harbor was defended by a high wall and a ditch 80 ft. wide, a battery of 30 guns on Goat island, and another, the " royal battery," far ther down the harbor, mounting 30 guns. These fortifications, built in 30 years and costing $5,550,000, were destroyed by the British in less than three months at an expense of $50,000. In 1745 the legislature of Massachusetts Bay, on account of the danger men acing its fisheries from the proximity of a fortified town belonging to the French and thc shelter given to the privateers of a country with which they were at war, by the advice of gov. Shirley and a majority of one vote in a secret session, sent a force of 3,250 men of the state militia, under command of William Pepperell, with 516 men of Connecticut and 304 of New Hampshire, with a fleet of 100 New England vessels and a squadron under the British commodore Warren, against the town, which landed in its vicinity April 30. The siege ended June 17, 1745, by the surrender of 1600 Frenchmen under Duchambon. The English also captured a large ship in the harbor coming with reinforcements for the French; and on their triumphant entrance to the town the same drums were beaten that, 30 years afterward, were beaten at Blinker Hill. In 1748 the place came again under French rule as one of the results of the peace of Aix-la-Cha pelle. In 1757 6,000 regulars, 4,000 men from New England, and others from New York and New Jersey, were ordered to report at Halifax for the purpose of makbag an attack on Louisbuig, but were disheartened by the prospect of a well-garrisoned fort and 17 French ships of war moored in the harbor, and discreetly withdrew. In 1758 the town
was bombarded by 14,000 British troops under gen. Amherst, with a fleet including 20 ships of the line, 18 frigates, and some smaller vessels, sailing from Halifax. The sur render of the French garrison of 3,100 men, under the chevalier de Drucourt, and a fleet of 8 ships, occurred July 26, 1758; and 5,637 soldiers and sailors were taken prisoners. It had formerly a pop. of 3,000 in a well-built town on the s. side of the harbor, and had a large trade in codfish, exporting annually 500,000 quintals, ernploying(while under French dominion) for this and other branches of trade, and in the fisheries, 600 vessels. Under English government its trade has diminished, and a convenient harbor, one-half mile wide at the entrance, is used simply as a stopping-place for steamships. It is occu pied by about 300 fishermen, and has a light-house on the e. side of the harbor.
(i.e., golden I,ouis), a gold coin which was introduced into France in 1641, and continued to be coined till 1795. It was introduced in consequence of the prevalent custom of clipping and otherwise defacing the then coins of the realm, from which malpractices it was thought to be in some measure secured by its border. The old coins were called in. The louis-d'or ranged in value from about 16s. 7d. to 18s. 9fd. sterling. Some louis-d'ors bear special names, chiefly derived from the figure exhibited on the obverse side.—In some parts of Germany, the larger gold pieces, of five thalers or thereby, are often popularly called iouis-d'or, and the name is also occasionally applied to the French wipoleon or 20-frane piece.