LOUISBURG, loo'is-berg or loo 'e-berg, town of Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia : on the coast at the entrance to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The earliest men tion of English Harbor, later called Louisburg, is found on Champlain's map of 1612 and was, in his time, the resort of fishermen mainly from England. It was not until 1713 that Lou;shing came into prominence by the removal to it of the French officers and inhabitants from Acadia and Newfoundland, then ceded to England under the Treaty of Utrecht. The city is chiefly noted for the historical events which transpired in and around it and for the ruins of the fortifications. These fortifications were commenced in 1720 and completed about the year 1744 at a cost to the French government of 30,000,000 livres, equal to-day to about $10,000,000. They enclosed an area of about 100 acres and had a circumference of 2% miles. On the declaration of war in March 1744 between France and England, Louisburg was the object of an attack by the expedition sent out by the New England colonies. This was composed of 3,250 men from Massachu setts, 516 from Connecticut, 304 from New Hampshire and 150 from Rhode Island, sup plemented by 14 vessels, carrying 200 guns, fitted out by the provinces, and by Commodore War ren's West India fleet of 10 vessels carrying 460 guns, beside the captured Vigilante of 64 guns. The siege, begun on 30 April 1745, ended in the capitulation by Governor Ducham bon on 16 June. By the Treaty of Aix-la Chapelle in 1748, the island of Cape Breton was restored to France and the fortifications at Louisburg were considerably strengthened and a new battery erected at Point Rochefort at a cost of $5,000,000. In 1758, two years after war
had been declared between France and Eng land, a second expedition, consisting of 23 ships of the line, 18 frigates and 120 transports with 12,000 troops, assembled at Halifax, ar rived at Louisburg on 28 June, laid siege to the fortress; and on 26 July it was surrendered to the British under the command of General Amherst, who had as one of his brigadiers James Wolfe. Thus what has been called the of the arch of French power in America" had been shattered, and the way was cleared for the culminating attack on the for tress of Quebec. Shortly after the capture the great fortress was razed to the ground, and to-day only the casements or bomb-proofs re main. The ruins are now being preserved, and a memorial tower has been erected bearing the names of the killed and wounded in both sieges.
The first school in Nova Scotia is said to have been established at Louisburg by the Ladies of the Congregation in 1737.
Louisburg is now becoming a port of con siderable importance, having been established as the eastern terminal port of the -Intercolonial Railway and used by the Dominion Steel Cor poration'as a shipping port for a large portion of their products. See COLONIAL WARS IN AMERICA.