- Call Number:
- HIL-MICL FC LMR .M3L6P3
- Category:
- Military
- Creator:
- Massachusetts Historical Society.
- Material Description:
- 1 microfilm textual records (5 volumes) ; 35 mm
- Background:
The fortress of Louisbourg, a walled city built by France on Cape Breton Island, was founded in 1713 and named in honour of the reigning French King, Louis XIV. As a seaport and important military base with a permanent garrison, it was the centre of French power in the area. In 1744, Governor Shirley of Massachusetts decided to attack Louisbourg in retaliation for an attack on Nova Scotia which had been launched from the fort. He planned the attack for the early spring of 1745 before the French fleet arrived. Shirley was able to raise and equip four thousand men for the expedition, and with William Pepperrell in command, the troops left Boston in March of 1745. The British Navy blockaded the harbour while Pepperrell attacked from the land, and the fortress of Louisbourg fell on 15 June 1745. Louisbourg was returned to France by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which ended King George's War, but captured again by the British in 1748 during an expedition led by the Royal Navy under Admiral Edward Boscawen and the British Army under the command of Major-General Jeffrey Amherst and Brigadier-General James Wolfe. In 1760, the fort was demolished and the town abandoned. The site of Fortress Louisbourg was named a National Historic Site by the Government of Canada in 1928, and in 1961 restoration work was begun which has since been completed.
- Contents:
Manuscripts focus on the 1745 British and Provincial expedition against the French fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Records of the Louisbourg Expedition (1745) during King George’s War (1744-1748) include instructions from Massachusetts governor William Shirley to the American commander William Pepperrell; correspondence with Peter Warren, commodore of the British forces; records of the proceedings of the expedition’s Council of War; and copies of the Articles of Capitulation (1745) which ended the siege, with reference to adherence to the treaty. Also, an unidentified ship’s log and journal and unidentified pages describing the voyage and the campaign, Pepperrell’s letterbook, and papers regarding a dispute over military fees to be paid to Brig. Gen. Samuel Waldo. Among the correspondents are Benning Wentworth, Duke of Newcastle John Holles, Samuel Waldo, and Jacob Wendell. (Massachusetts Historical Society)
Volume 1, 1742-1746, includes copies of correspondence and instructions to the Commander of the Forces, articles of capitulation, and many other documents.
Volume 2, 1745-1746, contains a Record of Proceedings of the Councils of War held at Canso and at Louisbourg.
Volume 3, 1745-1746, has many copies of letters written during the expedition against Cape Breton.
Volume 4, 1745-1748, includes letters, notebooks, journals and other records.
Volume 5, 1744-1755, contains miscellaneous letters and papers. Correspondents include: William Shirley, Benning Wentworth, William Pepperrell, Duke of Newcastle, Thomas Corbett, Nathaniel Sparhawk, Samuel Waldo, William Vaughan, Nathaniel Gorham, Peter Warren, Paul Mascarene, William Pitt, and many others.- Originals:
The original records are held by the Massachusetts Historical Society.
- Archival Ref. No.:
- Finding Aids:
A brief typed statement of the provenance of the material and a summary of contents for each volume by John D. Cushing, Librarian at the Massachusetts Historical Society, is located at the beginning of the reel. An introductory page precedes each volume.
- PDF Finding Aid:
- Massachusetts Historical Society Louisbourg Papers Document List.pdf
- Notes:
The Louisbourg Papers are closely related to the William Pepperrell Papers which are available in the Loyalist Collection and are shelved at the following location: MIC-Loyalist FC LMR .M3P4P3.
Black and white digital images of this collection--produced from the microfilm edition--are available as part of History Vault: Revolutionary War and Early America, a digital resource from ProQuest.