The Fortress of Louisbourg (French: Forteresse de Louisbourg) is a tourist attraction and a National Historic Site [1] located on Cape Breton Island. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself again. Cape Breton is accented on "bre" and is an island, or rather, was an island, if you want to be really precise [2]. Otherwise, Sylt in Germany wouldn't be an island either. Cape Breton Island has been connected to the Nova Scotia peninsula by a causeway in the Strait of Canso since 1955. Conveniently, we could take a bus to the island. The shortest route is about 170 km; but we took a completely different route, by the way. In French, the island is called Île du Cap-Breton, in Canadian Gaelic it's Eilean Cheap Breatuinn, and in the Mi'kmaw language, it's U'namakika [3]. But let's quickly forget footnote [3], because the Mi'kmaw toponym means Land of Fog. The English toponym refers to the town of Capbreton, a fishing port in Gascony.
Now let's consider what might be so special about the Fortress of Louisbourg. It's the reenacted history, because on the grounds you encounter people in historical costumes whom you can talk to about their roles. This gives you a glimpse into the past. I'm familiar with this from the area where I live, because the Kommern Open Air Museum does something similar; there are about 67 historical buildings on the grounds [4]. I even once offered the combined chicken and pigsty, but they've stopped accepting donations.
Back to Louisbourg. At the beginning of the 18th century, the cod fishing grounds off Cape Breton were particularly productive, and the catch and processing made the small town wealthy. This made Louisbourg an important part of the French overseas possessions. Unfortunately, the French provided insufficient support to Louisbourg, so that in 1745, after a siege and attack from the landward side, it had to be abandoned [5]. Interestingly, Louisbourg was much better protected from the sea than from the landward side. Three years later, Louisbourg was returned to France under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle [6]. Had they learned from the mistakes of the past? A silly question, of course not. The siege of 1758 [7] ended in the same way. An additional factor, however, was the blockade of the relief fleet that had set sail from Toulon and the Battle of Cartagena [8], which made it impossible for France to come to Louisbourg's aid. The British then demolished the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1860 to eliminate any further threat to their possessions
From 1961 onwards, reconstruction of the historic buildings began, combining archaeological finds with "millions of artifacts" and "750,000 pages of documents and 500 maps and plans" from archives in France [9] to rebuild a quarter of the fortress. This created jobs, then as now.
Back to Louisbourg. At the beginning of the 18th century, the cod fishing grounds off Cape Breton were particularly productive, and the catch and processing made the small town wealthy. This made Louisbourg an important part of the French overseas possessions. Unfortunately, the French provided insufficient support to Louisbourg, so that in 1745, after a siege and attack from the landward side, it had to be abandoned [5]. Interestingly, Louisbourg was much better protected from the sea than from the landward side. Three years later, Louisbourg was returned to France under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle [6]. Had they learned from the mistakes of the past? A silly question, of course not. The siege of 1758 [7] ended in the same way. An additional factor, however, was the blockade of the relief fleet that had set sail from Toulon and the Battle of Cartagena [8], which made it impossible for France to come to Louisbourg's aid. The British then demolished the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1860 to eliminate any further threat to their possessions
From 1961 onwards, reconstruction of the historic buildings began, combining archaeological finds with "millions of artifacts" and "750,000 pages of documents and 500 maps and plans" from archives in France [9] to rebuild a quarter of the fortress. This created jobs, then as now.
Entering the site from the parking lot, the hill immediately catches the eye. There stands The King's Bastion, which features a very austere architecture. I would interpret this as reflecting military rigor and necessity. The Governor's Apartments and the King's Bastion Barracks, which housed approximately 500 men, were also located there. We also find the Military Chapel there. The French were Roman Catholic, and there was a priest who, however, never received his own church for the parish, so the faithful had to attend Mass in the Military Chapel.
Let us now enter the site via the road that leads to the large gate in the defensive wall. To the right is the De Gannes Property, and a little further on is the Le Neuf de la Vallière Property. Louis Le Neuf de la Vallière (1708-1787) was a descendant of a governor of Acadia. The Mi'kmaw Interpretive Centre is also located there. At the Mi'kmaw Interpretive Centre, you can get all sorts of information about Mi'kmaw culture. I was particularly interested in the apostrophe, which is used to lengthen the preceding vowel. Thanks, Mi'kmaw Interpretive Centre!
Opposite is the Rodrigue Property. Michel Rodrigue (1710-1777) lived there with his wife Marguerite (Mi'kmaw), their five children, siblings, and Catherine and Laurent, two enslaved people. I had a chat with Catherine.
Let us now enter the site via the road that leads to the large gate in the defensive wall. To the right is the De Gannes Property, and a little further on is the Le Neuf de la Vallière Property. Louis Le Neuf de la Vallière (1708-1787) was a descendant of a governor of Acadia. The Mi'kmaw Interpretive Centre is also located there. At the Mi'kmaw Interpretive Centre, you can get all sorts of information about Mi'kmaw culture. I was particularly interested in the apostrophe, which is used to lengthen the preceding vowel. Thanks, Mi'kmaw Interpretive Centre!
Opposite is the Rodrigue Property. Michel Rodrigue (1710-1777) lived there with his wife Marguerite (Mi'kmaw), their five children, siblings, and Catherine and Laurent, two enslaved people. I had a chat with Catherine.
I won't attempt to describe Louisbourg now, but there are storerooms, an artillery forge and storehouse, taverns, the King's Bakery, the icehouse, stables, animal enclosures, and gardens to explore. The rustic bread was delicious.
Just before the fortress closes, the gunners march through the main street to music (flutes and drums), climb onto the ramparts, and finally fire the cannon.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, and the cannon firing was definitely better staged than the one in Halifax.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, and the cannon firing was definitely better staged than the one in Halifax.
Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_of_Louisbourg
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Breton_Island
[3] That sounds Japanese, and 宇う生木か could be translated as "Is it a living tree?"
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kommern_Open_Air_Museum
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Louisbourg_(1745)
[6] Aachen isn't very far from my home either.
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Louisbourg_(1758)
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cartagena_(1758)
[9] https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/louisbourg/decouvrir-discover/visite-tour
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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_of_Louisbourg
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Breton_Island
[3] That sounds Japanese, and 宇う生木か could be translated as "Is it a living tree?"
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kommern_Open_Air_Museum
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Louisbourg_(1745)
[6] Aachen isn't very far from my home either.
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Louisbourg_(1758)
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cartagena_(1758)
[9] https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/louisbourg/decouvrir-discover/visite-tour
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