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Description

Rare engraved image of the American Colonial attack on Louisbourg in 1745.

The fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island (called by the French, Isle Royale), was a vital commercial center for the French in North America in the first half of the 18th Century. The decision was made to attack the fortress in 1745. Massachusetts and the District of Maine raised 3,250 men, Connecticut 500, New Hampshire 450, while New York sent guns, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey sent money (Rhode Island sent some men as well, but they were late in arriving). The provincial fleet included transport ships and armed vessels with 240 guns. The force was supplemented at Canso by a small British squadron of 10 warships and 500 guns.

The fortress was captured by this highly inexperienced New England force under the leadership of William Pepperell and an English fleet under Commodore Peter Warren in 1745.

It was returned to the French by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, only to be recaptured by the British in 1758 during the French and Indian War. The British destroyed the fortress two years later and with it the French foothold in North America.

The first state of the map was published in 1747. This later state, with the address of John Bowles N. 13 Cornhill, suggests a date of about 1768.

Condition Description
Trimmed and laid on a larger sheet of paper. Minor loss of printed border.