The Raid on Canso was an attack by French forces from

Louisbourg Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. History The French military founded the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, ...

on the British outpost Fort William Augustus at

Canso, Nova Scotia Canso is a community in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, Canada, next to Chedabucto Bay. In January 2012, it ceased to be a separate town and as of July 2012 was amalgamated into the Municipality of the ...

shortly after war declarations opened

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...

. The French raid was intended to boost morale, secure

's supply lines with the surrounding Acadian settlements, and deprive Britain of a base from which to attack Louisbourg. There were 50 English families in the settlement. While the settlement was utterly destroyed, the objective failed, since the British launched an attack on Louisbourg in 1745, using Canso as a staging area.

Background

The inhabitants of Louisbourg received word of France's declaration of war on Great Britain on May 3, 1744. The colony had been facing dwindling provisions, a situation which was aggravated when the news of war brought the threat of British action cutting off the supply lines of Louisbourg. Under these circumstances, the continuance of the colony's provisioning necessitated military action. Furthermore, orders from

Maurepas Maurepas may refer to: * Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas, French statesman Count of Maurepas (Yvelines) * Fort Maurepas, also known as Old Biloxi, a settlement in Louisiana (New France) * Maurepas, Louisiana, an unincorporated comm ...

, the French minister of the navy, instructed the governor of Île Royale to utilize the element of surprise and rapidly mobilize against the English. Within a week of the arrival of the news of war a military expedition to Canso was agreed upon, and on May 23 a flotilla left Louisbourg harbour. In this same month Captain David Donahue of the Resolution took prisoner the chief of the Mi'kmaq people of Ile Royale Jacques Pandanuques with his family to Boston and killed him. Donahue also took 8 Mi'kmaw prisoners from Canso on April 14.

Battle

Thomas McIlworth - General John Bradstreet - Google Art Project

The expedition of

Mi'kmaq militia The military history of the Mi'kmaq consisted primarily of Mi'kmaq warriors (''smáknisk'') who participated in wars against the English (the British after 1707) independently as well as in coordination with the Acadian militia and French royal ...

and Compagnies Franches de la Marine, led by Captain

François Dupont Duvivier Captain François Dupont Duvivier (; 25 April 1705 – 28 May 1776) was an Acadian-born merchant and officer of the French colonial troupes de la marine. He was the wealthiest offer on Ile Royale and led the Raid on Canso and Siege of Annapolis ...

, arrived during the night of May 24, finding Canso weakly defended and unprepared for war. At dawn the French commenced bombardment of the town's only fortification, a timber blockhouse. The British commandant, Captain

Patrick Heron Patrick Heron (30 January 1920 – 20 March 1999) was a British abstract and figurative artist, critic, writer, and polemicist, who lived in Zennor, Cornwall. Heron was recognised as one of the leading painters of his generation. Influenced ...

and four companies of the 40th Regiment of Foot, realizing that he was out-manned and out-gunned swiftly capitulated, while Lieutenant George Rydall fought on with an armed sloop before surrendering a short time later after his force sustained several casualties. The terms of surrender were promptly worked out, and by mid-morning Canso was in French hands. After loading substantial quantities of loot onto their fleet the French put the town to the torch and weighed anchor. The garrison was taken to Louisbourg to be held as prisoners of war, while passage was arranged to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...

for the women and children.

Aftermath

The success of the raid on Canso caused great excitement and celebration in Louisbourg, bolstering the morale of the French citizenry and their native allies, while depriving Britain of a strategic base in eastern Nova Scotia. However the task of maintaining more than one hundred prisoners taxed the colony's already strained food supply. Once the 40th regiment's officers and men were paroled in September 1744, the regiment was evacuated to Boston where they (particularly

John Bradstreet Major General John Bradstreet, born Jean-Baptiste Bradstreet (21 December 1714 – 25 September 1774) was a British Army officer during King George's War, the French and Indian War, and Pontiac's War. He was born in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia ...

) provided valuable information on the defences of Louisbourg for the British

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

the following year. Governor Shirley was having difficulty raising troops requested by Mascarene and therefore he ordered the ex-Canso garrison to Annapolis Royal. The raid was followed by a siege of Annapolis Royal. The attacks alarmed the British colonists in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of E ...

, many of whom believed the raid was a prelude to further attacks on Massachusetts. On October 20, 1744, Massachusetts officially declared war on the Mi'kmaq.Geoffrey Plank. An Unsettled Conquest, 2001. p. 110. In 1745 the province mounted a successful siege of Louisbourg.

References

;Endnotes ;Texts * Bernard Pothier. The Siege of Annapolis Royal, 1744. ''The Nova Scotia Historical Review''. 59-71 * Johnson, A.J.B. ''The Summer of 1744: A Portrait of Life in 18th-Century Louisbourg''. Parks Canada, 2002. * George A. Rawlyk. ''Yankees at Louisbourg: The Story of the First Siege, 1745.'' Brenton Books. 1999. * {{coord, 45.3339, N, 60.9953, W, display=title, type:event Military history of Acadia Military history of Nova Scotia Military history of New England Military history of Canada Acadian history 1744 in military history Canso Canso Canso Canso Canso 1744 in Nova Scotia Canso Canso

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

References