Siege of Louisbourg ( 1758 ) The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years ' War ( known in the United States as the French and Indian War ) in 1758 that ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year . Background . The British government realized that with the Fortress of Louisbourg under French control , there was no way that the Royal Navy could sail down the St . Lawrence River for an attack on Quebec unmolested . After an expedition against Louisbourg in 1757 led by Lord Loudon was turned back due to a strong French naval deployment , the British under the leadership of William Pitt resolved to try again with new commanders . Pitt assigned the duty of capturing the fortress to Major General Jeffrey Amherst . Amherst ' s brigadiers were Charles Lawrence , James Wolfe and Edward Whitmore , and command of naval operations was assigned to Admiral Edward Boscawen . The chief engineer was John Henry Bastide who had been present at the first siege of Louisbourg in 1745 and was chief engineer at Fort St Philip , Minorca , in 1756 when the British had surrendered the fort and the island to the French after a long siege . As they had in 1757 , the French planned to defend Louisbourg by a large naval build - up . However , the French fleet sailing from Toulon was blockaded in Cartagena by a British force , and a relief force was defeated at the Battle of Cartagena . After this the French abandoned their attempt to reinforce Louisbourg from the Mediterranean , meaning there would be few ships available to actively oppose the British off Louisbourg . Order of battle . British forces assembled at Halifax , Nova Scotia where army and navy units spent most of May training together as the massive invasion fleet came together . After a large gathering at the Great Pontack , on 29 May the Royal Navy fleet departed from Halifax for Louisbourg . The fleet consisted of 150 transport ships and 40 men - of - war . Housed in these ships were almost 14 , 000 soldiers , almost all of whom were regulars ( with the exception of four companies of American rangers ) . The force was divided into three divisions : " Red " , commanded by James Wolfe , " Blue " , commanded by Charles Lawrence and " White " commanded by Edward Whitmore . On 2 June the British force anchored in Gabarus Bay , from Louisbourg . The French commander ( and governor of Île Royale ) Chevalier de Drucour had at his disposal some 3 , 500 regulars as well as approximately 3 , 500 marines and sailors from the French warships in the harbour . However , unlike the previous year , the French navy was unable to assemble in significant numbers , leaving the French squadron at Louisbourg outnumbered five to one by the British fleet . Drucour ordered trenches to be prepared and manned by some 2 , 000 French troops , along with other defences , such as an artillery battery , at Kensington Cove . Siege . Weather conditions in the first week of June made any landing impossible and the British were only able to mount a bombardment of the improvised shore defenses of Gabarus Bay from a frigate . However , conditions improved , and at daybreak on 8 June Amherst launched his assault using a flotilla of small boats , organized in 3 divisions , each commanded by one of his brigadiers . French defenses were initially successful and after heavy losses , Wolfe ordered a retreat . However , at the last minute , a boatload of light infantry in Wolfe ' s division found a rocky inlet protected from French fire and secured a beach head . Wolfe redirected the rest of his division to follow . Outflanked , the French retreated rapidly back to their fortress . Continuing heavy seas and the difficulty inherent to moving siege equipment over boggy terrain delayed the commencement of the formal siege . In the meantime , Wolfe was sent with 1 , 220 picked men around the harbour to seize Lighthouse Point , which dominated the harbour entrance . This he did on 12 June . After eleven days , on 19 June , the British artillery batteries were in position and the orders were given to open fire on the French . The British battery consisted of seventy cannon and mortars of all sizes . Within hours , the guns had destroyed walls and damaged several buildings . On 21 July a mortar round from a British gun on Lighthouse Point struck a 74 gun French ship of the line , " L ' Entreprenant " , and set it ablaze . A stiff breeze fanned the fire , and shortly after the " L ' Entreprenant " caught fire , two other French ships had caught fire . " L ' Entreprenant " exploded later in the day , depriving the French of the largest ship in the Louisbourg fleet . The next major blow to French morale came on the evening of 23 July , at 10 : 00 . A British " hot shot " set the King ' s Bastion on fire . The King ' s Bastion was the fortress headquarters and the largest building in North America in 1758 . Its destruction eroded confidence and reduced morale in the French troops and their hopes to lift the British siege . Most historians regard the British actions of 25 July as the " straw that broke the camel ' s back " . Using a thick fog as cover , Admiral Boscawen sent a cutting - out party to destroy the French ships in the harbour . The British raiders eliminated the last two French ships of the line , capturing the " Bienfaisant " and burning the " Prudent " , thus clearing the way for the Royal Navy to enter the harbour . James Cook , who later became famous as an explorer , took part in this operation and recorded it in his ship ' s log book . Capitulation . On 26 July the French surrendered . Having fought a spirited defence , the French expected to be granted " honours of war " as given to the surrendering British at the Battle of Minorca . However , Amherst refused , tales of the atrocities supposedly committed by France ' s native allies at the surrender of Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry probably fresh in his mind . The defenders of Louisbourg were ordered to surrender all of their arms , equipment and flags . These actions outraged Drucour , but because the safety of the non - combatant inhabitants of Louisbourg depended upon him he reluctantly accepted the terms of surrender . The Cambis regiment refused to honour the terms of surrender , breaking their muskets and burning their regimental flags rather than hand them over to the British victors . Aftermath . Louisbourg had held out long enough to prevent an attack on Quebec in 1758 . However the fall of the fortress led to the loss of French territory across Atlantic Canada . From Louisbourg , British forces spent the remainder of the year routing French forces and occupying French settlements in what is today New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland . The second wave of the Acadian expulsion began . The British engaged in the St . John River Campaign , the Petitcodiac River Campaign , the Ile Saint - Jean Campaign , and the removal of Acadians in the Gulf of St . Lawrence Campaign ( 1758 ) . The loss of Louisbourg deprived Quebec and New France of naval protection , opening the Saint Lawrence to attack . Louisbourg was used in 1759 as the staging point for General Wolfe ' s famous Siege of Quebec ending French rule in North America . Following the surrender of Quebec , British forces and engineers set about methodically destroying the fortress with explosives , ensuring that it could not return to French possession a second time in any eventual peace treaty . By 1760 , the entire fortress was reduced to mounds of rubble . In 1763 the Treaty of Paris saw France formally cede Canada , including Cape Breton Island , to the British . In 1768 the last of the British garrison departed along with most of the remaining civilian inhabitants . Royal Navy Fleet throughout the siege . < ref name = " NC07 / 201 " > " The Naval Chronicle " Vol . 07 , p . 202 - 203 < / ref > References . Primary Sources Endnotes