Anatomy of a naval disaster
Subtitle: the 1746 French naval expedition to North America
By: James Pritchard
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Montreal; Buffalo
Language: eng
Number of pages: 322
Subjects: La Rochefoucauld de Roye, Jean-Baptiste-Louis-Frédéric de, -- duc d'Anville, -- 1709-1746; France -- History, Naval -- 18th century; France -- History -- Louis XV, 1715-1774; Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France); United States -- History -- King George's War, 1744-1748 -- Naval operations, French
Description: Intended as a riposte to the Anglo-American capture of Louisbourg in 1745, the so-called d'Enville expedition set out from France the following year to secure Canada, recapture Acadia and Louisbourg, and ravage the New England coast as far south as Boston. Many of the sixty-four French vessels involved did not return and estimates of the dead reached as high as eight thousand. Yet the enemy was never met in battle.

James Pritchard's account of this naval fiasco sheds new light on the extent of the tragedy and raises questions about the role and effectiveness of naval power during the intercolonial wars of the mid-eighteenth century.

Pritchard describes the domestic and international political circumstances in France that gave rise to the expedition, outlining strategy and politics in the context of colonial defence and continental ambition. He reconstructs the events that contributed to the failure of the expedition - human and institutional weakness, weather, spoiled provisions, disease, and the death of the commanding admiral.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [285]-309) and index