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History The French came to Louisbourg in 1713, after the British took control of Acadia and Newfoundland by the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession. France's only remaining possessions in what is now Atlantic Canada were the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward, which were then called Isle Royale and Isle Saint-Jean. The French used these islands as a base to continue the lucrative cod fishery of the Grand Banks. In 1719 they began to construct at Louisbourg a fortified town which was completed just before an attack by the British in 1745.
When the British attacked in 1745, the fortress was captured in 46 days. Only three years later the town was restored to the French by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1758 Louisbourg was attacked a second time. Without a strong navy to patrol the sea beyond its walls, Louisbourg was impossible to defend. Attacking with 16,000 troops supported by 150 ships, a British army captured the fortress in seven weeks. Determined that Louisbourg would never again become a fortified French base, the British demolished the fortress walls.
The Fall of Louisbourg Louisbourg was a successful naval base, fishing port, and commercial centre until 1758. In that year, 13,000 British soldiers and a massive fleet attacked the fortified city and overwhelmed 4,000 French defenders. The British deported Louisbourg's residents to France and abandoned the remains of the fortified city at the end of the war.
