Starvation Wages

     The Fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, was a fascinating peek into the history of the area as the Spanish, French and British fought each other for supremacy in the 18th century.

      In 1713, the French founded a settlement here in order to exploit the fishing and trade opportunities.  When Britain began eyeing the area to expand their empire, the French built a fort around the settlement. In a tactical error in planning, the side facing the sea and port was heavily fortified but the sides facing inland were only lightly protected.

     French soldiers were paid very little and when war broke out in Europe between France and Great Britain, French traders became reluctant in sending ships full of commodities to New France (now known as Quebec) for fear of the ships being captured. This led to a shortage of food and resources for the soldiers and population within the town. In the spring of 1744 the French held several British soldiers captive at Louisbourg. With a shortage of food already a pressing concern, the presence of prisoners of war only worsened the matter. To help deal with the problem, the government in Louisbourg cut the garrison’s pay, as well as reducing their rations. The rations the men did receive were dismal. Bakers used rotten flour to make bread. One soldier described the bread as being completely inedible. What good flour the government had, they kept in the storehouse and sold it to the civilian population of Louisbourg.  On December 27, 1744, the soldiers mutinied, seizing control of the town and fort.  The colonial authorities appealed to France to send reinforcements, but since the British had blockaded the sea access, this could not occur.

     Because of the mutiny and taking advantage of the weaker inland defences, the British attacked, having landed out of sight in a nearby bay and transporting their armaments over land.  The French surrendered after 55 days of battle in 1745.

     As a result of a treaty between Britain and France in 1748, in exchange for some border towns in what is now Belgium, Louisbourg was returned to the French.  Incredibly, the French did not strengthen their defences on the inland side and in 1758, the British again retook the fortress in almost the exact way they had captured it in 1745.  A significant factor was the Fortess' distance from reinforcements from Quebec (then called New France) or the mother country, France.  The British then systematically destroyed the fortifications to prevent the town and fort from being used in the future by the French, should the peace process return it to them yet again.

     The site was abandoned by the British in 1768 and between salvaging of the cut stones by the people that stayed in the settlement, vandalism and the forces of nature, what remained became buried or barely visible.

     During the 1960s and 1970s, unemployed coal miners were retrained with the skills necessary to assist in the rebuilding of one quarter of the town and the fortifications.  Many of the original stones, which had been reclaimed by archaeologists, were used in the rebuilding.

      We spent a whole day at the Fortress. We went on two different guided tours. The first one was a walking tour through the town and fortress. Our guide was wonderful. She had so many stories and told them in a interesting and humourous way. She has been working at the fortress for over 20 years and seemed to be truly passionate about the important part the people of Louisbourg played in the area's history. The second tour was with a woman who was dressed as a French soldier (although there were no female soldiers when the Fortress was active, the modern-day attraction did not have enough male volunteers to dress as soldiers). She told us about the dismal life of a soldier. She showed us how the flintlock rifle of that time was loaded and cared for. She also attempted to shoot the rifle but as much as she tried, it would not work. Near us, a group of children were learning how to walk like soldiers while carrying their pretend rifles. They did pretty good. They marched right into the fortress. Next, we went to the architect's house. There we learned about the house staff and how the kitchen ran during those times. We had homemade hot chocolate which in that time was a real treat. It was a great day, we experienced the past and how today, we keep this history alive in an interesting way

Here our soldier guide tried to shoot her rifle.
After several unsuccessful tries, she just apologized
and we moved on.

The kitchen and the makings of hot chocolate

Here are some photos from the day.

In town, we meet a washerwoman who took in washing from the rich.
Her wages were more than her husband's who was a soldier.
(Everyone who was playing a role in the town or fortress stayed in their
character even when you were asking them questions. A very nice touch!)

Livestock: Chickens and rooster

Livestock: sheep

Livestock: Turkey hiding in a garden

The garden ready for planting

A display of children learning how to make lace from the nuns

The wharf entrance to the town

The cannons being stored

Entrance to the fortress. Inside is a chapel, storage areas,
soldier barracks.
There are many displays within the building.

     We would highly recommend to others to visit this Fortress. Canada has so much history and so much to explore. We have been to several forts in our days but this one was by far the best presentation through exhibits, re-enactments, role-playing, active and interesting tours.