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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 12
by T. M. Hamilton and Bruce W. Fry The Historical and Archaeological BackgroundIntroduction The Fortress of Louisbourg, located on the exposed Atlantic coast of Cape Breton Island, affords an exceptionally well-preserved French site of the early 18th century with evidence of both military and social life over a short occupation period. Archaeological investigations of the fortifications, government structures and civilian properties within the town began in 1961 (Larrabee 1971). Not included in this research to date is an interesting element of the defences guarding the narrow entrance to the harbour. On a rocky islet remote from the main fortifications and directly overlooking the only channel into the harbour, the French built an artillery battery which, by 1734, was complete with powder magazine and barracks for a small garrison (Figs. 1, 2). The island battery was bombarded into submission as a prelude to the capture of the fortress by colonial forces from New England in 1745 and again by the British in 1758; thereafter the fortification was not repaired or reoccupied.
While no comprehensive research has been carried out, exploratory excavations to determine the condition of the structures were undertaken by Donald McLeod in the summer of 1963. In the course of this work, a test pit in a room at the east end of the barracks yielded a cache of about 900 used and broken gunflints weighing about 18-1/2 pounds (McLeod: unpublished notes and drawings on file at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Park). Because of the unusual nature of these flints, they were sent at a later date to the senior author for comment and study. Representative collections of flints recovered from excavations within the main fortress were also studied. The flints were selected from both military and civilian sites which had been fully excavated, a brief description of which is given below (for site locations, see Fig. 3). King's Bastion A large and complex element of the fortifications, the King's Bastion, was designed as a citadel for refuge in the event an attacking force succeeded in breaching the defences of the town. The excavations carried out in this area are described by Larrabee (1971). Construction of the bastion was begun in 1719 and finished in 1731; it was damaged in 1745 by the besieging forces from New England which subsequently occupied the fortress, made repairs to ruined areas and repaired the King's Bastion along with the rest of the defences. The French, upon returning in 1749, resumed occupation of the bastion and made further modifications to its defensive walls. The siege of 1758 saw the effective end of the bastion which was badly damaged during the conflict and then demolished in 1760 by the British army.
Gunflints were found throughout the area, but the majority was recovered from the casemates of the right flank (38 of a total of 59). Flints were found in all casemates at all levels, although most came from the upper strata to which post-1750 dates have been assigned (Walker: 1971), the upper limit being fixed by the destruction at the end of that decade. As Walker's discussion shows, however, earlier material was incorporated in these later strata which were basically refuse deposits; together with a few specimens from lower strata associated with the earliest phases of the fortress, the gunflints from the King's Bastion should be considered as falling within a dating bracket of 1720-60. The King's Bastion Barracks An integral part of the citadel, the barracks was a massive, three-storey building located across the gorge of the King's Bastion. The south half of the building contained the governor's residence and council chamber, quarters for officers of the garrison, and a chapel; the north half served primarily as a soldiers' barracks. The whole building, begun in the 1720s and completed in the early 1730s, suffered extensive damage in both sieges and was practically in ruins at the end of the second siege in 1758, except for part of the governor's wing. The foundations were partially exposed and stabilized during a restoration program in the 1930s, but when excavated in 1962-63 as part of the present restoration program, archaeologically significant strata were revealed, comprising occupational refuse and building collapse and containing substantial quantities of artifacts. The gunflints described in this report were all located in the northern or barracks section of the building in strata sealed by rubble that can be confidently attributed to the destruction of the second siege. The associated artifacts suggest a central date in the 1740s for these strata; the gunflints may thus be dated to a period between 1740 and 1758. Magazin du Roi Another government building, located in block 1, the Magazin du Roi (King's storehouse) was a well-documented stone structure in existence from 1727 until about 1768. Because of continual flooding, the original cobblestone floor was covered with a foot of gravel fill in 1739 or 1740. Four gunflints were associated with this structure: two were found in the rubble overlying this gravel; the other two were found in building collapse directly on top of the cobble walkway outside the building. All four are therefore associated with the later (1750s or 1760s) phase of the storehouse. Hangard d'Artillerie Located in town block 1, a block used exclusively for government purposes, the Hangard d'Artillerie was a low, single-storey masonry structure used for the storing of artillery pieces and shot, with a forge for repairs at one end. From the documentary evidence, the hangard appears to have been completed in December 1736, although it deteriorated rapidly and by 1745 the occupying New England troops considered it unsuitable for use and built their own ordnance store nearby. The French probably made little use of the building when they returned in 1749, and a large part appears to have been burnt in the fire which destroyed the adjacent bakery in 1756. After 1758, the British repaired part of it for use as an arsenal and then as a stable; after 1768 it fell completely into ruin. Excavation revealed only a simple sequence of occupation and collapse, the majority of artifacts being found on a compacted earth floor. The gunflints, located randomly throughout the building, were found in association with musket balls and cannon-balls which match French military specifications, and a variety of wrought iron artifacts of both British and French manufacture. On this evidence it is assumed that the later phases of the building, after repairs and cleaning-up, were reflected in the archaeological record and that the gunflints from this building may be dated to the 1750s. De Couagne Property A property in town block 7 consisting of a masonry house built in 1722, replaced by a half-timbered house built in the 1730s by Jean Baptiste de Couagne and outbuildings and a storehouse built between 1741 and 1745, yielded a large quantity of flints found in the house itself as well as in the yard and storehouse. Unfortunately the site was a very shallow one, the modern sod level occurring immediately on top of the foundations and undisturbed natural soils, and no closely dated strata existed. The property was occupied continuously from 1721 until 1768, although ownership changed several times. From 1740 to 1758 it was occupied by ship's outfitters and merchants, and the flints found may represent this commercial function. Villejouin/Fizel and Richard Properties A private dwelling and adjacent back yard in the northeast corner of town block 16 yielded evidence of a rectangular wood-frame building on a stone foundation. The yard in back was filled with a rich, black earth containing artifacts in profusion among which gunflints were found. As usual in artifact assemblages at Louisbourg, both French and British material was present, and again the dating evidence from ceramic styling and from coins indicated that the strata in which the flints were found could be dated to the 1740s and 1750s. Indications of burning, together with cannon-balls and mortar shell fragments in the upper strata, support historical evidence that the house was completely destroyed in the siege of 1758, though some late 18th-and 19th-century British material was present in the modern root zone. From documentary evidence, the site appears to have been developed in the 1730s.
De Pensens-De Lavallière Property Another property in block 16 containing both a residence and a warehouse was originally leased to Jacques de Pensens, an officer who also engaged in trading activities. In 1736 the house was sold to Michel Leneuf de Lavallière, another officer and trader, and was occupied by British troops from 1758 until 1768, following the second siege. The gunflints recovered during excavation were all found on the cobble sidewalk outside the residence or immediately below the modern sod layer in the back yard, and cannot be confidently dated very closely, although, being from the upper strata, they may be presumed to belong to the late 1750s and 1760s. Lartigue Property Located in low-lying, marshy terrain adjacent to the quay, a property developed by Joseph Lartigue, a merchant and town official, yielded evidence of a simple rectangular house of half-timber construction on a stone foundation. Stratification was rudimentary, consisting of earth fill on top of the old marsh level, with the floor of the house set directly on the fill. Subsequent to abandonment, the site reverted to its former marshy condition, and a thin layer of swamp grass and mud was all that covered the area. Documentary sources indicate an initial date in the 1730s with continuous occupation until 1785; the original owners reoccupied the property after the New England occupation of 1745-49. After the second siege, there is some indication that British troops used the house as a stable, although this is not reflected in the artifacts recovered. The artifacts are predominantly French, with some British or New England material that dates to the first occupation rather than the second. The gunflints from this site would therefore be of the period between 1730 and 1758. King's-Dauphin Curtain Wall Interconnecting the bastions were lengths of curtain wall which consisted of an earthen rampart mass sloped in back and revetted in front by a masonry escarp surmounted by a parapet. Excavation of the curtain between the King's and Dauphin bastions yielded three gunflints, all from the same trench. They were found in a refuse layer on top of the rampart fill near buildings constructed after the first siege. Refuse from these buildings was simply deposited on the slope of the nearby curtain wall, and it is therefore more reasonable to associate the flints with this material, dating to the 1750s, than with the ramparts themselves.
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