The Fortress of Louisbourg (Forteresse de Louisbourg) is a National Historic Site of Canada and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th-century French fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
Its two sieges, especially that of 1758, were turning points in the Anglo-French struggle for what today is Canada. The history of this part of the world can be confusing; but I’ll give a Wikipedia overview for those interested in trying to sort it out:
The original settlement was made in 1713, and initially called Havre à l’Anglois. Subsequently, the fishing port grew to become a major commercial port and a strongly defended fortress. The fortifications eventually surrounded the town. The walls were constructed mainly between 1720 and 1740. By the mid-1740s Louisbourg was one of the most extensive (and expensive) European fortifications constructed in North America. It was supported by two smaller garrisons on Île Royale located at present-day St. Peter’s and Englishtown. The Fortress of Louisbourg suffered key weaknesses, since it was erected on low-lying ground commanded by nearby hills and its design was directed mainly toward sea-based assaults, leaving the land-facing defenses relatively weak. A third weakness was that it was a long way from France or Quebec, from which reinforcements might be sent. It was captured by British colonists in 1745, and was a major bargaining chip in the negotiations leading to the 1748 treaty ending the War of the Austrian Succession. It was returned to the French in exchange for border towns in what is today Belgium. It was captured again in 1758 by British forces in the Seven Years’ War, after which its fortifications were systematically destroyed by British engineers. The British continued to have a garrison at Louisbourg until 1768.
The photo above is from the bay side where today’s community is located. To get to the fortress you drive around to the ocean side. Here’s a view of a model of the full installation when it was most active, with the heavily reinforced walls facing out to the sea to the left and the more domestic functions facing the bay to the right.
The fortress and town were partially reconstructed in the 1960s and 1970s, using some of the original stonework, which provided jobs for unemployed coal miners. The head stonemason for this project was Ron Bovaird. The site is operated by Parks Canada as a living history museum. The site stands as the largest reconstruction project in North America. The sense of arrival for today’s visitors lacks a sense of ceremony – you drive up and park off to the side – mainly because it was normally approached from the water. It seemed to us that the experience is loosely structured, though there were helpful guides or re-enactors to point things out; and you could take a carriage or walking tour.
This reconstructed gate sits on the bay side – above – and can be seen at the foot of one of the streets – below
As you can observe, most of the structures for the ‘community’ were simple, one-story, wooden buildings. The closer that functions got to the primary military function of the fortress, or administrative activities of the town, the more solid and formal the buildings became, and the more amenities were provided.
The building below was set up to show some of the administrative activities.
I found the process used to display Louisbourg to be both revealing and fascinating. Parks Canada invested significant energy into recovering artifacts, documenting the ways in which the original fortresse was constructed and inhabited AND also showing the many ways in which the recovery, documentation and restoration were done.
It made for very complete – and contemporary-feeling – story telling. Instead of having everything behind glass, clearly displayed and labeled, many of the displays have been made consciously more casual, more as snapshots of an historic time and place, and a bit as if they are still being studied, right in front of you.
This ambiguity of course creates viewer uncertainty, and requires that you engage a bit in what you’re looking at and decide for yourself what’s happening here. It’s fairly obvious below that the ingredients in the jars could be weighed and sold; but the presence of wine glasses and dishes suggests there might be more going on.
Below, for instance, it’s not clear if these various drawing and measuring instruments were used on this particular drawing, are coincidentally co-located, or just happen to be together before being assigned to their own displays. Viewer challenge !
As an architect, I loved seeing the exquisite hand drawings even though the architectural result was quite ordinary.
The ship models were set up as traditional museum displays.
The ship above was clearly part of the navy; while the one below, a shallop, was part of the local fishing fleet.
Here, a view of Louisbourg as a busy town with the fortification in the background.
And just to give a sense of the interior quality of the buildings, a view to the exterior.
We walked up one of the typical town streets. Not every building was open to view.
The museum quality definitely shifted gears from passive to active in the street. This local citizen cares for the geese. They had clearly bonded with him – and he with them.
A little farther along we came to a building dedicated to explaining the overall approach to the Louisbourg reconstruction, and to holding meetings and presentations about it.
This is where the large model showed the scope of the reconstruction,
and explanatory panels showed some of the details, in this case the specifics of the early excavations prior to reconstruction work.
Examples of some of the original French drawings were displayed to show the starting point for reconstructions where no original construction survived.
Across from this building stood the King’s garden,
And beyond it the main garrison
A couple of modest structures led to the garrison entrance gate.
There didn’t seem to be any particular hierarchy to the building functions or locations,
but I have to believe that in reality they would have been functionally connected. I liked a small detail of how the windows and shutters were handled here.
These are genuine shutters, that when closed, fully fill the stone openings in which the windows sit. But in a nice design touch, when fully open, they touch each other and create complete stone opening reflections. Just past these buildings we passed through the gate to the garrison.
If I recall correctly the “moat” never had water in it but was simply a mobility impediment against wagons or artillery on wheels.
Strikingly, the first space we came to was the chapel, a surprisingly decorative space, given its location in relation to France and/or Quebec.
The building is not particularly deep, so we passed through initially to the yard / parade ground / defense back-up space.
At the far end the thick wall with the small, square windows contains munitions storage, above which a row of cannon aims out through narrow slots to the fields beyond. A little later we went up and walked the walls; but initially we returned to the main building and explored its functions and the history of its reconstruction. Accommodations were spare to say the least, and bitterly uncomfortable in winter when the uninsulated stone walls barely resisted the cold.
Fireplaces were strategically placed in the middle of the spaces where the heat from the hearth and the chimney could radiate out into the rooms.
It was explained that the soldiers shared beds for warmth; and that rank determined how close your bed was to the fireplace.
And if this bedding is representational, there weren’t any down comforters either.
As we moved through the building we passed through some rooms dedicated to showing the level of effort involved in the reconstruction.
Because the British engineers had thorough demolished the buildings after capturing the fortress from the French, the reconstruction began as archeology project. This included uncovering the buildings but also the contents, some of which needed reassembly.
It must have been an incredible jigsaw puzzle to assemble.
The building reconstruction combined traditional (roofing, stone walls) work with more contemporary (reinforced concrete).
All of this had to be figured out and drafted by hand – pre-computer aided drafting.
In places, the displays – such as this door hardware – became graphic art.
I suspect that some of this craftsmanship had to be recreated as well.
It wasn’t all just he-man work either. At the upper levels of garrison administration there was some room for the finer things – though it’s hard to believe it could have been much of a lifestyle given the nature of garrison living.
Men’s dress was clearly more utilitarian.
We walked across the yard and up on to the walls, from which the total building could be seen. Note that from this vantage you can pick out the four large chapel windows just to the right of the central tower.
A few cannon were on display. These particular ones seemed awfully exposed.
There was an interesting collection of “slotted” outlooks that were constructed for cannon but also created their own aesthetic in relation to the fields beyond.
This one was a protected lookout space, reached through a narrow channel.
In the opposite direction, an interesting view of the fortress roof and spire.
And, of course, the prevalent cannon openings.
From the walls at the end of the grounds we could take in the length of the garrison building – a long thin shape that probably was not easy to defend.
At this near end the building included the commander’s quarters – the class distinctions were impossible to ignore. The kitchen, at least, was straightforward.
It’s hard to believe that this level of artwork would be included at the frontier.
Tapestries were often used both to show off the leader’s bravado and to provide some added comfort for the space; but they would have been difficult to preserve here.
Sleeping seems to have been an individual affair in many cases.
Curtains and drapes were definitely used to conserve warmth.
The conference room included the two French powers of the day – the portrait of the king and the crucifix standing in for the Catholic Church.
We exited with a view back to the museum with the model,
and then looked back from the seaside as we circled the fortress.
It was pretty obvious from this high-ground view, that the siting of the fortress had not been particularly well thought out.
Finally, one last look as we headed back to Sydney.
Next time – Off to Halifax
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