itions to capture the English
posts in Nova Scotia. Canseau, at the entrance of the strait of that
name, was easily taken, and the garrison carried to Louisbourg, but
Annapolis Royal was successfully defended by Colonel Mascarene, then
governor of {215} Nova Scotia. All these events had their direct
influence on the expedition which New England sent in the spring of
1745 against Louisbourg. The prisoners who had been captured at
Canseau had remained until the autumn in Louisbourg, and the accounts
they brought back of its condition gave Shirley and others reason to
believe that if an expedition was, without loss of time, sent against
it, there would be a fair chance of success. Not only did they learn
that the garrison was small, but that it was discontented, and a mutiny
had actually broken out on account of the soldiers not having received
the usual additions to their regular pay for work on the
fortifications. The ramparts were stated to be defective in more than
one place, while gales and other causes had delayed the arrival of the
ships which arrived every year with provisions and reinforcements.
These facts gave additional confidence to Governor Shirley of
Massachusetts, William Vaughan of New Hampshire, and many influential
men who had already conceived the idea of striking a blow at the French
which would give the English control of the whole coast from Cape Sable
to the entrance of the St. Lawrence.

The expedition against Louisbourg consisted of over four thousand men,
of whom Massachusetts, which then included the present State of Maine,
contributed nearly one-third. Colonel Pepperrell of Kittery on the
Piscataqua, who had command, with the title of lieutenant-general, was
a man of wealth and influence, though without any military experience.
His excellent judgment and undaunted {216} courage, however,
contributed largely to the success of this bold venture. Captain
Edward Tyng, a capable colonial sailor, was the commodore of the little
fleet of thirteen vessels, carrying in all about two hundred guns. The
Puritan spirit of New England had much influence in organising an
expedition, and whose flag had a motto suggested by the Methodist
revivalist, Whitfield: "_Nil desperandum Christo duce_." The story of
the success of the New England troops, in conjunction with the small
English fleet, under the command of Commodore Warren, has been often
told, and we need not dwell on its details. M. Duchambon was