Contrary to the events in Cape Breton, Shirley had not been idle. He was dreaming of even greater conquests that were intended to culminate in the capture of all of New France and the elimination of the French menace once and for all. Newcastle, the new head of the British government who had replaced Carteret, listened cautiously to Shirley's plans and gave him words of support, eventually promising a force of eight battalions of British regulars under Lieutenant-General Saint Clair to support his proposed invasion of Canada. Massachusetts was to contribute 3,500 men, New Hampshire 500, Rhode Island 300, Connecticut 1,000, New York 1,600, New Jersey 500, Maryland 300, Virginia 100, and Pennsylvania 400. The regulars and New England troops were to attack Quebec via the St. Lawrence, and the soldiers from New York and the more southerly provinces, supported by the Six Nations of the Iroquois, were to attack Montreal via Lake Champlain.

Canada was aflame with rumors of immanent invasion. The invasion never happened. After numerous delays, the battalions of regulars promised to Shirley were eventually " . . . sent on an abortive expedition against the coast of France." The newly-formed units of Provincials were ordered disbanded because they were too costly to maintain, and Shirley was ordered not to pursue any further aggressive plans.

Shirley, not to be denied the opportunity to carry the war to the French, now proposed a force of exclusively provincial troops for an attack on the French post at Crown Point, from whence had emanated many destructive raids directed against New York and New England. By mid-October a force of 1,500 Massachusetts troops was marching to join a group of New York levies in order to eliminate this source of irritation.

This attack was also doomed to failure as all New England was rocked by news from abroad. A massive French fleet had been assembled and was on its way to North America to retake Louisbourg and Acadia and burn Boston! The provincials were recalled and ordered to take up defensive positions around Boston along with 8,000 hastily mustered militia.

The Duc d'Anville's Expedition

The loss of Louisbourg had come as a thunderbolt to the French who had regarded it as virtually impregnable. This loss had been an unbearable blow to Gallic honor, and a supreme effort was to be made to regain this important post. Nearly half of the French navy was gathered together at Brest under the command of De Roye de la Rochefoucauld, Duc d' Anville. Described as " ... worthy to be loved and born to command," d'Anville, aged 37, had followed his father into the navy and been promoted to the rank of LieutenantGeneral of the Gallies at the age of eleven. Still lacking any experience at sea, he had subsequently been made Lieutenant General of the Naval Armaments of the King. Obviously a man of high regard and good connections, d'Anville was also fatally unlucky, as events were eventually to demonstrate.

D'Anville's fleet was an impressive one, consisting of eleven ships of the line, twenty frigates, and around thirty-five transports and fire ships bearing around 6,000 sailors and 3,150 soldiers consisting of the regiment of Ponthieu along with other veteran troops. The fleet was to arrive before Chibucto (present-day Halifax) and rendezvous with four ships of the line from the West Indies under M. de Conflans. The fleet sailed from Brest to Rochelle where contrary head-winds prevented it from leaving France until June 20.

From the outset d'Anville's expedition was plagued with misfortune. Initially meeting with tempestuous seas which damaged some vessels in the Bay of Biscay, the fleet was then becalmed in the longitude of the Azores. Then came a violent lightening storm whose bolts struck some ships and killed several men followed by an epidemic which was to plague the fleet for the remainder of the voyage.

Finally, on the 14th of September, after nearly three months at sea and now on the verge of famine, the fleet approached the foggy coast of Nova Scotia when it was again wracked by tempests. Several ships were lost in the raging storm and all the rest were scattered. On the 23rd, d'Anville in his flagship, Northumberland, and with two other ships made his way into the Bay of Chibucto (soon to be renamed Halifax). His expectations of finding there the four ships under Conflans were quickly and cruelly dashed. Conflans had indeed made it to the harbor earlier in the month, but, finding no trace of d'Anville's fleet after what should have been ample time in which to make the Atlantic crossing, Conflans had sailed for France.

The numerous hardships and disappointments of his expedition must have weighed heavily on the shoulders of d'Anville. To his knowledge, all that remained of his once proud armada was but three ships and one transport discovered in the harbor of Chibucto. And those ships with him were full of sick men. In any event, on the morning of the 27th of September d'Anville died, probably as a result of a stroke, although some suggested suicide.

At 6:00 pm. that same day vice-admiral d'Estournel sailed into Chibucto Bay with the tattered remnants of the fleet to learn that he was now in command. Quickly a council of war was convened to discuss what to do next. Although the object of the expedition had been the capture of Louisbourg, all agreed that this was now out of the question given the condition of the fleet. D'Estournel was in favor of returning to France as quickly as possible and avoiding combat with such an attenuated fleet. After a long and vociferous debate, d'Estournel was overruled and the council decided that an attempt be made to capture Annapolis Royal. An agitated and mortified d'Estournel retreated to his cabin wherein he promptly committed suicide by falling on his sword rather after the fashion of the Greek and Roman generals of antiquity. The onus of command now fell upon the Marquis de la Jonquiere.

Jonquiere, the future governor of Canada, and a seaman of some repute, decided to keep the battered fleet in the Bay of Chibucto until late October while he reprovisioned it with the help of the Acadians. Although the troops were quartered on land, the pestilence which had plagued the flotilla since departing France did not subside and even spread to the Acadians themselves, many of whom also perished. Presently, on the 4th of October, 1746, amid reports that Annapolis Royal had been reinforced by 1,200 men (in fact, Shirley had sent three small militia companies), the expedition sailed for Annapolis. Once again misfortune raised its ugly head as the fleet was again dispersed by a storm off Cape Sable. Two French ships made their way to Annapolis Basin a few days later only to find it patrolled by the Chester (50) and the Massachusetts frigate, Shirley. On the night of the 27th of October a final council of war assembled on the Northumberland and decided to return to France. Plagued by pestilence and dispersed by storms on the return voyage as well, the once great armada limped into harbor in France in driblets in early December, but a ghost of its former self.

The French were not quite ready to give up recapturing Louisbourg, however. On the 10th of May, 1747, Jonquiere, who must have made a good impression on his superiors by his poise in handling the fleet during the earlier debacle, was given command of a new expedition whose aim was to guard a convoy of ships on their way to reprovision New France and then try to retake Louisbourg. This time it was to be the British navy rather than nature that would put paid to French plans. Possessing only six ships, Jonquiere nevertheless decided to give battle to Admiral Anson's seventeen who had caught up with him on the 14th of May. The results of this unequal contest were never in doubt. After hard fighting all six French ships were captured, but Jonquiere had done his part. The supply ships escaped to New France. However the French navy had virtually ceased to exist.

King George's War 1744-1748

Declaration of War
The Siege of Louisbourg
The Capitulation of Louisbourg
Plans for Further Conquests
The Border Wars
The Peace of Aix-La-Chapelle
Conclusions and Critique