Seven Years War 1756-1763

War was officially declared in June 1756 but little activity occurred in the Nova Scotia theatre of war in the first year. In 1757, Hopson returned to the 40th Regiment in Halifax for a planned attack on Louisbourg. Realizing that the strength of Louisbourg had been far underestimated, the plan was abandoned and Hopson returned to England.

Following this, fresh troops in Halifax were sent to relieve the garrisons in the Bay of Fundy including Annapolis and Fort Cumberland. By the end of 1757, eight companies of the 40th Regiment were concentrated in Halifax and two in Newfoundland.

The new year brought another plan to take Louisbourg. This time considerable resources in men and material were concentrated in Halifax. After preparing siege implements and training in landing, the force of 13,000 departed for the French fortress on 28th May 1758.

Joining Wolfe

As part of this force, the detachment of the 40th Regiment included one lieutenant colonel, seven captains, sixteen lieutenants, six ensigns, five staff, thirty sergeants, sixteen drummers, and five hundred and fifty privates. As part of General James Wolfe's advance force, the 40th grenadier company made a difflcult landing in Garbarus Bay under considerable fire from French positions.

Once ashore Wolfe's force quickly dislodged the French with the point of the bayonet from heights overlooking the bay. With a beach head secured, the rest of the army landed unmolested and began to set up siege lines around Louisbourg.

Soon after, the French abandoned their positions at Lighthouse point which commanded the harbour's entrance. The grenadiers of the 40th, 45th, and 47th under Wolfe were quickly dispatched to the point Later, volunteers from a number of regiments including the 4oth set about constructing batteries at Lighthouse Point in order to silence the island battery at the harbour's entrance and destroy the enemy ships at Louisbourg.

There was ongoing, almost daily artillery exchange between Lighthouse point and the enemy ships. The result was a number of 40th grenadier casualties including one unfortunate soldier hit with a shot while in his tent. A few sorties were made by the French against the surrounding siege lines.

On 13th June the light troops of the 40th turned back an attack resulting in a number of casualties including the wounding of Lieut. Moses Lilley. With the island battery gone, the French ships destroyed, and the fortress ramparts breached, Louisbourg finally surrendered to the British on 26th luly. In August, the 40th light troops were sent with a force under Lord Rollo to capture the Isle Saint Jean (now Prince Edward Island).

After the capture of Louisbourg, the army was dispersed. The 22nd, 40th, and 45th Regiments were left to winter in the half-destroyed town of Louisbourg. The ensuing winter was particularly taxing on the garrison. Shortages of fuel and food, and the continual skirmishes with Indians and French residents of Isle Royal (Cape Breton) kept the 40th busy mining coal, lumbering, and building defences.

The spring of 1759 brought Wolfe and a new army back to Louisbourg. Quebec was now Wolfe's goal. From the garrison Wolfe formed the grenadiers of the 22nd, 40th, and 45th into "the Louisbourg Grenadiers" which he added to his expedition. Arriving at Quebec in late June, Wolfe ordered an attack on the 31st against the French entrenchments at Montmorency east of Quebec.

Thirteen grenadier companies including the Louisbourg Grenadiers, overconfident and disobeying orders, stormed ashore and charge up the slippery heights towards enemy positions leaving their officers beside. Soaked by a sudden downpour of rain, the grenadiers were easily repulsed by the French with heavy casualties. The Louisbourg Grenadiers alone had eighty killed and wounded including the wounding of Captain Otho Hamilton and Lieut. Samuel Bradstreet of the 40th who were attempting to gain control of their men.

Second Try

On the night of 12th September a more skilful landing was made, this time west of the city. The French awoke to find the British, who had scaled cliffs by night, formed in line on the Plains of Abraham. The response was a hasty French attack that was answered by a deadly volley from fifty yards away. Following this, Wolfe with the Louisbourg Grenadiers and 28th Regiment attacked and broke the French army's left flank.

With this success, a general advance was ordered. It was at this point Wolfe fell mortally wounded in front of the grenadiers. During the battle the Louisbourg Grenadiers suffered a loss of fifty-five killed and wounded. Quebec surrendered a few days later with the Louisbourg Grenadiers forming the honour guard. After the fall of Quebec, the 40th Grenadiers returned to Louisbourg for the winter.

With the opening of the navigation in 1760, the 22nd and the eight companies of the 40th under Lord Rollo were ordered up the St. Lawrence to participate ln the flnal stage of the conquest of Canada. As Rollo moved towards Montreal he was given the duty of disarming a number of parishes along the way.

Upon its arrival near Montreal the grenadier company was again removed from the regiment and formed with other regular grenadiers into a separate unit. Faced with overwhelming odds, the French surrendered Canada on 7th September. The eight companies of the 40th Regiment took up garrison in and around Montreal until the summer of 1761 while the other two continued to garrison St. John's and Placentia, Newfoundland.

To the Tropics

With the French threat repressed in North America, nine companies of the 40th Regiment were ordered to Staten Island and from there to Barbados in December 1761. The next month, the 40th with eighteen other regiments attacked the French island of Martinique. The island capitulated on 3rd February along with the islands of Grenada, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia.

With the declaration of war between England and Spain in January 1762, the British turned their attention towards Havannah. The British, including the 40th Regiment, landed on 7 June and settled in for a two month siege of the formidable West Indian stronghold. Sickness, lack of provisions and water took its toll on the regiment. When Havannah surrendered on 13th August, the 40th had lost eleven men from sickness, nine were killed, and twenty-six were wounded or missing. The 40th remained in garrison in Havannah until the summer of 1763.

While the siege of Havannah was progressing, four French ships with 1200 men appeared near St. John's, Newfoundland in June. Garrisoned only by the sixty-man company of the 40th, St. John's was forced to surrender. With the Treaty of Paris restoring Havannah back to the Spanish, the 40th set sail back to Halifax, arriving there in August 1763. Upon its arrival, the regiment was again broken up to garrison Halifax, Annapolis, Fort Cumberland, and Fort Frederick.

Their stay in Nova Scotia, however, proved short-lived. With a plan for rotation established for troops in the colonies, the 40th Regiment left Nova Scotia for Ireland at the end of 1764. This marked the first time the regiment set foot in Great Britain. After serving Ireland for ten years, the regiment returned to America to fight at Bunker Hill, Staten Island, Princeton, Brandywine, and Fort Griswold, and served again in the West Indies, this time in the taking of St. Lucia. The last time the 40th Regiment saw service in North America was during the unsuccessful attack on New Orleans in 1815.

Much of the early development of Nova Scotia was shaped by the actions of the 40th Regiment. Serving as administrators and defenders, the regiment's officers managed not only to preserve Britain's claim to the area, but to expand it through development of new settlements and fortifications. No other regiment played such an influential role in the governing of British North American colonies as the 40th did in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

40th Regiment Part 1: Formation to Just Before 7YW

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