Raid on Canso

This article is about the 1744 raid. For the 1776 raid, see Raid on Canso (1776).
Raid on Canso
Part of King George's War

Fort William Augustus, Canso
Date23 May 1744
Location
Canso, Nova Scotia
Result French victory
Belligerents
 France
Wabanaki Confederacy (Mi'kmaq militia)		  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
François Dupont Duvivier
Units involved
Acadian militia
Wabanaki Confederacy (Mi'kmaq militia)
Troupes de la marine		 40th Regiment
Strength
  • 17 vessels
  • 2 privateers
  • 1 sloop
  • 14 fishing boats

351 soldiers

  • Over 100 men
  • Several ships
Casualties and losses
5 prisoners,[1] 2 wounded, 1 killed[2] 1 killed, 4 wounded, about 100 captured

The Raid on Canso was an attack by French forces from Louisbourg on the British outpost Fort William Augustus at Canso, Nova Scotia shortly after war declarations opened King George's War. The French raid was intended to boost morale, secure Louisbourg's supply lines with the surrounding Acadian settlements, and deprive Britain of a base from which to attack Louisbourg. There were 50 English families in the settlement.[3] While the settlement was utterly destroyed, the objective failed, since the British launched an attack on Louisbourg in 1745, using Canso as a staging area.

  1. ^ Pote, William (1896). The Journal of Captain William Pote, Jr., during his Captivity in the French and Indian War from May, 1745, to August, 1747. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 75.
  2. ^ Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Vol. I. Boston. 1792. pp. 22-23.
  3. ^ Joseph Emerson. Diary kept at the Siege of Louisburg. March 15-August 14, 1745. Cambridge: John Wilson and Son, 1910, pp. 10-11.