Duc d'Anville Expedition

The novel Guns of Thunder is set during the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg.

In 1744, the colonies of France and Great Britain were drawn into the War of the Austrian Succession.  New France repelled an attack at Canso.  In 1745, New England mounted an ambitious expedition.  4,000 colonists besieged the mighty French fortress of Louisbourg.  After 49 days, Louisbourg fell, and the British and their colonies rejoiced.

The news of the capture of Louisbourg shocked the French.  They assembled 11,000 soldiers on board a fleet of 64 ships--the largest expedition to the New World unti the American War of Independence.  The Duc d'Anville commanded the expedition to reconquer Acadia (Nova Scotia) and "consign Boston to flames."

The Duc d'Anville and the French flotilla

Alarmed, the New Englanders fasted and prayed, and God intervened.  Storms battered the French ships, while disease wiped out many soldiers.  When the expedition landed, the Duc d'Anville fell sick and died.  Finally, the remnants of the expedition returned to France.  New England had stood still and seen the salvation of the Lord.