Neptune's Needle

Town (1991 pop. 1,261), E Cape Breton Isl., N.S., Canada. The town, an ice-free port, is near the site of the great fortress of Louisbourg, built (1720-1740) by France as its Gibraltar in America. French privateers, using the harbor as a base, preyed on New England fishermen working the Grand Banks, until 1745, when a small force of New Englanders under William Pepperrell, supported by a fleet of merchantmen commanded by Sir Peter Warren, attacked Louisbourg and forced its surrender. In 1748 it was returned to France by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in exchange for Madras, India, but it fell (1758) to a Brit. land and sea attack led by Gen. Jeffrey Amherst and Admiral Boscawen, which reduced it to ruins. The site is a natl. historic park, and reconstruction of a portion of the fortified town is completed.

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Peter Richards