Conceived in Liberty Volume 2 - Ludwig von Mises Institute

in England over the unexpected capture of Louisbourg—the kind of
hysteria that called for all-out conquest of Canada, and that led the first
lord of the admiralty to swear that he would hang the man who dared to
surrender Louisbourg. Pelham and Newcastle were now afraid more of the
English war crowd than of the French. Another such "victory" as Louisbourg
would be disaster indeed! Hence they began a subtle process of disengagement
from the war and therefore from further conquest.
As a part of this process of pacification, William Shirley received slight
reward for his victorious campaign, obtaining a colonelcy but not the coveted
title of baronet. The post of colonel, however, with its correlative patronage
was lucrative enough, and Shirley and Pepperrell spent a happy
time in Louisbourg parceling out all the new patronage and war contracts
—including captaincies to two of Shirley's sons. Such friends, relatives, and
fellow booty-sharers as Robert Hale, Bollan, Hutchinson, Robert Auchmuty,
Benjamin Colman, Hancock, and Paul Dudley were cut in for their
share. As always, Samuel Waldo profited handsomely: his son becoming
captain and in charge of supply for his regiment, and his stepbrother and
Pepperrell's son-in-law Nathaniel Sparhawk placed in charge of selling
French war loot in Boston.
But in the meanwhile, the loot of the lower-ranking heroes was not as
abundant. At Louisbourg supplies were low, sickness high, and the troops
restive. And through the stormy winter, Shirley found it difficult to supply
the unfortunate garrison. Furthermore, the American volunteers found themselves
after the victory under the command of British naval officers who
had played a decidedly minor role in the triumph. The colonial soldiers
had enlisted only for the length of a summer campaign, but now found,
to their outrage, that British officers forced them to remain in Louisbourg
for the entire miserable winter. The troops threatened to mutiny, and only
the personal visit of Shirley in the fall, promising speedier payment and
discharges in the spring, quieted the incipient rebellion.
By the sobering spring of 1746, the people of Massachusetts began to
learn some of the costs of their famous victory. By the end of the winter
fully nine hundred men, one-third of the victorious New England soldiery,
had died at Louisbourg. This bitter pill was aggravated by the conduct of
the returning British fleet. Many maltreated British seamen took the opportunity
of being in Boston to jump ship, and the British officers aroused
hostility by rounding up and killing two of their sailors, as well as pressganging
American seamen to replace the deserters. Assemblymen from
Boston and other seaport towns reflected popular wrath against Eliakim
Hutchinson, one of Shirley's favorites who had been a leading contractor of
supplies to Louisbourg, and was in charge of procuring seamen in the
colony. In the 1747 election, the Massachusetts Assembly removed
Hutchinson from the Council, and tried its best to have him dismissed from
his judicial and military posts.
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