Capture.

After the disasters of 1755, 1756, and 1757 came the glory days for Britain. In 1757 the energetic and farsighted William Pitt became prime minister. His visionary eye saw opportunity in America. Subsidizing the Prussian king's army to keep the French busy in Europe, Pitt began pouring reinforcements into North America and choosing talented officers to command them. The first fruit of his efforts was the capture of Louisbourg. In the summer of 1758 he sent Gen. Jeffrey Amherst with nine thousand British regulars and five hundred colonials to Nova Scotia. More than six thousand French soldiers and sailors, tweleve ships, and nearly eight hundred guns waited at Louisbourg. While Adm. Edward Boscawen kept the French fleet from intervening, Gen. James Wolfe, a young officer whose performance in Europe had caught Pitt's eye, led assault troops in whaleboats toward the shore in the face of...