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Lahontan's Account of the Battle of Placentia

Nice example of Baron Lahontan's illustration of the Battle of Placentia (September 1692), which was fought between the English and the French at Fort St. Louis (Castle Hill) in Placentia, Newfoundland during King William's War.  

The map is oriented with west at the top and shows the the positions of the warships involved, route of the vessels, and several important geographical details.

One of the most colorful and interesting individuals to visit Placentia in the seventeenth century was Baron Lahontan, who assisted in the defense of the settlement and, in so doing, prevented the English from capturing the town and, with it, control of the south coast fisheries. After a decade of travelling around Central Canada and the American Midwest. In 1692, the officer pitched his proposal for the defense of the western frontier of New France to Governor Frontenac. His efforts met with approval and Lahontan was sent to France to present the plan to the French Court. 

En route on the Sainte-Anne, Lahontan put into Plaisance on August 18. He waited there to join a convoy to cross the Atlantic. While waiting, on September 14, 1692, news arrived that five English ships had been sighted nearby. The next day, the English arrived off Plaisance. Lahontan was included in the defense plans by Governor Brouillan, who sent him and sixty Basque fishermen to La Fontaine Cove to prevent an English landing.  

On September 17, several hundred English attempted such a landing, but were kept back. On the 18th, Philippe Pastour de Costebelle and Lahontan were received aboard the English flagship to arrange an exchange of prisoners and unsuccessfully discuss terms of surrender. The French refused to surrender; the next day, the English ships arranged themselves in a line formation and began to bombard the fort. The French put up a strong resistance and, after five or six hours, the English vessels withdrew. The episode was a high point in Lahontan's military career; he is better remembered as a fanciful explorer.