Étienne Verrier

Étienne Verrier

Étienne Verrier, military engineer (b at Aix-en-Provence, France 4 Jan 1683; d at La Rochelle, France 10 Sept 1747). After 17 years with the engineer corps, Verrier served at LOUISBOURG as chief engineer 1724-45. During these years he planned and revised the layout of the town, completed the bastioned enceinte, with its ornate town gates, the barracks with clock tower and governor's wing, the hospital, the lighthouse, 2 harbour batteries and harbour installations, and designed an unbuilt parish church. Son of a master sculptor, Verrier had a flair for architecture. Militarily he was somewhat less successful. Although his fortifications facilitated a spirited defence against overwhelming odds during the siege of 1745, his advice to abandon the Royal Battery to the enemy is difficult to understand. Verrier's plans and reports, together with archaeological data, have provided the basis for much of today's reconstruction at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Park.