[Footnote: This war was immediately preceded by what is known as the "SPANISH WAR," which grew out of the difficulties then existing between England and Spain. It was marked by no important event in the colonies. Governor Oglethorpe invested (1740) St. Augustine with a force of two thousand men, but the strength of the Spanish garrison, and the loss by sickness, caused the attempt to be abandoned. The Spaniards, in their turn, sent (1742) an expedition against Georgia. By means of a letter which Governor Oglethorpe caused to fall into the hands of the Spaniards, they were made to believe that he expected large reinforcements. Being frightened, they burned the fort they had captured, and fled in haste. The colonies, also, furnished about four thousand men for an expedition against the Spanish settlements in the West Indies; but only a few hundred ever returned from this disastrous enterprise.] (1744-1748.) CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG.--War having again broken out between England and France, the flame was soon kindled in the new world. The only event of importance was the capture of Louisburg on the island of Cape Breton, by a combined force of English and colonial troops. The latter did most of the fighting, but the former took the glory and the booty. Peace being made in 1748 by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (akes-la-sha-pel), England gave back Louisburg to the French. The boundaries between the French and English colonies were left undecided, and so the germ of a new war remained. [Footnote: Louisburg was called the "Gibraltar of America." Its fortifications were extensive, and cost upward of $5,000,000. The siege was conducted in the most unscientific way, the colonial troops laughing at military terms and discipline. When the place was captured, they were themselves astonished at what they had done. The achievement called forth great rejoicing over the country, especially in New England, and had an influence on the Revolutionary War, thirty years after. Colonel Gridley, who planned General Pepperell's batteries in this siege, laid out the American intrenchments on Bunker Hill. The same old drums that beat the triumphal entrance of the New Englanders into Louisburg, June 17, 1745, beat at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. "When General Gage was erecting intrenchments on Boston Neck, the provincials sneeringly remarked that his mud walls were nothing compared to the stone walls of old Louisburg."] IV. FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. (1754-1763)