This fort was the first real fortification built in Placentia during the French occupation. Until that time they had been satisfied with picket fences or forts "qui 6taient autant comme rien." It was to be quite a different matter with Fort Louis, the building of which was to lead to other defence works such as the Royal Redoubt.

As we have seen, Brouillan arrived at Placentia with a large reinforcement of men, arms and tools. Part of his instructions concerned the fortifications that were to be built. It appears that the governor responded to the king's wishes at the very beginning of his period in office, as, on March 1, 1692, His Majesty wrote to Brouillan in answer to a letter, which was obviously written in 1691:

J'ay veu le plan du petit fort que vous avez commencc- du costs de la Petite Grave. Je ne puis vous dire autre chose sur les raisons qui vous ont d6terminC- a pr6f6rer ce costs 5 la Grande Grave, et a ne vous pas servir du premier r6duit si ce n'est que ayant une grande exp6.rience, je veux croire que vous avez fait pour le mieux et que vous avez choisi le moins expos6 aux insultes et le plus facile a dC-fendre.

According to this document, then, Brouillan must have undertaken a new defense work, Fort Louis, situated on the northern point of the gut at water level. It was very conveniently situated, as it was built only a short distance from the gut, the entrance to the harbour. This narrow channel, which was only 300 feet wide at low tide, made it possible for only one ship to enter at a time, and, even then' it was necessary to wait for favourable winds "rangent" W.-S.-W. and to manoeuvre the ship by "la toue," that is, pulling on ropes fixed to an anchor previously embedded on the beach. With the cannons of the fort aimed in its direction, this passage became almost impossible to pass through.

In 1691, Fort Louis was built with piles which were "moutonnes" i.e., driven deep into the ground. The surrounding wall, which was about 300 paces in circumference and irregular in construction, was provided with two bastions, with neither flanks nor gorges, known as "'Bourgogne" and "Royal," and four curtains made of clay and stones piled up between stakes driven into the ground. This enclosure, which surrounded the governor's headquarters and the barracks in the centre, which amounted to a simple row of stakes, protected by a battery of 26 cannons (.1692), spread around the three sides. There was still no cistern for drawing water. From 1691 onwards, however, the fort was constantly being improved and repaired until it finally became a stone structure.