During the War of the Austrian Succession (1739-1748), the French islands of the Lesser Antilles provided ideal bases from which the corsairs staged their expeditions. They preyed on British shipping in the Caribbean and the Atlantic. At times they sought shelter at the French Canadian fortress of Louisbourg. Their raids so endangered merchant shipping during the Seven Years War (1756-1763) that the British made it their priority to capture Louisbourg, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Dominica - the ports providing safe havens for the corsairs. Even so, these sea raiders captured more than two thousand ships during the first six years of the Napoleonic Wars.
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