Born in Port-Royal, François Du Pont Duvivier was appointed Captain of Louisbourg in 1737. He had many successful commercial enterprises in Louisbourg. In charge of reconquering Acadie in the name of France in 1744, he and 350 soldiers attacked and destroyed the British port of Canso (east of the peninsula making up the mainland of today's Nova Scotia), giving île Royale access to supplies from Acadian farms in Nova Scotia. Massachusetts Governor William Shirley, fearing a new attack by Duvivier, sent over 2,000 soldiers to Port-Royal (then called Annapolis Royal). As expected, Duvivier, accompanied by some 50 French soldiers and approximately 230 Aboriginals, led an attack on Annapolis Royal in August 1744 and besieged it until October 2. Without French reinforcements, Michel de Gannes de Falaise, a high-ranking officer, ordered the troops to withdraw and the expedition turned into a failure.