the islands, they were not successful. Attacks and deportations In 1778 the islands were attacked by a force led by Newfoundland's Governor John Montagu and the colonists deported by Montagu's men after France joined the American Revolutionary War on the side of the United States. The settlers were sent back to France and their colonial settlements were burnt. France regained the islands in 1783 after the Peace of Paris and some residents returned to the islands. The French Revolution erupted in 1789, and events on Saint Pierre and Miquelon were not immune to the twists and turns that ensued. In the early spring of 1793, news of the trial and execution of Louis XVI reached the islands. All royal symbols were subsequently removed from Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The Acadian population of Miquelon were loyal to French royalty, and decided to leave the colony for the Magdalen Islands, a small archipelago just north of Nova Scotia. In May 1793, after France had declared war on Great Britain as part of the War of the First Coalition, a British force attacked the islands under Captain William Affleck of Halifax. The seasonal fishermen and captured French military personnel were deported in 1793, followed by the 950 residents in 1794, who were shipped to Halifax and held for two years. British fishermen took possession of the islands. Only 2 years later, French forces under Rear-Admiral de Richery attacked the islands in 1796, sinking 80 British vessels. The British abandoned the islands, and the French destroyed the town. After this, the islands remained deserted until 1816. French restoration after Napoleon Although the Amiens Treaty of 1802 specified that Saint-Pierre and Miquelon would again be returned to France, this agreement did not produce the promised restoration. The islands were finally returned to France after the second abdication of Napoleon in 1815. French fishermen again took up residence on the island in 1816. The French fishing fleet again came to the islands for supplies and to dry and cure their catch. The residents of the islands did a good business, many working as armateurs, or outfitters, for the visiting fishing fleet. About 200 French vessels came to fish in the waters, and as many as 8000 French fishermen came to visit every year from St. Malo, Fécamp, St. Brieuc, and Dieppe. The catch was divided into dried "saltfish" for the Caribbean and much of Europe and