Edward Cornwallis
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant General Edward Cornwallis (5 March 1713 – 14 January 1776) was a British
military officer who founded Halifax, Nova Scotia
with 2500 settlers and later served as the Governor
of Gibraltar
.
, and Lady Charlotte Butler, daughter of the Earl of Arran
. The Cornwallis family possessed large estates at Culford
in Suffolk
and the Channel Islands
. His grandfather, Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis
, was First Lord of the Admiralty. (His nephew, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
, would become a British general in the American War of Independence, and was later Governor-General of India
.)
A twin brother to Frederick Cornwallis
, both Edward and Frederick were made royal pages at the age of 12. They were enrolled at Eton
school at 14, and at age 18, Edward was commissioned into the 47th Regiment of Foot
in 1731.
during the War of the Austrian Succession
and the Jacobite Rising
of 1745.
Cornwallis was immediately faced with a difficult decision: where to site the town. Settlement organizers in England had recommended Point Pleasant
due to its close access to the ocean and ease of defence. His naval advisors opposed the Point Pleasant site due to its lack of shelter and shallows which would not allow ocean-going ships to dock. They wanted the town located at the head of Bedford Basin
, a sheltered location with deep water. Others favoured Dartmouth
. Cornwallis made the decision to land the settlers and build the town at the site the site of present day Downtown Halifax
halfway up the harbour with deep water, protected by a defensible hill (later known as Citadel Hill). By 24 July, the plans of the town had been drawn up and on 20 August lots where draw to award settlers their town plots in a settlement that was to be named "Halifax" after Lord Halifax
the President of the Board of Trade and Plantations who had drawn up the expedition plans for the British Government.
and single band of Mi'kmaq
met with Cornwallis in the Summer of 1749. They agreed with the British to end fighting and renewed an earlier treaty drafted in Boston, redrafted as the Treaty of 1749.
However Cornwallis' peace efforts were doomed to failure. The treaties signed at Halifax represented mostly native groups in New Brunswick. Most Mi'kmaw leaders in Nova Scotia regarded the unilateral establishment of Halifax
as a violation of an earlier treaty with the Mi'kmaq people (1726), signed after Dummer's War
. Mi'kmaw leaders met at St. Peters in Cape Breton in September 1749 to respond to British moves. They composed a letter to Cornwallis making it clear that, they while they tolerated the small garrison at Annapolis Royal, they completely opposed settlement at Halifax: "The place where you are, where you are building dwellings, where you are now building a fort, where you want, as it were, to enthrone yourself, this land of which you want to make yourself absolute master, this land belongs to me". Cornwallis had no authority to respond by abandoning the Halifax expedition and Mi'kmaw leaders regarded the Halifax settlement as "a great theft that you have perpetrated against me."
A wave of Mi'kmaw attacks began immediately after the letter. At Chignecto Bay
, two British ships were attacked while two others were seized at Canso
. At Halifax, attacks began on settlers and soldiers outside the fortified town, beginning with the first of several raids on the sawmill settlement at Dartmouth across the harbour. This stage of the long-running Anglo-Mi'kmaw conflict is known by some historians as Father Le Loutre's War
.
Cornwallis sought to project British military forces by establishing forts in the largest Acadian communities, which were located at Windsor
(Fort Edward
), Grand Pre
(Fort Vieux Logis
) and Chignecto
(Fort Lawrence
). As a result, during Cornwallis' three years in Nova Scotia, Acadians and Mi'kmaq people orchestrated attacks on the British at Chignecto
, Grand Pre
, Dartmouth
, Canso
, and Halifax. The French erected forts at present day Saint John
, Chignecto and Port Elgin, New Brunswick
. Cornwallis's forces responded by attacking the Mi'kmaq and Acadians at Mirligueche (later known as Lunenburg
), Chignecto
and St. Croix
.
Frontier warfare
was the standard practice of warfare in North America during the colonial wars
between New England
and New France
and their respective native allies. To prevent the French and native massacres of British families, many Massachusetts
Governors, including William Shirley
, issued a bounty for the scalps of Indian men, women, and children. Cornwallis followed New England's example when he protected the first British settlers in Nova Scotia from being scalped by putting a bounty on the Mi'kmaq (1749).
In Acadia and Nova Scotia, both the British and Mi'kmaq forces engaged in frontier warfare or total war
, that is, both sides of the conflict repeatedly killed combatants and non-combatants (i.e., women, children and babies). While the British paid the New England Rangers for Mi'kmaq scalps, the French paid the Mi'kmaq for British scalps. At the same time the British were adopting an uncomplicated, racially based view of local politics, several leaders of the Micmac community were developing a similar stance. According to historian Geoffery Plank, both combatants understood their conflict as a "race war", and both the Mi’kmaq and British were “singlemindedly” determined to drive each other from the peninsula of Nova Scotia.
After eighteen months of inconclusive fighting since the outbreak of the war, uncertainties and second thoughts began to disturb both the Mi’kmaq and the British communities. By the summer of 1751 Governor Cornwallis began a more conciliatory policy. For more than a year, Cornwallis sought out Mi’kmaq leaders willing to negotiate a peace. On 16 February 1752, hoping to lay the groundwork for a peace treaty, he repealed his 1749 proclamation against the Mi'kmaq. He eventually gave up, resigned his commission and left the colony in October 1752. (Shortly after Cornwallis' departure, Chief Jean-Baptiste Cope
signed the only peace treaty of the war, which was ultimately rejected by most of the other Mi'kmaq leaders. Cope burned the treaty six months after he signed it.)
Led by the efforts of Daniel N. Paul
, there has been much public attention in the twenty-first century on Cornwallis' use of frontier warfare, with little regard for both the historical context and the Mi'kmaq leaders use of this type of warfare against the British.
Cornwallis left Nova Scotia in 1752, three years before Father Le Loutre's War ended in 1755.
and from there embark for Minorca
, which was then under siege from the French
. Admiral John Byng
called a council of war, which involved Cornwallis, and advised the return of the fleet to Gibraltar leaving the garrison at Minorca to its fate. Cornwallis was also one of the senior officers in the September 1757 Raid on Rochefort
which saw a failed amphibious descent on the French coastline.
of Gibraltar
from 14 June 1761 to January 1776 when he died at the age of 63.
His body was returned to England and laid to rest at Culford Parish Church in Culford
, near Bury St. Edmunds
on 9 February 1776.
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
military officer who founded Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
with 2500 settlers and later served as the Governor
Governor of Gibraltar
The Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...
of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
.
Early life
He was the sixth son of Charles, fourth Baron CornwallisBaron Cornwallis
Baron Cornwallis is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The holders of the first creation were later made Earl Cornwallis and Marquess Cornwallis, but these titles are now extinct...
, and Lady Charlotte Butler, daughter of the Earl of Arran
Earl of Arran
Earl of Arran is a title in both the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland. The two titles refer to different places, the Isle of Arran in Scotland, and the Aran Islands in Ireland...
. The Cornwallis family possessed large estates at Culford
Culford
Culford is a small village about north of Bury St Edmunds in the English county of Suffolk. The villageis based around a straight road called "The Street" and there are also some smaller residential areas in Culford, like Benyon gardens, a complex of small lanes...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
and the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
. His grandfather, Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis PC was a British politician who served as First Lord of the Admiralty. He succeeded his father as Baron Cornwallis in 1673...
, was First Lord of the Admiralty. (His nephew, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG , styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator...
, would become a British general in the American War of Independence, and was later Governor-General of India
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
.)
A twin brother to Frederick Cornwallis
Frederick Cornwallis
Frederick Cornwallis was Archbishop of Canterbury, and the twin brother of Edward Cornwallis.Cornwallis was born in London, England, the seventh son of Charles Cornwallis, 4th Baron Cornwallis. He was educated at Eton College and graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge...
, both Edward and Frederick were made royal pages at the age of 12. They were enrolled at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
school at 14, and at age 18, Edward was commissioned into the 47th Regiment of Foot
47th Regiment of Foot
The 47th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1741 in Scotland, the regiment saw service over a period of 140 years, before it was amalgamated with another regiment to become The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in 1881...
in 1731.
War of the Austrian Succession
Cornwallis participated in the Battle of FontenoyBattle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Allies – comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops under the nominal command of the Duke of Cumberland – and a French army under Maurice de...
during the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
and the Jacobite Rising
Jacobite rising
The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in Great Britain and Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746. The uprisings were aimed at returning James VII of Scotland and II of England, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by...
of 1745.
Founding of Halifax
The British Government appointed Cornwallis as Governor of Nova Scotia with the task of establishing a new British settlement to counter France's Fortress Louisbourg. He sailed from England aboard HMS Sphinx of 14 May 1749, followed by a settlement expedition of 15 vessels and about 2500 settlers. Cornwallis arrived at at Chibouctou Harbour on 21 June 1749, followed by the rest of the fleet five days later. There was only one death during the passage due to careful preparations, good ventilation and good luck, a remarkable feat when Transatlantic expeditions regularly lost large numbers to disease.Cornwallis was immediately faced with a difficult decision: where to site the town. Settlement organizers in England had recommended Point Pleasant
Point Pleasant Park
Point Pleasant Park is a large, partially forested municipal park at the southern tip of the Halifax peninsula. It once hosted several artillery batteries, and a well-preserved 18th century Martello tower can be found there...
due to its close access to the ocean and ease of defence. His naval advisors opposed the Point Pleasant site due to its lack of shelter and shallows which would not allow ocean-going ships to dock. They wanted the town located at the head of Bedford Basin
Bedford Basin
Bedford Basin is a large enclosed bay, forming the northwestern end of Halifax Harbour on Canada's Atlantic coast.-Geography:Geographically, the basin is situated entirely within the Halifax Regional Municipality and is oriented northwest-southeast, measuring approximately 8 kilometres long and 5...
, a sheltered location with deep water. Others favoured Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Dartmouth founded in 1750, is a community and planning area of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has been nicknamed the City of Lakes after the large number of lakes located in the city.On April 1, 1996, the provincial...
. Cornwallis made the decision to land the settlers and build the town at the site the site of present day Downtown Halifax
Downtown Halifax
Downtown Halifax is the city centre of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Located on the eastern-central portion of the Halifax Peninsula, on Halifax Harbour, it serves as the business, entertainment, and tourism hub of the region.- Municipal:...
halfway up the harbour with deep water, protected by a defensible hill (later known as Citadel Hill). By 24 July, the plans of the town had been drawn up and on 20 August lots where draw to award settlers their town plots in a settlement that was to be named "Halifax" after Lord Halifax
George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax
George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, KG, PC was a British statesman of the Georgian era.-Early life:...
the President of the Board of Trade and Plantations who had drawn up the expedition plans for the British Government.
Relations with the Mi'kmaq
One of Cornwallis' first priorities was to make peace with the native peoples of Nova Scotia. A group of Maliseet, PassamaquoddyPassamaquoddy
The Passamaquoddy are the First Nations people who live in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick....
and single band of Mi'kmaq
Mi'kmaq
The Míkmaq are a First Nations people, indigenous to the northeastern region of New England, Canada's Atlantic Provinces, and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. The nation has a population of about 40,000 , of whom nearly 9,100 speak the Míkmaq language...
met with Cornwallis in the Summer of 1749. They agreed with the British to end fighting and renewed an earlier treaty drafted in Boston, redrafted as the Treaty of 1749.
However Cornwallis' peace efforts were doomed to failure. The treaties signed at Halifax represented mostly native groups in New Brunswick. Most Mi'kmaw leaders in Nova Scotia regarded the unilateral establishment of Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
as a violation of an earlier treaty with the Mi'kmaq people (1726), signed after Dummer's War
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
. Mi'kmaw leaders met at St. Peters in Cape Breton in September 1749 to respond to British moves. They composed a letter to Cornwallis making it clear that, they while they tolerated the small garrison at Annapolis Royal, they completely opposed settlement at Halifax: "The place where you are, where you are building dwellings, where you are now building a fort, where you want, as it were, to enthrone yourself, this land of which you want to make yourself absolute master, this land belongs to me". Cornwallis had no authority to respond by abandoning the Halifax expedition and Mi'kmaw leaders regarded the Halifax settlement as "a great theft that you have perpetrated against me."
A wave of Mi'kmaw attacks began immediately after the letter. At Chignecto Bay
Chignecto Bay
Chignecto Bay is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy located between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and separated from the waters of the Northumberland Strait by the Isthmus of Chignecto. It is a unit within the greater Gulf of Maine Watershed...
, two British ships were attacked while two others were seized at Canso
Canso
Canso can refer to several different things:* Canso, Nova Scotia, a small fishing town in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada.* Canso Causeway, a rock-fill causeway connecting Cape Breton Island to mainland Nova Scotia, Canada...
. At Halifax, attacks began on settlers and soldiers outside the fortified town, beginning with the first of several raids on the sawmill settlement at Dartmouth across the harbour. This stage of the long-running Anglo-Mi'kmaw conflict is known by some historians as Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre’s War , also known as the Indian War, the Micmac War and the Anglo-Micmac War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the British and New England colonists were led by British Officer Charles...
.
Father Le Loutre's War
Windsor, Nova Scotia
Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...
(Fort Edward
Fort Edward (Nova Scotia)
Fort Edward is a National Historic Site in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada and was built during Father Le Loutre's War. The fort was created to help prevent the Acadian Exodus from the region...
), Grand Pre
Grand Pre, Nova Scotia
Grand-Pré is a Canadian rural community in Kings County, Nova Scotia. Its French name translates to "Great Meadow" and the community lies at the eastern edge of the Annapolis Valley several kilometres east of the town of Wolfville on a peninsula jutting into the Minas Basin, framed by the Gaspereau...
(Fort Vieux Logis
Fort Vieux Logis
The site of Fort Vieux Logis is in present-day Hortonville, Nova Scotia, Canada and was built during Father Le Loutre's War. The fort was created to help prevent the Acadian Exodus from the region. The site of the fort is on the field where the Acadian Cross and the New England Planters monument...
) and Chignecto
Isthmus of Chignecto
The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia which connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America....
(Fort Lawrence
Fort Lawrence
Fort Lawrence was a British fort built during Father Le Loutre's War and located on the Isthmus of Chignecto .-Father Le Loutre's War:...
). As a result, during Cornwallis' three years in Nova Scotia, Acadians and Mi'kmaq people orchestrated attacks on the British at Chignecto
Isthmus of Chignecto
The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia which connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America....
, Grand Pre
Siege of Grand Pre
The Siege of Grand Pre happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and was fought between the British and a militia made up of Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, and Acadians. The siege happened at Fort Vieux Logis, Grand Pre...
, Dartmouth
Raid on Dartmouth (1751)
The Raid on Dartmouth occurred during Father Le Loutre’s War on May 13, 1751 when an Acadian and Mi’kmaq militia from Chignecto, under the command of Acadian Joseph Broussard, raided Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, destroying the town and killing twenty British villagers...
, Canso
Canso, Nova Scotia
For the headland, see Cape Canso.Canso is a small Canadian town in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, next to Chedabucto Bay. The area was established in 1604, along with Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The British construction of a fort in the village , was instrumental...
, and Halifax. The French erected forts at present day Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
, Chignecto and Port Elgin, New Brunswick
Fort Gaspareaux
Fort Gaspareaux was a French fort at the head of Baie Verte near the mouth of the Gaspareaux River and just southeast of the modern village of Port Elgin, New Brunswick, Canada, on the Isthmus of Chignecto...
. Cornwallis's forces responded by attacking the Mi'kmaq and Acadians at Mirligueche (later known as Lunenburg
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Lunenburg , is a Canadian port town in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia.Situated on the province's South Shore, Lunenburg is located on a peninsula at the western side of Mahone Bay. The town is approximately 90 kilometres southwest of the county boundary with the Halifax Regional Municipality.The...
), Chignecto
Battle at Chignecto
The Battle at Chignecto happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and was fought by 700 troops made up of British regulars led by Charles Lawrence, New England Rangers led by John Gorham and Captain John Rous led the navy. They fought against a militia made up of Mi’kmaq and Acadians led by...
and St. Croix
Battle at St. Croix
The Battle at St. Croix was fought during Father Le Loutre’s War between New England Rangers and Mi’kmaq at Battle Hill in the community of St. Croix, Nova Scotia. The battle lasted for three days in the spring of 1750.-Historical context:...
.
Frontier warfare
Scalping
Scalping is the act of removing another person's scalp or a portion of their scalp, either from a dead body or from a living person. The initial purpose of scalping was to provide a trophy of battle or portable proof of a combatant's prowess in war...
was the standard practice of warfare in North America during the colonial wars
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts lasting 74 years in North America that represented colonial events related to the European dynastic wars...
between New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
and their respective native allies. To prevent the French and native massacres of British families, many Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
Governors, including William Shirley
William Shirley
William Shirley was a British colonial administrator who served twice as Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and as Governor of the Bahamas in the 1760s...
, issued a bounty for the scalps of Indian men, women, and children. Cornwallis followed New England's example when he protected the first British settlers in Nova Scotia from being scalped by putting a bounty on the Mi'kmaq (1749).
In Acadia and Nova Scotia, both the British and Mi'kmaq forces engaged in frontier warfare or total war
Total war
Total war is a war in which a belligerent engages in the complete mobilization of fully available resources and population.In the mid-19th century, "total war" was identified by scholars as a separate class of warfare...
, that is, both sides of the conflict repeatedly killed combatants and non-combatants (i.e., women, children and babies). While the British paid the New England Rangers for Mi'kmaq scalps, the French paid the Mi'kmaq for British scalps. At the same time the British were adopting an uncomplicated, racially based view of local politics, several leaders of the Micmac community were developing a similar stance. According to historian Geoffery Plank, both combatants understood their conflict as a "race war", and both the Mi’kmaq and British were “singlemindedly” determined to drive each other from the peninsula of Nova Scotia.
After eighteen months of inconclusive fighting since the outbreak of the war, uncertainties and second thoughts began to disturb both the Mi’kmaq and the British communities. By the summer of 1751 Governor Cornwallis began a more conciliatory policy. For more than a year, Cornwallis sought out Mi’kmaq leaders willing to negotiate a peace. On 16 February 1752, hoping to lay the groundwork for a peace treaty, he repealed his 1749 proclamation against the Mi'kmaq. He eventually gave up, resigned his commission and left the colony in October 1752. (Shortly after Cornwallis' departure, Chief Jean-Baptiste Cope
Jean-Baptiste Cope
Jean Baptiste Cope was also known as Major Cope, a title he was likely given from the French military, the highest rank given to Mi’kmaq. Cope was the sakamaw of the Mi'kmaq people of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia...
signed the only peace treaty of the war, which was ultimately rejected by most of the other Mi'kmaq leaders. Cope burned the treaty six months after he signed it.)
Led by the efforts of Daniel N. Paul
Daniel N. Paul
Dr. Daniel N. Paul, C.M., O.N.S., is a Mi'kmaq Elder, author, columnist, and human rights activist. Paul is perhaps best known as the author of the book We Were Not the Savages. Paul asserts that this book is the first such history ever written by a First Nation citizen. The book is seen as an...
, there has been much public attention in the twenty-first century on Cornwallis' use of frontier warfare, with little regard for both the historical context and the Mi'kmaq leaders use of this type of warfare against the British.
Cornwallis left Nova Scotia in 1752, three years before Father Le Loutre's War ended in 1755.
Seven Years War
In November 1756 Cornwallis was one of three colonels who were ordered to proceed to GibraltarGibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and from there embark for Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
, which was then under siege from the French
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
. Admiral John Byng
John Byng
Admiral John Byng was a Royal Navy officer. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to Vice-Admiral in 1747...
called a council of war, which involved Cornwallis, and advised the return of the fleet to Gibraltar leaving the garrison at Minorca to its fate. Cornwallis was also one of the senior officers in the September 1757 Raid on Rochefort
Raid on Rochefort
The Raid on Rochefort was a British amphibious attempt to capture the French Atlantic port of Rochefort in September 1757 during the Seven Years War...
which saw a failed amphibious descent on the French coastline.
Governor of Gilbraltar
Cornwallis served as the GovernorGovernor of Gibraltar
The Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...
of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
from 14 June 1761 to January 1776 when he died at the age of 63.
His body was returned to England and laid to rest at Culford Parish Church in Culford
Culford
Culford is a small village about north of Bury St Edmunds in the English county of Suffolk. The villageis based around a straight road called "The Street" and there are also some smaller residential areas in Culford, like Benyon gardens, a complex of small lanes...
, near Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre...
on 9 February 1776.
Legacy
- A statue of Edward Cornwallis was erected in 1931 by J. Massey RhindJ. Massey RhindJohn Massey Rhind was a Scottish-American sculptor. Among Rhind's better known works is the marble statue of Dr. Crawford W. Long located in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D.C...
, an associate of the Royal Scottish AcademyRoyal Scottish AcademyThe Royal Scottish Academy is a Scottish organisation that promotes contemporary Scottish art. Founded in 1826, as the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, the RSA maintains a unique position in Scotland as an independently funded institution led by eminent artists and...
. The statue stands at the center of Cornwallis Park in downtown City of HalifaxCity of HalifaxHalifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
. - Cornwallis Place (Halifax) was named after Edward Cornwallis. The name was changed to Summit Place in 1995.
- Cornwallis Junior High SchoolCornwallis Junior High SchoolCornwallis Junior High School is a junior high school in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was founded in 1948.The school takes its name from Edward Cornwallis, who founded the city, which began Father Le Loutre's War. The foundation stone was laid by the Cornwallis of the time on July 32, 1948,...
in Halifax is named for him, but in June 2011, the Halifax regional school board voted unanimously to change the school's name because of Cornwallis' legacy of offering a bounty for the scalps of Mi'kmaq - Canadian Forces Base CornwallisCFB CornwallisCanadian Forces Base Cornwallis is a former Canadian Forces Base located in Deep Brook, Nova Scotia.It is situated in the western part of Annapolis County on the southern shore of the Annapolis Basin...
, a former Canadian Forces Base located in Deep Brook, Nova ScotiaDeep Brook, Nova ScotiaDeep Brook is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Annapolis County .-References:*...
, was named in his honour. - He is also the namesake of Cornwallis Street (Halifax), Cornwallis Street (ShelburneShelburne, Nova ScotiaShelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Shelburne County.-History:-Settlers:...
), Canadian Coast Guard Ship CCGS Edward CornwallisCCGS Edward CornwallisCCGS Edward Cornwallis is a High Endurance Multi-Tasked Vessel Light Icebreaker and Buoy tender. She was built in 1986 by Marine Industries of Tracy, Quebec....
, Cornwallis RiverCornwallis RiverThe Cornwallis River is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada.It has a meander length of approximately 48 km from its source on the North Mountain near Berwick to its mouth near Wolfville on the Minas Basin. The lower portion of the river is tidal and there are extensive tidal marshes in the lower...
and Cornwallis Park, Nova ScotiaCornwallis Park, Nova ScotiaCornwallis Park is the name of a Canadian rural community in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia.- History :The community is located on the western edge of Clementsport and immediately east of Deep Brook....
In popular culture
- Edward Cornwallis is the subject of The Hampton Grease BandHampton Grease BandThe Hampton Grease Band was an American rock band, beginning as a blues-rock group in the late 1960s in Atlanta, Georgia. They performed with several major bands in this period, including Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. The band gained a reputation for wacky stage antics, and eventually...
song entitled "Halifax" which appears on the double album Music to EatMusic to EatMusic to Eat is the only album ever produced by avant garde rock band Hampton Grease Band. It was released in 1971.-Track listing:# "Halifax" – 19:39# "Maria" – 5:30# "Six" – 19:29# "Evans" – 12:28# "Lawton" – 7:48...
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