Father Le Loutre's War
Encyclopedia
Father Le Loutre’s War (1749–1755), 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 Lawrence and New England Ranger John Gorham
. Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre
led the Mi'kmaq
and the Acadians in a petite guerre behind Anglo-American lines.
While the British Conquest of Acadia
happened in 1710, the British were contained to settlements at Port Royal and Canso. The rest of the colony was in the control of the Catholic Mi'kmaq and Acadians. Father Le Loutre's War began because it was not until 1749 that the British made a concerted military effort to gain control over all of Nova Scotia and Acadia. Cornwallis established Halifax in that year by bringing to Nova Scotia approximately 2500 protestants. (At the outbreak of the war there was an estimated 3000 Mi'kmaq and 12000 Acadians in the region.)
The upheaval caused by this war was unprecedented. Atlantic Canada witnessed more population movements, more fortification construction, and more troop allocations than ever before in the region. Twenty-four conflicts were recorded (battles, raids, skirmishes) during the war, 13 of which were Mi'kmaq and Acadian raids on the capital region Halifax/ Dartmouth. As typical of frontier warfare, many additional conflicts were unrecorded.
During Father Le Loutre's War, the British attempted to establish firm control of the major Acadian settlements in peninsular Nova Scotia and to extend their control to the disputed territory of present-day New Brunswick
. The British also wanted to establish Protestant communities in Nova Scotia. During the war, the Acadians and Mi'kmaq left Nova Scotia
for the French colonies of Ile St. Jean (Prince Edward Island
) and Ile Royale (Cape Breton Island
). The French also tried to maintain control of the disputed territory of present-day New Brunswick. Throughout the war, the Mi’kmaq and Acadians attacked the British forts in Nova Scotia and the newly established Protestant settlements. They wanted to retard British settlement and buy time for France to implement its Acadian resettlement scheme
.
The war began with the British unilaterally establishing Halifax
, which was a violation of an earlier treaty with the Mi'kmaq (1726), signed after Dummer's War
. In response, the Acadians and Mi'kmaq orchestrated attacks at Chignecto
, Grand Pré
, Dartmouth
, Canso
, Halifax and Country Harbour. The French erected forts at present-day Saint John
, Chignecto and Port Elgin, New Brunswick
. The British responded by attacking the Mi'kmaq and Acadians at Mirligueche (later known as Lunenburg
), Chignecto
and St. Croix
. The British unilaterally established communities in Lunenburg and Lawrencetown
. Finally, the British erected forts in Acadian communities located at Windsor
, Grand Pre
and Chignecto. The war ended after six years with the defeat of the Mi'kmaq, Acadians and French in the Battle of Fort Beausejour
.
, the conflict in Acadia
and Nova Scotia
continued; the British and New England colonists fought the Mi’kmaq, Acadians and the French missionary
priests. The Mi'kmaq and Acadians were united in their commitment to Catholicism, intermarriage, and the gifts provided by the French to the Mi'kmaq. Despite the British Conquest of Acadia
in 1710, the dominant population in Acadia remained Catholic Acadians, who would not sign an unconditional oath to become British subjects. As a result, Acadians and Mi’kmaq resisted the British occupation of Acadia.
While many Acadians traded with the New England Protestants prior to the British Conquest of Acadia
in 1710, they were reluctant to be ruled by them. The Acadians resisted during the Raid on Chignecto (1696)
, and later, during Queen Anne's War
, Mi’kmaq and Acadians resisted during the Raid on Grand Pré
, Piziquid and Chignecto
in 1704. Acadians joined French privateer Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste
as crew members in his victories over many British vessels during King William's War
. The Acadians assisted the French in protecting the capital in the Siege of Port Royal (1707)
and the final Conquest of Acadia
. The Acadians and Mi’kmaq were also successful in the Battle of Bloody Creek (1711).
During Dummer's War
, the Maliseet raided numerous British vessels on the Bay of Fundy while the Mi'kmaq raided Canso, Nova Scotia
(1723). In the latter engagement, the Mi'kmaq were aided by Acadians. During King George's War
, Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre
led forces of both Acadians and Mi’kmaq in efforts to recapture the capital, such as the Siege of Annapolis Royal (1744). During this siege, the French officer Marin had taken British prisoners and stopped with them further up the bay at Cobequid. While at Cobequid, an Acadian said that the French soldiers should have "left their [the British] carcasses behind and brought their skins." Le Loutre was also joined by the prominent Acadian resistance leader Joseph Broussard
(Beausoleil). Broussard and other Acadians supported the French soldiers in the Battle of Grand Pré
. During King George's War, Le Loutre, Gorham and Lawrence rose to prominence in the region.
The war began when Edward Cornwallis
arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports on June 21, 1749. By unilaterally establishing Halifax the British violated earlier treaties with the Mi'kmaq (1726). The British quickly began to build other settlements. To guard against Mi'kmaq, Acadian and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (Citadel Hill) (1749), Dartmouth (1750), Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1751), Lunenburg
(1753) and Lawrencetown
(1754).
Within 18 months of establishing Halifax, the British also took firm control of the Nova Scotia peninsula by building fortifications in all the major Acadian communities: present-day Windsor (Fort Edward)
; Grand Pré (Fort Vieux Logis
) and Chignecto (Fort Lawrence
). A British fort already existed at the other major Acadian centre of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
and Cobequid remained without a fort. Le Loutre is reported to have said that "the English might build as many Forts as they pleased but he wou'd take care that they shou'd not come out of them, for he was resolved to torment them with his Indians...."
The only land route between Louisbourg and Quebec went from Baie Verte through Chignecto, along the Bay of Fundy and up the Saint John River. With the establishment of Halifax, the French recognized at once the threat it represented and that the Saint John River corridor might be used to attack Quebec City itself. To protect this vital gateway, at the beginning of 1749, the French strategically constructed three forts within 18 months along the route: one at Baie Verte (Fort Gaspareaux
), one at Chignecto (Fort Beausejour
) and another at the mouth of the Saint John River
(Fort Menagoueche
).
involved almost half of the total Acadian
population of Nova Scotia
deciding to relocate to French controlled territories. The three primary destinations were: the west side of the Mesagoueche River in the Chignectou region, Ile-Saint Jean (Prince Edward Island
)and Ile Royale (Cape Breton Island
). The leader of the Exodus was Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre
, whom the British gave the code name “Moses
”.
. In August of 1749, Lieutenant Joseph Gorham, younger brother of John Gorham (military officer)
, was at Canso, Nova Scotia
and his party was attacked by Mi'kmaq. They seized his vessel and took twenty prisoners and carried them off to Louisbourg. Three English and seven Mi'kmaq were killed. After Cornwallis complained to the Governor of Ile Royale, sixteen of the prisoners were released.
in August 1749, the Mi'kmaq attacked two British vessels thought to be preventing Acadians from joining the Acadian Exodus by leaving Beaubassin for Ile St. Jean. Seven Mi'kmaq were killed and 3 British. On September 18, several Mi'kmaq and Maliseets ambushed and killed three British men at Chignecto. Seven natives were killed in the skirmish.
After this raid, Cornwallis followed the example of numerous Massachusetts
Governors who used scalping
proclamations to protect British settlers from being massacred. On October 2, 1749, to protect the first British settlers in Nova Scotia from being scalped, Cornwallis offered a bounty on the head of every Mi'kmaq. He set the amount at the same rate that the Mi'kmaq received from the French for British scalps. As well, to carry out this task, two companies of rangers were raised, one led by Captain Francis Bartelo and the other by Captain William Clapham. These two companies served alongside that of John Gorham's company. The three companies scoured the land around Halifax looking for Mi'kmaq. (Captain Clapham saw action in the Siege of Grand Pre
and the Raid on Dartmouth (1751)
, while Captain Bartelo was killed in a raid at Chignecto two years later.)
) had declared themselves peaceful toward the British. Four months later, and three days after the bounty was ordered, however, on October 5, Governor Edward Cornwallis
sent Commander White with troops in the 20 gun sloop Sphinx to Mirligueche (Lunenburg) and had the village destroyed. By 1753 there still was only one family in the area - a Mi'kmaq man named "Old [Paul] Labrador" and his metis family.
was sent to relieve the fort. When he arrived, the militia had already departed with the prisoners. The prisoners spent several years in captivity before being ransomed. There was no fighting over the winter months, which was common in frontier warfare.
), under orders from Governor Cornwallis, to march to Piziquid (present day Windsor, Nova Scotia
). Gorham's mission was to establish a blockhouse at Piziquid, which became Fort Edward
, and to seize the property of Acadians who had participated in the Siege of Grand Pre
.
Arriving at about noon on March 20 at the Acadian village of Five Houses beside the St. Croix River
, Gorham and his men found all the houses deserted. Seeing a group of Mi’kmaq hiding in the bushes on the opposite shore, the Rangers opened fire. The skirmish deteriorated into a siege, with Gorham’s men taking refuge in a sawmill and two of the houses. During the fighting, the Rangers suffered three wounded, including Gorham, who sustained a bullet in the thigh. As the fighting intensified, a request was sent back to Fort Sackville for reinforcements.
Responding to the call for assistance on March 22, Governor Cornwallis ordered Captain Clapham’s and Captain St. Loe’s Regiments, equipped with two field guns, to join Gorham at Piziquid. The additional troops and artillery turned the tide for Gorham and forced the Mi’kmaq to withdraw.
Gorham proceeded to present-day Windsor and forced Acadians to dismantle their church - Notre Dame de l'Assomption - so that Fort Edward could be built in its place.
in 1754.) Lawrence retreated only to return in September 1750.
On September 3, 1750 New England Ranger John Gorham
led over 700 men to the Isthmus of Chignecto
. Mi’kmaq and Acadians opposed the landing and killed twenty British. Several Mi’kmaq were killed and they were eventually overwhelmed by the invading force and withdrew, burning their crops and houses as they retreated.
Le Loutre and Acadian militia leader Joseph Broussard
resisted the British assault. The British troops defeated the resistance and began construction of Fort Lawrence
near the site of the ruined Acadian village of Beaubassin. The work on the fort proceeded rapidly and the facility was completed within weeks. To limit the British to peninsular Nova Scotia
, the French began also to fortify the Chignecto and its approaches, constructing Fort Beausejour
and two satellite forts - one at present-day Port Elgin, New Brunswick
(Fort Gaspareaux
) and the other at present-day Saint John, New Brunswick
(Fort Menagoueche).
During these months, 35 Mi'kmaq and Acadians ambushed Ranger Francis Bartelo, killing him and six of his men while taking seven others captive. The captives' bloodcurdling creams as the Mi'kmaq tortured them throughout the night had a chilling effect on the New Englanders.
during the war. The first raid happened in July 1750, while in the woods on peninsular Halifax, Mi'kmaq scalped six British people: Cornwallis' gardener, his son and four others. The Mi'kmaq buried the son while the gardener's body was left behind and the other four bodies they carried off. (Shortly after this raid, Cornwallis learned that the Mi'kmaq had received payment from the French at Chignecto for five prisoners taken at Halifax as well as prisoners taken earlier at Dartmouth and Grand Pre.)
In 1751, there were two attacks on blockhouses surrounding Halifax. Mi'kmaq attacked the North Blockhouse (located at the north end of Joseph Howe Drive) and killed the men on guard. Mi'kmaq also attacked near the South Blockhouse (located at the south end of Joseph Howe Drive), at a saw-mill on a stream flowing out of Chocolate Lake into the Northwest Arm
. They killed two men. (Map of Halifax Blockhouses)
between British Captain Le Cras, of the Trial and the French sloop, the London, of 70 tons. The London was seized to discover that it had been employed to carry stores of all kinds, arms and ammunition, from Quebec to Le Loutre and his Indians. M. Bigot, the intendant of Canada had given instructions to the French captain to follow the orders of Le Loutre or La Corne, the bills of lading endorsed by Le Loutre, and other papers and letters, were found on board of her, with four deserters from Cornwallis' regiment, and a family of Acadians. The prize and her papers were sent to Halifax.
(later the commander at Fort Beausejour
) was dispatched aboard the brigantine Saint-François to convoy the schooner Aimable Jeanne, which was carrying munitions and supplies from Quebec to the Saint John River for Boishebert
at Fort Boishebert
. Early on 16 October, about ten leagues west of Cape Sable (present-day Port La Tour, Nova Scotia
and area), British Captain John Rous
in the HMS Albany overtook the French vessels. Despite inferior armament, Vergor engaged the sloop, allowing the Aimable Jeanne to reach Fort Boishebert
. The action lasted the better part of the day, after which, with only seven men fit out of 50 and the Saint-François unmasted and sinking, Vergor was obliged to yield. Three of Rous' crew were killed. The ship contained a large supplies of provision, uniforms and warlike supplies. Cornwallis noted that this action was the second time he had caught the Governor of Canada sending a ship of military supplies to the Mi'kmaq to use against the British. By the end of the year, Cornwallis estimated that there were no less than eight to ten French vessels which unloaded war supplies for the Mi'kmaq, French and Acadians at Saint John River and Baye Vert. In response to their defeat in the Battle off Port La Tour, the Governor of Canada ordered four British sloops to be seized at Louisbourg.
There were six raids on Dartmouth during this time period. In July 1750, the Mi'kmaq killed and scalped 7 men who were at work in Dartmouth.
In August of 1750, 353 people arrived on the Alderney and began the town of Dartmouth. The town was laid out in the autumn of that year. The following month, on September 30, 1750, Dartmouth was attacked again by the Mi'kmaq and five more residents were killed. In October 1750 a group of about eight men went out "to take their diversion; and as they were fowling, they were attacked by the Indians, who took the whole prisoners; scalped ... [one] with a large knife, which they wear for that purpose, and threw him into the sea ..."
The following spring, on March 26, 1751, the Mi'kmaq attacked again, killing fifteen settlers and wounding seven, three of which would later die of their wounds. They took six captives, and the regulars who pursued the Mi'kmaq fell into an ambush in which they lost a sergeant killed. Two days later, on March 28, 1751, Mi'kmaq abducted another three settlers.
Two months later, on May 13, 1751, Broussard led sixty Mi'kmaq and Acadians to attack Dartmouth again, in what would be known as the "Dartmouth Massacre"
. Broussard and the others killed twenty settlers - mutilating men, women, children and babies - and took more prisoner. A sergeant was also killed and his body mutilated. They destroyed the buildings. The British returned to Halifax with the scalp of one Mi'kmaq warrior, however, they reported that they killed six Mi'kmaq warriors. Captain William Clapham and sixty soldiers were on duty and fired from the blockhouse. The British killed six Mi'kmaq warriors, but were only able to retrieve one scalp that they took to Halifax. Those at a camp at Dartmouth Cove, led by John Wisdom, assisted the settlers. Upon returning to their camp the next day they found the Mi'kmaq had also raided their camp and taken a prisoner. All the settlers were scalped by the Mi'kmaq. The British took what remained of the bodies to Halifax for burial in the Old Burying Ground.
. A few French defenders were killed and the dikes were breached. Hundreds of acres of crops were ruined which was disastrous for the Acadians and the French troops. In the summer of 1752 Father Le Loutre went to Quebec and then on to France to advocate for supplies to re-build the dikes. He returned in the spring of 1753.
). In August, at St. Peter's, Nova Scotia
, Mi'kmaq siezed two schooners - the Friendship from Halifax and the Dolphin from New England - along with 21 prisoners who were captured and ransomed.
By the summer of 1752, the war had not been going well for the British. The Acadian Exodus
remained strong. The war had bankrupted the colony. As well, two of the three ranger leaders had died. In August 1751, the main ranger leader John Gorham left for London and died there of disease in December. Ranger leader Captain Francis Bartelo had been killed in action at Chignecto, while the other ranger leader Captain William Clapham had been disgraced, failing to prevent the Dartmouth Massacre. John Gorham was succeeded by his younger brother Joseph Gorham. In 1752, to reduce the expense of the war, the companies raised in 1749 were disbanded, bringing down the strength of the unit to only one company. This reduction led to the 22 March 1753 resolution for a militia that would be raised from the colonists to establish the security of the colony, in which all British subjects between the ages of 16 and 60 were compelled to serve.
) in canoes attacked a British vessel at Country Harbour, Nova Scotia. The vessel was from Canso, Nova Scotia
and had a crew of four. The Mi'kmaq fired on them and drove them toward the shore. Other natives joined in and boarded the schooner, forcing them to run their vessel into an inlet. The Mi'kmaq killed and scalped two of the British and took two others captive. After seven weeks in captivity, on April 8, the two British prisoners killed six Mi'kmaq and managed to escape.
and the Mi'kmaq attacked another British schooner in a battle at sea off Outique Island (Isle Madame). On board were nine British men and one Acadian (Casteel), who was the pilot. The Mi'kmaq killed and scalped the British and let the Acadian off at Port Toulouse, where the Mi'kmaq sank the schooner after looting it.
Cope's 1752 peace treaty was ultimately rejected by most of the other Mi'kmaq leaders. Cope burned the treaty six months after he signed it. Despite the collapse of peace on the eastern shore, the British did not formally renounce the Treaty of 1752 until 1756.
In May 1753, Natives scalped two British soldiers at Fort Lawrence.
's 1752 Peace Treaty. As a result, Governor Peregrine Hopson
received warnings from Fort Edward
that as many as 300 natives nearby were prepared to oppose the settlement of Lunenburg and intended to attack upon the arrival of settlers. In June 1753, supervised by Lawrence and protected by several ships of the British Navy, some Regular soldiers under Major Patrick Sutherland, and rangers under Joseph Gorham, the German and French Foreign Protestant
settlers established the village. In August 1753, Le Loutre paid Mi'kmaq for 18 British scalps which they took from the English in different incursions that they had made on their establishments over the summer.
In mid December 1753, within six months of their arrival at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
with the support of Le Loutre, the new settlers rebelled against the British. The rebellion is often referred to as "The Hoffman Insurrection." The Rebellion was led by John Hoffman, one of the Captains who had established the settlers in the town. Hoffman led a mob which eventually locked up in one of the blockhouses a number of Commander Patrick Sutherland’s troops and the Justice of the Peace. Commander Patrick Sutherland at Lunenburg asked for reinforcements from Halifax and Lawrence sent Colonel Robert Monckton
with troops. Monckton arrested Hoffman and brought him to Halifax where he was fined and imprisoned on Georges Island (Nova Scotia) for two years. Hoffman was charged with planning to join the French and take a large number of settlers with him. After the rebellion a number of the French and German-speaking Foreign Protestants
left the village to join Le Loutre and the Acadians. Lawrence and his deputy refused to send Acadians to the area for fear of their influence on the local population.
. In the first winter (1749), the Acadians survived on rations waiting for the dykes to be built. Acadians from Minas were a constant support in providing provisions and labour on the dykes. In retaliation for the Acadian and Mi’kmaq Raid on Dartmouth (1751)
, the British raided Chignecto destroying the dykes and ruining hundreds of acres of crops. Acadians began to defect from the exodus and made application to return to the British colony. Le Loutre immediately sought help from Quebec and then France to support re-building dykes in the area. He returned with success in May 1753 and work began on the grand dyking project on riviere Au Lac (present day Aulac River, New Brunswick
). At this time, there were 2000 Acadians and about 300 Mi'kmaq encamped near-by.
By the summer of 1754, Le Loutre's amazing engineering feats manifested themselves on the great sweeping marshlands of the isthmus; he now had in his workforce and within a forty-eight hour marching radius about 1400 to 1500 Acadian men. Nearby at Baie Verte there was a summer encampment of about 400 natives that would have been one of the largest concentrations of Native people in the Atlantic region at the time. Altogether, he had a substantial fighting force capable of defending itself against anything the Nova Scotia Government might have mustered at the time. Unfortunately, that year storm tides broke through the main cross-dike of the large-scale reclamation project, destroying nearly everything the Acadians had accomplished in several months of intense work. Again some Acadians tried to defect to the British.
(By June 1757, the settlers had to be withdrawn completely again from the settlement of Lawrencetown
because the number of Native raids eventually prevented settlers from leaving their houses.)
Prominent Halifax business person Michael Francklin
was captured by a Mi'kmaw raiding party in 1754 and held captive for three months.
in which British Captain Kenzie of the HMS Vulture defeated French Captain Lesenne of La Marguerite. The French captain was taking war supplies to the Saint John River for Boishebert
at Fort Menagoueche
.
In the Action of 8 June 1755
, a naval battle off Cape Race
, Newfoundland, on board the French ships Alcide and Lys were found 10,000 scalping knives for Acadians and Indians serving under Mi'kmaq Chief Cope and Acadian Beausoleil as they continue to fight Father Le Loutre's War.
At the same time, Acadians began to refuse to trade with the British. By 1754, no Acadian produce was reaching the Halifax market. While the French pressured Acadians not to trade with Halifax, even when British merchants tried to buy directly from Acadians, they were refused. Acadians refused to supply Fort Edward
with any firewood. Lawrence passed a Corn Law, forbidding Acadian exports until Halifax market had been supplied. The British devised a war plan for Nova Scotia that focused on cutting off the food supply to Fort Beauséjour and Louisbourg. This plan involved both siege tactics but also cutting of the source of the supply.
. After the Fort's capitulation the French forces evacuated on June 16, 1755 to Fort Gaspereaux enroute to Louisbourg, arriving on June 24, 1755. Shortly after, Moncton dispatched Captain John Rous
to take Fort Menagoueche at the mouth of the St. John River. Boishebert, seeing that resistance was futile, destroyed the fort and retreated upriver to Belleisle Bay. There he erected a camp volant and constructed a small battery as a rear guard for the Acadian settlements on the river., which the French destroyed themselves to prevent it from falling into British hands. This battle proved to be one of the key victories for the British in the Seven Years' War
, in which Great Britain gained control of all of New France
and Acadia
.
; British civilians had not been spared, and, as Lawrence saw it, Acadian civilians had provided intelligence, sanctuary, and logistical support while others actually fought in armed conflict.
More than any other single factor - including the massive assault that eventually forced the surrender of Louisbourg - the supply problem spelled doom to French power in the region. To cut off the supply to the French, Lawrence realized he could do this, in part, by deporting the Acadians.
With the fall of Beausejour, Le Loutre was imprisoned and the Acadian
expulsion (the Great Upheaval
) began. During the French and Indian War
, the British forces rounded up French settlers starting with the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755)
. The British deported the Acadians and burned their villages at Chignecto to prevent their return.
The Acadian Exodus from Nova Scotia during the war spared most of the Acadians who joined it - particularly those who went to Ile St. Jean and Ile Royal – from the British deportation of the Acadians in 1755. (Despite the hardships they faced, most Acadian refugees had some validation of their choice to leave the British colony of Nova Scotia once the deportation began.) Of course, with the fall of Louisbourg in 1758
, the Acadians who left for the French colonies were deported as well.
King George's War
King George's War is the name given to the operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession . It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia...
and the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
in Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
and Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. On one side of the conflict, the British and New England colonists were led by British Officer Charles Lawrence and New England Ranger John Gorham
John Gorham (military officer)
John Gorham was a New England Ranger and was the first significant British military presence on the frontier of Nova Scotia and Acadia to remain in the region for a substantial period of time after the Conquest of Acadia . He established the famous "Gorham's Rangers". Gorham was commissioned a...
. Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre
Jean-Louis Le Loutre
Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre was a Catholic priest and missionary for the Paris Foreign Missions Society...
led the 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...
and the Acadians in a petite guerre behind Anglo-American lines.
While the British Conquest of Acadia
Siege of Port Royal (1710)
The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
happened in 1710, the British were contained to settlements at Port Royal and Canso. The rest of the colony was in the control of the Catholic Mi'kmaq and Acadians. Father Le Loutre's War began because it was not until 1749 that the British made a concerted military effort to gain control over all of Nova Scotia and Acadia. Cornwallis established Halifax in that year by bringing to Nova Scotia approximately 2500 protestants. (At the outbreak of the war there was an estimated 3000 Mi'kmaq and 12000 Acadians in the region.)
The upheaval caused by this war was unprecedented. Atlantic Canada witnessed more population movements, more fortification construction, and more troop allocations than ever before in the region. Twenty-four conflicts were recorded (battles, raids, skirmishes) during the war, 13 of which were Mi'kmaq and Acadian raids on the capital region Halifax/ Dartmouth. As typical of frontier warfare, many additional conflicts were unrecorded.
During Father Le Loutre's War, the British attempted to establish firm control of the major Acadian settlements in peninsular Nova Scotia and to extend their control to the disputed territory of present-day New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. The British also wanted to establish Protestant communities in Nova Scotia. During the war, the Acadians and Mi'kmaq left Nova Scotia
Acadian Exodus
The Acadian Exodus happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories...
for the French colonies of Ile St. Jean (Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
) and Ile Royale (Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
). The French also tried to maintain control of the disputed territory of present-day New Brunswick. Throughout the war, the Mi’kmaq and Acadians attacked the British forts in Nova Scotia and the newly established Protestant settlements. They wanted to retard British settlement and buy time for France to implement its Acadian resettlement scheme
Acadian Exodus
The Acadian Exodus happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories...
.
The war began with the British unilaterally establishing 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...
, which was a violation of an earlier treaty with the Mi'kmaq (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...
. In response, the Acadians and Mi'kmaq orchestrated attacks 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 Pré
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...
, Halifax and Country Harbour. 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...
. The British 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
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....
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:...
. The British unilaterally established communities in Lunenburg and Lawrencetown
Lawrencetown, Halifax County, Nova Scotia
Lawrencetown is a Canadian rural community in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality on Route 207. The settlement was established during Father Le Loutre's War.- History :...
. Finally, the British erected forts in Acadian communities located at Windsor
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...
, 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...
and Chignecto. The war ended after six years with the defeat of the Mi'kmaq, Acadians and French in the Battle of Fort Beausejour
Battle of Fort Beauséjour
The Battle of Fort Beauséjour was fought on the Isthmus of Chignecto and marked the end of Father Le Loutre’s War andthe opening of a British offensive in the French and Indian War, which would eventually lead to the end the French Empire in North America...
.
Historical context
Despite the official cessation of war between the British and French empires after King George's WarKing George's War
King George's War is the name given to the operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession . It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia...
, the conflict in Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
and Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
continued; the British and New England colonists fought the Mi’kmaq, Acadians and the French missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
priests. The Mi'kmaq and Acadians were united in their commitment to Catholicism, intermarriage, and the gifts provided by the French to the Mi'kmaq. Despite the British Conquest of Acadia
Siege of Port Royal (1710)
The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
in 1710, the dominant population in Acadia remained Catholic Acadians, who would not sign an unconditional oath to become British subjects. As a result, Acadians and Mi’kmaq resisted the British occupation of Acadia.
While many Acadians traded with the New England Protestants prior to the British Conquest of Acadia
Siege of Port Royal (1710)
The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
in 1710, they were reluctant to be ruled by them. The Acadians resisted during the Raid on Chignecto (1696)
Raid on Chignecto (1696)
The Raid on Chignecto occurred during King Williams War when New England forces from Boston attacked the Isthmus of Chignecto, Acadia in present-day Nova Scotia. The raid was in retaliation for the French and Indian Siege of Pemaquid at present day Bristol, Maine. In the English Province of...
, and later, during Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
, Mi’kmaq and Acadians resisted during the Raid on Grand Pré
Raid on Grand Pre
The Raid on Grand Pré was the major action of a raiding expedition conducted by New England militia Colonel Benjamin Church against French Acadia in June 1704, during Queen Anne's War...
, Piziquid 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....
in 1704. Acadians joined French privateer Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste
Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste
Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste was a French privateer famous for the success he had against New England merchant shipping and fishing interests. Baptiste's crew members were primarily Acadians....
as crew members in his victories over many British vessels during King William's War
King William's War
The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...
. The Acadians assisted the French in protecting the capital in the Siege of Port Royal (1707)
Siege of Port Royal (1707)
The Siege of Port Royal in 1707 was two separate attempts by English colonists from New England to conquer Acadia by capturing its capital Port Royal during Queen Anne's War. Both attempts were made by colonial militia, and were led by men inexperienced in siege warfare...
and the final Conquest of Acadia
Siege of Port Royal (1710)
The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
. The Acadians and Mi’kmaq were also successful in the Battle of Bloody Creek (1711).
During 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...
, the Maliseet raided numerous British vessels on the Bay of Fundy while the Mi'kmaq raided Canso, Nova Scotia
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...
(1723). In the latter engagement, the Mi'kmaq were aided by Acadians. During King George's War
King George's War
King George's War is the name given to the operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession . It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia...
, Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre
Jean-Louis Le Loutre
Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre was a Catholic priest and missionary for the Paris Foreign Missions Society...
led forces of both Acadians and Mi’kmaq in efforts to recapture the capital, such as the Siege of Annapolis Royal (1744). During this siege, the French officer Marin had taken British prisoners and stopped with them further up the bay at Cobequid. While at Cobequid, an Acadian said that the French soldiers should have "left their [the British] carcasses behind and brought their skins." Le Loutre was also joined by the prominent Acadian resistance leader Joseph Broussard
Joseph Broussard
Joseph Gaurhept Broussard , also known as Beausoleil, was a leader of the Acadian people in Acadia; later Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Broussard organized a resistance movement against the forced Expulsion of the Acadians...
(Beausoleil). Broussard and other Acadians supported the French soldiers in the Battle of Grand Pré
Battle of Grand Pré
The Battle of Grand Pré, also known as the Battle of Minas, was a battle in King George's War that took place between British and French forces near present-day Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia in the winter of 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession...
. During King George's War, Le Loutre, Gorham and Lawrence rose to prominence in the region.
Fortification of Acadia and Nova Scotia (1749-1751)
Edward Cornwallis
Lieutenant General Edward Cornwallis was a British military officer who founded Halifax, Nova Scotia with 2500 settlers and later served as the Governor of Gibraltar.-Early life:...
arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports on June 21, 1749. By unilaterally establishing Halifax the British violated earlier treaties with the Mi'kmaq (1726). The British quickly began to build other settlements. To guard against Mi'kmaq, Acadian and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (Citadel Hill) (1749), Dartmouth (1750), Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1751), 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...
(1753) and Lawrencetown
Lawrencetown, Halifax County, Nova Scotia
Lawrencetown is a Canadian rural community in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality on Route 207. The settlement was established during Father Le Loutre's War.- History :...
(1754).
Within 18 months of establishing Halifax, the British also took firm control of the Nova Scotia peninsula by building fortifications in all the major Acadian communities: present-day Windsor (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 Pré (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 (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:...
). A British fort already existed at the other major Acadian centre of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
Annapolis Royal is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. Known as Port Royal until the Conquest of Acadia in 1710 by Britain, the town is the oldest continuous European settlement in North America, north of St...
and Cobequid remained without a fort. Le Loutre is reported to have said that "the English might build as many Forts as they pleased but he wou'd take care that they shou'd not come out of them, for he was resolved to torment them with his Indians...."
The only land route between Louisbourg and Quebec went from Baie Verte through Chignecto, along the Bay of Fundy and up the Saint John River. With the establishment of Halifax, the French recognized at once the threat it represented and that the Saint John River corridor might be used to attack Quebec City itself. To protect this vital gateway, at the beginning of 1749, the French strategically constructed three forts within 18 months along the route: one at Baie Verte (Fort Gaspareaux
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...
), one at Chignecto (Fort Beausejour
Fort Beauséjour
Fort Beauséjour, was built during Father Le Loutre's War from 1751-1755; it is located at the Isthmus of Chignecto in present-day Aulac, New Brunswick, Canada...
) and another at the mouth of the Saint John River
Saint John River
The Saint John River is a river, approximately long, located principally in the Canadian province of New Brunswick but also in, and arising from the province of Quebec and the U.S. state of Maine. It forms part of the Canada – United States border in two different places along its length...
(Fort Menagoueche
Fort Menagoueche
Fort Menagoueche was a French fort at the mouth of the St. John River, New Brunswick, Canada. French Officer Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot built the fort during Father Le Loutre's War and eventually burned it himself as the French retreated after losing the Battle of...
).
Acadian Exodus (1749-1755)
With demands for an unconditional oath, the British fortification of Nova Scotia, and the support of French policy, a significant number of Acadians made a stand against the British. On 18 September 1749, a document was delivered to Edward Cornwallis signed by a total of 1000 Acadians, with representatives from all the major centres. The document stated that they would leave the country before they would sign an unconditional oath. Cornwallis continued to press for the unconditional oath with a deadline of 25 October. In response, hundreds of Acadians began the exodus from Nova Scotia. In fact some Acadians had begun to leave prior to hearing Cornwallis' response. The Acadian ExodusAcadian Exodus
The Acadian Exodus happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories...
involved almost half of the total Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
population of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
deciding to relocate to French controlled territories. The three primary destinations were: the west side of the Mesagoueche River in the Chignectou region, Ile-Saint Jean (Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
)and Ile Royale (Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
). The leader of the Exodus was Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre
Jean-Louis Le Loutre
Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre was a Catholic priest and missionary for the Paris Foreign Missions Society...
, whom the British gave the code name “Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
”.
Raid on Canso
The first military conflict of the war was at Canso, Nova ScotiaCanso, 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...
. In August of 1749, Lieutenant Joseph Gorham, younger brother of John Gorham (military officer)
John Gorham (military officer)
John Gorham was a New England Ranger and was the first significant British military presence on the frontier of Nova Scotia and Acadia to remain in the region for a substantial period of time after the Conquest of Acadia . He established the famous "Gorham's Rangers". Gorham was commissioned a...
, was at Canso, Nova Scotia
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 his party was attacked by Mi'kmaq. They seized his vessel and took twenty prisoners and carried them off to Louisbourg. Three English and seven Mi'kmaq were killed. After Cornwallis complained to the Governor of Ile Royale, sixteen of the prisoners were released.
Battles at Chignecto
At the Isthmus of ChignectoIsthmus 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....
in August 1749, the Mi'kmaq attacked two British vessels thought to be preventing Acadians from joining the Acadian Exodus by leaving Beaubassin for Ile St. Jean. Seven Mi'kmaq were killed and 3 British. On September 18, several Mi'kmaq and Maliseets ambushed and killed three British men at Chignecto. Seven natives were killed in the skirmish.
Raid on Dartmouth
The Mi'kmaq saw the founding of Halifax without negotiation as a violation of earlier agreements with the British. On 24 September 1749, the Mi'kmaq formally declared their hostility to the British plans for settlement without more formal negotiations. On September 30, 1749, about forty Mi'kmaq attacked six men, who were under the command of Major Gilman, who were in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia cutting trees near a saw mill. Four of them were killed on the spot, one was taken prisoner and one escaped. Two of the men were scalped and the heads of the others were cut off. Major Gilman and others in his party escaped and gave the alarm. A detachment of rangers was sent after the raiding party and cut off the heads of two Mi'kmaq and scalped one. This raid was the first of eight against Dartmouth during the war.After this raid, Cornwallis followed the example of numerous 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 who used scalping
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...
proclamations to protect British settlers from being massacred. On October 2, 1749, to protect the first British settlers in Nova Scotia from being scalped, Cornwallis offered a bounty on the head of every Mi'kmaq. He set the amount at the same rate that the Mi'kmaq received from the French for British scalps. As well, to carry out this task, two companies of rangers were raised, one led by Captain Francis Bartelo and the other by Captain William Clapham. These two companies served alongside that of John Gorham's company. The three companies scoured the land around Halifax looking for Mi'kmaq. (Captain Clapham saw action in the Siege of 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...
and the Raid on Dartmouth (1751)
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...
, while Captain Bartelo was killed in a raid at Chignecto two years later.)
Raid on Lunenburg
In June 1749, the Acadians and Mi'kmaq of Mirligueche (later known as Lunenburg, Nova ScotiaLunenburg, 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...
) had declared themselves peaceful toward the British. Four months later, and three days after the bounty was ordered, however, on October 5, Governor Edward Cornwallis
Edward Cornwallis
Lieutenant General Edward Cornwallis was a British military officer who founded Halifax, Nova Scotia with 2500 settlers and later served as the Governor of Gibraltar.-Early life:...
sent Commander White with troops in the 20 gun sloop Sphinx to Mirligueche (Lunenburg) and had the village destroyed. By 1753 there still was only one family in the area - a Mi'kmaq man named "Old [Paul] Labrador" and his metis family.
Siege of Grand Pre
Two months later, on November 27, 1749, 300 Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and Acadians attacked Fort Vieux Logis, recently established by the British in the Acadian community of Grand Pre. The fort was under the command of Captain Handfield. The Native and Acadian militia killed the sentrys (guards) who were firing on them. The Natives then captured Lieutenant John Hamilton and eighteen soldiers under his command, while surveying the fort's environs. After the British soldiers were captured, the native and Acadian militias made several attempts over the next week to lay siege to the fort before breaking off the engagement. Gorham’s RangersJohn Gorham (military officer)
John Gorham was a New England Ranger and was the first significant British military presence on the frontier of Nova Scotia and Acadia to remain in the region for a substantial period of time after the Conquest of Acadia . He established the famous "Gorham's Rangers". Gorham was commissioned a...
was sent to relieve the fort. When he arrived, the militia had already departed with the prisoners. The prisoners spent several years in captivity before being ransomed. There was no fighting over the winter months, which was common in frontier warfare.
Battle at St. Croix
The following spring, on March 18, 1750, John Gorham and his Rangers left Fort Sackville (at present day Bedford, Nova ScotiaBedford, Nova Scotia
Bedford is a community in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was an independent town from 1980-1996. Bedford lies on the northwestern end of Bedford Basin, an extension of the Halifax Harbour...
), under orders from Governor Cornwallis, to march to Piziquid (present day Windsor, Nova Scotia
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...
). Gorham's mission was to establish a blockhouse at Piziquid, which became 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...
, and to seize the property of Acadians who had participated in the Siege of 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...
.
Arriving at about noon on March 20 at the Acadian village of Five Houses beside the St. Croix River
St. Croix River (Nova Scotia)
The St. Croix River is a river in Nova Scotia entirely contained in Hants and Halifax Counties. Its headwaters are Panuke Lake. The river has been exploited for water power. There were water mills in the nineteenth century and in the 1930’s three hydroelectric dams were built; they still...
, Gorham and his men found all the houses deserted. Seeing a group of Mi’kmaq hiding in the bushes on the opposite shore, the Rangers opened fire. The skirmish deteriorated into a siege, with Gorham’s men taking refuge in a sawmill and two of the houses. During the fighting, the Rangers suffered three wounded, including Gorham, who sustained a bullet in the thigh. As the fighting intensified, a request was sent back to Fort Sackville for reinforcements.
Responding to the call for assistance on March 22, Governor Cornwallis ordered Captain Clapham’s and Captain St. Loe’s Regiments, equipped with two field guns, to join Gorham at Piziquid. The additional troops and artillery turned the tide for Gorham and forced the Mi’kmaq to withdraw.
Gorham proceeded to present-day Windsor and forced Acadians to dismantle their church - Notre Dame de l'Assomption - so that Fort Edward could be built in its place.
Battles at Chignecto
In May 1750, Lawrence was unsuccessful in establishing himself at Chignecto because Le Loutre burned the village of Beaubassin, thereby preventing Lawrence from using the supplies of the village to establish a fort. (According to historian Frank Patterson, the Acadians at Cobequid burned their homes as they retreated from the British to Tatamagouche, Nova ScotiaTatamagouche, Nova Scotia
Tatamagouche is a Canadian village in Colchester County, Nova Scotia.Tatamagouche is situated on the Northumberland Strait 50 kilometers north of Truro and 50 kilometres west of Pictou. The village is located along the south side of Tatamagouche Bay at the mouths of the French and Waugh Rivers...
in 1754.) Lawrence retreated only to return in September 1750.
On September 3, 1750 New England Ranger John Gorham
John Gorham (military officer)
John Gorham was a New England Ranger and was the first significant British military presence on the frontier of Nova Scotia and Acadia to remain in the region for a substantial period of time after the Conquest of Acadia . He established the famous "Gorham's Rangers". Gorham was commissioned a...
led over 700 men to the Isthmus of 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....
. Mi’kmaq and Acadians opposed the landing and killed twenty British. Several Mi’kmaq were killed and they were eventually overwhelmed by the invading force and withdrew, burning their crops and houses as they retreated.
Le Loutre and Acadian militia leader Joseph Broussard
Joseph Broussard
Joseph Gaurhept Broussard , also known as Beausoleil, was a leader of the Acadian people in Acadia; later Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Broussard organized a resistance movement against the forced Expulsion of the Acadians...
resisted the British assault. The British troops defeated the resistance and began construction of 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:...
near the site of the ruined Acadian village of Beaubassin. The work on the fort proceeded rapidly and the facility was completed within weeks. To limit the British to peninsular Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia peninsula
The Nova Scotia peninsula is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of North America.-Location:The Nova Scotia peninsula is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada and is connected to the neighbouring province of New Brunswick through the Isthmus of Chignecto...
, the French began also to fortify the Chignecto and its approaches, constructing Fort Beausejour
Fort Beauséjour
Fort Beauséjour, was built during Father Le Loutre's War from 1751-1755; it is located at the Isthmus of Chignecto in present-day Aulac, New Brunswick, Canada...
and two satellite forts - one at present-day Port Elgin, New Brunswick
Port Elgin, New Brunswick
Port Elgin is a Canadian village in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Port Elgin is situated near the Nova Scotia border at the mouth of the Gaspareaux River where it empties into Baie Verte.-History:...
(Fort Gaspareaux
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...
) and the other at present-day Saint John, New Brunswick
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...
(Fort Menagoueche).
During these months, 35 Mi'kmaq and Acadians ambushed Ranger Francis Bartelo, killing him and six of his men while taking seven others captive. The captives' bloodcurdling creams as the Mi'kmaq tortured them throughout the night had a chilling effect on the New Englanders.
Raids on Halifax
There were four raids on HalifaxCity 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...
during the war. The first raid happened in July 1750, while in the woods on peninsular Halifax, Mi'kmaq scalped six British people: Cornwallis' gardener, his son and four others. The Mi'kmaq buried the son while the gardener's body was left behind and the other four bodies they carried off. (Shortly after this raid, Cornwallis learned that the Mi'kmaq had received payment from the French at Chignecto for five prisoners taken at Halifax as well as prisoners taken earlier at Dartmouth and Grand Pre.)
In 1751, there were two attacks on blockhouses surrounding Halifax. Mi'kmaq attacked the North Blockhouse (located at the north end of Joseph Howe Drive) and killed the men on guard. Mi'kmaq also attacked near the South Blockhouse (located at the south end of Joseph Howe Drive), at a saw-mill on a stream flowing out of Chocolate Lake into the Northwest Arm
Northwest Arm
The Northwest Arm, originally named Sandwich River, is an inlet in eastern Canada off the Atlantic Ocean in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality.-Geography:...
. They killed two men. (Map of Halifax Blockhouses)
Battle off Baie Verte
In August 1750, there was a naval battle off Baie VerteBaie Verte, New Brunswick
Baie Verte is a community in Westmorland County in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.The community is situated near the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island and is surrounded by a large area of salt marsh. It is home to the Winegarden Estate vineyard and the Waterfowl Village....
between British Captain Le Cras, of the Trial and the French sloop, the London, of 70 tons. The London was seized to discover that it had been employed to carry stores of all kinds, arms and ammunition, from Quebec to Le Loutre and his Indians. M. Bigot, the intendant of Canada had given instructions to the French captain to follow the orders of Le Loutre or La Corne, the bills of lading endorsed by Le Loutre, and other papers and letters, were found on board of her, with four deserters from Cornwallis' regiment, and a family of Acadians. The prize and her papers were sent to Halifax.
Battle off Port La Tour (1750)
In mid September 1750 French officer Louis Du Pont Duchambon de VergorLouis Du Pont Duchambon de Vergor
Louis Du Pont Duchambon de Vergor was a French military officer who served as a member of the French Army during the Seven Years' War....
(later the commander at Fort Beausejour
Fort Beauséjour
Fort Beauséjour, was built during Father Le Loutre's War from 1751-1755; it is located at the Isthmus of Chignecto in present-day Aulac, New Brunswick, Canada...
) was dispatched aboard the brigantine Saint-François to convoy the schooner Aimable Jeanne, which was carrying munitions and supplies from Quebec to the Saint John River for Boishebert
Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot
Charles Deschamps de Boishébert , was the leader of the Acadian resistance to the Expulsion of the Acadians. He settled and tried to protect Acadians refugees along the rivers of New Brunswick. Fort Boishebert is named after him...
at Fort Boishebert
Fort Boishebert
Fort Boishébert is a National Historic Site located at modern day Woodmans Point in the town of Grand Bay–Westfield, Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada. Located at the confluence of the Saint John River and Nerepis rivers, the fort may have had its origins as a fortified aboriginal village...
. Early on 16 October, about ten leagues west of Cape Sable (present-day Port La Tour, Nova Scotia
Port La Tour, Nova Scotia
Port La Tour is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Barrington Municipal District of Shelburne County.The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada erroneously assert that Fort Saint Louis is located at Port La Tour. The fort at Port La Tour was Fort Lomeron . ...
and area), British Captain John Rous
John Rous
John Rous was the senior naval officer on the Nova Scotia station during Father Le Loutre's War . He made a significant contribution to the preservation of Halifax and the defeat of the French, Acadian and Mi'kmaq resistance...
in the HMS Albany overtook the French vessels. Despite inferior armament, Vergor engaged the sloop, allowing the Aimable Jeanne to reach Fort Boishebert
Fort Boishebert
Fort Boishébert is a National Historic Site located at modern day Woodmans Point in the town of Grand Bay–Westfield, Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada. Located at the confluence of the Saint John River and Nerepis rivers, the fort may have had its origins as a fortified aboriginal village...
. The action lasted the better part of the day, after which, with only seven men fit out of 50 and the Saint-François unmasted and sinking, Vergor was obliged to yield. Three of Rous' crew were killed. The ship contained a large supplies of provision, uniforms and warlike supplies. Cornwallis noted that this action was the second time he had caught the Governor of Canada sending a ship of military supplies to the Mi'kmaq to use against the British. By the end of the year, Cornwallis estimated that there were no less than eight to ten French vessels which unloaded war supplies for the Mi'kmaq, French and Acadians at Saint John River and Baye Vert. In response to their defeat in the Battle off Port La Tour, the Governor of Canada ordered four British sloops to be seized at Louisbourg.
Raids on Dartmouth
In August of 1750, 353 people arrived on the Alderney and began the town of Dartmouth. The town was laid out in the autumn of that year. The following month, on September 30, 1750, Dartmouth was attacked again by the Mi'kmaq and five more residents were killed. In October 1750 a group of about eight men went out "to take their diversion; and as they were fowling, they were attacked by the Indians, who took the whole prisoners; scalped ... [one] with a large knife, which they wear for that purpose, and threw him into the sea ..."
The following spring, on March 26, 1751, the Mi'kmaq attacked again, killing fifteen settlers and wounding seven, three of which would later die of their wounds. They took six captives, and the regulars who pursued the Mi'kmaq fell into an ambush in which they lost a sergeant killed. Two days later, on March 28, 1751, Mi'kmaq abducted another three settlers.
Two months later, on May 13, 1751, Broussard led sixty Mi'kmaq and Acadians to attack Dartmouth again, in what would be known as the "Dartmouth Massacre"
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...
. Broussard and the others killed twenty settlers - mutilating men, women, children and babies - and took more prisoner. A sergeant was also killed and his body mutilated. They destroyed the buildings. The British returned to Halifax with the scalp of one Mi'kmaq warrior, however, they reported that they killed six Mi'kmaq warriors. Captain William Clapham and sixty soldiers were on duty and fired from the blockhouse. The British killed six Mi'kmaq warriors, but were only able to retrieve one scalp that they took to Halifax. Those at a camp at Dartmouth Cove, led by John Wisdom, assisted the settlers. Upon returning to their camp the next day they found the Mi'kmaq had also raided their camp and taken a prisoner. All the settlers were scalped by the Mi'kmaq. The British took what remained of the bodies to Halifax for burial in the Old Burying Ground.
Raid on Chignecto
The British retaliated for the raid on Dartmouth by sending several armed companies to ChignectoIsthmus 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....
. A few French defenders were killed and the dikes were breached. Hundreds of acres of crops were ruined which was disastrous for the Acadians and the French troops. In the summer of 1752 Father Le Loutre went to Quebec and then on to France to advocate for supplies to re-build the dikes. He returned in the spring of 1753.
1752-1753
In 1752, the Mi'kmaq attacks on the British along the coast, both east and west of Halifax, were frequent. Those who were engaged in the fisheries were compelled to stay on land because they were the primary targets. In early July, New Englanders killed and scalped two Mi'kmaq girls and one boy off the coast of Cape Sable (Port La Tour, Nova ScotiaPort La Tour, Nova Scotia
Port La Tour is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Barrington Municipal District of Shelburne County.The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada erroneously assert that Fort Saint Louis is located at Port La Tour. The fort at Port La Tour was Fort Lomeron . ...
). In August, at St. Peter's, Nova Scotia
St. Peter's, Nova Scotia
St. Peter's is a small incorporated village located on Cape Breton Island in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada....
, Mi'kmaq siezed two schooners - the Friendship from Halifax and the Dolphin from New England - along with 21 prisoners who were captured and ransomed.
By the summer of 1752, the war had not been going well for the British. The Acadian Exodus
Acadian Exodus
The Acadian Exodus happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories...
remained strong. The war had bankrupted the colony. As well, two of the three ranger leaders had died. In August 1751, the main ranger leader John Gorham left for London and died there of disease in December. Ranger leader Captain Francis Bartelo had been killed in action at Chignecto, while the other ranger leader Captain William Clapham had been disgraced, failing to prevent the Dartmouth Massacre. John Gorham was succeeded by his younger brother Joseph Gorham. In 1752, to reduce the expense of the war, the companies raised in 1749 were disbanded, bringing down the strength of the unit to only one company. This reduction led to the 22 March 1753 resolution for a militia that would be raised from the colonists to establish the security of the colony, in which all British subjects between the ages of 16 and 60 were compelled to serve.
Attack at Mocodome (Country Harbour)
On February 21, 1753, nine Mi'kmaq from Nartigouneche (present-day Antigonish, Nova ScotiaAntigonish, Nova Scotia
Antigonish is a Canadian town in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. The town is home to St. Francis Xavier University and the oldest continuous highland games in North America.-History:...
) in canoes attacked a British vessel at Country Harbour, Nova Scotia. The vessel was from Canso, Nova Scotia
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 had a crew of four. The Mi'kmaq fired on them and drove them toward the shore. Other natives joined in and boarded the schooner, forcing them to run their vessel into an inlet. The Mi'kmaq killed and scalped two of the British and took two others captive. After seven weeks in captivity, on April 8, the two British prisoners killed six Mi'kmaq and managed to escape.
Battle off Isle Madame
In response, on the night of April 21, Chief Jean-Baptiste CopeJean-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...
and the Mi'kmaq attacked another British schooner in a battle at sea off Outique Island (Isle Madame). On board were nine British men and one Acadian (Casteel), who was the pilot. The Mi'kmaq killed and scalped the British and let the Acadian off at Port Toulouse, where the Mi'kmaq sank the schooner after looting it.
Cope's 1752 peace treaty was ultimately rejected by most of the other Mi'kmaq leaders. Cope burned the treaty six months after he signed it. Despite the collapse of peace on the eastern shore, the British did not formally renounce the Treaty of 1752 until 1756.
In May 1753, Natives scalped two British soldiers at Fort Lawrence.
Raid on Halifax
In 1753, when Lawrence became governor, the Mi'kmaq attacked again upon the sawmills near the South Blockhouse on the Northwest Arm, where they killed three British. The Mi'kmaq made three attempts to retrieve the bodies for their scalps. On the otherside of the harbour in Dartmouth, in 1753, there were reported only to be five families, all of whom refused to farm for fear of being attacked if they left the confines of the picketed fense around the village.The Lunenburg Rebellion
In the spring of 1753, the British were planning to unilaterally establish Lunenburg, that is, without negotiating with the Mi'kmaq people. The British decision continued to violate an earlier treaty and undermined Chief Jean-Baptiste CopeJean-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...
's 1752 Peace Treaty. As a result, Governor Peregrine Hopson
Peregrine Hopson
Peregrine Thomas Hopson was a British army officer who saw extensive service during the Eighteenth Century and rose to the rank of Major General...
received warnings from 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...
that as many as 300 natives nearby were prepared to oppose the settlement of Lunenburg and intended to attack upon the arrival of settlers. In June 1753, supervised by Lawrence and protected by several ships of the British Navy, some Regular soldiers under Major Patrick Sutherland, and rangers under Joseph Gorham, the German and French Foreign Protestant
Foreign Protestants
The "Foreign Protestants" were a group of immigrants to Nova Scotia in the mid-18th century and the ethnonymical basis behind the name "New Brunswick", as well as support behind naming "Prince Edward Island" for a representative of the Braunschweiger dynasty....
settlers established the village. In August 1753, Le Loutre paid Mi'kmaq for 18 British scalps which they took from the English in different incursions that they had made on their establishments over the summer.
In mid December 1753, within six months of their arrival at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
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...
with the support of Le Loutre, the new settlers rebelled against the British. The rebellion is often referred to as "The Hoffman Insurrection." The Rebellion was led by John Hoffman, one of the Captains who had established the settlers in the town. Hoffman led a mob which eventually locked up in one of the blockhouses a number of Commander Patrick Sutherland’s troops and the Justice of the Peace. Commander Patrick Sutherland at Lunenburg asked for reinforcements from Halifax and Lawrence sent Colonel Robert Monckton
Robert Monckton
Robert Monckton was an officer of the British army and a colonial administrator in British North America. He had a distinguished military and political career, being second in command to General Wolfe at the battle of Quebec and subsequently being the Governor of New York State...
with troops. Monckton arrested Hoffman and brought him to Halifax where he was fined and imprisoned on Georges Island (Nova Scotia) for two years. Hoffman was charged with planning to join the French and take a large number of settlers with him. After the rebellion a number of the French and German-speaking Foreign Protestants
Foreign Protestants
The "Foreign Protestants" were a group of immigrants to Nova Scotia in the mid-18th century and the ethnonymical basis behind the name "New Brunswick", as well as support behind naming "Prince Edward Island" for a representative of the Braunschweiger dynasty....
left the village to join Le Loutre and the Acadians. Lawrence and his deputy refused to send Acadians to the area for fear of their influence on the local population.
Grand dyking project on riviere Au Lac
Le Loutre and the Acadian refugees at Chignecto struggled to create dykes that would support the new communities that resulted from the Acadian ExodusAcadian Exodus
The Acadian Exodus happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories...
. In the first winter (1749), the Acadians survived on rations waiting for the dykes to be built. Acadians from Minas were a constant support in providing provisions and labour on the dykes. In retaliation for the Acadian and Mi’kmaq Raid on Dartmouth (1751)
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...
, the British raided Chignecto destroying the dykes and ruining hundreds of acres of crops. Acadians began to defect from the exodus and made application to return to the British colony. Le Loutre immediately sought help from Quebec and then France to support re-building dykes in the area. He returned with success in May 1753 and work began on the grand dyking project on riviere Au Lac (present day Aulac River, New Brunswick
Aulac, New Brunswick
Aulac is a Canadian community in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Aulac is situated upon the Aulac Ridge, a prominent rise running west-east across the Tantramar Marshes on the Isthmus of Chignecto, approximately 2 kilometres west of the Missaguash River which forms the southern part of the...
). At this time, there were 2000 Acadians and about 300 Mi'kmaq encamped near-by.
By the summer of 1754, Le Loutre's amazing engineering feats manifested themselves on the great sweeping marshlands of the isthmus; he now had in his workforce and within a forty-eight hour marching radius about 1400 to 1500 Acadian men. Nearby at Baie Verte there was a summer encampment of about 400 natives that would have been one of the largest concentrations of Native people in the Atlantic region at the time. Altogether, he had a substantial fighting force capable of defending itself against anything the Nova Scotia Government might have mustered at the time. Unfortunately, that year storm tides broke through the main cross-dike of the large-scale reclamation project, destroying nearly everything the Acadians had accomplished in several months of intense work. Again some Acadians tried to defect to the British.
Raid on Lawrencetown
In 1754, the British unilaterally established Lawrencetown. In late April 1754, Beausoleil and a large band of Mi'kmaq and Acadians left Chignecto for Lawrencetown. They arrived in mid-May and in the night open fired on the village. Beausoliel killed and scalped four british settlers and two soldiers. By August, as the raids continued, the residents and soldiers were withdrawn to Halifax.(By June 1757, the settlers had to be withdrawn completely again from the settlement of Lawrencetown
Lawrencetown, Halifax County, Nova Scotia
Lawrencetown is a Canadian rural community in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality on Route 207. The settlement was established during Father Le Loutre's War.- History :...
because the number of Native raids eventually prevented settlers from leaving their houses.)
Prominent Halifax business person Michael Francklin
Michael Francklin
Michael Francklin or Franklin served as Nova Scotia's Lieutenant Governor from 1766-1772.Born in Poole, England, Francklin immigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1752. He worked as a trader and merchant, initially in association with Joshua Maugher...
was captured by a Mi'kmaw raiding party in 1754 and held captive for three months.
Battle off Port La Tour (1755)
In March 1755, there was a naval battle off Port La TourPort La Tour, Nova Scotia
Port La Tour is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Barrington Municipal District of Shelburne County.The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada erroneously assert that Fort Saint Louis is located at Port La Tour. The fort at Port La Tour was Fort Lomeron . ...
in which British Captain Kenzie of the HMS Vulture defeated French Captain Lesenne of La Marguerite. The French captain was taking war supplies to the Saint John River for Boishebert
Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot
Charles Deschamps de Boishébert , was the leader of the Acadian resistance to the Expulsion of the Acadians. He settled and tried to protect Acadians refugees along the rivers of New Brunswick. Fort Boishebert is named after him...
at Fort Menagoueche
Fort Menagoueche
Fort Menagoueche was a French fort at the mouth of the St. John River, New Brunswick, Canada. French Officer Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot built the fort during Father Le Loutre's War and eventually burned it himself as the French retreated after losing the Battle of...
.
In the Action of 8 June 1755
Action of 8 June 1755
The Action of 8 June 1755 was a naval battle between France and Great Britain early in the French and Indian War. The British captured the third-rate French ships Alcide and Lys off Cape Race, Newfoundland in the Gulf of St. Lawrence...
, a naval battle off Cape Race
Cape Race
Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland, Canada. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for this cape, "Raso", or "bare"...
, Newfoundland, on board the French ships Alcide and Lys were found 10,000 scalping knives for Acadians and Indians serving under Mi'kmaq Chief Cope and Acadian Beausoleil as they continue to fight Father Le Loutre's War.
Trade
During Father Le Loutre's War, Minas Basin communities willingly responded to the call from Le Loutre for basic food stuffs. The bread basket of the region, they raised wheat and other grains, produced flour in no fewer than eleven mills, and sustained herds of several thousand head of cattle, sheep and hogs. Regular cattle droves made their way over a road from Cobequid to Tatamagouche for the supply of Beausejour, Louisbourg, and settlements on Ile St. Jean. Other exports went by sea from Minas Basin to Beaubassin or to the mouth of the St. John River, carried in Acadian vessels by Acadian middlemen.At the same time, Acadians began to refuse to trade with the British. By 1754, no Acadian produce was reaching the Halifax market. While the French pressured Acadians not to trade with Halifax, even when British merchants tried to buy directly from Acadians, they were refused. Acadians refused to supply 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...
with any firewood. Lawrence passed a Corn Law, forbidding Acadian exports until Halifax market had been supplied. The British devised a war plan for Nova Scotia that focused on cutting off the food supply to Fort Beauséjour and Louisbourg. This plan involved both siege tactics but also cutting of the source of the supply.
Battle of Fort Beauséjour
On May 22, 1755 the British commanded a fleet of three warships and thirty-three transports carrying 2,100 soldiers from Boston, Massachusetts; they landed at Fort Lawrence on June 3, 1755. The following day the British forces attacked Fort BeausejourBattle of Fort Beauséjour
The Battle of Fort Beauséjour was fought on the Isthmus of Chignecto and marked the end of Father Le Loutre’s War andthe opening of a British offensive in the French and Indian War, which would eventually lead to the end the French Empire in North America...
. After the Fort's capitulation the French forces evacuated on June 16, 1755 to Fort Gaspereaux enroute to Louisbourg, arriving on June 24, 1755. Shortly after, Moncton dispatched Captain John Rous
John Rous
John Rous was the senior naval officer on the Nova Scotia station during Father Le Loutre's War . He made a significant contribution to the preservation of Halifax and the defeat of the French, Acadian and Mi'kmaq resistance...
to take Fort Menagoueche at the mouth of the St. John River. Boishebert, seeing that resistance was futile, destroyed the fort and retreated upriver to Belleisle Bay. There he erected a camp volant and constructed a small battery as a rear guard for the Acadian settlements on the river., which the French destroyed themselves to prevent it from falling into British hands. This battle proved to be one of the key victories for the British in the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
, in which Great Britain gained control of all of 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 Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
.
Aftermath
Father Le Loutre's War had done much to create the condition of total warTotal 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...
; British civilians had not been spared, and, as Lawrence saw it, Acadian civilians had provided intelligence, sanctuary, and logistical support while others actually fought in armed conflict.
More than any other single factor - including the massive assault that eventually forced the surrender of Louisbourg - the supply problem spelled doom to French power in the region. To cut off the supply to the French, Lawrence realized he could do this, in part, by deporting the Acadians.
With the fall of Beausejour, Le Loutre was imprisoned and the Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
expulsion (the Great Upheaval
Great Upheaval
The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal by the British of the Acadian people from present day Canadian Maritime provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island...
) began. During the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
, the British forces rounded up French settlers starting with the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755)
Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755)
The Bay of Fundy Campaign occurred during the French and Indian War when the British ordered the Expulsion of the Acadians from Acadia after the Battle of Beausejour . The Campaign started at Chignecto and then quickly moved to Grand Pré, Rivière-aux-Canards, Pisiguit, Cobequid, and finally Port...
. The British deported the Acadians and burned their villages at Chignecto to prevent their return.
The Acadian Exodus from Nova Scotia during the war spared most of the Acadians who joined it - particularly those who went to Ile St. Jean and Ile Royal – from the British deportation of the Acadians in 1755. (Despite the hardships they faced, most Acadian refugees had some validation of their choice to leave the British colony of Nova Scotia once the deportation began.) Of course, with the fall of Louisbourg in 1758
Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years' War in 1758 which ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year.-Background:The British government realized that with the...
, the Acadians who left for the French colonies were deported as well.
See also
- Dummer's WarDummer's WarDummer'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...
- Colonial American military historyColonial American military historyColonial American military history is the military record of the Thirteen Colonies from their founding to the American Revolution in 1775. - Rangers :...
Literature cited
- Campbell, Gary. The Road to Canada: The Grand Communications Route from Saint John to Quebec. Goose Lane Editions and the New Brunswick Military Heriage Project. 2005
- Chapman, Harry. In the Wake of the Alderney: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, 1750-2000. Dartmouth Historical Association. 2000
- Faragher, John. Great and Noble Scheme. New York: Norton, 2005.
- Grenier, John. The Far Reaches of Empire. War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2008. pp. 154–155
- Griffiths, Naomi Elizabeth Saundaus. From Migrant to Acadian: A North American border people, 1604-1755. Montreal, Kingston: McGill-Queen's UP, 2005.
- Landry, Peter. The Lion & The Lily. Vol. 1. Victoria: Trafford, 2007.
- Murdoch, Beamish. A History of Nova Scotia, Or Acadia. Vol 2. LaVergne: BiblioBazaar, 2009. pp. 166–167
- Patterson, Stephen E. 1744-1763: Colonial Wars and Aboriginal Peoples. In Phillip Buckner and John Reid (eds.) The Atlantic Region to Conderation: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 1994. pp. 125–155
- Patterson, Stephen E. "Indian-White Relations in Nova Scotia, 1749-61: A Study in Political Interaction." Buckner, P, Campbell, G. and Frank, D. (eds). The Acadiensis Reader Vol 1: Atlantic Canada Before Confederation. 1998. pp. 105–106.
- Rompkey, Ronald, ed. Expeditions of Honour: The Journal of John Salusbury in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1749-53. Newark: U of Delaware P, Newark, 1982.
- John Clarence Webster. The career of the Abbé Le Loutre in Nova Scotia (Shediac, N.B., 1933),
- Wicken, William. Mi'kmaq Treaties on Trial: History, Land, and Donald Marshall Junior. University of Toronto Press. 2002.