Fort Lawrence
Encyclopedia
Fort Lawrence was a British
fort built during Father Le Loutre's War
and located on the Isthmus of Chignecto
(in the modern-day community of Fort Lawrence
).
in 1710, Nova Scotia remained primarily occupied by Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq. Father Le Loutre's War
began when Edward Cornwallis
arrived to establish Halifax
with 13 transports on June 21, 1749. By unilaterally establishing Halifax the British were violating earlier treaties with the Mi'kmaq (1726), which were signed after Dummer's War
. The British quickly began to build other settlments. To guard against Mi'kmaq, Acadian and French attacks on the new protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (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 peninsula Nova Scotia by building fortifications in all the major Acadian communities: present-day Windsor (Fort Edward)
; Grand Pre (Fort Vieux Logis
) and Chignecto (Fort Lawrence). (A British fort already existed at the other major Acadian centre of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
. Cobequid remained without a fort.)
In 1750, a British Army
expeditionary force under Major Charles Lawrence arrived at Beaubassin. The village was ordered burnt by a French priest Jean-Louis Le Loutre
to ensure that the British could not profit from its seizure. The British forces soon found they were outnumbered by Acadians and Mi'kmaq.
Lawrence's troops retreated but returned in September 1750 in greater numbers and engaged in the Battle at Chignecto
. After Le Loutre's militia retreated, the British began construction of a palisade fort on a ridge immediately east of the Missaguash River
, along the disputed border between Acadia and Nova Scotia since the Treaty of Utrecht was signed. Lawrence began to build Fort Lawrence and the facility was completed within weeks.
ended Father Le Loutre's War and began the French and Indian War
in the region. On June 4, 1755 the British conquest for all of France's North American territory began when a force of British regulars and New England militia attacked Fort Beauséjour
from Fort Lawrence under command of Lt. Col. Robert Monckton
. The British-led force took control of Fort Beauséjour by June 16, 1755, after which they changed the name to Fort Cumberland.
. The order was given by Governor of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, the same military officer who had presided over construction of Fort Lawrence in 1750. Along with Fort Beausejour, Fort Lawrence was also used to imprison male Acadians. The most famous Acadian held here was Joseph Broussard
(Beausoleil). On October 1, 1755, the Acadian prisoners at Fort Lawrence escaped. Joseph Broussard was one of the escapees.
Acadian homes were burnt by British forces to prevent their return. As the British army was now using the more substantial facility at Fort Cumberland, British forces decided to demolish the abandoned works at Fort Lawrence to prevent the facility being used as shelter by Acadians who may have escaped to nearby forests. Fort Lawrence was razed by fire on October 12, 1756 only 6 years after its construction.
Today the site of Fort Lawrence is a barren field behind a visitor information centre. Plans are in place for a full reconstruction of the fort, however funding from various levels of government has yet to be allocated. Various archaeological explorations from Fort Lawrence have netted numerous artifacts, some of which can be viewed at a display at Fort Beauséjour National Historic Site.
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
fort built during Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre’s War , also known as the Indian War, the Micmac War and the Anglo-Micmac War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the British and New England colonists were led by British Officer Charles...
and located on 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....
(in the modern-day community of Fort Lawrence
Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia
Fort Lawrence is a Canadian rural community located on the Isthmus of Chignecto in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.Situated 1 km east of the Missaguash River which forms the inter-provincial boundary with New Brunswick, Fort Lawrence is situated on a low ridge facing Aulac to the west and...
).
Father Le Loutre's War
Despite the British Conquest of AcadiaSiege 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, Nova Scotia remained primarily occupied by Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq. Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre’s War , also known as the Indian War, the Micmac War and the Anglo-Micmac War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the British and New England colonists were led by British Officer Charles...
began when 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:...
arrived to establish 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...
with 13 transports on June 21, 1749. By unilaterally establishing Halifax the British were violating earlier treaties with the Mi'kmaq (1726), which were 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...
. The British quickly began to build other settlments. To guard against Mi'kmaq, Acadian and French attacks on the new protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (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, Nova Scotia
There are several locations in Nova Scotia with the name Lawrencetown:* Lawrencetown in Annapolis County* Lawrencetown in Halifax County* Upper Lawrencetown, also in Halifax County* West Lawrencetown, also in Halifax County...
(1754).
Within 18 months of establishing Halifax, the British also took firm control of peninsula Nova Scotia 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 Pre (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). (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...
. Cobequid remained without a fort.)
In 1750, a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
expeditionary force under Major Charles Lawrence arrived at Beaubassin. The village was ordered burnt by a French priest 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...
to ensure that the British could not profit from its seizure. The British forces soon found they were outnumbered by Acadians and Mi'kmaq.
Lawrence's troops retreated but returned in September 1750 in greater numbers and engaged in the Battle at Chignecto
Battle at Chignecto
The Battle at Chignecto happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and was fought by 700 troops made up of British regulars led by Charles Lawrence, New England Rangers led by John Gorham and Captain John Rous led the navy. They fought against a militia made up of Mi’kmaq and Acadians led by...
. After Le Loutre's militia retreated, the British began construction of a palisade fort on a ridge immediately east of the Missaguash River
Missaguash River
The Missaguash River is a small Canadian river that forms the southern portion of the inter-provincial boundary between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on the Isthmus of Chignecto...
, along the disputed border between Acadia and Nova Scotia since the Treaty of Utrecht was signed. Lawrence began to build Fort Lawrence and the facility was completed within weeks.
French and Indian War
Battle of Beausejour
The Battle of 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...
ended Father Le Loutre's War and began 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 the region. On June 4, 1755 the British conquest for all of France's North American territory began when a force of British regulars and New England militia attacked Fort Beauséjour
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...
from Fort Lawrence under command of Lt. Col. 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...
. The British-led force took control of Fort Beauséjour by June 16, 1755, after which they changed the name to Fort Cumberland.
Expulsion of the Acadians
In the ensuing months, British forces attempted to get Acadians living in the region to sign an oath of allegiance to the British Crown, however the Acadians refused, preferring to stay neutral. In August 1755, the British Expulsion of the Acadians began 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 order was given by Governor of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, the same military officer who had presided over construction of Fort Lawrence in 1750. Along with Fort Beausejour, Fort Lawrence was also used to imprison male Acadians. The most famous Acadian held here was 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). On October 1, 1755, the Acadian prisoners at Fort Lawrence escaped. Joseph Broussard was one of the escapees.
Acadian homes were burnt by British forces to prevent their return. As the British army was now using the more substantial facility at Fort Cumberland, British forces decided to demolish the abandoned works at Fort Lawrence to prevent the facility being used as shelter by Acadians who may have escaped to nearby forests. Fort Lawrence was razed by fire on October 12, 1756 only 6 years after its construction.
Today the site of Fort Lawrence is a barren field behind a visitor information centre. Plans are in place for a full reconstruction of the fort, however funding from various levels of government has yet to be allocated. Various archaeological explorations from Fort Lawrence have netted numerous artifacts, some of which can be viewed at a display at Fort Beauséjour National Historic Site.
External links
- Photographs of the Fort Lawrence plaque Historic Sites and Monuments Board
- Photographs of the Fort Lawrence interpretative panel Parks Canada