Jean-Louis Le Loutre

Abbe Le Loutre

Abbe Le Loutre's signature

Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre (September 26, 1709 – September 30, 1772) was a priest and missionary. He is renown for being a controversial figure of Maritime Canadian History prior to the Expulsion of the Acadians. Some argue that the Acadians saw him as a villain, while others saw him as their leader of their resistance to Protestant occupation of Acadia, which eventually led to the deportation.

Historical context

He was born to Jean-Maurice Le Loutre Després, a paper maker, and Catherine Huet, the daughter of a paper maker in the parish of Saint-Matthieu in Morlaix, France. He entered the Séminaire du Saint-Esprit in Paris in 1730. By this time he had already lost both of his parents. When he completed his training, he transferred to the Séminaire des Missions Étrangères in March 1737 as he intended to serve the church abroad.

When Le Loutre came to mainland Nova Scotia (1738), the area had already been conquered by the British (protestants) for almost thirty years. The British were primarily confined to the capital Annapolis Royal, while Catholic Acadians occupied the rest of the region. Present day New Brunswick and Cape Breton remained under French control. Prior to the Conquest of 1710, the New Englanders had been raiding, pillaging, burning and taking prisoners from Acadian communities for the previous hundred years, which undoubtedly led many Acadians to be weary of New England protestant domination. While many Acadians continued to trade with and gain wealth off of the the protestants, many did not want to be ruled by them. Acadians also knew of the desperate fate of Irish Catholics at the hands of the British government and feared the same fate might fall upon themselves.

When Le Loutre arrived to mainland Nova Scotia, while the population was Acadian, there was no formal French military presence. Acadians continuously refused to sign an oath of allegiance to the British by claiming "neutrality". Without a consistent French military presence in the area, Acadians were unable to openly align themselves with the French Catholic efforts to recapture Nova Scotia. As a result, Le Loutre became an informal military agent and joined with the local Mi'kmaq and Acadian militias to oppose the protestant domination of Acadia.

Ile Royal

He sailed for Acadia soon after this and arrived in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia that autumn, along with others who would settle in Acadia. Le Loutre was to be allowed to replace Abbé de Saint-Vincent, a missionary to the Mi'kmaqs and live in Shubenacadie. Before doing so, he spent time at Malagawatch, Île Royale(now (now known as Merigomish, Nova Scotia)to learn the Mi'kmaq language. He worked with Pierre Maillard to develop a written form of the Mi'kmaq language.

Shubenacadie

On September 22, 1738, Le Loutre left for Shubenacadie where he ministered the Mi'kmaq at Mission St. Anne.

Raids on Annapolis Royal

During King George's War, Le Loutre and the Acadians "neutrality" position was tested. By the end of the war, most British officials who had been sympathetic toward the Acadians concluded that they and Le Loutre were, in fact, supportive of the French Catholic position. Le Loutre was involved in two raids on the British capital of Acadia, Annapolis Royal. The first siege which was orchestrated with François Du Pont Duvivier was unsuccessful (1744). The following year, Louisburg fell to the New Englanders for the first time (1745). The authorities in Quebec immediately gave Le Loutre instructions that made him a military leader whereby through him the French government was able to work with the Mi'kmaq militia in Acadia. The second siege on Annapolis Royal was organized with Ramesay and the ill fated Duc d’Anville expedition (1746) (See Duc d'Anville). This siege also failed and he returned to France.

Le Loutre was joined in resisting the British by Acadian militia leader Joseph Broussard.

Le Loutre made two attempts during the war to return to Acadia. On both occasions he was imprisoned by the English. In 1749, after the war, he finally returned.

Beauséjour

Fort Beausejour and Cathedral (c.1755)

In 1749, the British began to establish protestant settlers in Nova Scotia by establishing Halifax. In response, Le Loutre's base of operation was moved from Shubenacadie to Pointe-à-Beauséjour (near Sackville, New Brunswick).

When Le Loutre arrived at Beausejour there was a dispute between France and England over the ownership of present day New Brunswick. A year after the establishment of Halifax (1749), the British built Fort Edward (Nova Scotia) (at Piziquid) and Fort Lawrence(at Beaubassin) along the Nova Scotia border to counter the French building numerous forts along the New Brunswick border. The British were also interested in building forts in the various Acadian communities to control the local populations.

Le Loutre lead the resistance to the British building forts in the Acadian villages. Le Loutre and the French were established at Beausejour, just opposite Beaubassin. Lawrence first tried to establish control over Beausejour and then at Beaubassin early in 1750 but was repelled by Le Loutre, the Mi'kmaq and Acadians. To prevent Lawrence from establishing Fort Lawrence at Beaubassin and to move Acadians to French occupied New Brunswick, Le Loutre had Beaubassin burned. Upon leaving Beaubassin defeated, Lawrence arrived at Piziquid and built Fort Edward, having the Acadians destroy their church and replace it with the British fort. Lawrence eventually returned to the area of Beaubassin, to build Fort Lawrence. At Pisiquid there was little resistance to building Fort Edward, at Beaubassin, however, Charles Lawrence faced resistance to building Fort Lawrence. Along with intially burning the village, upon Lawrence's return, Mi'kmaq and Acadians were dug in at Beaubassin trying to defend the remains of the village. They were eventually overwhelmed by force and the New Englanders proceeded to erect Fort Lawrence at Beaubassin.

In the spring of 1751, in response to the building of Fort Lawrence,the French countered with building Fort Beauséjour. As with many Cobequid Acadians, the Acadians at Beaubassin who believed they were better off leaving their homes to live under French catholic control supported Le Loutre's decision. Undoubtedly, there were those Acadians who would rather have taken their chances with the British protestant occupation in order to keep their homes.

Le Loutre saved the bell from Notre Dame d’Assumption Church in Beaubassin and put it into the Cathedral he had built beside Fort Beausejour (1753–55). Le Loutre proposed a plan to the French court that would involve destroying Fort Lawrence and returning Beaubassin to the Mi'kmaq and Acadians(1752).

Raids on Protestant Migration

Fort Beausejour and Cathedral (1755)

Upon his arrival, Le Loutre worked with the Mi'kmaq to prevent the expansion of protestant settlements by harassing British settlers. He paid 1800 pounds for 18 British scalps. As with most military operations, Le Loutre was forced to maintain discipline among some of the Acadians who did not heed his warnings of the protestant occupation.

The practice of the New England and New France military making aboriginal allies in their struggle was common. So too was the practice of the aboriginal allies engaging in warfare by themselves, without their English or French allies. Often aboriginal allies fought on their own while the imperial powers tried to conceal their involvement in such ignitives to prevent igniting large-scale warfare between New England and New France. Le Loutre wrote to the minister of the Marine:

“As we cannot openly oppose the English ventures, I think that we cannot do better than to incite the Mi'kmaq to continue warring on the English; my plan is to persuade the Mi'kmaq to send word to the English that they will not permit new settlements to be made in Acadia. …I shall do my best to make it look to the English as if this plan comes from the Mi'kmaq and that I have no part in it.”

Mi'kmaq led attacks were made in the Battle of the St Croix River (1750), the "Dartmouth Massacre" (1751) and the Raid on Halifax when Mi'kmaq killed Governor Edward Cornwallis' gardener. Le Loutre also likely supported the New France led attack in the Battle of Grand Pré(1747). The raids were largely successful because they contained British settlement to the only places they could fortify, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1749) and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (1753).

The governor of Nova Scotia, Edward Cornwallis, ordered Le Loutre and the Mi'kmaq killed. Rewards were offered for their scalps. Against Le Loutre's direction, Cornwallis ordered the Acadians to stay in the Cobequid for fear of their gathering strength in present day New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island as well as wanting to stop their support of Louisburg.

Exodus from the Cobequid (1750–52)

File:QuebecCityCathedral.jpg

Beausejour Cathedral was an exact replica of Notre-Dame de Quebec Cathedral (pictured above c.1750)

With the founding of Halifax (1749) and the protestant occupation of Nova Scotia intensifying, Le Loutre lead the Acadians who lived in the Cobequid region of mainland Nova Scotia to Catholic-occupied New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Governor Cornwallis tried to prevent the Acadians from leaving through threats and intimidation. The Cobequid Acadians wrote to the Beaubassin Acadians about British soldiers who,

... came furtively during the night to take our pastor [Girard] and our four deputies .... [A British officer] read the orders by which he was authorized to seize all the muskets in our houses, thereby reducing us to the condition of the Irish.... Thus we see oursevles on the brink of destrcution, liable to be captured and transported to the English islands and to lose our religion.

Despite Cornwallis' threats, most Acadians in the Cobequid followed Le Loutre. Le Loutre tried to establish the new commuinities but soon found it difficult to supply the new settlers, the Indians, and the garrisons at Fort Beauséjour and Île Saint-Jean (now Prince Edward Island) with food and other necessities. While there is a report that some Acadians were sad to leave their homelands when they arrived on Prince Edward Island (1750), the fact that so many did leave, even while under threat by Cornwalllis for doing so, suggests that the Cobequid Acadians may have been sad to leave but still thought that leaving was their best option. Upon the deportation of the remaining Acadians in Nova Scotia five years later (1755), the Acadians who decided to leave Nova Scotia may have concluded they made the right choice.

Upon arriving in present day New Brunwick and Prince Edward Island, the living conditions were deplorable. Le Loutre made repeated appeals for assistance for authorities in Quebec and France to address the situation (1752). In 1773, Le Loutre successfully got money from the French courts to build dykes in Acadia so that low-lying lands could be protected from the tides and land could be used for raising cattle and growing crops so that there would no longer be problems of starvation. He was granted other money sources for his mission and sailed to Acadia with other Missionaries in 1753.

Battle of Fort Beausejour (1755)

Beaubassin/ Fort Beausejour Cathedral Bell

For his leadership of the Acadians and Mi'kmaq, Le Loutre was appointed vicar-general of Acadia (1754).

Le Loutre had Acadians from Minas and Port Royal assist in building a Cathedral at Beausejour (1753–55). The Cathedral was an exact replica of the original Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral. A month after the Cathedral was completed, the New Englanders attacked. Upon the imminent fall of Fort Beausejour, Le Loutre burned the Cathedral to the ground to prevent it from falling into the hands of the New Englanders. Before burning the Cathedral, Le Loutre had the bell saved.

Le Loutre and the Acadian's defeat at the Battle of Fort Beauséjour marked the beginning of the Deportation of the Acadians. The Cathedral bell is at the National Historic site Fort Beauséjour.

Imprisonment

Le Loutre knew he was in danger and escaped to Quebec through the woods. In the late summer, he returned to Louisbourg where he sailed to France. The ship that he was on was seized by the British in September and Le Loutre was taken prisoner and held on Isle of Jersey. He remained there for eight years, until after the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763). He tried to help deported Acadians settle in lands such as Morlaix, Saint-Malo, and Poitou. However, on the trip to Poitou to show some Acadians the land, Le Loutre died at Nantes, France on September 30, 1772. He was buried the following day at Church of St. Leonard, Nantes. Finally, Le Loutre left in his will his worldly possessions to the displaced Acadians.

Controversy

The issue of Le Loutre's relationship to the Acadians has created much debate. Most English speaking historians have demonized him and stated that Le Loutre was an enemy to the Acadians, while most French speaking historians have defined his as a leader of the Acadian resistance to the protestant occupation of Nova Scotia/ Acadie.

Mi'kmaq scholars defined Le Loutre as an ally to the Mi'kmaq and the Acadians. They point to the undisputed close connections that existed between the Mi'kmaq and the Acadians. A significant part of this connection was their shared religion, Catholicism and intermarriage. Clearly, the Mi'kmaq community overwhelmingly supported Le Loutre's efforts. As a result, historians argue that it seems likely that most Acadians and Mi'kmaq were both committed to their religion and following the direction of their religious leaders.

There are reports that Le Loutre and the Mi'kmaq forced some Acadians both to leave their homes in the Cobequid and to fight the British occupation. Most of these reports of Acadians being reluctant to resistat the British occupation are statements made to the British by imprisoned Acadians. Historians emphasis that it seems reasonable that the captured Acadians would blame the Mi'kmaq for their resistance to the British occupation to avoid the retribution of their British captors. Even upon being captured, however, there are British reports of Acadians making their loyalties clear. On one occasion a British naval patrol intercepted Acadians in a vessel making their way to Ile St. Jean. The passengers declared "they chose rather to quit their lands and estates than possess them upon the terms propos'd by the English governor."

References

Primary Texts

• Albert David as “Une autobiographie de l’abbé Le Loutre,” Nova Francia (Paris), 6 (1931), 1–34.
• John Clarence Webster. The career of the Abbé Le Loutre in Nova Scotia (Shediac, N.B., 1933), 32–50.
• J. Alphonse Deveau. (1984). L'Abbe Le Loutre et les Acadiens. La Societe Canadienne du Liver Limitee.
• Dan Soucoup. Acadia's Military Priest. Moncton Times and Transcript. 6 October 2001.p.F3-F4.
• GOYAU, Georges. "Le Père des Acadiens: Jean-Louis Le Loutre: missionnaire en Acadie". Revue d'histoire des missions. 1936: 13(4), 481–513.
• John Faragher (2005). A Great and Noble Scheme.
• Normand Rogers. The Abbe Le Loutre. (1930). Canadian Historical Review. The University of Toronto Press. pp. 105–128. (He is an English historian who objected to the traditional demonization of Le Loutre.)

Footnotes

Links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• History of Nova Scotia - Abbé Le Loutre
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Louis-Joseph Le Loutre" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Mi'kmaq Account of Le Loutre