Father Le Loutre's War: Difference between revisions
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|battles=[[History of Dartmouth|Dartmouth (1749)]] –[[Isthmus of Chignecto|Chignecto (1749)]] – [[Siege of Grand Pre|Grand Pre ]] – [[Battle at St. Croix|St. Croix]] – [[Raid on Dartmouth (1751)|Dartmouth (1751)]] – [[Country Harbour, Nova Scotia|Country Harbour]] – [[Battle of Fort Beauséjour|Chignecto (1755)]] }} |
|battles=[[History of Dartmouth|Dartmouth (1749)]] –[[Isthmus of Chignecto|Chignecto (1749)]] – [[Siege of Grand Pre|Grand Pre ]] – [[Battle at St. Croix|St. Croix]] – [[Raid on Dartmouth (1751)|Dartmouth (1751)]] – [[Country Harbour, Nova Scotia|Country Harbour]] – [[Battle of Fort Beauséjour|Chignecto (1755)]] }} |
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'''Father Le Loutre’s War''' (1749-1755) happened between [[King Georges War]] and the [[French and Indian War]] in [[Acadia]] and [[Nova Scotia]].<ref>Grenier p. 138.</ref> The war was fought by the British against the Mi'kmaq, Acadians and French missionary priests. |
'''Father Le Loutre’s War''' (1749-1755) happened between [[King Georges War]] and the [[French and Indian War]] in [[Acadia]] and [[Nova Scotia]].<ref>Grenier p. 138.</ref> The war was fought by the British against the Mi'kmaq, Acadians and French missionary priests. The overall upheaval of the war was unprecedented. Atlantic Canada witnessed more population movements, more fortification construction, and more troop allocations than had ever before been seen in the region.<ref>John Johnson. French Attitudes Toward Acadians. Du Grand Derangement a La Deportation. p 152</ref> |
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== Historical context == |
== Historical context == |
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Revision as of 19:07, 21 December 2010
Father Le Loutre’s War (1749-1755) happened between King Georges War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia.[1] The war was fought by the British against the Mi'kmaq, Acadians and French missionary priests. The overall upheaval of the war was unprecedented. Atlantic Canada witnessed more population movements, more fortification construction, and more troop allocations than had ever before been seen in the region.[2]
Historical context
Despite the official cessation of war between the English and French Empires, the conflict in Acadia and Nova Scotia continued with the British and New Englanders fighting 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. Led by French priest Jean-Louis Le Loutre, Acadians and Mi’kmaq were often united in their resistance to the British occupation of Acadia (See Historical Context for the Expulsion of the Acadians and Dummer's War). The lead military officer for the British was New England Ranger John Gorham. During Father Le Loutre's War, the British attempted to settle British subjects (i.e., protestants) in Nova Scotia. To prevent the migration of Protestants to Acadia, the Mi’kmaq and Acadians raided the newly-established British (protestant) settlements of Halifax (1749), Dartmouth (1750), and Lunenburg (1753).[3]
Edward Cornwallis arrived in Halifax with 13 transports on June 21, 1749 to establish Halifax.[4] John Gorham erected Fort Sackville (at present-day Bedford, Nova Scotia]] to protect the approaches to Halifax.
Battle at Chignecto (1749)
Father Le Loutre's War began at the Isthmus of Chignecto. On September 3, New England Ranger John Gorham led over 700 men to 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.[5] On September 18, several Mi'kmaq and Maliseets ambushed and killed three Englishmen at Chignecto. Seven natives were killed in the skimmish.[6]
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 supplles of the village to establish a fort. Lawrence retreated only to return in September 1750 with a force of 700 men. 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.[7] 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).[8]
Raid on Dartmouth (1749)
On September 30, 1749, about forty Mi'kmaq attacked six men who were in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia cutting trees. Four of them were killed on the spot, one was taken prisoner and one escaped.[9] Two of the men were scalped and the heads of the others were cut off. The attack was on the saw mill which was under the command of Major Gilman. Six of his men had been sent to cut wood. Four were killed and one was carried off. The other excaped and gave the alarm. A detachment of rangers was sent after the raiding party and cut off the heads of two Mi'kmaq and scapled one.[10]
The result of the raid, on October 2, 1749, 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 raised, one led by Major Gilman and the other by Captain William Clapham. These two companies served along side that of John Gorham's company. The three companies scoured the land around Halifax looking for Mi'kmaq.[11]
Siege of Grand Pre
Two months later, on November 27, 1749, 300 Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and Acadians attacked Fort Vieux Logis at Grand Pre. The fort was under the command of Captain Handfield. While surveying the fort's environs, Lieutenant John Hamilton and eighteen soldiers under his command were captured. 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 Rangers 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.[12]
Battle at St. Croix
The following spring, on March 18, 1750, John Gorham and his Rangers left Fort Sackville (at present day Bedford, Nova Scotia), under orders from Governor Cornwallis, to march to Piziquid (present day Windsor, Nova Scotia). Gorham's mission was to establish a blockhouse at Piziquid (i.e., 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.[13]
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.[14]
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.
Raids on Dartmouth (1750-1751)
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.[15] The following month, on September 30, 1750, Dartmouth was attacked again by the Mi'kmaq and five more residents were killed.[16] 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.[17] Two days later, on March 28, 1751, Mi'kmaq abducted another three settlers.[17]
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".[18] Broussard and the others killed twenty settlers - mutilating men, women, children and babies - and took more prisoner.[19] 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.[20] Captain William Clapham and sixty soldiers were on duty and fired from the blockhouse.[21] The British killed six Mi'kmaq warriors, but were only able to retrieve one scalp that they took to Halifax.[22] 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.[23]
In August 1751, the main British military leader John Gorham left for London and died their in December because of disease. He was succeeded by his younger brother Joseph Gorham. In 1752, the companies raised in 1749 were disbanded, bringing down the strength of the unit to only one company. In the summer of 1752 Father Le Loutre went to Quebec and then on to France to advocate for supplies for the war effort and for the Acadians. He returned in the spring of 1753.
Attack at Country Harbour
On February 21, 1753, nine Mi'kmaq from Nartigouneche (present-day Antigonish, Nova Scotia) in canoes attacked an English 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 two English men witnessed the Mi'kmaq kill and scalp two of their crew. The Mi'kmaq killed two English men and took two others captive for seven weeks. After seven weeks in captivity, on April 8, the two English men killed six Mi'kmaq and managed to escape.[24]
In response, on the night of April 21 the Mi'kmaq attacked another English schooner in a naval battle between Outique Island and Isle Madame in which the Mi'kmaq attacked an English schooner. There were nine English men and one Acadian who was the pilot. The Mi'kmaq killed the English and let the Acadian off at Port Toulouse, where the Mi'kmaq sank the schooner after looting it.[25]
Battle of Fort Beauséjour (1755)
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 Beausejour, and on June 16, 1755 the French forces evacuated to Fort Gaspereaux, arriving at Louisbourg on June 24, 1755.[26]
On the isthmus, they renamed Fort Beausejour as Fort Cumberland and abandoned Fort Lawrence; they recognized the superior construction of Fort Beausejour. Beginning the Acadian expulsion (the Great Upheaval), British forces rounded up French settlers during the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755). The British deported them and burned their villages at Chignecto to prevent their return. Le Loutre was arrested and imprisoned. Father Le Loutre's War had finished, while the French and Indian War had just begun.
References
- ^ Grenier p. 138.
- ^ John Johnson. French Attitudes Toward Acadians. Du Grand Derangement a La Deportation. p 152
- ^ Grenier pp. 154–155.
- ^ Thomas Beamish Akins. History of Halifax, Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition). p 7
- ^ Grenier, p. 159
- ^ Grenier, p. 149
- ^ Hand, p. 20
- ^ Hand, p. 25
- ^ Harry Chapman. In the Wake of the Alderney: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, 1750-2000. Dartmouth Historical Association. 2000. p. 23; John Grenier (2008). The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. p.150; For the primary sources that document the Raids on Dartmouth see the Diary of John Salusbury (diarist): Expeditions of Honour: The Journal of John Salusbury in Halifax; also see A genuine narrative of the transactions in Nova Scotia since the settlement, June 1749, till August the 5th, 1751 [microform] : in which the nature, soil, and produce of the country are related, with the particular attempts of the Indians to disturb the colony / by John Wilson. Also see http://www.blupete.com/Hist/NovaScotiaBk1/Part5/Ch07.htm
- ^ Thomas Beamish Akins. History of Halifax, Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition). p 18
- ^ Thomas Beamish Akins. History of Halifax, Brookhouse Press. 1895. (2002 edition). p 19
- ^ See Faragher 262; Griffith 392; Murdoch, 166-167; Grenier, p. 153; and http://www.northeastarch.com/vieux_logis.html).
- ^ Grenier pp. 154-155.
- ^ Murdoch p. 174.
- ^ Akins, p. 27
- ^ John Grenier (2008). The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. p.159
- ^ a b John Grenier (2008). The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. p.160
- ^ Atkins, p. 27-28
- ^ John Grenier (2008). The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760. p.160; Cornwallis' official report mentioned that four settlers were killed and six soldiers taken prisoner. See Governor Cornwallis to Board of Trade, letter, June 24, 1751, referenced in Harry Chapman, p. 29; John Wilson reported that fifteen people were killed immediately, seven were wounded, three of whom would die in hospital; six were carried away and never seen again" (See A genuine narrative of the transactions in Nova Scotia since the settlement, June 1749, till August the 5th, 1751 [microform] : in which the nature, soil, and produce of the country are related, with the particular attempts of the Indians to disturb the colony / by John Wilson
- ^ See annonmous private letter printed by Harry Chapman, p. 30.
- ^ Akins, p. 27-28
- ^ See anonymous private letter printed by Harry Chapman, p. 30.
- ^ A genuine narrative of the transactions in Nova Scotia since the settlement, June 1749, till August the 5th, 1751 [microform] : in which the nature, soil, and produce of the country are related, with the particular attempts of the Indians to disturb the colony / by John Wilson; Harry Chapman, p. 29; Douglas William Trider list the 34 people who who were buried in Halifax between May 13 - June 15, 1751. Four of whom were soldiers. (See History of Halifax and Dartmouth Harbour: 1415-1800. vol. 1, p. 69).
- ^ Ruth Whitehead, The Old Man Told Us. p. 137; Stephen Patterson reports the attack happened on the coast between Country Harbour and Tor Bay (See Stephen Patterson. "Indian-White Relations in Nova Scotia, 1749-1761". Buckner, P et al (eds.) The Acadiensis Reader: Volume One: Atlantic Canada Before Confederation. Acadinsis Press. 1998. p. 97.) Whitehead reports the location was an little harbour to the westward of Torbay, "Martingo", "port of Mocodome"; Whitehead, p. 137. Beamish Murdoch in A history of Nova-Scotia, or Acadie, Volume 1p. 410 identifies Mocodome as present-day "Country Harbour". The Mi'kmaq claimed the English schooner accidentally was shipwrecked, some of the crew drowned. They also indicated that two men died of illness while the other killed the six Mi'kmaq despite their hospitality. The French officials did not believe the Mi'kmaq account of events.
- ^ Whitehead, p. 137
- ^ They moved onward to Fortress Louisbourg where they were re-garrisoned on July 6, 1755. 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.
Literature cited
- 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
- Rompkey, Ronald, ed. Expeditions of Honour: The Journal of John Salusbury in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1749-53. Newark: U of Delaware P, Newark, 1982.