Siege of Fort Nashwaak

Siege of Fort Nashwaak (1696)
Part of King Williams War
File:BenjaminChurchNewYorkPublicLibraryStephenSchwarzmanBuildingPrintCollectionMiriamAndIraWallachDivisionPrintsandPhotographsID1217364.jpg Colonel Benjamin Church: Father of American ranging
Date October 18-20, 1696 Location Nashwaak, Acadia (present-day Fredericton, New Brunswick) Result French and native victory
Belligerents
France Mi’kmaq, Acadians	English colonists
Commanders and leaders
Governor Villebon	Benjamin Church
Strength
100	400 New England troops and native warriors,
Casualties and losses
one killed and two wounded	8 killed and 17 wounded

The Siege of Fort Nashwaak occurred during King Williams War when New England forces from Boston attacked the capital of Acadia Fort Nashwaak, which is in present-day Fredericton, New Brunswick. The siege was in retaliation for the French and Indian Siege of Pemaquid (1696) at present day Bristol, Maine. In the English Province of Massachusetts Bay. Colonel Benjamin Church was the leader of the New England force of 400 men. The raid lasted two days, between October 18-20, 1696, and formed part of a larger expedition by Church against a number of other Acadian communities.

Historical context

During King William's War - the first of the four French and Indian Wars - French and Natives were victorious in the Siege of Pemaquid (1696) (present day Bristol, Maine) earlier that year. In the Siege of Pemaquid, the French and natives had destroyed Fort William Henry, which the English colonial militia leader Benjamin Church himself assisted in erecting. In response to the defeat, the following month Benjamin Church led a devastating raid on Chignecto and then laid siege to the capital of Acadia, Fort Nashwaak in 1696.

The Raid

Villebon had been alerted and prepared his defences. Aware of the pending attack, on the October 11, Governor Villebon, made a request to Father Simon to gather Maliseet militia from Meductic to defend the fort from an attack. On October 16, Father Simon arrived with 36 militia members to defend Fort Nashawaak. On October 18 the British troops arrived opposite the fort, landed three cannons and assembled earthworks on the south bank of the Nashwaak River. Baptiste was there to defend the capital. Baptiste joined the Maliseet from Meductic for the duration of the siege. There was a fierce exchange of fire for two days, with the advantage going to the better sited French guns. The New Englanders were defeated, having suffered 8 killed and 17 wounded. The French lost one killed and two wounded.

Aftermath

Church returned to Boston. Church threatened the Acadians at Chignecto before leaving that he would return if more New Englanders suffered. He did return to raid Chignecto again during Queen Annes War in a campaign against Acadia that also included the Raid on Grand Pre. Two years later the capital of Acadia moved briefly to Saint John and then returned to Port Royal, Nova Scotia.

References

Secondary Sources

• Beamish Murdoch A history of Nova-Scotia, or Acadie, Volume 1, pp. 228-231 See Beamish
• Faragher, John Mack, A Great and Noble Scheme New York; W. W. Norton & Company, 2005. pp. 110–112 ISBN 0-393-05135-8
• N.E.S. Griffiths. 2005. Migrant to Acadian, McGill-Queen’s University Press. pp. 206–208

Primary Sources

• Villebon letter, Oct. 22, 1696, Webster, p. 89-94 Villebon Letters
• Benjamin Church, Thomas Church, Samuel Gardner Drake. The history of King Philip's war ; also of expeditions against the French and Indians in its Eastern parts of New England, in the years 1689, 1692, 1696 AND 1704. With some account of the divine providence towards Col. Benjamin Church. (See Benjamin Church - Online Book)
• The History of the Great Indian War Church's Book pp.228-233

Endnotes

Links

• Historic Places - Canada

• Fredericton Heritage Trust
• New Brunswick Military Heritage Project