Father Le Loutre's War

Father Le Loutre's War
Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre
Date 1749-1755 Location Acadia and Nova Scotia
Belligerents
France New France Mi'kmaq, Acadians, Maliseet	Great Britain British America
Commanders and leaders
Jean-Louis Le Loutre, Joseph Broussard (Beausoliel), Major Baptiste Cope, Louis-Francois La Corne	Edward Cornwallis, Charles Lawrence, John Gorham

Father Le Loutre’s War (1749–1755), also known as the Indian War, the Micmac War and the Anglo-Micmac War, happened between King Georges War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. The war was fought by the British and New Englanders, primarily under the leadership of New England Ranger John Gorham and British Officer Charles Lawrence. They fought against the Mi'kmaq and Acadians who were led by French priest Jean-Louis Le Loutre. The overall upheaval of the war was unprecedented. Atlantic Canada witnessed more population movements, more fortification construction, and more troop allocations than ever before in the region.

During Father Le Loutre's War, the British attempted to firmly establish control of the major Acadian settlements in peninsula Nova Scotia and to extend British 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 also 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 the disputed territory of present-day New Brunswick. Throughout the war, the Mi’kmaq and Acadians attacked the British fortification of 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), which were signed after Dummer's War. As a result, Acadian and Mi'kmaq orchestrated attacks at Chignecto, Grand Pre, 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 also 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.

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. Acadians and Mi’kmaq were often united in their resistance to the British occupation of Acadia.

Before the British Conquest of Acadia in 1710, Acadians fought against the English occupation. While many Acadians traded with the New England protestants, they seem to have been reluctant to be ruled by them. During King William's War, the crews of the very successful French privateer Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste were primarily Acadian. The Acadians resisted during the Raid on Chignecto (1696). 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. The Acadians also 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 engaged in the Raids on Canso, Nova Scotia (1723). In the latter engagement, the Mi'kmaq were aided by Acadians. During King George's War, Abbe Jean-Louis Le Loutre led many efforts which involved both Acadians and Mi’kmaq to recapture the capital such as the Siege of Annapolis Royal (1744). During this Siege, 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 English] carcasses behind and brought their skins." Le Loutre was also joined by prominent Acadian resistance leader Joseph Broussard (Beausoleil). Broussard and other Acadians were involved in supporting 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.

Fortification of Acadia and Nova Scotia (1749-1751)

Fort Edward (Nova Scotia) (est. 1750)

The 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). 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 (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 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 St. John River. With the establishment of Halifax, the French recognized at once the threat it represented and that the St. 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 St. John River (Fort Menagoueche).

Acadian Exodus

Main article: Acadian Exodus

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 1000 Acadians 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 Exodus 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”.

Battles at Chignecto (1749-1750)

Charles Lawrence

The first military conflict of the war was at the Isthmus of Chignecto. In August 1749, the Mi'kmaq attacked two English vessels thought to be preventing Acadians from leaving Beaubassin for Ile St. Jean. Several men were killed on both sides. 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.

Battle at Chignecto (1750): Church bell retrieved by Le Loutre before burning Beaubassin

On September 3, 1749 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. On September 18, several Mi'kmaq and Maliseets ambushed and killed three Englishmen at Chignecto. Seven natives were killed in the skirmish.

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 Scotia in 1754.) 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. 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.

Raid on Dartmouth (1749)

Edward Cornwallis

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.

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 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 Seige of Grand Pre, while Captain Bartelo was killed in a raid at Chignecto two years later.) On October 5, Governor Edward Cornwallis sent Commander White with troops in the 20 gun sloop Sphinx to Mirligueche (later known as Lunenburg) and had the village destroyed.

Siege of Grand Pre (1749)

Main article: Siege of Grand Pre

Two months later, on November 27, 1749, 300 Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and Acadians attacked the British Fort Vieux Logis recently established in the Acadian community of 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.

Battle at St. Croix (1750)

Main article: 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.

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.

Raids on Dartmouth (1750-1751)

Main article: Raid on Dartmouth (1751)

File:Joseph Broussard Beausoleil acadian HRoe.jpg

Joseph Broussard (Beausoleil)

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.

Raid on Chignecto (1751)

The British retaliated for the raid on Dartmouth by sending several armed companies to Chignecto. 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 1751, the main British military leader John Gorham left for London and died there 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.

Raids on Halifax (1751)

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), a saw-mill on a stream flowing out of Chocolate Lake. They killed two men. (Map of Halifax Blockhouses)

Attack at Country Harbour (1753)

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 Mi'kmaq killed and scalped two of the English and took two others captive. After seven weeks in captivity, on April 8, the two English prisoners killed six Mi'kmaq and managed to escape.

In response, on the night of April 21, Major Cope and the Mi'kmaq attacked another English schooner in a naval battle off Outique Island Isle Madame. On board 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.

The Lunenburg Rebellion (1753)

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 their living conditions. 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. Because of the living conditions and the invitation from Le Loutre, a number of the French and German-speaking Foreign Protestants left the village to join the Acadian communities.

Grand dyking project on riviere Au Lac (1753)

Le Loutre and the Acadian refugees at Chignecto struggled to create dykes that would support the new communities. 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 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.

In 1753, the British unilaterally established Lunenburg, that is, without negotiating with the Mi'kmaq people. In the spring, Governor Hopson was receiving warnings from Fort Edward that as many as 300 natives nearby were prepared to oppose the settlement of Lunenburg and intend to attack upon the arrival of settlers. Supervised by Lawrence and protected by several ships of the British Navy and 160 Regular soldiers, the German 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.

Trade (1754)

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 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.

In 1754, the British unilaterally established Lawrencetown.

Battle of Fort Beauséjour (1755)

Main article: Battle of Fort Beauséjour

Fort Beausejour and Cathedral (c.1755)

Battle of Fort Beausejour: Church bell retrieved by Le Loutre before defeat

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. 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 forces 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.</ref>

On the isthmus, the British renamed Fort Beausejour as Fort Cumberland and abandoned Fort Lawrence; they recognized the superior construction of Fort Beausejour.

Aftermath

Father Le Loutre's War had done much to create the condition of total war; 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 by deporting the Acadians.

With the fall of Beausejour, the Acadian expulsion (the Great Upheaval) began. The 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.

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.
• Wicken, William. Mi'kmaq Treaties on Trial: History, Land, and Donald Marshall Junior. University of Toronto Press. 2002.

External links

• Blue Pete - Battle at St. Croix