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114-663: The Acadian Exodus (also known as the Acadian migration) happened during Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755) and 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 Chignecto region (near the modern New Brunswick-Nova Scotia border), Isle Saint-Jean (now Prince Edward Island ) and Île-Royale (now Cape Breton Island ). The leader of

228-458: A Mohawk man and had a family with him. On July 17, 1704 Church raided Chignecto . The Acadian settlers returned some gunfire but quickly sought shelter in the woods. Church burned 40 empty houses and killed more than 200 cattle and other livestock. On this campaign against Acadia, Church also raided Castine, Maine , Grand Pré , and Pisiguit (present-day Windsor / Falmouth ). The British took control of present-day mainland Nova Scotia under

342-519: 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 . Isthmus of Chignecto The isthmus separates the waters of Chignecto Bay ,

456-556: A concerted effort to settle Protestants in the region and to establish military control over all of Nova Scotia and present-day New Brunswick , igniting armed response from Acadians in Father Le Loutre's War. The British settled 3,229 people in Halifax during the first years. This exceeded the number of Mi'kmaq in the entire region and was seen as a threat to the traditional occupiers of the land. The Mi'kmaq and some Acadians resisted

570-439: 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. Among

684-426: A family of Acadians. The prize and her papers were sent to Halifax. About 1750, the Mi'kmaq captured a New England fishing schooner off of Port Joli and tortured the crew members. To the west of St. Catherines River, the Mi'kmaq heated "Durham Rock" and forced each crew member to burn on the rock or jump to their death into the ocean. In mid September 1750 French officer Louis Du Pont Duchambon de Vergor (later

798-592: A force of 124 Canadians, Acadians, Mi'kmaq and Abenaki in the Avalon Peninsula Campaign . They destroyed almost every British settlement in Newfoundland, killed more than 100 British and captured many more. They deported almost 500 British colonists to England or France. During Queen Anne's War , Mi'kmaq and Acadians resisted during the Raid on Grand Pré , Pisiquit , and Chignecto in 1704. The Acadians assisted

912-859: A large portion comprises the Tantramar Marshes , as well as tidal rivers, mud flats, inland freshwater marshes, coastal saltwater marshes, and mixed forest. Several prominent ridges rise above the surrounding low land and marshes along the Bay of Fundy shore, namely the Fort Lawrence Ridge (in Nova Scotia), the Aulac Ridge, the Sackville Ridge, and the Memramcook Ridge (in New Brunswick). In contrast to

1026-751: A long history of conflict with encroaching British settlers along the New England/Acadia frontier in Maine. During the 17th and early-18th century, the Wabanaki fought in several campaigns, including in 1688 , 1703 , 1723 , 1724 , 1745 , 1746 , and in 1747 . Hostilities between the British and French resumed during King George's War (1744–48). Supported by the French, Jean-Louis Le Loutre led French soldiers, Acadian militias, and Mi'kmaq forces in efforts to recapture

1140-614: A pretence of mercy were left with empty houses and barns and nothing else except the clothes on their backs. Major Church returned to Acadia during Queen Anne's War , in retaliation for the French and their Abenaki allies' sorties during the Northeast Coast Campaign (1703) and the Raid on Deerfield , Massachusetts. They killed many English colonists at Deerfield and took more than 100 captive. The captives were mostly women and children; they were forced on an overland march from western Massachusetts to Montreal . Some were held by

1254-664: 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

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1368-463: A short distance outside of Fort Monckton. On January 20, Boishébert sent François Boucher de Niverville to Baie Verte to burn a British schooner. Niverville killed seven soldiers and took one prisoner before burning the ship. Meanwhile, Boishébert and his 120 Acadians and Mi’kmaq tried to set up a siege of Fort Cumberland, but ended up escaping capture in a possible ambush. The Mi'kmaq and Acadians attacked Fort Cumberland on April 26, 1756. During

1482-628: A sub-basin of the Bay of Fundy , from those of Baie Verte, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait that is an arm of the Gulf of St. Lawrence . The isthmus stretches from its northerly point at an area in the Petitcodiac River valley near the city of Dieppe, New Brunswick to its southerly point at an area near the town of Amherst, Nova Scotia . At its narrowest point between Amherst and Tidnish ,

1596-405: Is also the pathway many Acadians took to leave the Bay of Fundy to go to Baie Verte and onward to Île St. Jean (Prince Edward Island) or Île Royale (Cape Breton Island). To protect this vital gateway, at the beginning of 1749, La Galissoniere strategically constructed three forts within 18 months along the route: one at Baie Vert ( Fort Gaspareaux ), one at Chignecto ( Fort Beausejour ) and another at

1710-604: Is evidence of one scalp being taken along with three Mi'kmaq youth who were killed in 1752 as a result of the proclamation. Two months later, on November 27, 1749, 300 Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and Acadians attacked Fort Vieux Logis, recently established by the British in the Acadian community of Grand Pré. The fort was under the command of Captain Handfield. The Native and Acadian militia killed the sentries (guards) who were firing on them. The Natives then captured Lieutenant John Hamilton and eighteen soldiers under his command, while surveying

1824-773: The Indian War , the Mi'kmaq War and the Anglo-Mi'kmaq 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 Lawrence and New England Ranger John Gorham . On the other side, Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre led the Mi'kmaq and the Acadia militia in guerrilla warfare against settlers and British forces. At

1938-560: The Lieutenant Governors of Nova Scotia noted that Nova Scotia "was kept in an uninterrupted state of war by the Acadians." By June 1751, Cornwallis wrote to the Board of Trade that his adversaries had "done as much harm to as they could have done in open war." Richard Bulkeley wrote that between 1749 and 1755, Nova Scotia "was kept in an uninterrupted state of war by the Acadians... and

2052-562: The Maliseet raided numerous British vessels on the Bay of Fundy while the Mi'kmaq raided Canso in 1723. In the latter engagement, the Mi'kmaq were supported by the Acadians. During these conflicts, the French and Acadian settlers were aligned with the Mi'kmaq , fighting alongside them during the Battle of Bloody Creek . The Mi'kmaq, which formed a part of the Wabanaki Confederacy , had

2166-520: The Nova Scotia Council issued the extirpation proclamation against the Mi'kmaq on peninsular Nova Scotia and those that assist them. The intent of the proclamation was to put an end to native raids on colonial settlements and to pressure them into "submission" in order to establish "peace and friendship." The proclamation outlined four strategies for people to pressure the natives: "annoy" them, "distress" them, kill them or take them prisoner. There

2280-454: The Raid on Dartmouth . The six men, under the command of Major Gilman, 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 by the Mi'kmaq. Major Ezekiel Gilman and others in his party escaped and gave the alarm. A detachment of rangers

2394-648: The Seven Years' War , at Fort Moncton (formerly Fort Gaspareaux ), one of Captain Silvaus Cobb's soldiers was shot from his horse and killed in an ambush. Cobb assembled 100 troops but was unable to catch the Mi’kmaq. Monckton dispatched 200 men from Fort Lawrence but was also unsuccessful in catching any Mi’kmaq. On September 15, Majors Jedidiah Preble and Benjamin Coldthwait took 400 men to destroy an Acadian village

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2508-737: The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) , and Beaubassin became part of British territory. During King George's War , the French used Chignecto as the staging area for their raids on British Nova Scotia. It was the gathering place for De Ramezay prior to the Siege of Annapolis Royal (1744) . Chignecto was also the base of Nicolas Antoine II Coulon de Villiers prior to the Battle of Grand Pre (1747). During Father Le Loutre's War , conflict in Acadia continued. On September 18, 1749, several Mi'kmaq and Maliseet killed three Englishmen at Chignecto. Seven natives were also killed in

2622-435: The 1,000 Acadians at Cobequid vacated their lands, along with a very large part of Pisiquid, several hundred, went to Île Saint-Jean. By 1752, the number of Acadians on Île Saint-Jean was 2,223, double the amount in two years. On one occasion en route to Île Saint-Jean, a British naval patrol intercepted Acadians in a vessel and an Acadian passenger declared "they chose rather to quit their lands and estates than possess them upon

2736-659: The Acadian Exodus to the retreating Russians who burnt their own lands before Napoleon's invasion , and compared the British expulsions to General Sherman 's destruction of everything in his path as his army marched unchallenged across Georgia during the American Civil War . Father Le Loutre%27s War [REDACTED]   France [REDACTED] Wabanaki Confederacy [REDACTED]   Great Britain Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755), also known as

2850-551: The Acadians for fear that more of them would join the exodus. The conditions of the refugees who fled to Chignecto and to Île Saint-Jean were very difficult. While the condition of those who went to Île Royale prior to the Expulsion of 1758 is not well documented. Those that made it to Île Saint-Jean also suffered from numerous natural disasters. There were a series of plagues that struck the island. In 1749, swarms of black field mice destroyed that year's crop. A plague of locusts followed

2964-420: The Acadians had accomplished in several months of intense work. Again some Acadians tried to defect to the British. Acadians, Mi'kmaq, and the French lost in the Battle of Beausejour . (Le Loutre was captured and imprisoned by the British until the end of the war.) After the fall of Beausejour, the British began expulsion of the Acadians with the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755) . The Acadian Exodus spared most of

3078-455: The Acadians happened when they were expelled from present day Cape Breton after the Siege of Louisbourg (1745) .) Acadians left peninsular Nova Scotia to protest Edward Cornwallis ' demand that they take an unconditional oath. The Acadian Exodus began in 1749 primarily because the Acadians were resisting the British firmly taking control of peninsular Nova Scotia through establishing Halifax and, within eighteen months, building fortifications in

3192-437: The Acadians to affirm their allegiance to the French king, which they did. Some men, perhaps most joined the militia companies. By early 1751, over 250 Acadians had joined the French militia. These Acadians and Mi'kmaq fought in the attempts to prevent Fort Lawrence from being built (1750) and eventually served in the defence of Fort Beausejour (1755). In October 1752, Governor Hobson did not send Protestant settlers to live among

3306-480: The Acadians who joined it – particularly those who lived in Île Saint-Jean and Île Royal – from the British deportation of the Acadians in 1755 . (Despite the hardships they faced, most Acadian refugees had some validation of their choice to leave the British colony of Nova Scotia once the deportation began.) Of course, with the fall of Louisbourg in 1758, the Acadians who left for the French colonies were deported as well. Historian Stephen Patterson compared

3420-510: The Acadians. Many fled while one confronted Church with papers showing they had signed an oath of allegiance in 1690 to the English king. Church was unconvinced. He burned a number of buildings, killed inhabitants, looted their household goods, and slaughtered their livestock. Governor Villebon reported that the English stayed at Beaubassin nine whole days without drawing any supplies from their vessels, and even those settlers to whom they had shown

3534-671: The Bay of Fundy shoreline in the west, the Northumberland Strait shoreline in the east is largely forested, with serpentine tidal estuaries such as the Tidnish River penetrating inland. The narrowest point on the Northumberland shoreline is opposite the Cumberland Basin at Baie Verte . If sea levels were to rise by 12 metres (40 feet), the isthmus would be flooded, effectively making mainland Nova Scotia an island . As

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3648-562: The Bay of Fundy while crossing the Tantramar Marshes between Amherst, Nova Scotia and Sackville, New Brunswick . In 1886 a railway line was built from Sackville across the isthmus to Port Elgin and on to Cape Tormentine . The latter was a port for the iceboat service. In 1917 Canadian National Railways established a rail ferry service to Prince Edward Island to connect with the Prince Edward Island Railway . In

3762-533: The British attempted to establish firm control of the major Acadian settlements in peninsular Nova Scotia and to extend their 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 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 control of

3876-571: The British began to consolidate its control over peninsular Acadia, leading further conflict with the Acadian and Mi'kmaq. At the outset of Le Loutre's war, along with the New England Ranger units, there were three British regiments at Halifax, the 40th Regiment of Foot arrived from Annapolis, while the 29th Regiment of Foot ( Peregrine Hopson 's regiment) and 45th Regiment of Foot ( Hugh Warburton 's regiment) arrived from Louisbourg. The 47th Regiment ( Peregrine Lascelles ' regiment) arrived

3990-409: The British erected forts in Acadian communities located at Windsor , Grand Pré and Chignecto. The war ended after six years with the defeat of the Mi'kmaq, Acadians and French in the Battle of Fort Beauséjour . Acadian resistance to British-rule in Acadia began after Queen Anne's War , with the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1713. The treaty saw the French cede portions of New France to

4104-622: The British establishing Halifax, settling more British settlers within six months than there were Mi'kmaq. In response, the Acadians and Mi'kmaq orchestrated attacks at Chignecto , Grand Pré , Dartmouth , Canso, Halifax and Country Harbour . The French erected forts at present-day Fort Menagoueche , Fort Beauséjour and Fort Gaspareaux . The British responded by attacking the Mi'kmaq and Acadians at Mirligueche (later known as Lunenburg ), Chignecto and St. Croix . The British unilaterally established communities in Lunenburg and Lawrencetown . Finally,

4218-433: 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 a total of 1000 Acadians, with representatives 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

4332-454: The British, and by the summer of 1750 Acadians by the hundreds were in flight from the province. The Acadian migration to Chignecto helped to protect the corridor between Quebec and Louisbourg. During the winter of 1749–1750, Louis La Corne was dispatched from Quebec and arrived at the settlements near the Isthmus of Chignecto, along the rivers Petitcodiac, Chipoudie, and Memramcook. La Corne asked

4446-459: The British, including the Hudson Bay region, Newfoundland , and peninsular Acadia. Acadians had previously supported the French in three conflicts known as the French and Indian Wars . Acadians joined French privateer Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste as crew members in his victories over many British vessels during King William's War . After the Siege of Pemaquid , Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville led

4560-477: The Chignecto and its approaches, constructing Fort Beausejour and two satellite forts – one at present-day Strait Shores, 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 screams as

4674-453: The Exodus and made application to return to the British colony. As a result of the conditions of the Acadian refugees, in 1753–1754, Le Loutre temporarily stopped pressing Acadians at Minas to evacuate to his new settlements. Instead, he encouraged them to grow more grain, which they did in record quantities sufficient to support the large French, Acadian, and Mi'kmaq population otherwise occupied in

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4788-549: The Exodus by raiding the new British fortifications in the Acadian centres and the new Protestant settlements. During this period, Mi'kmaq and Acadians attacked Fort Vieux Logis , they made numerous attacks on Dartmouth , numerous attacks on peninsular Halifax, and engaged in various conflicts at Fort Lawrence (Chignecto). There was also a rebellion against the British by the Foreign Protestants in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia , which

4902-545: The Exodus was Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre , whom the British gave the code name " Moses ". Le Loutre acted in conjunction with Governor of New France, Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière , who encouraged the Acadian migration. A prominent Acadian who transported Acadians to Ile St. Jean and Ile Royal was Joseph-Nicolas Gautier . The overall upheaval of the early 1750s in Nova Scotia was unprecedented. Atlantic Canada witnessed more population movements, more fortification construction, and more troop allocations than ever before in

5016-527: The French also began to fortify the Chignecto and its approaches; they constructed Fort Beauséjour and two satellite forts: one at present-day Strait Shores, 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 Captain Francis Bartelo, killing him and six of his men while taking seven others captive. The Mi'kmaq conducted ritual torture of

5130-497: The French in protecting the capital in the First siege of Port Royal and the final second siege of Port Royal . However, with the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1713, peninsular Acadia was formally ceded to the British. Although peace was formally reestablished with France, the British still faced resistance from the French colonists in the Acadian peninsula. During Father Rale's War ,

5244-522: The French recognized at once the threat it represented and that the Saint 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 Saint John River ( Fort Menagoueche ). In response to Gorham's raid on

5358-492: The French sloop, London , of 70 tons. The London was seized to discover that it had been employed to carry stores of all kinds, arms, and ammunition, from Quebec to Le Loutre and the Mi'kmaq fighters. François Bigot, the intendant of New France had given instructions to the French captain to follow the orders of Le Loutre or La Corne, the bills of lading endorsed by Le Loutre, and other papers and letters, were found on board of her, with four deserters from Cornwallis' regiment, and

5472-475: 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. During the war, however, Massachusetts Governor Shirley acknowledged that Nova Scotia was still "scarcely" British and urged London to fund building forts in the Acadian communities. The signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 ended formal hostilities between British and French forces. With peace formally reestablished,

5586-538: The French territory. French military forces established Fort Beauséjour on the Aulac Ridge in 1749 in response to the British construction of an outpost called Fort Lawrence on the ridge immediately to the east. Between the two ridges was a tidal stream called the Missaquash River , which France generally accepted to be the boundary between the territories. The powers had never determined and agreed to an official boundary. France also constructed Fort Gaspereau on

5700-456: The French vessels. Despite inferior armament, Vergor engaged the sloop, allowing Aimable Jeanne to reach Fort Boishebert . The action lasted the better part of the day, after which, with only seven men fit out of 50 and Saint-François unmasted and sinking, Vergor was obliged to yield. Three of Rous' crew were killed. The French ship contained a large quantity of provision, uniforms and warlike supplies. Cornwallis noted that this action

5814-572: The Governor of Canada ordered four British sloops to be seized at Louisbourg. There were six raids on Dartmouth during this time period. In July 1750, the Mi'kmaq killed and scalped 7 men who were at work in Dartmouth. In August 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

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5928-514: The Indians for ransom, as raiding was active on both sides. Others were adopted by Mohawk families at the Catholic village south of the French city. Some adults, such as the minister of Deerfield, were redeemed by their communities or families paying ransom, but the process sometimes took years. His daughter Emily, adopted when a young teenager, never returned to live with her English family, as she married

6042-472: The Isthmus of Chignecto was a key surface transportation route since the 17th century, French and later British colonists built military roads across it to the Tantramar Marshes and along the strategic ridges. In 1872, the Intercolonial Railway of Canada constructed a mainline between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick across the southern portion of the isthmus. It skirted the edge of

6156-572: The Mi'kmaq tortured them throughout the night had a chilling effect on the New Englanders. There were four raids on Halifax during the war. The first raid happened in October 1750, while in the woods on peninsular Halifax, Mi'kmaq scalped two British people and took six prisoner: Cornwallis' gardener, his son, and Captain William Clapham 's book keeper were tortured and scalped. The Mi'kmaq buried

6270-682: 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), at a saw-mill on a stream flowing out of Chocolate Lake into the Northwest Arm . They killed two men. In August 1750, there was a naval battle off Baie Verte between British Captain Le Cras, of the Trial and

6384-592: The Saint John River in 1748, the Governor of Canada threatened to support native raids along the northern New England border. There were many previous raids from the Mi'kmaq militia and Maliseet Militias against British settlers on the border ( 1703 , 1723 , 1724 , 1745 , 1746 , 1747 ). During the war, along the former border of Acadia, the Kennebec River , the British built Fort Halifax ( Winslow ), Fort Shirley ( Dresden , formerly Frankfurt) and Fort Western ( Augusta ). With demands for an unconditional oath,

6498-548: The Saint John River valley, 140 Malisseet and four Mi'kmaq, 21 Acadians from the Memramcook Valley and the Allen family farm, and about 120 farmers from Cumberland, Onslow , and Pictou. Eddy had insufficient forces to capture the fort in a direct assault so he besieged the fort instead. Rebel sympathizers from Sackville burned some surrounding buildings. After three weeks, British forces dispatched from Halifax and Windsor routed

6612-507: The arrival of these Protestant settlers. The war caused unprecedented upheaval in the area. Atlantic Canada witnessed more population movements, more fortification construction, and more troop allocations than ever before. Twenty-four conflicts were recorded during the war (battles, raids, skirmishes), thirteen of which were Mi'kmaq and Acadian raids on the capital region Halifax/ Dartmouth . As typical of frontier warfare, many additional conflicts were unrecorded. During Father Le Loutre's War,

6726-515: The capital, such as the Siege of Annapolis Royal . During this siege, the 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 British] carcasses behind and brought their skins." Le Loutre was also joined by the prominent Acadian resistance leader Joseph Broussard (Beausoleil). Broussard and other Acadians supported

6840-507: The captives throughout the night, which had a chilling effect on the New Englanders. The British retaliated for the Raid on Dartmouth (1751) by sending several armed companies to Chignecto. They killed a few French defenders and breached the dikes, allowing the low lands to flood. 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 raise funds and supplies to re-build

6954-519: The commander at Fort Beausejour ) was dispatched aboard the brigantine Saint-François to convoy the schooner Aimable Jeanne , which was carrying munitions and supplies from Quebec to the Saint John River for Boishebert at Fort Boishebert . Early on 16 October, about ten leagues west of Cape Sable (present-day Port La Tour, Nova Scotia and area), British Captain John Rous in HMS Albany overtook

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7068-608: The consent and advice of His Majesty's Council, do promise a reward of ten Guineas for every Indian Micmac taken or killed, to be paid upon producing such Savage taken or his scalp (as in the custom of America) if killed to the Officer Commanding." To carry out this task, two companies of rangers were 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

7182-423: The desire of many Acadians to leave peninsular Nova Scotia in protest, withdrawing the Acadians to French-held territory was also the official French policy after 1748. The French were invested in having Acadians migrate to the Chignecto region, in part, to protect the only land route between Louisbourg and Quebec. The land route went through Chignecto , along the Bay of Fundy and up the Saint John River . This route

7296-480: The dikes. He returned in the spring of 1753. In May 1753, Natives scalped two British soldiers at Fort Lawrence. A British fleet of three warships and thirty-three transports, carrying 2,100 soldiers from Boston, Massachusetts , landed at Fort Lawrence on June 3, 1755. They attacked Fort Beauséjour the following day . The French forces abandoned Fort Gaspareaux on June 16, 1755, choosing instead to re-garrison at Fortress Louisbourg . This battle proved to be one of

7410-560: The disputed territory of present-day New Brunswick. (Father Le Loutre tried to prevent the New Englanders from moving into present-day New Brunswick just as a generation earlier, during Father Rale's War , Rale had tried to prevent New Englanders from taking over present-day Maine .) Throughout the war, the Mi'kmaq and Acadians attacked the British forts in 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

7524-563: The end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, the British created three 100,000-acre (400 km ) townships on the isthmus: Amherst , Sackville and Cumberland, which would later be dissolved into Cumberland County . The drive to attract settlers from New England was not immediately successful. After a few small groups arrived in 1760 and 1761, some families returned home, and the British government decided to look elsewhere for settlers. Between 1772 and 1775, more than 20 ships arrived from England, carrying upwards of 1,000 settlers from Yorkshire to

7638-410: The ferry terminal at Cape Tormentine. This was subsequently modified in 1997 to connect with the Confederation Bridge at Cape Jourimain . The first European settlements on the isthmus were French . The isthmus was the location of a growing Acadian farming community called Beaubassin . The isthmus became in 1713 the site of the historic dividing line between the British colony of Nova Scotia and

7752-563: The first to depart was a group of about 100 from the Chebucto region. They went to Baie des Espagnoles on Île Royal (Sydney, Cape Breton). Groups from both Beaubassin and Annapolis Royal also requested Governor-General La Jonquiere at Quebec to support them in leaving for the St. Lawrence River. By the end of 1749 several hundred Acadians had made their way to Baie Verte, where they went over to Île Saint-Jean. The French made considerable efforts to transport refugees to Île Saint-Jean and by early October six or seven hundred had arrived there. Most of

7866-442: The following two days, nine British soldiers were killed and scalped. When Boishébert moved against Fort Monckton, the British abandoned it and burned it to the ground so that it could not be used by the French. On July 20, 1757, Mi’kmaq captured two of Gorham's rangers outside Fort Cumberland. On September 6, Monckton directed Lt. Colonel Hunt Walsh to take the 28th regiment and a company of rangers to Baie Verte to burn what

7980-483: The following year (1750). At sea, Captain John Rous was the senior naval officer on the Nova Scotia station during the war. The main officer under his command was Silvanus Cobb . John Gorham also owned two armed schooners : the Anson and the Warren . The war began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports on June 21, 1749. The British quickly began to build other settlements. To guard against Mi'kmaq, Acadian and French attacks on

8094-399: The fort's environs. 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. There

8208-561: The invading force and withdrew, burning their crops and houses as they retreated. On 15 October (N.S.) a group of Mi'kmaq disguised as French officers called a member of the Nova Scotia Council Edward How to a conference. This trap, organized by Chief Étienne Bâtard , gave him the opportunity to wound How seriously, and How died five or six days later, according to Captain La Vallière (probably Louis Leneuf de La Vallière),

8322-418: The isthmus measures 24 kilometres (15 mi) wide. Because of its strategic position, it has been important to competing forces through much of its history of occupation. The name "Chignecto" derives from the Mi'kmaq name Siknikt , meaning "drainage place"; the name of the Mi'kmaq District where the isthmus is located. The majority of the lands comprising the isthmus have low elevation above sea level;

8436-596: The key victories for the British in the Seven Years' War , in which Great Britain gained control of all of New France and Acadia . On the isthmus, the British abandoned Fort Lawrence and took over the better-constructed Fort Beauséjour, which they renamed Fort Cumberland. Shortly afterwards, the Great Upheaval began when British forces started rounding up French settlers during the Bay of Fundy Campaign (1755) . Most of these settlers would be deported, with their villages burned behind them to prevent their return. During

8550-424: The land around Halifax looking for Mi'kmaq. Three days after the bounty was ordered, on October 5, Governor Cornwallis sent Commander White with troops in the 20-gun sloop Sphinx to Mirligueche (Lunenburg). After two consecutive attacks on June 18 and then June 20, 1750 Cornwallis deemed the initial proclamation ineffective and increased the bounty to 50 guinea on June 21, 1750. During Cornwallis' tenure there

8664-531: The major Acadian communities: present-day Windsor ( Fort Edward ); Grand-Pré ( Fort Vieux Logis ) and Chignecto ( Fort Lawrence ). (Of course, a British fort already existed at the other major Acadian centre of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia . Cobequid remained without a fort.) The British also established forts at the various Protestant communities they were establishing in Nova Scotia: Halifax, Bedford, Lawrencetown, Lunenburg, and Dartmouth. Along with

8778-404: The means and support to relocate to French territories. On some occasions, in conjunction with the French policy, Le Loutre and the Mi'kmaq had to force some reluctant Acadians to join the 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,

8892-460: The mid-1880s, the isthmus was also the site of one of Canada's earliest mega-projects: construction of a broad-gauge railway from the port of Amherst to the Northumberland Strait at Tidnish for carrying small cargo and passenger ships. This ship railway was never successfully operational, and construction was abandoned shortly before completion. In the 1950s, while construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway

9006-536: The minutes, in keeping with earlier treaties, the Council determined that they would treat the Mi'kmaq as rebellious British subjects rather than as war adversaries: "That, in their opinion to declare war formally against the Micmac Indians would be a manner to own them a free and independent people, whereas they ought to be treated as so many Banditti Ruffians, or Rebels, to His Majesty's Government." On October 2, 1749,

9120-412: The mouth of the Saint John River ( Fort Menagoueche ). When La Jonquiere reached Quebec, he instructed Le Loutre and the Mi'kmaq to support the migration of Acadians to Chignecto, which would protect the corridor between Quebec City and Louisbourg . Acadia would revive with an instant population while the British would be deprived of hard-working and productive farmers. The French policy promised Acadians

9234-579: The new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax ( Citadel Hill in 1749), Bedford ( Fort Sackville in 1749), Dartmouth (1750), Lunenburg (1753) and Lawrencetown (1754). Within 18 months of establishing Halifax, the British attempted to take control of the Nova Scotia peninsula by building fortifications in all the major Acadian communities: present-day Windsor ( Fort Edward ); Grand Pré ( Fort Vieux Logis ) and Chignecto ( Fort Lawrence ). A British fort ( Fort Anne ) already existed at

9348-521: The new townships. The descendants of the Yorkshire emigration continue to be prominent in the area's development and history. In October and November 1776, local guerrilla and colonial American forces led by Jonathan Eddy and John Allan attempted to take over Fort Cumberland and the Tantramar region. Eddy's attacking force consisted of "about twenty" Americans from Machias, Maine , 27 Yankee settlers from

9462-419: The only eyewitness. Le Loutre and Acadian militia leader Joseph Broussard resisted the British assault. The British defeated them and subsequently 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

9576-428: The other major Acadian centre of Annapolis Royal 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...." In fact, Mi'kmaq resistance kept the British largely holed up in their forts until the fall of Louisbourg (1758) . ,

9690-468: The outbreak of the war there were an estimated 2500 Mi'kmaq and 12,000 Acadians in the region. While the British captured Port Royal in 1710 and were ceded peninsular Acadia in 1713, the Mi'kmaq and Acadians continued to contain the British in settlements at Port Royal and Canso . The rest of the colony was in the control of the Catholic Mi'kmaq and Acadians. About forty years later, the British made

9804-554: The prisoners from Canso. because Captain Ebenezer Ellingwood had paid the money but had not returned for his son. At the Isthmus of Chignecto in August 1749, the Mi'kmaq attacked two British vessels thought to be preventing Acadians from joining the Acadian Exodus by leaving Beaubassin for Ile St. Jean . On September 18, several Mi'kmaq and Maliseets ambushed and killed three British men at Chignecto. Seven natives were killed in

9918-399: The property of Acadians who had participated in the siege of Grand Pré . 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

10032-601: The region. The greatest immigration of the Acadians between 1749 and 1755 took place in 1750. Primarily due to natural disasters and British raids, the Exodus proved to be unsustainable when Acadians tried to develop communities in the French territories. Despite the British conquest of Acadia in 1710, Acadia was dominated by Acadians and Mi'kmaq. For over forty-five years the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this time period Acadians both threatened to leave Acadia and were threatened with expulsion at various times. (The first deportation of

10146-469: 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 prisoners. A sergeant

10260-476: The reports of an officer commanding Fort Edward , [indicated he] could not be conveyed [to Halifax] with less an escort than an officer and thirty men." (Along with Bulkeley, Cornwallis' other Aide-de-camp was Horatio Gates .) The only land route between Louisbourg and Quebec went from Baie Verte through Chignecto, along the Bay of Fundy and up the Saint John River . With the establishment of Halifax,

10374-413: The rest of the Acadians' crops and houses as they went. Le Loutre and the 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 ruins of Beaubassin. The work on the fort proceeded rapidly and they completed the facility within weeks. To limit the British to peninsular Nova Scotia ,

10488-576: The roads to prevent Acadians from leaving. Patrols also happened throughout the Cobequid. (On one such patrol, Noel Doiron 's priest Jacques Girard was arrested. This action precipitated Doiron leaving Noel, Nova Scotia for Point Prime, Île Saint-Jean in the spring of 1750.) The British eventually forbade all assemblies of the Acadians, and they were ordered to supply the British commanders with provisions and offer their labor on demand, at prices set by regulation. Not surprisingly, many Acadians refused to supply

10602-415: The service of France. 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 ). Unfortunately, the following year storm tides broke through the main cross-dike of the large-scale reclamation project, destroying nearly everything

10716-629: The shores of the Northumberland Strait to effectively control travel on the isthmus. During King William's War , the first of the four French and Indian Wars , the English colonial militia leader Benjamin Church led a devastating raid on the Isthmus of Chignecto at Beaubassin , in retaliation for an earlier French and native raid against Pemaquid, Maine (present day Bristol, Maine ) earlier that year. Church and four hundred men (50 to 150 of whom were Indians, likely Iroquois) arrived offshore of Beaubassin on September 20. They managed to get ashore and surprise

10830-466: The skirmish. On 24 September 1749, the Mi'kmaq formally wrote to Governor Cornwallis through French missionary Father Maillard, proclaiming their ownership of the land, and expressing their opposition to the British actions in settling at Halifax. Some historians have read this letter as declaration of hostility against the British. Other historians have questioned that interpretation. On September 30, 1749, about forty Mi'kmaq attacked six men during

10944-722: The skirmish. In May 1750, Lawrence was unsuccessful in getting a base at Chignecto because Le Loutre burned the village of Beaubassin, preventing Lawrence from using its supplies to establish a fort. (According to the historian Frank Patterson, the Acadians at Cobequid also burned their homes as they retreated from the British to Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia in 1754.) Lawrence retreated, but he returned in September 1750. On September 3, Rous, Lawrence and Gorham led over 700 men to Chignecto, where Mi’kmaq and Acadians opposed their landing. They killed twenty British, who in turn killed several Mi’kmaq. Le Loutre's militia eventually withdrew, burning

11058-427: The son while the gardener's body was left behind and the other six persons were taken prisoner to Grand Pre for five months. Shortly after this raid, Cornwallis learned that the Mi'kmaq had received payment from the French at Chignecto for five prisoners taken at Halifax as well as prisoners taken earlier at Dartmouth and Grand Pre. In 1751, there were two attacks on blockhouses surrounding Halifax. Mi'kmaq attacked

11172-611: The survey stage. In the early 1960s, the Trans-Canada Highway was built on the isthmus to connect with Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island . Route 2 in New Brunswick and Highway 104 in Nova Scotia were built parallel to the existing Canadian National Railway trackage; this inter-provincial highway was upgraded to a 4-lane expressway in the 1990s. Route 16 in New Brunswick was built from an interchange with Route 2 in Aulac to

11286-519: The terms propos'd by the English governor." Acadians migrated from the east to the west side of the Missaguash river during the Battle of Chignecto (1750) . The Acadian village of Beaubassin was burned to prevent Lawrence from establishing a fort in the major Acadian village. More than 2,000 moved to Chignecto and the Shepody Basin area. Under the direction of Le Loutre, Mi'kmaq and Acadians supported

11400-410: 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. 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

11514-471: The unconditional oath rejecting their Christian Catholic Faith and accepting the Protestant Anglican Church with a deadline of 25 October. In response, hundreds of Acadians were deported by the British with the confiscation of their homes, their lands and their cattle. The deportation of the Acadians by the British involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia . The expulsion

11628-485: 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. On September 3, 1750 New England Ranger John Gorham led over 700 men to the 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

11742-461: The year. And the year after that a blistering drought. The 1,500 who went to Chignecto suffered from overcrowding. They 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

11856-505: Was also a bounty of 10 guinea given for a native killed or taken prisoner. The proclamation reads: "For, those cause we by and with the advice and consent of His Majesty's Council, do hereby authorize and command all Officers Civil and Military, and all His Majesty's Subjects or others to annoy, distress, take or destroy the Savage commonly called Micmac, wherever they are found, and all as such as aiding and assisting them, give further by and with

11970-471: 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

12084-541: 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

12198-428: Was brutal often separating children from their families. The leader of the Exodus was Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre , whom the British gave the code name " Moses ". Historian Micheline Johnson described Le Loutre as "the soul of the Acadian resistance." The first Mi'kmaq breach of the Treaty of 1726 and 1748 was at Canso. On 19 August 1749, Lieutenant Joseph Gorham , younger brother of John Gorham (military officer) ,

12312-547: Was left of it. When they arrived, it was already vacated. In 1758 Governor Lawrence issued a proclamation inviting New Englanders to come to Nova Scotia, settle on vacated Acadian lands, and take up free land grants. He also extended the invitation to New England soldiers serving in Canada whose enlistments had expired and who were planning on returning home. Such settlers became known as the New England Planters . Following

12426-537: Was likely supported by Le Loutre. (See Father Le Loutre's War ). To guard against attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were immediately erected in Halifax, Dartmouth, Lawrencetown, Bedford, and Lunenburg. The Crown tried to prevent the Acadian exodus. Cornwallis ordered, for example, Captain John Handfield and two companies of troops to Fort Vieux Logis in Grand-Pré with instructions to patrol

12540-408: Was no fighting over the winter months, which was common in frontier warfare. 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 Pisiquid, which became Fort Edward , and to seize

12654-481: Was sent after the raiding party and cut off the heads of two Mi'kmaq and scalped one. This raid was the first of eight against Dartmouth during the war. This raid was consistent with the Wabanaki Confederacy and New England's approach to warfare with each other since King William's War (1688). On October 1, 1749, Cornwallis convened a meeting of the Nova Scotia Council aboard HMS Beaufort . According to

12768-451: Was the second time he had caught the Governor of Canada sending a ship of military supplies to the Mi'kmaq to use against the British. By the end of the year, Cornwallis estimated that there were no less than eight to ten French vessels which unloaded war supplies for the Mi'kmaq, French, and Acadians at Saint John River and Baye Vert. In response to their defeat in the Battle off Port La Tour,

12882-610: Was under the command of William Clapham at Canso and his party was attacked by Mi'kmaq. They seized his vessel and took twenty prisoners and carried them off to Louisbourg ten days later on the 29th. After Cornwallis complained to the Governor of Ile Royale, sixteen of the prisoners were released to Halifax and the other four sent off on their own vessel. The year earlier the Mi'kmaq had seized Captain Ellingwood's vessel Success and he promised them 100 pounds and left his son hostage to have it released. Mikmaq reported they released

12996-579: Was underway, a group of industrialists and politicians from the Maritimes called for a Chignecto Canal to be built as a shortcut for ocean-going ships travelling between Saint John and U.S. ports to the Great Lakes to avoid travelling around Nova Scotia. The project, while endorsed by both the second Flemming government of New Brunswick and the Robichaud government that succeeded it, never progressed beyond

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