The Raid on Grand Pré was the major action of a raiding expedition conducted by the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
militia Colonel
Benjamin Church against French
Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17t ...
in June 1704, during
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...
. The expedition was allegedly in retaliation for a
French and Indian raid against the
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
frontier community of
Deerfield earlier that year.
Departing
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
on 25 May 1704 with 500 provincial militia and some Indian allies, the expedition reached the
Minas Basin
, image = Lookout On Way to Cape Split - 25006718579.jpg
, alt =
, caption = Looking east across the Southern Bight of Minas Basin from The Lookoff
, image_bathymetry =
, alt_bathymetry =
, ca ...
on 24 June, after raiding smaller settlements at
Penobscot Bay and
Passamaquoddy Bay
Passamaquoddy Bay (french: Baie de Passamaquoddy) is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its w ...
. Although he lost surprise due to the famously high tides of the
Bay of Fundy, Church quickly gained control of
Grand-Pré, and spent three days destroying the town and attempting to destroy the
dikes and levees that protected its croplands. The croplands were flooded by salt water, but the local
Acadians
The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...
quickly repaired the dikes after the raiders left, and the land was returned to production. Church continued his raiding expedition, striking at
Beaubassin
Beaubassin was an important Acadian village and trading centre on the Isthmus of Chignecto in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada. The area was a significant place in the geopolitical struggle between the British and French empires. It was establ ...
and other communities before finally returning to Boston in late July.
Context
When the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
(also called
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...
) widened to include
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1702, it spawned conflict between the colonies of England and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in North America.
Joseph Dudley
Joseph Dudley (September 23, 1647 – April 2, 1720) was a colonial administrator, a native of Roxbury in Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the son of one of its founders. He had a leading role in the administration of the Dominion of New England ...
, the governor of the English
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...
(which then included present-day
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
), sought in June 1703 to ensure the neutrality of the
Abenaki
The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...
s who occupied the frontier between Massachusetts and
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
. In this he was unsuccessful, because New France's Governor
Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil (; c. 1643 – 10 October 1725) was a French military officer who served as Governor General of New France (now Canada and U.S. states of the Mississippi Valley) from 1703 to 1725, throughout Queen ...
, knowing he would have to rely on Indian support for defense against the more numerous English, had already encouraged the Indians to take up the hatchet. Following the
Wabanaki Confederacy
The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet ( ...
of
Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17t ...
military campaign against the New England frontier during the summer of 1703, the English colonists embarked on largely unsuccessful retaliatory raids against Abenaki villages. This prompted the Abenakis to
participate in a raid on
Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachu ...
under French leadership in February 1704. The severity of this raid (more than 50 villagers killed and more than 100 captured) prompted calls for revenge, and the veteran Indian fighter
Benjamin Church offered his services for an expedition against the French colony of
Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17t ...
(roughly present-day
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
,
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
, and eastern Maine).
Acadia was at the time dominated by a series of settlements dotting the shores of the
Bay of Fundy and its adjacent bays. Its principal settlement and capital,
Port Royal, was the only significantly fortified community, defended by a
star fort with a modest garrison. The land at the top of the bay, on the shores of the
Minas
Minas or MINAS may refer to:
People with the given name Minas
* Menas of Ethiopia (died 1563)
* Saint Menas (Minas, 285–309)
* Minias of Florence (Minas, Miniato, died 250)
* Minas Alozidis (born 1984), Greek hurdler
* Minas Avetisyan (1928 ...
and
Cumberland Basins was one of the major seats of food production in the colony, and
Grand Pré
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and comm ...
was one of the largest and most successful communities on the Minas Basin, with a population of about 500 in 1701. French settlers to the area had brought with them knowledge on the constructions of
dikes and levees, which they used to drain marshlands for agriculture, and to protect those lands from the inflow of the exceptionally high tides (over 6 meters, or 20 feet, in some places) for which the Bay of Fundy is well known. The community of
Beaubassin
Beaubassin was an important Acadian village and trading centre on the Isthmus of Chignecto in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada. The area was a significant place in the geopolitical struggle between the British and French empires. It was establ ...
was the largest of several towns situated on the
Isthmus of Chignecto
The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America.
The isthmus separates the waters of Chignecto Bay, a sub-basin of the Bay of ...
and elsewhere on the shores of the Cumberland Basin.
Start of the expedition
![DeerfieldRaid1704](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/DeerfieldRaid1704.jpg)
Church had
previously led expeditions against Acadia during
King William's War
King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand All ...
, and Governor Dudley issued him a colonel's commission for the effort, giving him specific orders to obtain Acadian prisoners that could be exchanged for the English prisoners taken in the Deerfield raid. The expedition was also to be one of punishment: "Use all possible methods for the burning and destroying of the enemies houses and breaking the dams of their corn grounds, and make what other spoil you can upon them". Dudley, however, specifically denied Church permission to attack Port Royal, the Acadian capital, citing the need to get permission from
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
before taking such a step.
The force Church raised consisted of about 500 volunteers from coastal areas of Massachusetts, including some Indians. He left
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
on 15/26 May with fourteen transports and three warships. The warships include the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
vessels , (42 guns) and (32), which were also accompanied by the Massachusetts ketch ''
Province Galley'' under
Cyprian Southack
Cyprian Southack (1662 – 27 March 1745) was an English cartographer and colonial naval commander. He commanded the ''Province Galley'', Massachusetts' one-ship navy (1696–1711) and commanded the first navy ship of Nova Scotia, the ship ''Wi ...
's command. (Church took a former prisoner of the
Maliseet,
John Gyles as his translator.)
The expedition first sailed for
Mount Desert Island
Mount Desert Island (MDI; french: Île des Monts Déserts) in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in the contiguous ...
, near the entrance to
Penobscot Bay. Church sent a force to raid
Pentagoet (present-day
Castine, Maine
Castine ( ) is a town in Hancock County in eastern Maine.; John Faragher. ''Great and Nobel Scheme''. 2005. p. 68. The population was 1,320 at the 2020 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduate ...
), where the Frenchman
Baron Saint-Castin had a fortified trading post. Saint-Castin was absent, but Church took prisoner his daughter and her children. He also learned that a new French settlement was being built at
Passamaquoddy Bay
Passamaquoddy Bay (french: Baie de Passamaquoddy) is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its w ...
, so the expedition next sailed for that destination. Church sent a small force ashore near present-day
St. Stephen, New Brunswick, where they destroyed a house and raided a nearby
Maliseet encampment, killing one Indian. Church then separated the warships, sending them to blockade the
Digby Gut
The Digby Gut is a narrow channel connecting the Bay of Fundy with the Annapolis Basin. The town of Digby, Nova Scotia is located on the inner portion of the western side of the Gut. The eastern entrance is marked by the Point Prim Lighthouse. St ...
in the hopes of capturing a French supply ship, while the bulk of the expedition sailed for Grand Pré. The three ship captains on 24 June demanded the surrender of the garrison at Port Royal, threatening a frontal assault with 1,700 New Englanders and "Sauvages". Governor
Jacques-François de Monbeton de Brouillan
Jacques-François de Monbeton de Brouillan (1651, Gascony – September 22, 1705 at Chedabouctou, Acadia) French military officer and Governor of Plaisance ( Placentia), Newfoundland (1689-1701) and Acadia (1701-1705).
Biography
Monbeton de ...
, despite defenses in poor conditions and a garrison of only 150 able men, saw through the bluff and refused. Historian George Rawlyk speculates that Governor Dudley may have intentionally asked them to make this bluff without Church's involvement.
Grand Pré
![GrandPre1704RaidFirst](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/GrandPre1704RaidFirst.jpg)
The principal detailed account of these events was provided by Colonel Church in his memoirs, first published in 1716. French military officers later summarized the damage caused by the raiders.
Day 1: Arrival
On 24 June/3 July 1704, Church arrived at Grand Pré on the frigate ''Adventure''. Hoping to take advantage of the element of surprise, Church secretly approached the village from behind the heavily wooded Boot Island. His men unloaded the whaleboats to go ashore late in the day and started to move quickly toward the village. Church sent Lieut. Giles ahead with a flag of truce and a written notice demanding the village's complete surrender.
Church stipulated the Acadians and
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...
had one hour to surrender. Although he expected to reach the village by the time the hour had past, Church's force became delayed by stream crossings made more difficult by the receding tide: "But meeting with several creeks near twenty or thirty feet deep, which were very muddy and dirty, so that the army could not get over them, were obliged to return to their boats again."
Because Church's forces were stuck in the mud exposed by the retreating tide, they lost any element of surprise, and the Acadians took the opportunity to evacuate Grand Pré with some of their cattle and the "best of their goods". Church's forces waited in their boats for the tide to rise. Church expected the high stream banks to provide some cover, but when tide rose that night, it was so high that the boats were exposed to gunfire from the local militia, who had gathered in the woods along the banks. According to Church, the Acadians and Mi'kmaq "fired smartly at our forces". Church had a small cannon on his boat, which he used to fire
grape shot
Grapeshot is a type of artillery round invented by a British Officer during the Napoleonic Wars. It was used mainly as an anti infantry round, but had other uses in naval combat.
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of ...
at the attackers on the shore, who withdrew, suffering one Mi'kmaq killed and several wounded. Church's forces then waited out the rest of the night.
Day 2: Inhabitants driven off
![MassacreOfTheIndiansByOrderOfChurch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/MassacreOfTheIndiansByOrderOfChurch.png)
Having withdrawn from the village, the next morning the Acadian and Mi'kmaq militia waited in the woods for Church and his men to arrive. At the break of day, the New Englanders again set off toward the village, under orders from Church to drive any resistance before them. The largest body of defenders fired on the raiders' right flank from behind trees and logs, but their fire was ineffective and they were driven off. The raiders then entered the village and began plundering. Some of the men broke into the liquor stores they found and began drinking, but Colonel Church quickly put a stop to that activity. They spent the rest of the day destroying much of the village. According to one of Church's dispatches, they destroyed 60 houses, 6 mills, and many barns, along with about 70 cattle.
At one point some of the men noticed that some of the Acadians were nearby, driving off some of their cattle. Church detached Lieutenant Barker and some men to give chase, warning them to advance with care. However, Barker was somewhat rash in pursuing the chase, and he and another man were killed before the raiders retreated back to the village.
That evening the raiders built a fortification out of logs while burning the church and the rest of the village. Church reported that "the whole town seemed to be on fire all at once." All but one home was burned.
Day 3: Destruction of the harvest
![GrandPre1704RaidSecond](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/GrandPre1704RaidSecond.jpg)
On the morning of the third day, Church gave the orders to destroy the dykes and, in turn, all of the crops. Seven dykes were broken, destroying most of the harvest and ruining over 200 hogsheads of stored wheat.
To give the impression to the Acadians and Mi'kmaq that his forces were leaving, Church had his soldiers burn the fortifications they had built the day before. He also had them load themselves and the whale boats back onto their transport vessels. Some of the Acadians returned in the night and immediately began to mend the broken dykes. However, Church had anticipated this, and sent men back to the town to drive the Acadians off.
End of the expedition
![Joseph Dudley attributed to Peter Lely](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Joseph_Dudley_attributed_to_Peter_Lely.jpg)
The next day Church left Grand Pré and went on to raid
Pisiguit
Pisiguit is the pre-expulsion-period Acadian region located along the banks of the Pisiquit River from its confluence with the Minas Basin of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia, including the St. Croix River drainage area. Settlement in the region ...
(present day
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
and
Falmouth, Nova Scotia
Falmouth ( ) is a village located along the Avon River in Hants County between Mount Denson and Windsor in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
History
Falmouth and area was known as Pisiquid by the Acadians. Having migrated from Port Royal ( ...
, not far from Grand Pré), where he took 45 prisoners. He then sailed for Port Royal to rejoin the fleet blockading Port Royal. According to uncorroborated French reports, the blockaders had made some landings in the vicinity of Port Royal, burning a few isolated houses and taking some prisoners. Governor Brouillan organized defenses that successfully prevented further landings.
After rejoining the warships, Church held a council to discuss whether or not to launch a large-scale attack against Port Royal. The council decided that their force was "inferiour to the strength of the enemy", and that they would "quit it
ort Royalwholly and go about
heirother business". The expedition then sailed back up the Bay of Fundy to
Chignecto, where the village of Beaubassin was raided. Its inhabitants had by then been alerted to the English activities, and under the leadership of Father
Claude Trouve had removed their possessions and as much livestock as possible from the village to Chedabucto (
Guysborough, Nova Scotia
Guysborough, officially named the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, is a district municipality in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district.
It is home to ...
). Church, after some ineffectual skirmishing with villagers hiding in the woods, burned the village's houses and barns and slaughtered 100 head of cattle, before sailing for Boston. Church reported that six of his men were killed over the course of the expedition.
Aftermath
The prisoners that Church took were brought to Boston, where they were at first given relatively free access to the town. The town selectman complained, and the Acadians were then confined to
Castle William
Fort Independence is a granite bastion fort that provided harbor defenses for Boston, Massachusetts. Located on Castle Island (Massachusetts), Castle Island, Fort Independence is one of the oldest continuously fortified sites of England, English ...
. They were exchanged in 1705 and 1706 for prisoners taken in the Deerfield raid, although the negotiations were complicated by Dudley's initial refusal to release the noted French privateer
Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste, who was ultimately exchanged, along with
Noel Doiron
Noel or Noël may refer to:
Christmas
* , French for Christmas
* Noel is another name for a Christmas carol
Places
*Noel, Missouri, United States, a city
*Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community
* 1563 Noël, an asteroid
* Mount Noel, Britis ...
and other captives, for Deerfield's minister
John Williams.
The direct effects of the raid were fairly short-lived. Because of the destruction of the crop and stored grain, the colony suffered a flour shortage that winter, although it was not severe enough to cause significant hardship. Grand Pré was rebuilt, the dykes were repaired, and there was a successful harvest in 1706. The memory of the raid however, lasted in the population. As late as the 1740s (after Acadia had become British
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
) Grand Pré's inhabitants worried about a return of English raiders, and were cautious in their dealing with British authorities.
Dudley's decision to deny Church permission to attack Port Royal had political ramifications: his opponents in Massachusetts accused him of protecting Port Royal because he was benefiting from illicit trade with Acadia. These allegations continued for several years, and Dudley eventually chose to deal with them by launching the
failed attacks on Port Royal in 1707.
See also
*
Military history of Nova Scotia
*
Military history of the Acadians
The military history of the Acadians consisted primarily of militias made up of Acadian settlers who participated in wars against the English (the British after 1707) in coordination with the Wabanaki Confederacy (particularly the Mi'kmaw mili ...
*
Military history of the Miꞌkmaq
The military history of the Miꞌkmaq consisted primarily of Miꞌkmaq, Miꞌkmaw warriors (''smáknisk'') who participated in wars against the Kingdom of England, English (the Kingdom of Great Britain, British after 1707) independently as well ...
Notes
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Raid on Grand Pre
Military history of Acadia
Military history of Nova Scotia
Military history of New England
Grand Pre 1704
Grand Pre 1704
Grand Pre 1704
Grand Pré
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and comm ...
Grand Pré
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and comm ...
Grand Pré
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and comm ...
1704 in North America
Grand Pre
Queen Anne's War