The Battle of Port La Tour occurred on July 18, 1677, at

Port La Tour A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and earl ...

, as part of the Northeast Coast Campaign during the

First Abenaki War The First Abenaki War (also known as the northern theatre of King Philip's War) was fought along the New England/Acadia border primarily in present-day Maine. Richard Waldron and Charles Frost led the forces in the northern region, while Jean-Vin ...

(the Maine-Acadia theater of

King Phillips War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

) in which the

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 no ...

attacked New England fishermen. The New Englanders eventually overwhelmed them and many Mi'kmaq were enslaved.

Historical context

Prior to King Philip's War, there is no record of New England and the Mi'kmaq being in conflict. During the First Abenaki War, Major

Richard Waldron Major Richard Waldron (or Richard Waldern, Richard Walderne; 1615–1689) was an English-born merchant, soldier, and government official who rose to prominence in early colonial Dover, New Hampshire. His presence spread to greater New Hampshire ...

captured natives for the slave trade. The most significant seizure of natives happened in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

on September 7, 1676. Later, Waldron gave a mandate to the merchant, Henry Lawton (or Laughton), of the

Piscataqua Piscataqua, believed to be an Abenaki word meaning ''rapid waters'', may refer to: * Piscataqua River, a fast-moving estuarine river dividing coastal New Hampshire and Maine in the United States * Piscataqua River (Presumpscot River), a tributary ...

area, to seize all the Indians "of the East" who had been raiding the New England villages along the border with Acadia. On November 9, 1676 ( o.s.), they hired a vessel, the ''Endeavor'', commanded by Captain John Horton. They stopped at Machias and nine natives were taken captive. Then they sailed to

Cape Sable Island Cape Sable Island, locally referred to as Cape Island, is a small Canadian island at the southernmost point of the Nova Scotia peninsula. It is sometimes confused with Sable Island. Historically, the Argyle, Nova Scotia region was known as Cape S ...

where 17 Mi'kmaq were taken captive, including the local chief and his wife. They were taken to the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and sold as slaves to the Portuguese. A New England vessel in the

notified the authorities in

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 ...

of this possible illegal activity and ''Endeavor'' was seized and taken to Boston. Mellanson was released when his mother, Prescilla Mellanson, bailed him. After this, he skipped bail, and went into hiding. He changed his surname to Laverdure to avoid detection and lived in

Port Royal Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and ...

thereafter. Henry Lawton and William Waldron were kept in jail but were eventually acquitted.

The battle

The Mi'kmaw response came in July 1677, when about 80 natives attacked 26 New England fishermen who were in six fishing vessels at Port La Tour. The natives boarded one of the vessels, stripped the men of their clothing, tied them up and left them on deck until nightfall, when they commanded them to set sail towards the

Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's ...

in Maine, close to Castine. A few hours later, while in the harbor, the New England captain was able to overthrow the natives. Although some natives escaped, the New Englanders imprisoned the rest. They took the prisoners to

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends into the northern part of Massachusetts Bay. Attache ...

, where they were tortured and stoned to death by a group of women.

Afterward

As an immediate response, some merchants from Salem, to whom most of the vessels belonged, armed a large ketch, transforming it into a warship. It was manned by forty men who sailed for southern Nova Scotia. They scanned the coast, scrutinized every port, but to no avail. The Indians had gone into hiding.

Notes

References

* * Dickason, ''Guerre navale'', 237 * Rawlyk, ''Nova Scotia's Massachusetts'', p. 43 * {{cite web , first=Clarence-J. , last=d'Entremont , url=http://www.museeacadien.ca/english/archives/articles/16.htm , title=They cut off the finger that tipped the scale and some more , work=Yarmouth Vanguard , date=April 18, 1989 Military history of Nova Scotia 1677 in North America 1677 in military history

Historical context

The battle

Afterward

See also

Notes

References