Glimpses of the Past Part 11

Meanwhile the Abbe Le Loutre was employing his energies to get the Acadians to leave their lands in the Nova Scotian peninsula and repair to the St. John river and other places north of the isthmus. To such a proceeding Cornwallis objected and Le Loutre then wrote to the French authorities an earnest letter in behalf of the Acadians, in which he says, "Justice pleads for them and as France is the resource of the unfortunate, I hope, Monseigneur, that you will try to take under your protection this forsaken people and obtain for them through his majesty liberty to depart from Acadia and the means to settle upon French soil and to transport their effects to the River St. John or some other territory that the authorities of Canada may take possession of."

The French still cherished the project of establis.h.i.+ng a fortified post at the mouth of the St. John and, as they had opportunity, sent thither munitions of war and garrison supplies. In the summer of the year 1750, the British wars.h.i.+p "Hound," Capt. Dove, was ordered to proceed to St. John in quest of a brigantine laden with provisions and stores from Quebec, and said to have on board 100 French soldiers. Before the arrival of the "Hound," however, Capt. Cobb in the provincial sloop "York" got to St. John, where he found the brigantine anch.o.r.ed near the sh.o.r.e at the head of the harbor. She fired an alarm gun on sight of the "York." The English captain brought his vessel to anchor under the lee of Partridge Island and sent a detachment of men in a whale boat to reconnoitre. They were fired upon by the French and Indians, and the French commander, Boishebert, insisted that Cobb should quit the harbor, as it belonged to the French king, and threatened to send his Indians to destroy him and his crew. Nothing daunted, Cobb proceeded up the harbor in his sloop until he discovered "a small fortification by a little hill," where the French were a.s.sembled and had their colors hoisted.

Boishebert's forces included fifty-six soldiers and 200 Indians. He summoned to his aid the inhabitants living on the river and they responded to the number of fifty or sixty. The governor of Canada had lately commissioned Joseph Bellefontaine, an old resident, to be "major of all the militia of the River St. John,"[25] and it is to the presumed he was active on this occasion. Cobb allowed himself to be enticed on sh.o.r.e under a flag of truce, and was made a prisoner and compelled to send an order to his vessel not to molest the French brigantine. His mate, however, pluckily declined to receive the order, and announced his determination to hold the French officers who had come with the message until Cobb should be released. This Boishebert was obliged to do and the commander of the "York," by way of retaliation, took six prisoners from the French brigantine and brought them to Halifax.

[25] The date of Joseph Bellefontaine's commission was April 10, 1749.

Capt. Dove did not reach St. John with the "Hound" until after the "York" had left. He did not enter the harbor but sent his lieutenant in a whale boat to investigate the state of affairs. The lieutenant's experience was similar to that of Cobb. He was induced by Boishebert to come on sh.o.r.e, was made a prisoner and only released on promising that the six prisoners carried off by Cobb should be set at liberty.

In the autumn of the year 1750 Captain Rous, while cruising in the "Albany," fell in with a French man-of-war and a schooner off Cape Sable. The schooner had been sent from Quebec with provisions and warlike stores for the Indians on the River St. John. Rous fired several guns to bring the enemy to, but in response the s.h.i.+p cleared for action and when the "Albany" ran up alongside of her, poured in a broadside. A spirited engagement ensued, which resulted in the capture of the French s.h.i.+p, but the schooner got safely into St. John. One mids.h.i.+pman and two sailors were killed on board the "Albany," and five men on board the Frenchman.

Governor Cornwallis reported this as the second instance in which the governor of Canada had sent a vessel into a British port with arms, etc., for the Indian enemy. The governor of Canada, the Marquis de la Jonquiere, however, viewed the matter from a different standpoint and demanded of Cornwallis an explanation in regard to the vessel captured. He again a.s.serted the right of the French king to the lands occupied by his troops, and by his orders four Boston schooners were seized at Louisbourg as a reprisal for the brigantine taken by the "Albany."

The correspondence between the Governor of Quebec and the French colonial minister supplies some interesting details of the sea-fight in the Bay of Fundy in the autumn of 1750. It seems that Boishebert and the missionary Germain had sent an urgent request to the Quebec authorities for provisions for the women and children of the Indian families, during the absence of the men in their winter hunting, and for supplies needed by the French garrison on the St. John.

Accordingly Bigot, the intendant, fitted out the St. Francis, a brigantine of 130 to 140 tons, to escort a schooner laden with the required articles to the mouth of the St. John river. The St. Francis carried 10 guns and had a crew or 70 men, including 32 soldiers, under command of the sieur de Vergor.

On the 16th of October, as the brigantine and schooner were entering the Bay of Fundy, Captain Vergor noticed, at 11 in the morning, an English frigate, which put on all sail and came after him. A quarter of an hour afterwards the frigate fired a cannon shot and displayed her flag. Vergor immediately hoisted his own flag and responded with a cannon shot, continuing on his way. The English frigate continued the chase and a half hour later fired a second shot followed by a third, which went through the little top-mast of the St. Francis. Vergor then made preparations for the combat, the frigate continuing to approach and firing four cannon shots at his sails. When within speaking distance Vergor called through his trumpet that he was in command of a s.h.i.+p of the King of France carrying provisions and munitions to the troops of his majesty. The English captain in reply ordered him to lay to or he would sink him. Vergor repeated his announcement in English, but, for answer the frigate discharged a volley of all her guns damaging the s.h.i.+p and killing two of his men. He in turn now fell upon the frigate, discharging all his guns and musketry. The fight lasted nearly five hours, at the expiration of which the St. Francis was so crippled by the loss of her mainmast and injuries to her sails and rigging that Vergor was obliged to surrender. His long boat having been rendered unserviceable, the English captain sent his own to convey him on board. Vergor found the frigate to be the Albany, of 14 guns and 28 swivel guns and a crew of 120 men, commanded by Captain Rous. The Albany did not pursue the schooner, which proceeded to St.

John, but sailed for Halifax with her prize, where she arrived three days later.

Vergor was sent on sh.o.r.e and confined to a room in the house of Governor Cornwallis. The governor treated him courteously, heard his version of the affair and called a council meeting the next day to inquire into the circ.u.mstances of the case.

Vergor's official report conveys the idea that Cornwallis was rather doubtful as to whether Rous had acted in a legitimate manner. The council held five or six meetings without coming to any decision.

Meanwhile, with the governor's approval, Vergor had a new main-mast cut and drawn from the woods by the crew of the St. Francis and arrangements were made to repair the damaged sails and shrouds.

However the matter was soon afterwards taken out of Cornwallis' hands by Captain Rous, who brought the case before the Admiralty Court, where the St. Francis was confiscated for engaging in illicit commerce in the province of his Britannic Majesty.

The French authorities took up the matter and sent a spirited remonstrance to the British amba.s.sador, claiming that the transaction was opposed to every kind of law and demanding the restoration of the captured vessel with exemplary punishment of Captain Rous and the admiralty officers at Halifax, as well as orders on the part of his Britannic Majesty to all officers in his s.h.i.+ps and colonies to observe the peace and to undertake nothing contrary thereto. A demand was also made that the English should in no way hinder the migration of the Acadians from the peninsula of Nova Scotia to the mainland or elsewhere. It is needless to say that the British government did not comply with these demands and here was one of the many grievances that led to a renewal of the war a little later.

The Sieur de Vergor and the crew of the St. Francis were sent to Louisbourg, and the brigantine retained at Halifax as a prize on the ground that she was engaged in furnis.h.i.+ng warlike munitions to the Indian enemy and interfering with British rights on the River St.

John.

Cornwallis evidently felt the difficulties of his position very keenly. Halifax was yet in its infancy and in a comparatively defenceless state; Louisbourg and Quebec were supporting the French on the St. John and he had neither the men nor the money to oppose their proceedings. It seems, too, that he had been called to account for the large expenditure he had made in Nova Scotia. In his letters to the Lords of Trade he expresses himself as distracted between his desire to lessen expenses and his fears of losing the province. He was doubtful if, with the forces at his disposal, he could prevent the French from fortifying St. John and Beausejour, and he observes, with some irritation, that it has been said, "What has he to contend with?

Three or four hundred Indians: it is a time of peace and no other enemy to fear." So far from this being an adequate representation of the situation, he claimed the facts were that the French had taken possession of all Nova Scotia north of the Bay of Fundy, and had obliged many of the Acadians of the peninsula to remove thither and swear allegiance to the king of France; that the governor of Canada, through his emissary le Loutre, had offered a premium for every prisoner, head, or scalp of an Englishman; that the French had sent a s.h.i.+p of thirty-six guns and 300 men to the Bay of Fundy and had not only incited the Indians to hostilities but had behaved as if there were open war.

The French at Quebec, in view of the difficulty of keeping in touch with their posts on the north side of the Bay of Fundy, endeavored to improve the route of communication via the River St. John. During the previous war they had made a road from Riviere du Loup to Lake Temisquata, but the woods were growing up again and deep holes began to render it impracticable. Bigot, the intendant, therefore spent 600 or 700 livres in improving it, and in consequence couriers were able to come to Quebec in ten or twelve days from Shediac, and in eight from the River St. John. For the convenience of travelers three magazines of supplies were established, one at Riviere du Loup, one at Temisquata and one at the head of Madawaska river. The Marquis de la Jonquiere antic.i.p.ated great advantages from the overland route of communication. He says in a letter to France, dated May 1, 1751: "We have made a road and are going to make some flat-bottomed conveyances so that in winter we will be able to transport by hauling over the snow the things most needed for the River St. John, and in summer we shall be able to make the transport by means of carts and flat-bottomed batteaux. These arrangements will be very useful supposing that the English continue to stop the vessels we send there."

"As the English have boasted that they are going to establish themselves at the River St. John," continues the Marquis, "I have given orders to the Sieur de Boishebert, who commands there, to repair the old fort named Menacoche (Menagoueche) at the mouth of the river and to make there a barrack for the officers and 100 men in garrison with necessary magazines. The whole will be built of logs and I have very expressly recommended Boishebert, to have it done without expense to the King, or at least very little, and to that end he is to employ the soldiers and militia."

This fort stood in Carleton opposite Navy Island on the point at the foot of King street, still called "Old Fort." The Marquis la Jonquiere says the terraces of the fort were about twenty-five feet high outside and twelve inside and the defences were such as would enable the garrison to withstand a lively attack.

It was intended to place four cannons of 8 L. to cannonade any s.h.i.+ps that might attack it. The chief difficulty of the situation was the scarcity of water. The fort was quite indispensable for if the French were to abandon the lower part of the St. John river the English would immediately take possession. The savages were instructed to annoy the English on all occasions and to plunder any of their s.h.i.+ps that landed on their sh.o.r.es. The Marquis even went so far as to suggest that some of the Acadians, dressed and painted like the savages, should join in the attacks upon the English in order that the savages might act with greater courage. He says he cannot avoid consenting to what the savages do in keeping the English busy and frustrating their advance since the French were restrained from open hostilities by the peace.

"I beg you to be a.s.sured, Monseigneur," the Marquis continues, "that I will manage everything so as not to compromise myself and that I will not give up an inch of land that belongs to the king. It is time the limits should be settled and that we should know positively what we are to hold, so as to put an end to all hostilities and to avoid the immense expense that is occasioned."

La Jonquiere, in the month of February, sent on the ice a detachment of fifty Canadians to strengthen the garrison at the mouth of the River St. John, and as the services of Boishebert were required elsewhere, the Sieur de Gaspe,[26] lieutenant of infantry, was sent to replace him and remained two years and a half in command.

[26] Ignace Philippe Aubert, Sieur de Gaspe, was born at St. Antoine de Tilly near Quebec in 1714. He was an ensign in Acadia under de Ramezay in 1745 and was with Colombier de Villiers in the attack on Minas the following winter. He died at St. Jean, Port Joly, in 1787. He was grandfather of the author of the "Anciens Canadiens."

The situation of the Acadians on the St. John at this time was a very unenviable one. Fort Boishebert, at the Nerepis, was a frail defence, and they were beginning to be straitened for supplies on account of the vigilance of the English cruisers. Father Germain wrote to the commandant at Annapolis Royal for leave to buy provisions there for the French living on the river, but the governor and council objected on the ground that French troops occupied the place and the Indians there were hostile. We gather some interesting information from a letter written at this time to the French minister by the Sieur de Gaspe, who was in command of the fort at the mouth of the Nerepis.[27]

[27] I am indebted to Placide P. Gaudet for a copy of the original letter of which a translation is given on next page. It is one of the many interesting doc.u.ments that have never yet been published.--W. O. R.

Fort de Nerepice, 16th June, 1751.

Monseigneur: On my arrival at this post on the River St. John, to which I am sent by my general, the Marquis de la Jonquiere, to relieve M. de Boishebert, the commandant of the place, I found at anchor the frigate "Fidele," commanded by M. Maccarti, who was landing the provisions and other supplies sent for this post. The coming of this s.h.i.+p, Monseigneur, convinces me that you wish to hold possession of this post.

I have only just arrived here. I learn that the English threaten to come and build a fort at the mouth of the river near that which the Marquis de la Jonquiere has caused to be begun and has ordered me to continue. I will do my best to carry out his orders so far as circ.u.mstances permit, and the governor will furnish you with an account of his intentions.

In order to fix ourselves here we must keep up communication by way of La Baie Francaise [the Bay of Fundy] so as to furnish provisions; for the place cannot be supplied by land, especially if we must afford subsistence to those families of Acadians who are obliged to seek refuge on the river, as has been stated to me.

I will receive them, Monseigneur, in order to settle the country, which at present has only twenty-eight French inhabitants,[28] who can give no a.s.sistance in providing for the support of others, not having as yet enough cultivated land for themselves.

M. Maccarti, commander of the frigate, has taken note of the harbor [at St. John] on the other side of the fort, and of the other advantages, or disadvantages, we must encounter in this place, where I will endeavor to maintain the rights that we have and to oppose the Englishman if he attempts to build here.

I am with very profound respect, Monseigneur,

Your humble and very obedient servant,

GASPE.

[28] This refers, I imagine, to the Acadians on the lower St. John and does not include the colony at Ste. Annes.--W. O. R.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WOODMAN'S POINT. (The Star shows the site of Fort Boishebert.)]

Resolute attempts continued to be made to withdraw the Acadians from the peninsula of Nova Scotia, both by threats and persuasions, and the Marquis de la Jonquiere issued a proclamation to those living within the bounds of what is now New Brunswick, declaring that all who did not within eight days take the oath of allegiance in the militia companies would be considered as rebels and driven from their lands.

The companies of militia were ordered to drill on Sundays and Feast days and to hold themselves in readiness to defend themselves at any moment. A few months later the governor of Canada was able to report that all the Acadian inhabitants who were upon the lands of the king had taken the oath of fidelity. Twelve blank commissions were sent from Quebec to be issued to those most capable of fulfilling the duties of officers in the militia.

At Fort Menagoueche the work did not progress as fast as antic.i.p.ated.

The workmen had no tools except axes, and the Sieur de Gaspe complained that he had not been able to make the soldiers of the garrison work. He says "they are very bad subjects" and he dared not compel them to work apprehending their desertion. The fort was surrounded by four bastions and, in addition to the barracks and magazines, it was proposed to construct a building of logs, squared with the axe, to accommodate the chaplain and surgeon and to serve as a guard house.

Fort Boishebert, at Woodman's Point on the Nerepis, was a difficult post to maintain owing to the insufficiency of the troops at de Gaspe's disposal. He complains that the savages had broken in the door of the cellar and he thought it advisable to abandon it altogether.

The Marquis de la Jonquiere ordered him to consult with Father Germain on the subject and meanwhile to double the guard. The missionary wrote he was of the same opinion as the Sieur de Gaspe, and permission was accordingly given to abandon the fort and to transport the supplies wherever they might be needed.

The Jesuit missionary at Pen.o.bscot, Father Gounon, proposed to spend the winter at "Nerep.i.s.se" with his Indians, but the governor of Canada did not at all approve of it, fearing that if the savages were to abandon their village the English would advance from the westward towards the River St. John. He apprehended that if only a small number of Indians remained at Pen.o.bscot, and these without a missionary, the enemy would win them to their side and, as a direful result, the English would presently establish themselves at Matsipigouattons, advancing to Peskadamokkanti (or Pa.s.samaquoddy) and so by degrees to the River St. John.

CHAPTER XI.

THE FRENCH ANXIOUS TO HOLD POSSESSION OF THE RIVER ST. JOHN.

The situation on the St. John had now become a matter of international interest in view of the boundary dispute. The deliberations of the French and English commissioners began in 1750 and lasted four years.

In preparing the French case the Marquis de la Galissonniere summoned to his aid the Abbes de L'Isle-Dieu and Le Loutre, who were both well informed as to the situation of Acadia and also filled with intense zeal for the national cause. We learn from letters of the Abbe de L'Isle-Dieu, written at Paris to the French minister early in the year 1753, that the two missionaries, in consultation with the Count de la Galissonniere, prepared several doc.u.ments to elucidate the French case. Copies of these very interesting papers are now in the Canadian Archives at Ottawa, and have been published at Quebec in 1890 by the Abbe Casgrain in "Le Canada Francais." The three most important of these doc.u.ments are ent.i.tled:

1. Memorandum on the necessity of determining the limits of Acadia.

2. Plan for the settlement of the country in order to hasten the determining of the aforesaid limits.

3. Representation of the present state of the missions, French as well as Indians, in the southern part of New France in Canada.

In the first of these doc.u.ments the following references are made to the River St. John: