Volume Ii Part 9 (1/2)
The French, one and all, had thrown themselves flat in the soft, light snow, and nothing was to be seen or heard. The English thought it a false alarm, and the house was quiet again. Then Coulon and his men rose and dashed forward. Again, in a loud and startled voice, the sentinel shouted, ”To arms!” A great light, as of a blazing fire, shone through the open doorway, and men were seen within in hurried movement. Coulon, who was in the front, said to Beaujeu, who was close at his side, that the house was not the one they were to attack. Beaujeu replied that it was no time to change, and Coulon dashed forward again. Beaujeu aimed at the sentinel and shot him dead. There was the flash and report of muskets from the house, and Coulon dropped in the snow, severely wounded. The young cadet, Lusignan, was. .h.i.t in the shoulder; but he still pushed on, when a second shot shattered his thigh. ”Friends,” cried the gallant youth, as he fell by the side of his commander, ”don't let two dead men discourage you.” The Canadians, powdered from head to foot with snow, burst into the house.
Within ten minutes, all resistance was overpowered. Of twenty-four Englishmen, twenty-one were killed, and three made prisoners. [Footnote: Beaujeu, _Journal_.]
Meanwhile, La Corne, with his party of forty men, had attacked the house where were quartered Colonel n.o.ble and his brother, with Captain Howe and several other officers. n.o.ble had lately transferred the main guard to the stone house, but had not yet removed thither himself, and the guard in the house which he occupied was small. The French burst the door with axes, and rushed in. Colonel n.o.ble, startled from sleep, sprang from his bed, receiving two musket-b.a.l.l.s in the body as he did so. He seems to have had pistols, for he returned the fire several times. His servant, who was in the house, testified that the French called to the Colonel through a window and promised him quarter if he would surrender; but that he refused, on which they fired again, and a bullet, striking his forehead, killed him instantly. His brother, Ensign n.o.ble, was also shot down, fighting in his s.h.i.+rt. Lieutenants Pickering and Lechmere lay in bed dangerously ill, and were killed there. Lieutenant Jones, after, as the narrator says, ”ridding himself of some of the enemy,” tried to break through the rest and escape, but was run through the heart with a bayonet. Captain Howe was severely wounded and made prisoner.
Coulon and Lusignan, disabled by their wounds, were carried back to the houses on the Gaspereau, where the French surgeon had remained. Coulon's party, now commanded by Beaujeu, having met and joined the smaller party under Lotbiniere, proceeded to the aid of others who might need their help; for while they heard a great noise of musketry from far and near, and could discern bodies of men in motion here and there, they could not see whether these were friends or foes, or discern which side fortune favored. They presently met the party of Marin, composed of twenty-five Indians, who had just been repulsed with loss from the house which they had attacked. By this time there was a gleam of daylight, and as they plodded wearily over the snow-drifts, they no longer groped in darkness. The two parties of Colombiere and Boishebert soon joined them, with the agreeable news that each had captured a house; and the united force now proceeded to make a successful attack on two buildings where the English had stored the frames of their blockhouses. Here the a.s.sailants captured ten prisoners. It was now broad day, but they could not see through the falling snow whether the enterprise, as a whole, had prospered or failed. Therefore Beaujeu sent Marin to find La Corne, who, in the absence of Coulon, held the chief command. Marin was gone two hours. At length he returned, and reported that the English in the houses which had not been attacked, together with such others as had not been killed or captured, had drawn together at the stone house in the middle of the village, that La Corne was blockading them there, and that he ordered Beaujeu and his party to join him at once.
When Beaujeu reached the place he found La Corne posted at the house where n.o.ble had been killed, and which was within easy musket-shot of the stone house occupied by the English, against whom a spattering fire was kept up by the French from the cover of neighboring buildings. Those in the stone house returned the fire; but no great harm was done on either side, till the English, now commanded by Captain Goldthwait, attempted to recapture the house where La Corne and his party were posted. Two companies made a sally; but they had among them only eighteen pairs of snow-shoes, the rest having been left on board the two vessels which had brought the stores of the detachment from Annapolis, and which now lay moored hard by, in the power of the enemy, at or near the mouth of the Gaspereau. Hence the sallying party floundered helpless among the drifts, plunging so deep in the dry snow that they could not use their guns and could scarcely move, while bullets showered upon them from La Corne's men in the house and others hovering about them on snow-shoes. The attempt was hopeless, and after some loss the two companies fell back. The firing continued, as before, till noon, or, according to Beaujeu, till three in the afternoon, when a French officer, carrying a flag of truce, came out of La Corne's house. The occasion of the overture was this.
Captain Howe, who, as before mentioned, had been badly wounded at the capture of this house, was still there, a prisoner, without surgical aid, the French surgeon being at the houses on the Gaspereau, in charge of Coulon and other wounded men. ”Though,” says Beaujeu, ”M. Howe was a firm man, he begged the Chevalier La Corne not to let him bleed to death for want of aid, but permit him to send for an English surgeon.” To this La Corne, after consulting with his officers, consented, and Marin went to the English with a white flag and a note from Howe explaining the situation.
The surgeon was sent, and Howe's wound was dressed, Marin remaining as a hostage. A suspension of arms took place till the surgeon's return; after which it was prolonged till nine o'clock of the next morning, at the instance, according to French accounts, of the English, and, according to English accounts, of the French. In either case, the truce was welcome to both sides. The English, who were in the stone house to the number of nearly three hundred and fifty, crowded to suffocation, had five small cannon, two of which were four-pounders, and three were swivels; but these were probably not in position, as it does not appear that any use was made of them. There was no ammunition except what the men had in their powder-horns and bullet-pouches, the main stock having been left, with other necessaries, on board the schooner and sloop now in the hands of the French. It was found, on examination, that they had ammunition for eight shots each, and provisions for one day. Water was only to be had by bringing it from a neighboring brook. As there were snow-shoes for only about one man in twenty, sorties were out of the question; and the house was commanded by high ground on three sides.
Though their number was still considerable, their position was growing desperate. Thus it happened that when the truce expired, Goldthwait, the English commander, with another officer, who seems to have been Captain Preble, came with a white flag to the house where La Corne was posted, and proposed terms of capitulation, Howe, who spoke French, acting as interpreter. La Corne made proposals on his side, and as neither party was anxious to continue the fray, they soon came to an understanding.
It was agreed that within forty-eight hours the English should march for Annapolis with the honors of war; that the prisoners taken by the French should remain in their hands; that the Indians, who had been the only plunderers, should keep the plunder they had taken; that the English sick and wounded should be left, till their recovery, at the neighboring settlement of Riviere-aux-Canards, protected by a French guard, and that the English engaged in the affair at Grand Pre should not bear arms during the next six months within the district about the head of the Bay of Fundy, including Chignecto, Grand Pre, and the neighboring settlements.
Captain Howe was released on parole, with the condition that he should send back in exchange one Lacroix, a French prisoner at Boston,--”which,” says La Corne, ”he faithfully did.”
Thus ended one of the most gallant exploits in French-Canadian annals. As respects the losses on each side, the French and English accounts are irreconcilable; nor are the statements of either party consistent with themselves. Mascarene reports to s.h.i.+rley that seventy English were killed, and above sixty captured; though he afterwards reduces these numbers, having, as he says, received farther information. On the French side he says that four officers and about forty men were killed, and that many wounded were carried off in carts during the fight. Beaujeu, on the other hand, sets the English loss at one hundred and thirty killed, fifteen wounded, and fifty captured; and the French loss at seven killed and fifteen wounded. As for the numbers engaged, the statements are scarcely less divergent. It seems clear, however, that when Coulon began his march from Baye Verte, his party consisted of about three hundred Canadians and Indians, without reckoning some Acadians who had joined him from Beauba.s.sin and Isle St. Jean. Others joined him on the way to Grand Pre, counting a hundred and fifty according to s.h.i.+rley,--which appears to be much too large an estimate. The English, by their own showing, numbered five hundred, or five hundred and twenty-five. Of eleven houses attacked, ten were surprised and carried, with the help of the darkness and storm and the skilful management of the a.s.sailants.
”No sooner was the capitulation signed,” says Beaujeu, ”than we became in appearance the best of friends.” La Corne directed military honors to be rendered to the remains of the brothers n.o.ble; and in all points the Canadians, both officers and men, treated the English with kindness and courtesy. ”The English commandant,” again says Beaujeu, ”invited us all to dine with him and his officers, so that we might have the pleasure of making acquaintance over a bowl of punch.” The repast being served after such a fas.h.i.+on as circ.u.mstances permitted, victors and vanquished sat down together; when, says Beaujeu, ”we received on the part of our hosts many compliments on our polite manners and our skill in making war.” And the compliments were well deserved.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 14th of February the English filed out of the stone house, and with arms shouldered, drums beating, and colors flying, marched between two ranks of the French, and took the road for Annapolis. The English sick and wounded were sent to the settlement of Riviere-aux-Canards, where, protected by a French guard and attended by an English surgeon, they were to remain till able to reach the British fort.
La Corne called a council of war, and in view of the scarcity of food and other reasons it was resolved to return to Beauba.s.sin. Many of the French had fallen ill. Some of the sick and wounded were left at Grand Pre, others at Cobequid, and the Acadians were required to supply means of carrying the rest. Coulon's party left Grand Pre on the 23d of February, and on the 8th of March reached Beauba.s.sin. [Footnote: The dates are of the new style, which the French had adopted, while the English still clung to the old style.] [Footnote: By far the best account of this French victory at Mines is that of Beaujeu, in his _Journal de la Campagne du Detachement de Canada a l'Acadie et aux Mines en 1746-47._ It is preserved in the Archives de la Marine et des Colonies, and is printed in the doc.u.mentary supplement of _Le Canada Francais_, Vol. II. It supplies the means of correcting many errors and much confusion in some recent accounts of the affair. The report of Chevalier de la Corne, also printed in _Le Canada Francais_, though much shorter, is necessary to a clear understanding of the matter. Letters of Lusignan fils to the minister Maurepas, 10 Oct.
1747, of Bishop Pontbriand (to Maurepas?), 10 July, 1747, and of Lusignan pere to Maurepas, 10 Oct. 1747, give some additional incidents. The princ.i.p.al doc.u.ment on the English side is the report of Captain Benjamin Goldthwait, who succeeded n.o.ble in command. A copy of the original, in the Public Record Office, is before me. The substance of it is correctly given in _The Boston Post Boy_ of 2 March, 1747, and in _N. E. Hist. Gen.
Reg._, X. 108. Various letters from Mascarene and s.h.i.+rley (Public Record Office) contain accounts derived from returned officers and soldiers. The _Notice of Colonel Arthur n.o.ble_, by William Goold (_Collections Maine Historical Soc., 1881_), may also be consulted.]
Ramesay did not fail to use the success at Grand Pre to influence the minds of the Acadians. He sent a circular letter to the inhabitants of the various districts, and especially to those of Mines, in which he told them that their country had been reconquered by the arms of the King of France, to whom he commanded them to be faithful subjects, holding no intercourse with the English under any pretence whatever, on pain of the severest punishment. ”If,” he concludes, ”we have withdrawn our soldiers from among you, it is for reasons known to us alone, and with a view to your advantage.” [Footnote: _Ramesay aux Deputes et Habitants des Mines, 31 Mars, 1747_. At the end is written ”A true copy, with the misspellings: signed W. s.h.i.+rley.”]
Unfortunately for the effect of this message, s.h.i.+rley had no sooner heard of the disaster at Grand Pre than he sent a body of Ma.s.sachusetts soldiers to reoccupy the place. [Footnote: _s.h.i.+rley to Newcastle, 24 Aug.
1747._] This they did in April. The Acadians thus found themselves, as usual, between two dangers; and unable to see which horn of the dilemma was the worse, they tried to avoid both by conciliating French and English alike, and a.s.suring each of their devoted attachment. They sent a pathetic letter to Ramesay, telling him that their hearts were always French, and begging him at the same time to remember that they were a poor, helpless people, burdened with large families, and in danger of expulsion and ruin if they offended their masters, the English. [Footnote: ”Ainsis Monsieur nous vous prions de regarder notre bon Coeur et en meme Temps notre Impuissance pauvre Peuple chargez la plus part de familles nombreuse point de Recours sil falois evacuer a quoy nous sommes menacez tous les jours qui nous tien dans une Crainte perpetuelle en nous voyant a la proximitet de nos maitre depuis un sy grand nombre dannes” (printed _literatim_).
_Deputes des Mines a Ramesay, 24 Mai, 1747._] They wrote at the same time to Mascarene at Annapolis, sending him, to explain the situation, a copy of Ramesay's threatening letter to them; [Footnote: This probably explains the bad spelling of the letter, the copy before me having been made from the Acadian transcript sent to Mascarene, and now in the Public Record Office.] begging him to consider that they could not without danger dispense with answering it; at the same time they protested their entire fidelity to King George. [Footnote: _Les Habitants a l'honorable gouverneur au for d'anapolisse royal_ [sic], _Mai_(?), 1747. On the 27th of June the inhabitants of Cobequid wrote again to Mascarene: ”Monsieur nous prenons la Liberte de vous recrire celle icy pour vous a.s.surer de nos tres humble Respect et d'un entiere Sou-mission a vos Ordres” (_literatim_).]
Ramesay, not satisfied with the results of his first letter, wrote again to the Acadians, ordering them, in the name of the Governor-General of New France, to take up arms against the English, and enclosing for their instruction an extract from a letter of the French Governor. ”These,” says Ramesay, ”are his words: 'We consider ourself as master of Beauba.s.sin and Mines, since we have driven off the English. Therefore there is no difficulty in forcing the Acadians to take arms for us; to which end we declare to them that they are discharged from the oath that they formerly took to the English, by which they are bound no longer, as has been decided by the authorities of Canada and Monseigneur our Bishop.'” [Footnote: ”Nous nous regardons aujourdhuy Maistre de Beauba.s.sin et des Mines puisque nous en avons Cha.s.se les Anglois; ainsi il ny a aucune difficulte de forcer les Accadiens a prendre les armes pour nous, et de les y Contraindre; leur declarons a cet effet qu'ils sont decharge [sic] du Serment prete, cy devant, a l'Anglois, auquel ils ne sont plus oblige [sic] comme il y a ete decide par nos puissances de Canada et de Monseigneur notre Evesque”
(_literatim_).]
”In view of the above,” continues Ramesay, ”we order all the inhabitants of Memeramcook to come to this place [Beauba.s.sin] as soon as they see the signal-fires lighted, or discover the approach of the enemy; and this on pain of death, confiscation of all their goods, burning of their houses, and the punishment due to rebels against the King.” [Footnote: _Ramesay aux Habitants de Chignecto, etc., 25 Mai, 1747._ A few months later, the deputies of Riviere-aux-Canards wrote to s.h.i.+rley, thanking him for kindness which they said was undeserved, promising to do their duty thenceforth, but begging him to excuse them from giving up persons who had acted ”contraire aux Interests de leur devoire,” representing the difficulty of their position, and protesting ”une Soumission parfaite et en touts Respects.” The letter is signed by four deputies, of whom one writes his name, and three sign with crosses.]
The position of the Acadians was deplorable. By the Treaty of Utrecht, France had transferred them to the British Crown; yet French officers denounced them as rebels and threatened them with death if they did not fight at their bidding against England; and English officers threatened them with expulsion from the country if they broke their oath of allegiance to King George. It was the duty of the British ministry to occupy the province with a force sufficient to protect the inhabitants against French terrorism, and leave no doubt that the King of England was master of Acadia in fact as well as in name. This alone could have averted the danger of Acadian revolt, and the harsh measures to which it afterwards gave rise.
The ministry sent no aid, but left to s.h.i.+rley and Ma.s.sachusetts the task of keeping the province for King George. s.h.i.+rley and Ma.s.sachusetts did what they could; but they could not do all that the emergency demanded.
s.h.i.+rley courageously spoke his mind to the ministry, on whose favor he was dependent. ”The fluctuating state of the inhabitants of Acadia,” he wrote to Newcastle, ”seems, my lord, naturally to arise from their finding a want of due protection from his Majesty's Government.” [Footnote: _s.h.i.+rley to Newcastle, 29 April, 1747._ On s.h.i.+rley's relations with the Acadians, see Appendix C.]
CHAPTER XXIII.
1740-1747.
WAR AND POLITICS.
GOVERNOR AND a.s.sEMBLY.--SARATOGA DESTROYED.--WILLIAM JOHNSON.--BORDER RAVAGES.--UPPER ASHUELOT.--FRENCH ”MILITARY MOVEMENTS.”--NUMBER FOUR.--NIVERVILLE'S ATTACK.--PHINEAS STEVENS.--THE FRENCH REPULSED.