The Bay of Fundy campaign occurred during the French and Indian War (the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War) when the British ordered the Expulsion of the Acadians from Acadia after the Battle of Fort Beauséjour (1755). The campaign started at Chignecto and then quickly moved to Grand-Pré, Rivière-aux-Canards, Pisiguit, Cobequid, and finally Annapolis Royal. Approximately 7,000 Acadians were deported to the New England colonies.
Historical context
The British conquest of Acadia took place in 1710. Over the next 45 years the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this time period Acadians participated in various militia operations against the British, such as the raids on Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The Acadians also maintained vital supply lines to the French Fortress of Louisbourg and Fort Beauséjour. During the French and Indian War (the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War), the British sought both to neutralize any military threat the Acadians posed, and to interrupt the vital supply lines they provided to Louisbourg, by deporting them from Acadia. Prior to the expulsion, the British retrieved the Acadians' weapons and boats in the Bay of Fundy region and arrested their deputies and priests.
Campaign
Chignecto
After the fall of Fort Beauséjour (1755), the first wave of the expulsion of the Acadians began in the region of Chignecto. Under the direction of Colonel Robert Monckton, on August 10, Lieutenant-Colonel John Winslow seized four hundred unsuspecting men who were at Fort Cumberland (formerly Fort Beauséjour). He also imprisoned 86 Acadians within Fort Lawrence. The number of prisoners was one third of the men of the region; many of the others fled the region. The prisoners were kept in the fort until transports arrived to deport them. The wives and children joined them upon departure.
Almost a month after the expulsion began, on September 2, Boishébert organized the Mi'kmaq and Acadian resistance in the region, and soundly defeated the British forces in the Battle of Petitcodiac. Almost one month later, on October 1, the Acadian prisoners at Fort Lawrence escaped. Joseph Broussard (Beausoleil) was one of the escapees.
On October 13, a convoy of eight transports, carrying on board approximately 1782 prisoners, left Chignecto Basin escorted by three British men–of–war. The Acadians of Chignecto were considered the most rebellious. As a result, they were sent the furthest from Acadia, to South Carolina and Georgia. Upon leaving, Monckton began burning the Acadian villages to prevent the Acadians' return.
On November 15, 1755, British officer John Thomas burned the village of Tentatmar (Sackville, New Brunswick), destroying in the process the church and ninety-seven other buildings.
Cobequid
On August 15, under orders from Monckton, Captain Thomas Lewis, Abijah Willard and 250 troops began to destroy two villages in Cobequid: Tatamagouche and Remsheg (present-day Wallace, Nova Scotia). The British chose to destroy these villages first in the expulsion because they were the gateway Acadians used to provide cattle and produce to Louisbourg. Toward this end, Willard assembled the men of Tatamagouche in an Acadian home. He ensured that all the guns in the village were confiscated, and then notified the Acadian men that they were being taken prisoner. Willard immediately began to destroy the shipments of Acadian cattle and produce that were on vessels to be sent to Louisbourg. On August 16, Lewis burned twelve homes and the chapel. Willard continued to burn four houses and several barns in the early morning of August 17.
Captain Lewis went with 40 men to Remsheg where he captured three families and burned several buildings. Lewis returned to Fort Cumberland on August 26 with the Acadian male prisoners. The fate of the women and children of the region is unknown.
On September 11, Captain Lewis was sent from Fort Cumberland to destroy the rest of the Cobequid, a region which included present-day Truro, Nova Scotia and stretched around to Petite Rivière (Walton, Nova Scotia) on the south shore of the Cobequid Bay, and Five Islands, Nova Scotia on the north shore. Lewis discovered that the rest of Cobequid was vacant. Most of those in the region, such as Noël Doiron, had already vacated their farms over the previous five years and made their way to Ile Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). From September 23–29th, Lewis laid waste to the countryside with fire.