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The Siege of Grand Pre happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and was fought between the British and a militia made up of Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, and Acadians. The siege happened at Fort Vieux Logis, Grand Pre (present-day Hortonville, Nova Scotia). The native and Acadian militia laid siege to Fort Vieux Logis for a week in November 1749.
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Despite the British Conquest of Acadia in 1710, Nova Scotia remained primarily occupied by Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq. To prevent the establishment of Protestant settlements in the region, Mi'kmaq raided the early British settlements of present-day Shelburne (1715) and Canso (1720). A generation later, Father Le Loutre's War began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports on June 21, 1749.[1] By unilaterally establishing Halifax the British were violating earlier treaties with the Mi'kmaq (1726), which were signed after Father Rale's War.[2]
Within 18 months of establishing Halifax, the British also took firm control of peninsula Nova Scotia by building fortifications in all the major Acadian communities: present-day Windsor (Fort Edward); Grand Pre (Fort Vieux Logis) and Chignecto (Fort Lawrence). (A British fort already existed at the other major Acadian centre of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Cobequid remained without a fort.) There were numerous Mi'kmaq and Acadian raids on these fortifications such as the Siege of Grand Pre.
Just prior to the Siege, on September 30, 1749, about forty Mi'kmaq attacked six men who were cutting trees at a saw mill in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Four of them were killed on the spot, one was taken prisoner and one escaped.[3] Two of the men were scalped and the heads of the others were cut off. A detachment of rangers was sent after the raiding party and cut off the heads of two Mi'kmaq and scalped one.[4]
As a result of the raid in Dartmouth, on October 2, 1749, Cornwallis offered a bounty on the head of every Mi'kmaq. He set the amount at the same rate that the Mi'kmaq received from the French for British scalps. As well, to carry out this task, two companies of rangers were raised, one led by Captain Francis Bartelo and the other by Captain William Clapham. These two companies served along side that of John Gorham's company. The three companies scoured the land around looking for Mi'kmaq.[5] 'After the destruction of Mirligueche (later known as Lunenburg, Nova Scotia), the Siege of Grand Pre was the first recorded conflict after Cornwallis’ bounty proclamation.
On November 27, 1749, 300 Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Penobscot and Acadians attacked Fort Vieux Logis at Grand Pre.[6] The fort was under the command of Captain Handfield. The Native and Acadian militia killed the sentrys (guards) who were firing on them.[7] The Natives then captured Lieutenant John Hamilton and eighteen soldiers under his command, while surveying the fort's environs. After the capture of the British soldiers, the native and Acadian militias made several attempts over the next week to lay siege to the fort before breaking off the engagement. When Gorham’s Rangers arrived the militia had already departed with the prisoners to Chignecto.[8]
On March 18, 1750, Gorham’s Rangers left Fort Sackville (at present day Bedford, Nova Scotia), under orders from Governor Cornwallis to march to Piziquid (Windsor). Their mission was to establish a blockhouse at Piziquid (i.e., Fort Edward), and to seize the property of Acadians who had participated in the Siege of Grand Pre.[9] (En route, Gorham engaged the Mi’kmaq in the Battle at St. Croix).
The Mi’kmaq and Acadians continued raids on the Protestant settlements, such as the Raid on Dartmouth (1751) and the Raid on Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (1756).
The prisoners spent two years in captivity before being ransomed. In August 1751, Lt. John Hamilton had negogiated for himself and the other 60 Englishmen who had been imprisoned over the two years.[10]