Northeast Coast Campaign (1747)

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Northeast Coast Campaign (1747)
Part of King George's War
Brigadier General Samuel Waldo.jpg
Commander Samuel Waldo
DateApril – September 1747
Location
Result French and Wabanaki Confederacy victory
Belligerents
New England combo flag.svg New England Royal Standard of the King of France.svg  French colonists
  Wabanaki Confederacy
Commanders and leaders
Commander Samuel Waldo (Falmouth) [1]
Captain Jonathan Williamson
unknown
Strength
625 unknown
Casualties and losses
approximately 30 persons killed or captured unknown

The Northeast Coast Campaign (1747) was conducted by the Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia against the New England settlements along the coast of present-day Maine below the Kennebec River, the former border of Acadia. during King George's War from July until September 1747. [2] They attacked English settlements on the coast of present-day Maine between Berwick and St. Georges (Thomaston, Maine), within two months there were 11 raids - every town on the frontier had been attacked. [3] Casco (also known as Falmouth and Portland) was the principal settlement.

Contents

Background

After the two attacks on Annapolis Royal in 1744, Governor William Shirley put a bounty on the Passamaquoddy, Mi’kmaq and Maliseet on Oct 20. [4] The following year, during the Campaign, on August 23, 1745, Shirley declared war against the rest of the Wabanaki Confederacy – the Penobscot and Kennebec tribes. [3] In response to the New England expedition against Louisbourg which finished in June 1745, the Wabanaki retaliated by attacking the New England border. [5] New England braced itself for such an attack by appointing a provisional force of 450 to defend the frontier. After the attacks began they increased the number of soldiers by 175 men. [5] Massachusetts established forts along the border with Acadia: Fort George at Brunswick (1715), [6] St. George's Fort at Thomaston (1720), and Fort Richmond (1721) at Richmond. [7] Fort Frederick was established at Pemaquid (Bristol, Maine).

After the Northeast Coast Campaign (1745) and 1746), the 1747 followed.

The campaign

Wabanaki Confederacy began their first raid on April 13 at Scarborough, killing two and taking four prisoners. [8]

A militia of 50 natives raided Falmouth on April 21, killing cattle and attacking Mr. Frost’s family, taking captive his wife and six children. [8] Despite sending 26 men after then under Captain IIsley, they were unable to catch the native and their prisoners. [8]

Capt. Jordan’s company of 30 was posted from Falmouth to Topsham, leaving the town defenseless. The natives killed two women and a man. Crossing the Androscoggin in canoe, natives killed two men and wounded the third, one woman escaped. [9]

On 26 May, 100 natives attacked Fort Frederick at Pemaquid. [9] The killed five soldiers, five recruits and the other inhabitants were taken prisoner.

At Damariscotta, natives took one prisoner, killing his wife and child. [9]

At Wiscasset, the natives again seized Capt. Jonathan Williamson. [9]

At Fort Frederick in early September a company of 60 natives attacked. Killing five guards and then attacked for two hours and then withdrew. [10] [11] At Fort Georges, natives tried, unsuccessfully, to dig a tunnel into the fort. [11]

Aftermath

Natives took Frances Noble captive close to Fort Richmond in 1748. Frances Noble wrote her captivity narrative. [12] [13]

Natives also killed a number of British at Fort St. Georges in the fall of 1748. [14]

See also

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Dummers War

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Siege of Pemaquid (1696)

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Raid on Wells (1692)

The Raid on Wells occurred during King William's War when French and Wabanaki Confederacy forces from New France attacked the English settlement at Wells, Maine, a frontier town on the coast below Acadia. The principal attack (1692) was led by La Brognerie, who was killed. Commander of the garrison, Captain James Converse, successfully repelled the raid despite being greatly outnumbered.

Siege of Pemaquid (1689)

The Siege of Pemaquid was a successful attack by a large band of Abenaki Indians on the English fort at Pemaquid, Fort Charles, then the easternmost outpost of colonial Massachusetts. The French-Abenaki attack was led by Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin and Father Louis-Pierre Thury and Chief Moxus. The fall of Pemaquid was a significant setback to the English. It pushed the frontier back to Casco (Falmouth), Maine.

The Northeast Coast campaign was the first major campaign of Queen Anne's War in New England. Alexandre Leneuf de La Vallière de Beaubassin led 500 troops made up of French colonial forces and the Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia. They attacked English settlements on the coast of present-day Maine between Wells and Casco Bay, burning more than 15 leagues of New England country and killing or capturing more than 150 people. The English colonists were able to protect some of their settlements, but a number of others were destroyed and abandoned. Historian Samuel Drake reported that, "Maine had nearly received her death-blow" as a result of the campaign.

Northeast Coast Campaign (1745)

The Northeast Coast Campaign (1745) occurred during King George's War from 19 July until 5 September 1745. Three weeks after the British Siege of Louisbourg (1745), the Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia retaliated by attacking New England settlements along the coast of present-day Maine below the Kennebec River, the former border of Acadia. They attacked English settlements on the coast of present-day Maine between Berwick and St. Georges, within two months there were 11 raids - every town on the frontier had been attacked. Casco was the principal settlement.

The Northeast Coast Campaign (1723) occurred during Father Rale's War from April 19, 1723 – January 28, 1724. In response to the previous year, in which New England attacked the Wabanaki Confederacy at Norridgewock and Penobscot, the Wabanaki Confederacy retaliated by attacking the coast of present-day Maine that was below the Kennebec River, the border of Acadia. They attacked English settlements on the coast of present-day Maine between Berwick and Mount Desert Island. Casco was the principal settlement. The 1723 campaign was so successful along the Maine frontier that Dummer ordered its evacuation to the blockhouses in the spring of 1724.

Military history of the Miꞌkmaq Militias of Mikmaq

The military history of the Miꞌkmaq consisted primarily of Miꞌkmaw warriors (smáknisk) who participated in wars against the English independently as well as in coordination with the Acadian militia and French royal forces. The Miꞌkmaw militias remained an effective force for over 75 years before the Halifax Treaties were signed (1760–61). In the nineteenth century, the Miꞌkmaq "boasted" that, in their contest with the British, the Miꞌkmaq "killed more men than they lost". In 1753, Charles Morris stated that the Miꞌkmaq have the advantage of "no settlement or place of abode, but wandering from place to place in unknown and, therefore, inaccessible woods, is so great that it has hitherto rendered all attempts to surprise them ineffectual". Leadership on both sides of the conflict employed standard colonial warfare, which included scalping non-combatants. After some engagements against the British during the American Revolutionary War, the militias were dormant throughout the nineteenth century, while the Miꞌkmaw people used diplomatic efforts to have the local authorities honour the treaties. After confederation, Miꞌkmaw warriors eventually joined Canada's war efforts in World War I and World War II. The most well-known colonial leaders of these militias were Chief (Sakamaw) Jean-Baptiste Cope and Chief Étienne Bâtard.

Military history of the Maliseet people

The Maliseet militia were made up of warriors from the Maliseet people of northeastern North America. Along with the Wabanaki Confederacy, the French and Acadian militia, the Maliseet fought the British through six wars over a period of 75 years. They also mobilized against the British in the American Revolution. After confederation, Mi'kmaq warriors eventually joined Canada's war efforts in World War I and World War II.

The Battle of Falmouth was fought at Falmouth, Maine when the Canadiens and Wabanaki Confederacy attacked the English New Casco Fort. The battle was part of the Northeast Coast Campaign (1703) during Queen Anne's War.

Northeast Coast Campaign (1746)

The Northeast Coast Campaign (1746) was conducted by the Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia against the New England settlements along the coast of present-day Maine below the Kennebec River, the former border of Acadia. during King George's War from July until September 1746. They attacked English settlements on the coast of present-day Maine between Berwick and St. Georges, within two months there were 9 raids - every town on the frontier had been attacked. Casco was the principal settlement.

The Northeast Coast Campaign (1724) occurred during Father Rale's War from March 1724 – September 1724. The Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia attacked the coast of present-day Maine that was below the Kennebec River, the border of Acadia and New England. They attacked English settlements on the coast of present-day Maine between Berwick and Mount Desert Island. Casco was the principal settlement. The 1723 campaign was so successful along the Maine frontier that William Dummer ordered its evacuation to the blockhouses in the spring of 1724.

The Northeast Coast Campaign (1750) occurred during Father Le Loutre's War from 11 September to December 1750. The Norridgewock as well as the Abenaki from St. Francois and Trois-Rivières, Quebec raided British settlements along the Acadia/ New England border in present-day Maine.

Northeast Coast Campaign (1755)

The Northeast Coast Campaign (1755) occurred toward the end of Father Le Loutre's War and the beginning of the French and Indian War, in which the Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia raided the British communities along the former border of New England and Acadia in present-day Maine.

Northeast Coast Campaign (1756)

The Northeast Coast Campaign (1756) occurred during the French and Indian War, in which the Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia raided the British communities along the former border of New England and Acadia in present-day Maine.

The Northeast Coast Campaign (1676) happened during King Philips War and involved the Wabanaki Confederacy raiding colonial American settlements along the New England Colonies/Acadia border in present-day Maine. In the first month, they laid waste to 15 leagues of the coast east of Casco. They killed and captured colonists and burned many farms, blunting the tide of colonial American expansion. The Campaign of 1676 led the colonists to abandon the region, retreating to Salem, Massachusetts. The Campaign is most notable for Richard Waldron entering the war, the death of Chief Mogg and the attack on the Mi’kmaq that initiated their involvement in the war.

The First Abenaki 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-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin worked with the tribes that would make up the Wabanaki Confederacy. The natives engaged in annual campaigns against the English settlements in 1675, 1676 and 1677. Waldron sent forces so far north that he attacked the Mi'kmaq in Acadia.

References

  1. Folsom, p. 242
  2. Scott, Tod (2016). "Mi'kmaw Armed Resistance to British Expansion in Northern New England (1676–1761)". Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society . 19: 1–18.
  3. 1 2 Williamson (1832), p. 240.
  4. Williamson (1832), pp. 217-218.
  5. 1 2 Williamson (1832), p. 239.
  6. Fort George replaced Fort Andros which was built during King William's War (1688).
  7. Williamson (1832), pp. 88, 97.
  8. 1 2 3 Williamson (1832), p. 251.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Williamson (1832), p. 252.
  10. Brodhead, John Romeyn (1858). Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York. Vol. 10. Albany: Weed, Parsons and Co. p.  127.
  11. 1 2 Williamson (1832), p. 254.
  12. Samuel Gardner Drake (1841). Tragedies of the wilderness, or True and authentic narratives of captives who have been carried away by the Indians from the various frontier settlements of the United States, from the earliest to the present time... pp. 166–172.
  13. "Collections of the Maine Historical Society". Portland, The Society [etc.] January 29, 1831 via Internet Archive.
  14. Brodhead, John Romeyn (1858). Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York. Vol. 10. Albany: Weed, Parsons and Co. pp.  160, 163, 164, 172, 174.

Sources