1778 Revolution War Charles D. Boishebert Raffetot / Quebec To Castle Guiller. For Sale

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From October until November 3, 1746, Boishebert took part in the unsuccessful Siege ofAnnapolis Royal, Nova Scotia(N.S.), the British administrative and military headquarters in Acadia.[2]

After the firstSiege of Louisbourgin May–June 1745, a British force composed largely of New England irregulars proceeded to seize Île Saint-Jean (present dayPrince Edward Island) and its capitalPort-la-Joye, which had a French garrison consisting of about 15 soldiers and 100 Mi'kmaq.[3]The British force consisted of twoRoyal Navyships and 200 New England soldiers stationed at Port-La-Joie.Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Roch de Ramezaywas sent from Quebec to the region in 1746 to support theDuc d'Anville Expeditionin its effort to regain Acadia. Upon arriving atFort Beauséjouron theIsthmus of Chignecto, he sent Boishébert to Île Saint-Jean on a reconnaissance to assess the size of the British force.[4]After Boishébert returned, Ramezay sentJoseph-Michel Legardeur de Croisille et de Montessonalong with over 500 men, 200 of whom were Mi'kmaq, to Port-la-Joye.[5]The battletook place in July 1746 near Port-la-Joye on the bank of the Northeast River (present dayHillsborough River).[6]Montesson and his troops killed forty New Englanders and captured the rest. Montesson was commended for having distinguished himself in his first independent command.[7]

He also participated in the Siege of Annapolis Royal under Ramezay.[8]

Boishébert fought in theBattle of Grand Pre. In the winter of 1747, Ramezay who had marched from Quebec the previous year to support the d'Anville Expedition, ordered his subordinate Nicolas Antoine Coulon de Villiers with two hundred and fifty Canadians and fifty Mi'Kmaq to fight againstArthur Noblewho was stationed at Grand Pré. Boishébert was wounded in the battle fought there on 11 Feb. 1747. Following this French victory he returned to Quebec with the rest of the troops.[2]

DuringFather Le Loutre's War, he contested the arrival of senior British naval officerJohn Rouswhen he arrived at the mouth of the Saint John River to claim it for Britain. He builtFort Boishebertand then later, with the building ofFort Beausejour, Boishébert rebuiltFort Menagouecheat the mouth of the river, and, disguised as a fisherman, went up and down the coasts of Acadia in order to assess the Acadians’ loyalty to France.[2]

In 1754 he became the commandant ofFort Menagoueche, at the mouth of the Saint John, and there he resisted British efforts to establish themselves. The victory of the British in theBattle of Fort Beauséjouron 16 June 1755 by Monckton’s forces marked a turning-point in Boishébert’s career. For the remainder of the war, French Officer Boishébert led theMi'kmaqand theAcadiansin aguerrilla waragainst the British.[9]Immediately after the fort fell, the British commander dispatched a large detachment against the handful of militiamen atFort Menagoueche. As there was no hope of a successful outcome, Boishébert burned his fort before the enemy arrived and sought refuge among the local populace, continuing meanwhile to fight the enemy.[2]

Shortly after theBattle of Fort BeauséjourBoishébert learned that the British intended to attack the villages Hillsborough), andMemramcook; he immediately left for Chipoudy but arrived too late to prevent the village from being destroyed. On 3 Sept. 1755, however, he confronted a Britishdetachment at Petitcodiac. After three hours of desperate struggle, during which they suffered heavy losses (50 killed and 60 wounded),[10]the British fled. Boishébert, who had lost only one man, returned to the Saint John River with 30 of the most destitute families.[2]However, in all, 200 families were able to escape the deportation, and resettle style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.1875px; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">He ordered theRaid on Lunenburg (1756).

On January 20, 1756, Boishebert sent Francois Boucher de Niverville to Baie Verte to burn a British schooner. Niverville took the sailors by surprise, killed seven of them, took one prisoner, and burned the ship. At the same time, Boishebert himself led 120 men against Fort Cumberland.[11]

On 12 Oct. 1756 he undertook an expedition against Fort Monckton (formerlyFort Gaspareaux, near Port Elgin, N.B.), but the enemy evacuated the fort and set fire to it before he arrived.[12]

After Louisbourg fell on 26 July 1758, Boishébert withdrew, with the enemy in pursuit. He brought back a large number of Acadians from the region around Port-Toulouse (St. Peter's, Nova Scotia) to the security of his post on the Miramichi.

For the Acadians fleeing the deportation, Boishebert created refugee camps at Shediac, Miramichi, and on the Restitgouche River. He spent part of the winter of 1755–56 at (Shediac,New Brunswick) with the 600 Acadians stationed there. The following year, Boishebert left Shediac and went to Miramichi and established Le Camp d'Esperance (Cape Hope) atBeaubears Island. This camp was reported to have betten 1000 to 3500 Acadians.[13]By January 1757, the conditions at Campe d'Esperance were horrendous and riots began to break out over provisions.[14]In January 1757 he went toBeaubears Islandon the Miramichi River and there set up his headquarters and a refuge for the Acadians. With Father Charles Germain’s help he tried to sustain the Acadians’ resistance to the British.[2]

He then established a refugee camp on the Restitgouche River at Petit-Rochelle (present-dayPointe-à-la-Croix, Quebec).[15]After Wolfe had left the area, the 1760Battle of Restigoucheled to the capture of several hundred Acadians at Boishébert's refugee camp at Petit-Rochelle.[16]

Boishébert’s was constantly vigilant over these settlements. The settlers had already been deported from the region ofBeaubassin, despite Boishébert’s attempts to evacuate the most destitute families. His efforts were limited by a scarcity of supplies, which coincided from 1756 to 1758 with a period of extreme poverty for most Acadians.[2]

He also oversaw the exodus of Acadians from present-dayPrince Edward Islandin theIle Saint-Jean Campaign.

He also assisted Acadians in theSt. John River Campaign.

During theFrench and Indian War, on 13 August 1758 French officer Boishebert leftMiramichi, New Brunswickwith 400 soldiers for Fort St George (Thomaston, Maine). His detachment reached there on 9 September but was caught in an ambush and had to withdraw. This was Boishébert’s last Acadian expedition.[17]

They then went on to raidFriendship, Maine, where people were killed and others taken prisoner.[18]

With a corps of Acadian volunteers Boishébert took part in the defence of Quebec in the summer of 1759, and also in the decisive battle on the Plains of Abraham. In the winter he returned for the last time to Acadia, to gather reinforcements for the defence of Canada and to restore the morale of the discouraged Acadians.[2]

In 1763 Boishébert was involved in plans for settling Acadians at Cayenne (French Guiana) and vainly tried to obtain a military appointment there. In 1774 his request for an appointment as inspector of colonial troops was turned down. His Canadian seigneury of La Bouteillerie, also known as Rivière-Ouelle, was sold that year. Until his death, on 9 Jan. 1797, he lived in France at Raffetot, a property he had acquired through his marriage.[2]

Secondary Sources

• John Grenier.The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760.Oklahoma University Press.
• John Clarence Webster, "Memorial on Behalf of Sieur de Boishebert" (Saint John: Historical Studies No. 4, Publications of the New Brunswick Museum, 1942)

Endnotes

1. ^Biography On Line
2. ^John Clarence Webster's, "Memorial on Behalf of Sieur de Boishebert" (Saint John: Historical Studies No. 4, Publications of the New Brunswick Museum, 1942) at p. 11.
3. ^John Clarence Webster's, "Memorial on Behalf of Sieur de Boishebert" (Saint John: Historical Studies No. 4, Publications of the New Brunswick Museum, 1942) at p. 12.
4. ^John Gorham. The Far Reaches of Empire: War In Nova Scotia (1710-1760). University of Oklahoma Press. 2008. p. 177-206
5. ^abARSENAULT, Bona, Histoire des Acadiens, Bibliothèque nationale du Québec. 1978. Lemaéac p. 180
6. ^John Grenier, p. 186
7. ^John Grenier, p. 188; Phyllis E. LeblancDictionary of Canadian Biography Online
8. ^John Grenier, p. 185
9. ^John Grenier, p. 188
10. ^Faragher, p. 414; also see History: Commodore Byron's Conquest.The Canadian Press. July 19, id="cite_note-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^John Faragher, p. 415; In late 1761, Captain Roderick Mackenzie and his force capture over 330 Acadians at Boishebert's camp on the Resitgouche River (See John Grenier, p. 211).
11. ^Phyllis E. Leblanc Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online;Cyrus Eaton's history, p. 77
12. ^The history of the state of Maine: from its first discovery, A. D ..., Volume 2 By William Durkee Williamson, p. 333

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