Acadiensis/Volume 1/Number 2/Jacau de Fiedmond

"I do not doubt that you are little interested in the misfortune of Beausejour, of which the English rendered themselves masters four days after the opening of the trenches. The garrison left the place the next day after the surrender, in order to embark on the ships which carried us to Louisbourg, where the governor furnished us with other conveyances to carry us to Quebec, whither we arrived the 18th of August.

"I enclose herewith a journal of the attack and defence of that post, which gives the essential details of all that happened, with a relation of a fight which took place on the 9th of July last at a distance of three leagues from fort Duquesne on the Beautiful River,^[1] in which action we met with most happy success.

"I presume to assure you, Monsieur, that during the time I was engaged at Beausejour I neglected nothing to make known how bad our position was; and it is easily seen from all my ​reports on the condition of the place that I foresaw the misfortune which came to us. My conduct always proved that the only thing I had at heart was to endeavor to contribute to the safety of that post against jealous and ambitious neighbours, and to fulfill to the utmost my duty in the different functions in which I was employed. If the works on the fortifications which I was charged to carry out (and which I would never of my own option have desired through fear of not acquitting myself well enough), were not executed with the solidity and diligence necessary, that was not due to my lack of pains, care, and remonstrances; I was not supplied with the means to execute them as I should have wished to have them. It was a misfortune for me that their success did not respond to my zeal a subject all the more annoying because in losing the fruits of my labors in that country, I lost the opportunity to serve at the Beautiful River, where we have had all sorts of advantages, and the officers who served there should flatter themselves in securing, earlier than others, the thanks of the King.

"If I have forgotten some circumstances in this Journal, they can be of little importance; I answer for the fidelity of all that I have written; and none of the defenders of Beausejour can say to the contrary, unless they consent to misrepresentation, as I am told has been already done in the grossest manner."

"For a long time our neighbors meditated taking Beausejour and the other posts dependent on it, pretending that we were established in the center of their province of Nova Scotia.

"When their necessary preparations for the execution of their enterprise were made, they caused a warning to be published to the Acadians of Mines, of Port Royal, and the surrounding districts, forbidding them to leave their canton, and cutting them off from all communication with Fort Beausejour; they also warned those who had taken refuge within our boundaries, that when they would come to chase us from the territory which, they pretended, belonged to them, if they found them joined with us in arms to oppose their design, they would treat them as traitorous subjects of England.

"Notwithstanding all the announcements and other warnings which we received, we were not troubled, knowing that an under​standing and union appeared to reign between the two Crowns, And having received an order in preceding years to hold ourselves quiet on both sides until it should be determined by way of negotiation what were the boundaries acceptable to the court, we dwelt in a security as perfect as if we were in the middle of Paris.

"At five o'clock on the morning of the second of June, 1755, we were disabused of our error. A habitant from Mosquito Cape, on French Bay, distant about two hours from Point Beausejour, came and notified M. Vergor da Chambon, commandant, that an English fleet of about forty vessels loaded with people had entered the cove which the cape there forms, to await the return of the tide, and enter the basin of Beausejour.

"M. the commandant doubting no longer the design of the English, despatched couriers to Quebec, the St. John River, Louisbourg, and Isle St. Jean, to solicit help; and to the rivers dependent on that post and the surrounding country, to hare the inhabitants come to the fort; with orders to take up arms and fire on the English the moment they should attempt to invade the king's territories or to attack the fort.

"At five in the afternoon the enemy's fleet appeared and their troops debarked at six o'clock."

"A census of the inhabitants, being taken—who did not amount to 220 men in place of the 600 on whom we counted—they were distributed over the different works with officers to keep them in check.

"M. de Boucherville,^[2] with eight inhabitants, was sent to bring in those who were in their houses. He returned to the fort with only two men and reported to the commandant that the inhabitants whom he had sought were not willing to come; that they had hidden their arms and thrown away their ammunition, saying that they would not run the risk of being hanged as the English had threatened if they took up arms against them; and, with the exception of some good fellows who remained on the works, all the rest disappeared like smoke. That evening a detachment of 16 inhabitants, without arms, arrived from Isle Saint Jean, led by M. Pomeroy,^[3] whom M. de Villejoint, who commanded there, had sent.

​"M. the abbe LeLoutre, missionary among the Acadians and Indians, encouraged them the best he could. He urged the inhabitants to work, and the Indians to annoy the enemy arid to try to take prisoners.

"A habitant named Beausoleil^[4], who passed for the most intrepid and energetic of the Acadians, promised the missionary that he would do his utmost to take some prisoners.

"Early in the morning of the 8th, Beausoleil returned to the fort to notify us that he had taken an English officer who was then being brought in, Beausoleil's men having had to make a long detour through the woods in order to avoid the enemy. A short while after, a small body of our men could be seen approaching with the prisoner by way of the marsh. He was received with much respect and politeness, and on giving his parole was left free.^[5] He even received permission from our commandant to write to his own commander; M. Vergor also wrote the latter assuring him that he would provide every comfort for this officer.

"At daybreak of the 13th the English were seen at work on their first parallel at a distance of 450 toises from our palisades. They began to throw seven and eight inch shell from six to seven o'clock in the morning. At ten o'clock twenty Abenaqui Indians arrived; they sang their war songs and promised to make prisoners.

"On the 14th I made representations to the commandant that the new shells which the enemy were throwing in on us were likely to pierce the bomb-proof, in which the English officer and some other persons whom we did not wish to expose, were put; that it was necessary to remove this officer from the place lest any accident should happen to him. This the commandant was willing to do; but the officer himself asked as a favor to remain in the place, saying that he would be less exposed there than in the trench. He was left there; moreover, everybody considered the bomb-proof capable of resisting the full shock of the shells.

"At ten in the evening the commandant received a letter from the governor at Louisbourg, in answer to the one which he had sent soliciting help. The governor informed him that he could not send him help. The habitants had been flattered with the promise of this succor, and believed we could not do without it. To increase our misfortune, these evil tidings leaked out almost ​immediately among them; the larger part of them then decided to abandon us, and eighty were seen to disappear.

"On the 15th a soldier deserted, at which we should not fee surprised as he had just been let out of prison, where he had been a long time confined for rape and other evil deeds. The Acadians no longer occupied themselves except to seek shelter from the shells by creeping into the casemates; although only one of their number was killed this day. That caused a tumult among them. The principal and most respected among them came and spoke for all and represented that, since there was no longer hope of help, it was impossible to resist such forces, and that they were unwilling to sacrifice themselves uselessly. They went further, too, it is claimed, and said something which gave reason to call a council of war. At this council it was decided to publish an ordinance forbidding them to make the like proposals again, or to leave the fort, under penalty of being shot, and of having, besides, their property confiscated.

"During the night of the 15–16 several volleys of musketry were heard. We did not doubt that it was the Abenaqui Indians and Acadians who were attacking an advanced post of the enemy.

"The shelling continued on the part of the enemy on the 16th; and some of their shells pierced exactly the subterranean refuge of the English officer. He was killed, together with an officer of the garrison and two other persons.^[6] This stroke increased the disorder of the place. The inhabitants came in a crowd to the commandant and demanded that he should capitulate, saying that if we were of a contrary resolution to that which they had taken they would no longer respect the garrison, whose threats they did not fear; that they would turn their arms against the troops, and deliver the fort to the English. I was on the battery and was not a witness of this riot.

"The commandant called a meeting of the officers, in order that they might take their proper share in the deliberations as to the state in which he found himself. He then asked me if the powder magazine was secure against the heavy shells. I answered yes; that the heaviest shell the enemy could send could not pierce it, if by chance it fell on it, but, that, if the damages it might do were not repaired, I would not be responsible should another fall on the same spot.

"There is reason to believe that the whole assembly having seen that the bomb-proof which it was claimed was strong ​enough to withstand the shells, had been pierced, thought that the powder-magazine was still weaker, and that, if I was opposed in opinion to themselves, it was through obstinacy, and that I really was of their opinion."

"1.—The commandant, staff-officers, and others employed by the King, and the garrison of Beausejour, will march out with their arms and baggage, and with drums beating.

"2.—The garrison will be sent directly to Louisbourg at the expense of the King of Great Britain.

"3.— The garrison shall be supplied with provisions sufficient to reach Louisbourg.

"4.—As to the Acadians, as they have been forced to take up arms under penalty of death, they will be pardoned for the part which they have just taken.^[7]

"5.—Lastly, the garrison will not bear arms in America for the term of six months. "

"The English took possession of the fort at half-past seven in the evening. Their men passed the night under arms and did not touch the merchandize and effects of the King, which were scattered everywhere, all the buildings being destroyed. But when they saw our own people pillaging, the English officers could no longer restrain their men. They placed, nevertheless, a portion of the goods in safety. Our men embarked next day on the transports for Louisbourg.

"The English commander wrote to the commandant of Gaepareauf,^[8] at Bay Verte, to offer him and his garrison of twenty men the conditions granted to the commandant of Beausejour,—which, by lack of reflection, were accepted.

"We had two of our best cannon burst, one of which was burst from the muzzle to within about six inches of the trunnions, and the other, from the muzzle about half-way to the touch-hole. These pieces were very often discharged uselessly, although I was ​careful to economize ammunition; but the soldiers received orders to fire. Moreover, the cannons were badly eaten with rust, which corrodes the chamber and makes it scale and thus diminishes the strength of the metal. We have not been able to find out the English losses. We know only that one of their engineers had a leg cut off by a cannon ball while laying out their lines, and that two of their mortars were disabled by our cannon.

"Here then, is about all that happened in the attack on that unfortunate post. Courage alone does not suffice in defensive actions; they demand intelligence, toils, solicitude, and fatigues incessant, arid greater address and intrepidity than does offensive war; and it is always an extreme misfortune to be obliged to give in to the enemy after one has done all that he can to defeat him. All that can console the man who loves his profession, is that he gains experience thereby, which will enable him to do better on another occasion. This is my present hope."

"The event justified our observations. They fore-stalled us and in consequence drove us out of Acadie. The seven shells which fell into Fort Beausejour obliged Sieur Vergor to capitulate. He marched out with the honors of war, and on condition not to serve for six months. Sieur Villeray followed the example of his superior officer, he gave up Fort Gaspareau on the same terms, without even waiting to have the honor done him of being attacked. If, as a military man should have done, the Sieur Vergor had reasoned that his fort was unable to hold out until succor should come, he would have burned it and retreated a course which was easy for him to pursue as the enemy had not blockaded him. He merely held out for three days, during which time he lost two officers and four men. Will eyes never be opened to such officers? Shall private interests always prevail over public interests? That fort, bad as it was, should have held out some time. The attacking troops were in part regulars from their fort of Beausejour [sic for Beaubassin], the remainder being militia; the entire force amounting to two thousand men. They crossed the Messagoueche near Pont-a-But; they did not fire a single cannon or gun-shot against the fort the King's goods were not put to pillage; in surrendering the fort no inventory was taken. Pichon, they say, remained in Acadie to make one for the English. I salute him, if that can bring him anything. There is no word ​of him, Our troops of Acadia were brought by French Bay to Louisbourg.

"Last winter one hundred and thirty thousand livres' worth of wood was burned. Is there not in this sufficient provocation to make the blood of every honest citizen boil, who hears tell of such destruction—not to call it knavery?"