Glimpses of the Past: History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784Raymond, W. O. (William Odber)
History
Glimpses of the Past: History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784
Raymond, W. O. (William Odber)
New Brunswick -- History; Saint John River Valley (Me. and N.B.)
In consequence of the charges preferred against him Portneuf was
superseded by Villieu, an officer of reputation whom Count Frontenac
sent to Acadia in October, 1693, to lead the savages against the
English. This new lieutenant spent the winter at the Nashwaak fort and
as soon as the ice was out of the river went in a canoe to Medoctec,
where he assembled the chiefs who promised to assist him. He then
proceeded to Penobscot resolved to put an end, if possible, to the
parleys that the savages had been holding with the English and to
incite them to renew the war. After a week's negotiation, in which he
was aided by the powerful influence of the missionaries Bigot and
Thury, he returned to Fort Nachouac with a delegation of the Indians
to receive the presents which the King of France had sent to them, and
at the same time to secure the assistance of some of Governor
Villebon's soldiers. The governor, however, piqued by the dismissal of
Portneuf, contented himself with entertaining the delegates. He
declined to furnish provisions or supplies, and kept his soldiers from
joining the expedition. Father Simon, the Recollet missionary on the
St. John, also displayed little sympathy with Villieu and kept many of
the Indians from joining him. However, with the help of the Penobscot
and Kennebec tribes a band of 250 warriors was at last collected and
Villieu placed himself at their head arrayed in the war paint and
feathers of an Indian chief. It was decided to strike a blow at the
settlement of Oyster River, twelve miles from Portsmouth, New
Hampshire. The English settlers, having been informed that peace had
been made with the Indians and that they could now work with safety on
their farms, were totally unprepared for an attack. Among their
unprotected houses the carnage was horrible. One hundred persons,
chiefly women and children, half naked from their beds, were
tomahawked, shot, or killed by slower and more cruel methods, twenty
seven were kept as prisoners.
After engaging in some minor depredations Villieu proceeded to
Montreal accompanied by several of the chiefs where they presented a
string of English scalps to Count Frontenac as a token of their
success and received his hearty congratulations. Villieu thus summed
up the results of the campaign: "Two small forts and fifty or sixty
houses captured and burnt, and one hundred and thirty English killed
or made prisoners." He had done his work all too well and had sown
such seeds of distrust between the English and the Indians as to
render it almost impossible to re-establish peace between them. The
enmity lasted for generations and almost every year witnessed some act
of hostility even though the crowns of France and England were
themselves at peace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account