"We are now hatching the noble and great
project of banishing the French Neutrals from this province;
they have ever been our secret enemies and have encouraged the
Indians to cut our throats. If we can accomplish this expulsion,
it will have been one of the greatest deeds the English in
America have achieved; for, among other considerations, the part
of the country which they occupy is one of the best soils in the
world, and, in the event, we might place some good farmers on
their homesteads."
In fact, Governor
Charles Lawrence had been planning the Acadian deportation for
some time. He broached the idea in London at least by 1754.
Early in 1755, he asked the provincial surveyor to prepare a
report on how to go about it. Governor William Shirley of
Massachusetts promised enough ships to carry away the 7,000
Acadians still in Nova Scotia.
On July 31, 1755,
Lawrence sent instructions to Colonel Robert Moncton, commanding
officer in the Beausejour region:
"The...Acadians of
the District of Annapolis Royal, Mines and Pisiquid
have...refused to take the oath of allegiance...and it
is...determined that they shall be removed out of the country as
soon as possible....For this purpose, orders are given for a
sufficient number of transports to be sent up (Chignecto
Bay)...for taking them on board, by whone (sic) you will receive
particular instructions as to the manner of their being disposed
of, the place of their deportation, and every other thing
necessary for that purpose.
"In the meantime,"
Lawrence's instructions continued, "it will be necessary to keep
this measure as secret as possible to prevent their attempting
to escape and to carry off their cattle. In order to effect
this, you will endeavor to fall upon some strategy to get the
men, both young and old - especially the heads of families -
into your power, and detain them till the transports should
arrive, so as they may be ready to be shipped off, for, when
this is done, it is not much to be feared that the women and
children will attempt to go away and carry off the cattle.
"As their whole
stock of cattle and corn forfeited to the crown by their
rebellion must be secured and applied toward a reimbursement of
the expense the Government will have incurred in transporting
them out of the country, care must be taken that nobody make any
bargain for purchasing them under any color or pretext
whatsoever, if they do the sale will be void, for the
inhabitants have now no property in their name, nor will they be
allowed to carry away the least thing save their ready money and
household furniture."
Similar orders were
sent to Winslow, to Captain John Handfield, the commander of
Annapolis Royal, and to Alexander Murray at Pisiquid. Lawrence
also sent notice of his intentions to the Board of Trade in
London. The board immediately responded that England and France
had just concluded delicate negotiations, and that Britain had
promised France that there was no intention to force the
Acadians from Nova Scotia.
Sir Thomas
Robinson, member of the Board of Trade, wrote to Lawrence, "It
cannot be too much recommended to you to use the greatest
Caution and Prudence in your conduct towards these Neutrals, and
to assure such of them, as may be trusted, especially upon their
taking the Oaths to his Majesty...that they may remain in the
quiet Possession of Their Settlements under proper regulations."
Unfortunately, the
deportation was over by the time this letter reached North
America.
On August 9, 1755,
The Acadians of the Chignecto Isthmus were ordered to meet at
Fort Cumberland to hear "the reading of orders of His Excellency
the Governor." They were suspicious of the order and refused to
go. The meeting was postponed until the next day, when some 400
Acadians went to the fort after being assured that the gathering
was only about "arrangements of the Governor of Halifax for the
conservation of their farms."
Every Acadian who
attended the meeting was taken prisoner.
Detachments of
soldiers then went through the countryside to arrest the rest of
the population. Most of the Acadians hid in the woods, and could
not be found, and nearly two-thirds of the Acadians who lived in
the region escaped immediate deportation. However, those who had
been arrested at the fort were separated from their families and
sent into exile.
"One hundred and
forty women threw themselves hopeless and blindly onto the
English ships to rejoin their husbands," wrote parish priest
Father LeGuerne.
Winslow, who
was in charge of the Grand Pré
region, called the Acadians on September 5. His proclamation
ordered all men and boys over the age of 10 to gather in the
church to hear "His Majesty's intentions." Those who didn't show
up would forfeit their land and cattle.
The 418 men who
gathered at the church were apprehensive. The British now held
the upper hand, and the Acadians knew it. When all of the men
were inside the church, the doors were closed and locked. The
men were placed under arrest and told that their lands and goods
were no longer theirs. They and their families were going to be
put onto ships and sent elsewhere.
Winslow read the
command to them: "Your lands and tenements, cattle of all
(kinds) and livestock of all sorts are forfeited to the Crown
with all your other effects saving your money and household
goods and you yourselves (will) be removed from this...Province.
That it is preremotorily (sic) his Majesty's orders that the
whole French inhabitants of these districts be removed, and I am
through his Majesty's goodness directed to allow you liberty to
carry of your money and household goods as many as you can
without discomemoading (sic) the vessels you go in. I shall do
everything in my power that all these goods be secured to you
and that you are not molested in carrying of them...and also
that whole families shall go in the same vessel, and make this
remove which I am sensible must give you a great deal of trouble
as easy as His Majesty's service will admit and hope that in
which every part of the world you may fall you may be faithful
subjects, a peasable (sic) and happy people."
"They were greatly
stuck," Winslow wrote in his journal, "although I believe they
did not imagine that they were actually to be removed. Thus
ended the memorable 5th of September, a day of great fatigue and
trouble."
The transport
ships arrived at Grand Pré
on September 10.
Winslow wrote: "The
inhabitants, sadly and with great sorrow, abandoned their homes.
The women, in great distress, carried their newborn or their
youngest children in their arms. Others pulled carts with their
household effects and crippled parents. It was a scene of
confusion, despair, and desolation."
It took a month to
load the first ships. Men were put aboard first, then women and
children. Winslow issued sailing orders on October 13, and the
ships departed within a few days, bound for Delaware and the
Chesapeake Bay.
Unlike Colonel
Moncton, Colonel Winslow did make an attempt to keep families
together but he didn't have enough ships. Women were loaded onto
ships other than the ones that carried their husbands and
children. Entire families, believing that they were separating
for only a few days, would be so widely dispersed that they
would never meet again.