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Siege of Fort Anne (1744) Work in Progress

Siege of Fort Anne
Part of King George's War
Date 8 September-3 October, 1744 Location Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia Result Indecisive: French Withdrawl
Belligerents
Kingdom of France	Britain
Commanders and leaders
Captain François du Pont Duvivier	Jean Paul Mascarene
Strength
280 50 Regulars 70 Maliseet 160 Mi'kmaq and Acadians	250 53 reinforcements arriving September 26th
Casualties and losses
Negligible

The siege of Fort Anne was an attempt by France to capture the British Nova Scotian capital of Annapolis Royal. A failure, the siege marked the end of French attempts to regain land lost in the Treaty of Utrecht and the turning point of King George's War to Britain's favor.

Background

After the capture of Canso in May of 1744 the French were poised to take Annapolis Royal, the last remaining British stronghold in Nova Scotia. Throughout the 1730s French officials in Louisbourg devised a number of plans to retake Nova Scotia which had been ceded to Great Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht in the likely event of another war with Britain and with Canso destroyed such an attack seemed imminent. On 12 July a force of about 300 Mi'kmaq warriors led by the French missionary Jean-Louis Le Loutre laid siege to Annapolis Royal. Having been led to believe by Duquesnel governor of Louisbourg that naval support would be forthcoming Le Loutre led his native forces besieged the fort. However the two warships Caribou(52) and Ardent(64) the governor had anticipated did not arrive in Louisbourg as soon as had been expected leaving Duquesnel short of sail to support Le Loutre and his Mi'kmaqs. On 16 July the Mi'kmaq's sighted sails which they believed to be the French relief force, however when they realized the reinforcements were British the Mi'kmaq quickly broke siege and retreated to Minas. The incident did much to damage the faith the Mi'kmaq held in the military prowess of the French and failed to impress the Acadians, leading to small amount of support these people gave the French in the siege of September. However, the government of Louisbourg concentrated its efforts on protecting the valuable fisheries in the Grand Banks and its supply lines with Canada and France, making the capture of Annapolis Royal a second priority for its sail and soldiery.

Preparations

The citizens of Annapolis spent the early months of the summer in a state of apprehension, their long idle garrison drilled and made preparations for war while the citizens of the town retreated into Fort Anne or left for Boston in expectation that siege would soon be laid. Of the Fort itself the governor of the province remarked that, "being built of earth of a sandy nature is apt to tumble down in heavy rains or in thaws after frosty weather," and it consumed much of the effort of the garrison and local labor to strengthen the Fort to a defensible state through the early summer.

On July 29th the French put into effect the first part of their plan to sieze Annapolis Royal when François du Pont Duvivier set out from Louisbourg with five vessels and 30 soldiers for Isle Saint-Jean with weapons, supplies, and money to be used to raise and Acadian and First Nation's army. The plan which had been settled on by Dusquesnel was a combination of several of the plans devised in the previous decade. Duvivier was to follow a course which would take him to Isle Saint-Jean where he would be joined an additional officers and regulars. From here he proceeded to the Chignecto Isthmus where he was to attempt to rally the Acadians to the cause of evicting the British from Nova Scotia. This Acadian army in combination with any Maliseet and Mi'kmaq auxiliaries was to march overland to lay siege to Annapolis Royal. Here they were to rendezvous with the Ardent and Caribou sent with cannon and additional troops from Louisbourg. The Acadian born Duvivier, who had led the Raid on Canso was considered ideal for leading the overland expedition, however his warm reception in the Acadian communities of Chignecto did not materialize into the martial support he desired. Despite stirring orations flaring up anti-British sentiment and the promise of monetary remuneration as few as a dozen Acadians signed the lists when the time came to join. Meanwhile the Mi'kmaq, disillusioned with the prospects of wresting the British from Nova Scotia after the events of earlier that summer supplied Duvivier with what he found to be less then satisfactory support. With his meager army Duvivier marched on Annapolis, still optamistic about his prospects for taking the fort when the promised aid from Louisbourg Arrived.

The Siege

On September 5th Duvivier recieved word from Louisbourg that he could expect French sail to enter the Annapolis basin sometime around the 8th of September. Duvivier in full anticipation of this support arriving imminently manuouevered his forces into position around Fort Anne and made his presence known to the besieged. Duvivier skillfully arrayed his men in a manner which made it seem as though his strength was far greater then it was in actuality. On September 9th, under the cover of darkness, Duvivier launched the first of several attacks aimed at harassing the garrison. The naval reinforcements still not having arrived, Duvivier sent a letter to Mascarene in an attempt to bluff the British in surrender. The letter greatly overstated the size of the French army and the reinforcements it expected, a charade which Duvivier had successfully kept up, depicting French victory as a forgone conclusion and a negotiated capitulation the only sensible course of action. Mascarene refused to sign any such surrender, however his officer corp received the notion much better and demanded that a surrender be signed. The discord between the commandant and his commanders lasted for several days, until the continued lack of French reinforcements heartened the garrison and hostilities resumed. On September 26th the French were given a temporary moral boost when ships were sighted making for Annapolis Royal, however their elation turned to disparagement when the reinforcements were learned to have been sent from Boston for the relief of Fort Anne. Duvivier, demoralized, continued the siege for another week, hoping that he could starve the garrison out, however on October 3rd orders arrived from Louisbourg, explaining that reinforcements would not be arriving and that he was to break siege and withdraw the Louisbourg.

Aftermath

The siege of Fort Anne marked the end of French expansionary efforts in King George's war. Having retained their principle stronghold in Nova Scotia the British were uninhibited in launching a large sea born invasion against Louisbourg in May of the following year.