www.ns.legion.ca 19 The fortified city walls guarded by five stockaded forts to protect against Mi'kmaq, Acadian, and French attacks was the centre of a network of forts Cornwallis built to protect settlements including Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1749), Dartmouth (1750), Lunenburg (1753) and Lawrencetown (1754). During Father Le Loutre's War, the soldiers guarding Halifax were in a constant state of alert. The Mi'kmaq and Acadians raided the capital region (Halifax and Dartmouth) 12 times. The worst of these raids was the Dartmouth Massacre (1751). Four of these raids were against Halifax. The first raid was in July 1750: in the woods on peninsular Halifax, the Mi'kmaq scalped Cornwallis' gardener, his son, and four others. They buried the son, left the gardener's body exposed, and carried off the other four bodies. In 1751, there were two attacks on blockhouses surrounding Halifax. Mi'kmaq attacked the North Blockhouse (located at the north end of Joseph Howe Drive) and killed the men on guard. They also attacked near the South Blockhouse (located at the south end of Joseph Howe Drive), at a saw-mill on a stream flowing out of Chocolate Lake into the Northwest Arm. They killed two men. In 1753, when Lawrence became governor, the Mi'kmaq attacked again upon the sawmills near the South Blockhouse on the Northwest Arm, where they killed three British. The Mi'kmaq made three attempts to retrieve the bodies for their scalps. Prominent Halifax business person Michael Francklin was captured by a Mi'kmaw raiding party in 1754 and held captive for three months. The Seven Years War The stockaded forts were also instrumental to the British during the French and Indian War (the North American theatre of the Seven Years War). The Fort was used to help faciltate the Expulsion of the Acadians, many Acadians being imprisoned on Georges Island in Halifax Harbour. During the war, the Mi'kmaq and Acadians resisted the British throughout the province. On 2 April 1756, Mi'kmaq received payment from the Governor of Quebec for 12 British scalps taken at Halifax. Acadian Pierre Gautier, son of Joseph-Nicolas Gautier, led Mi’kmaq warriors from Louisbourg on three raids against Halifax in 1757. In each raid, Gautier took prisoners or scalps or both. The last raid happened in September and Gautier went with four Mi’kmaq and killed and scalped two British men at the foot of Citadel Hill. In July 1759, Mi'kmaq and Acadians killed five British in Dartmouth, opposite McNabb's Island. There were also numerous raids against the British in the province such as the Raid on Lunenburg (1756). Citadel Hill (Fort George) Citadel Hill, The British Squadron going off to Louisbourg Expedition (1757) Citadel Hill during Father Le Loutre's War (1750)
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