Jeanne Dugas of Acadia

by Cassie Deveaux Cohoon

  “Well, don’t worry,” Charles said. “The only problem we’ve had is fighting over who will have you stay with them. And the harvest has been very good this year. It will be our joy to share it with you. Let me see your girls, Joseph.”

  “Here they are,” said Joseph. “Marguerite and Anne Angélique – named for our sister.” Joseph handed his one-year-old to Charles.

  “Yes. Bonjour, little Anne Angélique. You know, Joseph, I think she will look just like our Angélique.” Charles had four children himself, the last just a baby. The other three were crowded around to see the new arrivals.

  The following day, Charles took the de la Tour family and Joseph to the Saint-Charles-des-Mines cemetery to visit Angélique’s gravesite. Jeanne stood beside Maman, holding her hand. When Maman’s prayers were interrupted by tears, Jeanne continued for her. At the end she added Maman’s plea that God bless Marie Madeleine, Marguerite and Anne, and little baby Étienne. Maman squeezed Jeanne’s hand in thanks.

  Charles, who had talked to them of Angélique’s last days, told Maman again how sorry he was that he had not been able to prevent her death.

  “Charles, my son, I know you did all you could. We have to accept that these things are in the hands of le bon Dieu,” said Maman. “As perhaps we now have to accept that we are in His hands in our present situation.”

  No one argued with her.

  —

  Maman, Monsieur de la Tour, Louise, Marie and the twins stayed with Charles and his family. Joseph, his family, Jeanne and young Abraham were lodged with Uncle Abraham.

  Jeanne withdrew into herself at first, having to adjust not only to being away from home, but also to living with her brother Joseph and his family rather than with Maman. It’s not that she objected to the arrangement – she was fond of both Joseph and his wife – but it was a kind of second separation for Jeanne. She redoubled her careful scrutiny of those around her and of her surroundings. When she realized that Monsieur de la Tour and Charles would be coming to Uncle Abraham’s farm for the usual around-the-table discussions on their plight, she was grateful that she would be there. Their first serious discussion had taken place following the family’s visit to Angélique’s gravesite.

  Uncle Abraham had in the past been one of the delegates chosen to represent the Acadians of the Grand-Pré area to the British authorities and he held very firm views on the politics of the day. He had heard of Louisbourg’s successful raid against the British fort at Canceau in early summer and of the French privateers’ success in capturing British ships.

  Now Joseph confirmed for him that the tide had turned and that the British, helped by forces from their colonies, had inflicted losses on Louisbourg and seriously disrupted their supply routes and the activities of their privateers. “There is grave concern at the garrison that the British may be able to blockade the port next summer,” Joseph added, “unless the French government sends us some warships early in the spring.”

  “What can you tell me about this man, Duvivier?” Uncle Abraham asked. “I understand he’s in charge of organizing a raid on Annapolis Royal, but I’m afraid he’s going to do us harm here in Acadia.”

  It was Monsieur de la Tour who replied.

  “I’m not proud of it, but he’s one of my cousins. François du Pont Duvivier is also a great-grandson of Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour, on his mother’s side. He joined the regular colonial troops when he was very young, and in his mid-twenties he was appointed an adjutant at Louisbourg, at about the same time as his uncle Louis du Pont Duchambon became Louisbourg’s commander. So Duvivier has the protection of the garrison. And he has thrown himself into business, doing a lot of trading in Île Royale and Acadia, as well as in France and the West Indies. He has a finger in a lot of pies. And he has the protection of the two commercial officials at Louisbourg. He’s made himself a fortune.” Monsieur de la Tour turned to Joseph.

  “You know something about this, Joseph. When Le Normant set up a monopoly to supply fresh meat to Louisbourg, it was generally believed that while you got the contract, it was controlled by Duvivier.”

  “You know very well this was never proven,” replied Joseph. “And I don’t care to discuss it now.” Everyone fell silent. Jeanne was in a corner of the room, trying to remain unnoticed and take everything in. Joseph broke the silence.

  “You must give Duvivier his due. He led the attack on Canceau and he brought more than one hundred prisoners back to Louisbourg.”

  Uncle Abraham snorted. “Yes, and who was the young colonial lieutenant in charge of the fort who was taken as one of the prisoners?” He stared at Monsieur de la Tour.

  Monsieur de la Tour shifted a little in his chair and sighed. “Another one of my cousins, John Bradstreet – Jean-Baptiste.”

  “When he came to Louisbourg as a prisoner this summer, he was given preferential treatment,” Monsieur de la Tour continued. “I stayed away from him, but I did see him wandering around Louisbourg. I confess it made me feel uneasy.”

  Uncle Abraham snorted again. “I don’t know,” he said, “whether we should ask God to protect us from the British, or from our cousins.” There was nervous laughter around the table.

  “To get back to Duvivier,” said Monsieur de la Tour. “I’ve heard that he is organizing a raid against Annapolis Royal. It’s meant to be a follow-up to the raid on Canceau, and the start of a movement to regain Acadia. Duvivier expects to receive some ships and men from France. I understand he has recruited some Mi’kmaq and some Malecite from the rivière Saint-Jean area, and he hopes to recruit some Acadians here.

  “I must admit,” Monsieur de la Tour continued, “that I’m not convinced of Duvivier’s abilities. Canceau was his first military venture and it was a very easy victory. That fort was small and totally unprepared for an attack. How he will manage at Annapolis, I don’t know.”

  Uncle Abraham interjected. “And then this fool Joseph Leblanc dit Le Maigre, all three hundred pounds of him, was going around as an advance party before Duvivier’s tour, trying to encourage people to join the raiding party. I understand he did not have much success. I’m sorry, Joseph, I realize the man is your father-in-law.”

  “That’s all right, Uncle. But my father-in-law is a very patriotic Acadian. Duvivier is his nephew. They only want to help the Acadian cause.”

  “Heaven help us – another relation! No, Joseph, they’re not going to help the Acadian cause. They’re going to help the French cause. And in doing that they’re going to hurt the Acadian cause.”

  “What do you mean, Uncle?”

  “They are not helping the Acadian cause,” his uncle shouted. “I’ll give you an example. Do you remember Alexandre Bourg dit Belle-Humeur? He was a notary here in Grand-Pré and a well-respected man. He was one of the Acadian delegates reporting to the British at Annapolis Royal. Well, he lost his post this year when the British accused him of collaborating with the French through his contacts with Le Maigre and his nephew Duvivier. I doubt very much that he did collaborate, but it makes no difference.

  “There’s something that the French, and you apparently, do not understand. We Acadians in Nova Scotia have become our own people. We have worked hard to create a place for ourselves here and we have found a way to live peaceably with the British authorities. We have not only survived, we have prospered.

  “You know that very well, Joseph, you have carried Acadian goods to Louisbourg and Île Saint-Jean. And we are still on good terms with the Mi’kmaq.”

  “Yes, Uncle, but what about the Mi’kmaq?”

  Uncle Abraham hesitated, then said, “Perhaps the most important thing we French did was to befriend the Mi’kmaq, or rather to let them befriend us. Our forefathers would have perished here without their help, and we have lived with them in peace. We farmed the lowlands; the Mi’kmaq continued to fish and to hunt in the forests. The British, I am sure, will want to take over the land
completely as soon as they can bring their own people to settle here. I don’t trust them.”

  “Ah, Uncle, you and Monsieur de la Tour are the older generation,” Joseph said. “You don’t have the mettle to do battle, do you?”

  “We are the voice of experience,” Uncle Abraham replied firmly. Joseph put his arm around his uncle’s shoulder, to show he did not resent his views, but it was clear that Joseph did not agree with him.

  “Do you know how the Duvivier campaign is going?” Monsieur de la Tour asked Uncle Abraham.

  “No. It’s supposed to be still going on now. One thing we do know is that the reinforcements Duvivier was expecting from France have not yet arrived and it does not look as if they will. I don’t know what it means for us if the raid is successful. Either way, there will be more fighting and hardship.”

  Within a few days, there were reports that Duvivier’s raid on Annapolis had indeed failed.

  During the winter the British authorities interrogated the Acadian delegates in Grand-Pré about their actions during the expedition. The delegates insisted that the inhabitants of Grand-Pré had not given Duvivier any assistance except under duress. When asked about cattle conveyed to Louisbourg, the delegates replied that two droves of black cattle and sheep from Minas had been herded by Joseph Leblanc dit Le Maigre and Joseph Dugas. There were no immediate repercussions, but the people of Grand-Pré knew that this would not help their relations with the British authorities.

  —

  There was nothing for the families to do but to settle into the farm life of Grand-Pré for the winter months. After that first serious discussion, when Uncle Abraham made his views so clear, the men of the family met at least every other day. Joseph was not always there. He continued his cabotage activities as late into the fall as he could. And he brought back news, several times from Louisbourg itself. He managed to sail there at least twice before the sailing season ended. Sometimes he had news from other sea captains, sometimes from the Mi’kmaq. Joseph knew the three Mi’kmaw scouts, Jean Sauvage, Denis Michaud and François Muize, hired by the French to advise on the movements of British ships and their military. He kept in close contact with them.

  It was Joseph’s wife, Marguerite, who told Jeanne that Joseph had also been gathering military information for the French. She worried about her husband’s safety.

  “At least,” she said, “I thank God that he did not get it into his head to become a privateer. I worry about my father too,” she added, “but I know he’s not going to change.”

  Not for the first time, Jeanne wondered how such a big, rough, rowdy man like Le Maigre could have such a gentle daughter as Marguerite.

  Chapter 11

  The officials at Louisbourg knew they would be facing war in the spring and summer of 1745, but they expected the attack to be led by British warships that would sail from England in the spring. They hoped that French warships would have arrived by then as well, but an early siege came from the New England colonies, led by William Pepperrell from the Colony of Massachusetts. The ships from New England first landed at Canceau, where they rebuilt the colonial fort’s defences as they waited for the drift ice around Louisbourg to melt, where a group of small colonial warships was already blockading the fortress. In early May the siege began.

  Louisbourg’s fortifications were in a state of disrepair, and the garrison troops were insufficient in number and no doubt low in spirits. They fought nevertheless, unaware that the New Englanders had also moved artillery on land to attack from the rear.

  A French man-of-war arrived at the end of May, bringing men and badly needed supplies, but after a fierce battle the ship was captured by the New England ships. Early in June the British fleet was at the harbour entrance. The combined land and sea attack, supported by the blockade of the harbour, lasted for almost seven weeks.

  On June 26, 1745, the French initiated surrender. Under its terms, the military garrison were permitted to march out with the honours of war and the inhabitants were to be repatriated to France.

  —

  When the British and their colonial forces took possession of Louisbourg, Lieutenant John (Jean-Baptiste) Bradstreet was one of the first to make a grand entry. On his release from his imprisonment in Louisbourg the previous year, he had agreed not to bear arms against the French for a specific period of time. Given the freedom to roam about the fortress, Bradstreet had realized that it was vulnerable to attack by land from the rear. He broke his promise to the French and passed this intelligence on to Governor Shirley of the colony of Massachusetts, who used it effectively.

  Lieutenant Bradstreet was rewarded with a promotion to the rank of Captain.

  Chapter 12

  Despite the fact that the Dugas men had known in their hearts and minds that it was inevitable, the news of Louisbourg’s defeat came as a shock in Grand-Pré. Jeanne was surprised at their reaction. Uncle Abraham and her brothers Charles and Abraham accepted it. Joseph was angry and bitter.

  “The maudit French couldn’t even send a proper warship that could fight!” he said.

  “I told you so!” Monsieur de la Tour responded.

  Joseph was continuing his cabotage activities as much as possible and he was away for periods of time. Jeanne was more aware of Joseph’s business dealings than other members of the family because she read his contracts for him. She also knew that his father-in-law was involved in some of her brother’s activities, and, like her sister-in-law Marguerite, hoped Le Maigre would not get Joseph involved in anything to do with the war.

  Again, Jeanne saw a shift, a kind of realignment, in the family. Although there was relief that they had left Louisbourg in time and would not be facing deportation to France, they now had to make some difficult decisions. Could they stay in Grand-Pré? If not, where would they go? What choices did they have?

  Charles, the eldest, assumed that they would all stay in Grand-Pré. “After all,” he said, “there is land here that belonged to our father and that you, Joseph and Abraham, can start farming for yourselves. You can do well.”

  “Jeanne,” he added with a smile, “you can marry a nice Acadian boy here and then you will truly be Acadienne.” Jeanne’s fierce desire to be Acadian when she was little had long since become a family joke.

  Abraham was like Charles in temperament, and Jeanne could see him settling in Grand-Pré, but she knew this was not what Joseph wanted.

  Uncle Abraham spoke up. “Joseph, I think I know how you feel, but consider your wife and children.”

  “Uncle, I’m not about to go and do anything foolhardy,” Joseph said. “But I’m a caboteur like my father before me and I want to continue my trade as long as I can. There must be money to be made in these circumstances. Besides, I think it’s too soon to be making big decisions. I’d like to wait and see what happens. We could consider going to Île Saint-Jean. That would be easier for me. I know, I know,” he quickly added, “I am considering that my family is safe here for now.”

  Uncle Abraham attempted to calm the discussion and said, “Well, let’s wait and see. Joseph is right. We must wait and see what happens now. At least you are safe here.”

  Jeanne knew that early in the spring Joseph had carried a message from Louis Du Pont Duchambon, the commandant at Louisbourg, to Paul Marin de la Malgue in Acadia to ask for help for the besieged town. After the fall of the fortress, William Pepperrell, the leader of the New England forces, had asked Joseph to encourage the Acadians in Nova Scotia to send supplies to Louisbourg for the occupying forces. He asked Jeanne to read the messages. He needed to be sure of the contents. When she had started to ask him why, he brusquely interrupted, “Don’t ask, Jeanne.” She questioned his motives only in silence.

  When Joseph returned from his next voyage, he reported that some Mi’kmaq from Île Royale had attacked his schooner at Tatamagouche and threatened him.

  “The Mi’kmaq, Joseph, but why?�
�� Jeanne was shocked. “They are our friends.”

  “Yes, but they are not friendly with the British. I have to respect their wishes. We’ll see what happens.”

  Joseph explained to Jeanne that the Mi’kmaq were more loyal to France than many Acadians were. When word got to the Mi’kmaq some years earlier that the Acadians might take the full oath of allegiance to the British, it was clear that they would consider this a betrayal. In a way, they were right. The full oath would have put the Acadians in a position where they might have had to fight against the French and the Mi’kmaq. The earlier oath, one of neutrality, exempted the Acadians from fighting. Truth be known, only the French version of the oath specified this.

  Jeanne was fairly certain that Joseph was not conducting any more business for the British at Île Royale. He kept up his activities, but on a much reduced scale. She was glad for his wife’s sake, because she had noticed that Marguerite looked pinched and worried when Joseph was away.

  —

  There was no further discussion of the matter of whether they should stay in Grand-Pré. Now, when the men gathered for their frequent sessions around the table, they seemed to have reached an uneasy truce. The summer and fall were busy with planting and harvest, and work on the aboiteaux, the system of dykes that provided their rich farmland. All the men pitched in, including Joseph when he was home.

  During the winter, Monsieur de la Tour fell ill. Maman spent all her time nursing him. The surgeon came, but was not able to determine what ailed him. “Has he had some tragic news? Is he sick at heart?” the surgeon asked.

  Maman explained that they had fled Louisbourg and that her husband had found the recent events hard to accept.

  “Ah, well, yes, we all feel that way,” the surgeon said.

  In early May, when nature was just starting to turn Acadia into a green garden, Monsieur de la Tour passed away.