Attack at Grand Pre
11 February 1747
2007 260th anniversary
Photographs of Monument
Grand Pre Kings County Nova Scotia
Located at the intersection of Grand Pre Road with the Old Post Road
GPS location: 45°06’18″N 64°18’23″W
Photographed on 11 June 2003
Photographed on 13 December 2002
Map showing the location of the monument
commemorating the 1747 Attack at Grand Pre Kings County, Nova Scotia.
Roads are shown as they were in 1956. Except for Highway 101, the
layout of the roads in 2006 has not changed much from that shown here.
Photographed on 13 December 2002
Winter
Photographed on 16 February 2006
260th Anniversary of the attack on 11 February 1747
Photographed on 11 February 2007
Photographed on 12 August 2007
…In the autumn of 1746, Arthur Noble of Massachusetts, arrived at their destination. Most of the vessels carrying the others were wrecked by storms; one was driven back by a French warship. In December, however, Noble’s New Englanders, with a few soldiers from the Annapolis garrison, set out to rid Acadia of the Canadians; and after much hardship and toil finally reached the village of Grand Pre in the district of Minas. Here the soldiers were quartered in the houses of the Acadians for the winter, for Noble had decided to postpone the movement against Ramesay’s position on the isthmus until spring. It would be impossible, he thought, to make the march through the snow.
But the warlike Canadians whom Mascarene afterwards gratefully acknowledged.
When the Canadians returned to Chignecto with the report of their victory over the British, Ramesay issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of Grand Pre setting forth that “by virtue of conquest they now owed allegiance to the King of France,” and warning them “to hold no communication with the inhabitants of Port Royal.” This proclamation, however, had little effect. With few exceptions the Acadians maintained their former attitude and refused to bear arms, even on behalf of France and in the presence of French troops….
— Source: FullBooks.com
The Acadian Exiles, part 1 by Arthur G. Doughty, Toronto, 1916
Chronicles of Canada, in thirty-two volumes
Edited by George M. Wrong and H. H. Langton
Arthur G. Doughty Wikipedia
Sir Arthur G. Doughty Library and Archives Canada
The Acadian Exiles, by Arthur G. Doughty Project Gutenberg
History of Nova Scotia: Battle at Grand Pre, 1747 by Peter Landry
http://www.blupete.com/Hist/NovaScotiaBk1/Part5/Ch03.htm
Noble Massacre Part of Acadian History by Ed Coleman, 9 July 2004
…What occurred during the so-called Noble massacre
and what are the details?…
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/ecoleman/editorial/2004/e04jul09.html
Arthur Noble by Peter Landry
http://www.blupete.com/Hist/BiosNS/1700-63/Noble.htm
Arthur Noble Dictionary of Canadian Biography
https://ns1763.ca/bio/7bio-35680-noble.html
Arthur Noble Electric Scotland
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/world/bios/noble_arthur.htm
Chapter IV: In Times of War by Arthur G. Doughty, Quebec History Encyclopedia
William Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, who exercised supervision
over the affairs of Nova Scotia, saw in the events of 1744 a real menace to
British power in the colony. Acting quickly, Shirley raised a thousand
New Englanders and dispatched them to Annapolis. Of these only 470,
under Colonel Arthur Noble of Massachusetts, arrived at their destination.
Most of the vessels carrying the others were wrecked by storms; one was
driven back by a French warship. In December 1746, however, Noble’s
New Englanders, with a few soldiers from the Annapolis garrison, set out
to rid Acadia of the Canadians; and after much hardship and toil finally
reached the village of Grand Pre in the district of Minas. Here the soldiers
were quartered in the houses of the Acadians for the winter, for Noble had
decided to postpone the movement against Ramesay’s position on the
isthmus until spring. It would be impossible, he thought, to make the march
through the snow. But the warlike Canadians whom Ramesay had posted
in the neck of land between Chignecto Bay and Baie Verte did not think so.
No sooner had they learned of Noble’s position at Grand Pre than they
resolved to surprise him by a forced march and an attack by night.
Friendly Acadians warned the British of the intended surprise; but the
over-confident Noble scoffed at the idea. The snow in many places was
“twelve to sixteen feet deep,” and no party, even of Canadians, thought
Noble, could possibly travel a hundred miles of forest in such a winter.
So it came to pass that one midnight, early in February, Noble’s men in
Grand Pre found themselves surrounded. After a plucky fight in which sixty
English were killed, among them Colonel Noble, and seventy more wounded…
http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/QuebecHistory/
encyclopedia/SevenYearsWar-InTimesofWar.htm
Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas-Roch de Ramezay Dictionary of Canadian Biography
In December 1746 an expeditionary force of New England troops under
Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Noble settled in at Grand Pre with the aim
of ending incursions into Nova Scotia by the Canadians and French.
On learning this news Ramezay decided to attack them, and he entrusted
leadership of the detachment, which left on 9 February 1747, to his
second in command, Captain Nicolas-Antoine Coulon de Villiers. After
being wounded in the attack Coulon was replaced by Louis de La Corne…
https://ns1763.ca/bio/7bio-36258-ramezay1708.html
Nicholas Antoine Coulon de Villiers Dictionary of Canadian Biography
https://ns1763.ca/bio/7bio-35407-vill-nic.html
Jean-Louis de La Corne Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Confusion about the identity of Louis de La Corne has arisen because of the
variety of names given to him… His first combat experience was in Acadia in
February 1747 when he served as second in command of a party of some
300 Canadians and Indians led in a winter attack by Nicolas-Antoine
Coulon de Villiers against Colonel Arthur Noble and 500men in GrandPre.
Villiers was wounded almost immediately, but under LaCorne’s leadership
Colonel Noble and a large number of the enemy were killed, wounded, or
taken prisoner. LaCorne’s part in this action won him the cross of Saint-Louis,
awarded in May 1749…
https://ns1763.ca/bio/7bio-35580-corne.html
Significant Historical Happenings in Nova Scotia: 1747-1748 by Peter Landry
http://www.blupete.com/Hist/Dates/1747-48.htm
Acadia: 1730 to 1748 by Tim Hebert
http://www.acadian-cajun.com/acadia6.htm
In Times of War
No sooner had they learned of Noble’s position at Grand Pre than they
resolved to surprise him by a forced march and an attack by night.
Friendly Acadians warned the British of the intended surprise; but
the over-confident Noble scoffed at the idea. The snow in many
places was “twelve to sixteen feet deep,” [4-5m] and no party, even of
Canadians, thought Noble, could possibly make a hundred miles
of forest in such a winter. So it came to pass that one midnight, early
in February, Noble’s men in GrandPre found themselves surrounded…
http://www.canadiangenealogy.net/chronicles/times_of_war.htm
Records of Chignecto by William Cochrane Milner
…It was from Beausejour that Coulon de Villiers led a detachment of French and
Indians in the depth of winter to attack Col. Noble’s force then billetted amongst
the Acadian farmers at Grand Pre, which they surprised and massacred…
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nbwestmo/recschic.htm
Cobequid Acadian-Cajun Genealogy and History
…In the winter of 1747, de Ramesy (who was at Beaubassin) heard
that Colonel Noble and a group of New Englanders were at Grand Pre.
Although De Ramesay had been injured recently, he sent Coulon de Villiers
across 200 miles of snow-covered terrain for a surprise attack.
They headed to Remsheg along a road cut by La Corne in 1746.
They arrived at Remsheg on January 25 and at Tatamagouche on January 26…
http://www.acadian-cajun.com/cobequd.htm
Chignecto Isthmus; First Settlers by Howard Trueman
…The successful raid of de Villiers, in the winter of 1747, convinced the English
that so long as Chignecto was in possession of the French, and was used as a
base of operations to defy the English Government, there could be no lasting
peace or security for settlers of British blood. Taking this view of the matter,
Governor Cornwallis determined to take measures to drive the French from the
Isthmus of Chignecto…
http://emotionalliteracyeducation.com/
classic_books_online/chgnt10.htm
War of the Austrian Succession
known in North America as King George’s War
1740/41/42-1748 in Europe 1744-1748 in North America
The Austro-Saxon War (1741)
The First Silesian War (1740-1742)
The Second Silesian War (1744-1745)
The Austro-Bavarian War (1741-1745)
The Franco-Austrian War (1744-1748)
The Austro-Spanish War (1744-1748)
The War of Jenkins’ Ear (1739-1741)
led into the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession, 1741-1748 by Alexander Ganse at KMLA
(KMLA stands for Korean Minjok Leadership Academy,
an elite boarding high school located in rural South Korea)
http://www.zum.de/whkmla/military/18cen/austsucc.html
War of the Austrian Succession, 1740-1748 Wikipedia
…In North America the most remarkable incident of what has been called
King George’s War was the capture of the French Canadian fortress of Louisburg
by a British expedition (April 29 – June 16, 1745), of which the military
portion was furnished by the colonial militia under Colonel (afterwards
Lieutenant-General Sir William) Pepperell (1696-1759) of Maine. Louisburg was
then regarded merely as a nest of privateers, and at the peace it was given up,
but in the Seven Years’ War it came within the domain of grand strategy, and
its second capture was the preliminary step to the British conquest of Canada.
Hostilities also occurred in India…
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Austrian_Succession
War of the Austrian Succession, 1742-48 …The French made an unsuccessful
assault on Annapolis Royal (Port Royal, Nova Scotia, 1744), and an expedition
of New Englanders under William Pepperrell in cooperation with a fleet under
Sir Peter Warren captured Fort Louisbourg (16 June 1745)…
http://www.usahistory.com/wars/austsucc.htm
The War of Jenkins’ Ear, 1739-1742 The War of Jenkins’ Ear began in Europe
on 19 October 1739, and a year later merged into the War of Austrian Succession…
As soon as war was declared, Gov. James Edward Oglethorpe called on the citizens
of Georgia and South Carolina to join in an invasion of Florida…
http://www.usahistory.com/wars/jenkins.htm
The War of Jenkins’ Ear, 1739-1742 …The cast of characters, and stages
on which the drama was played out, are simultaneously famous and obscure…
http://www.boat-links.com/books/Lardas/Lardas04.html
King George’s War, 1739-1742: The War of Jenkins’ Ear
http://home.wnclink.com/russell/Jenkins_Ear.htm
The Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession, 1740-48
http://www.1upinfo.com/country-guide-study/austria/austria25.html
The Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession, 1740-48
http://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/austria/
austria_history_the_pragmatic_sanction_and_
the_war_of_the_austrian_succession_1740_48.html
