Northeast Coast campaign (1745)

Northeast Coast campaign (1745)
Part of King George's War
Commander Samuel Waldo
Date 19 July – 5 September 1745 Location Berwick, Maine to St. Georges (Thomaston, Maine) Result French and Wabanaki Confederacy victory
Belligerents
New England	French colonists  Wabanaki Confederacy
Commanders and leaders
Commander Samuel Waldo (Falmouth)[1] Captain Jonathan Bean Captain Mochus[2] Captain Thomas Bradbury (Saco)[3][4][5] Jabez Bradbury (Fort St. George, Thomaston)	Colonel Morris † Captain Sam † Colonel Job[6]
Strength
625	unknown
Casualties and losses
approximately 30 persons killed or captured	unknown

The Northeast Coast campaign (1745) occurred during King George's War from 19 July until 5 September 1745.^[7] Three weeks after the British Siege of Louisbourg (1745), the Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia retaliated by attacking New England settlements along the coast of present-day Maine below the Kennebec River, the former border of Acadia. They attacked English settlements on the coast of present-day Maine between Berwick and St. Georges (Thomaston, Maine), within two months there were 11 raids - every town on the frontier had been attacked.^[8] Casco (also known as Falmouth and Portland) was the principal settlement.

Background[edit]

After the two attacks on Annapolis Royal in 1744, Governor William Shirley put a bounty on the Passamaquoddy, Mi’kmaq and Maliseet on Oct 20.^[9] The following year, during the campaign, on August 23, 1745, Shirley declared war against the rest of the Wabanaki Confederacy – the Penobscot and Kennebec tribes.^[8] In response to the New England expedition against Louisbourg which finished in June 1745, the Wabanaki retaliated by attacking the New England border.^[2] New England braced itself for such an attack by appointing a provisional force of 450 to defend the frontier. After the attacks began they increased the number of soldiers by 175 men.^[2] Massachusetts established forts along the border with Acadia: Fort George at Brunswick (1715),^[10] St. George's Fort at Thomaston (1720), and Fort Richmond (1721) at Richmond.^[11] Fort Frederick was established at Pemaquid (Bristol, Maine).

The campaign[edit]

Part of a series on the
Military history of Nova Scotia
Citadel Hill in Halifax
Notable events Battle of Port Royal 1690 Siege of Port Royal 1710 Battle of Winnepang 1722 Northeast Coast Campaign 1745 Battle of Grand Pré 1747 Dartmouth Massacre 1751 Bay of Fundy Campaign 1755 Siege of Louisbourg 1758 Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax 1758 Halifax Treaties 1760–1761 Battle of Fort Cumberland 1776 Raid on Lunenburg 1782 Establishment of New Ireland 1812 Capture of USS Chesapeake 1813 ‪Battle of the Great Redan 1855 ‪Siege of Lucknow 1857 CSS Tallahassee escape 1861 ‪Halifax Provisional Battalion 1885 ‪Battle of Witpoort 1899 ‪Battle of Paardeberg 1899 Imprisonment of Leon Trotsky 1917 Jewish Legion formed 1917 Sinking of Llandovery Castle 1918 Battle of the St. Lawrence 1942–1944 Sinking of Point Pleasant Park 1945 Halifax VE-Day riot 1945
Notable regiments Mi'kmaq militias 1677–1779 Acadian militias 1689–1761 40th Regiment of Foot 1717–1757 Louisbourg Garrison 1717–1758 Gorham's Rangers 1744–1762 Danks' Rangers 1756–1762 84th Regiment of Foot 1775–1784 Royal Fencible American 1775–1783 Royal Nova Scotia Volunteers 1775–1783 King's Orange Rangers 1776–1783 1st Field Artillery from 1791 Royal Nova Scotia 1793–1802 Nova Scotia Fencibles 1803–1816 Halifax Rifles from 1860 Princess Louise Fusiliers from 1867 78th Highland 1869–1871 Cape Breton Highlanders from 1871 Nova Scotia Rifles 1914–1919 No. 2 Construction Battalion 1916–1919 West Nova Scotia from 1916 Nova Scotia Highlanders from 1954
Related topics Captivity narratives Impressment
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The campaign began when, on July 19, Mi’kmaq from Nova Scotia, Maliseet and some from St. Francois attacked Fort St.George (Thomaston) and New Castle.^[12] They set fire to numerous buildings; killed cattle and took one villager captive.^[13][14] They also killed a person at Saco.^[15] At the same time, Penobscot and Norridgewock attacked Fort Frederick at Pemaquid.^[16] They took captive a woman, which alarmed the garrison but she escaped. The same month they killed a boy at Topsham and a man at New Meadows.^[17] In the same month, 30 Wabanaki attacked North Yarmouth and killed a man. At Flying-point they killed three members of a family and taking a daughter prisoner to Canada. During this raid on Flying-point, they also killed one man, made another prisoner, while another escaped.^[18] St. Georges garrison at Thomaston was attacked again and one company of men was killed, while three other men were taken captive.^[18] Near the garrison, two women were captured: one was taken to Canada, while the other escaped.^[2] They attacked Scarborough and one man killed.^[6] Then at Sheepscot they attacked and killed two and wounded one.^[6] On Sept 5 tribes of the Confederacy attacked Thomston (St. Georges) for the third time, killing and scalping two people.^[6]

Aftermath[edit]

In response to these events, Shirley sent more troops and munitions to the Maine frontier over the winter, anticipating the Wabanaki campaign in the spring of 1746.^[19] There were nine raids in the campaign of 1746 and 12 raids in the Northeast Coast campaign of 1747.^[19]

See also[edit]

• Military history of Nova Scotia
• Northeast Coast campaign (1703)
• Northeast Coast campaign (1723)

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• "History of York County, Maine. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers"
• Shirley, William (1912). Correspondence of William Shirley: Governor of Massachusetts and Military Commander in America, 1731-1760. New York: Macmillan Co.
• Folsom, George (1830). History of Saco and Biddeford: with Notices of Other Early Settlements, ... Saco: A.C. Putnam. p. 203.
• Willis, William (1865). The History of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: With a Notice of Previous Settlements, Colonial Grants, and Changes of Government in Maine. Portland, Maine: Bailey & Noyes.
• Williamson, William D. (1832). The History of the State of Maine: From Its First Discovery, 1602, to the Separation, A. D. 1820, Inclusive. Vol. II. Hallowell, Maine: Glazier, Masters & Company.
• Johnson, Michael; Smith, Jonathan (2006). Indian Tribes of the New England Frontier. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-937-0. OCLC 255490222.