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A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

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1746,1747.] NOBLE AT GRAND PRE. 183<strong>of</strong> an English force, he had tried to persuade theAcadians that they were to be driven from theirhomes, <strong>and</strong> that theirhim to meet force by force ;only hope was <strong>in</strong> jo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g withbut they trusted Shirley'srecent assurance <strong>of</strong> protection, <strong>and</strong> replied that theywould not break their oath <strong>of</strong> fidelity to K<strong>in</strong>g George.On this, Ramesay retreated to his old station atChignecto, <strong>and</strong> Noble <strong>and</strong> his men occupied Gr<strong>and</strong>Pre without opposition.The village consisted <strong>of</strong> small, low wooden houses,scattered at <strong>in</strong>tervalsfor the distance <strong>of</strong> a mile <strong>and</strong> a<strong>half</strong>, <strong>and</strong> therefore ill fitted for defence. The Englishhad the frame <strong>of</strong> a blockhouse, or, as some say,<strong>of</strong> two blockhouses, ready to be set up on theirarrival ; but as the ground was hard frozen, it wasdifficult to make a foundation, <strong>and</strong> the frames weretherefore stored <strong>in</strong> outbuild<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> the village, withthe <strong>in</strong>tention <strong>of</strong> rais<strong>in</strong>g them <strong>in</strong> the spr<strong>in</strong>g. Thevessels which had brought them, together with stores,ammunition, five small cannon, <strong>and</strong> a good supply <strong>of</strong>snow-shoes, had just arrived at the l<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g-place,— <strong>and</strong> here, with <strong>in</strong>credible fatuity, were allowed torema<strong>in</strong>, with most <strong>of</strong> their <strong>in</strong>dispensable contentsstill on board. The men, meanwhile, were quartered<strong>in</strong> the Acadian houses.Noble's position was critical,but he was assuredthat he could not be reached from Chignecto <strong>in</strong> sucha bitter season ;<strong>and</strong> this he was too ready to believe,though he himself had just made a march, which, ifnot so long, was quite as arduous. Yet he did not

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