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

1744.] ANNAPOLIS. 61and the miserable hamlet, with its wooden citadel,was burned to the ground.Thus far successful, the governor addressed himselfto the capture of Annapolis, — which meant thecapture of all Acadia.to the command.Duvivier was again appointedHis heart was in the work, for hewas a descendant of La Tour, feudal claimant ofAcadia in the preceding century.Four officers andninety regular troops were given him,^ and fromthree to four hundred Micmac and Malicite Indiansjoined him on the way. The Micmacs, under command,it is said, of their missionary, Le Loutre, hadalready tried to surprise the English fort, but hadonly succeeded inkilling two unarmed stragglers inthe adjacent garden.^Annapolis, from the neglect and indifference ofthe British ministry, was still in such a state ofdilapidation that its sandy ramj)arts were crumblinginto the ditches, and the cows of the garrison walkedover them at their pleasure.It was held by about ahundred effective men under Major Mascarene, aFrench Protestant whose family had been driven intoexile by the persecutions that followed the revocationof the Edict of Nantes. Shirley, governor of Massachusetts,sent him a small reinforcement ofmilitia;but as most of these came without arms, and as1 Lettre d'un Habitant de Louishourg.2 Mascarene to the Besiegers, 3 Juhj, 1744. Duquesnel had writtento all the missionaries " d'engager les sauvages a faire quelque coupimportant sur le fort " (Annapolis). Duquesnel a Beauharnois, 1 Juin,1744.