Battle at Port-la-Joye

Battle at Port-la-Joye
Part of King George's War
Soldier of the 29th Regiment of Foot, 1742
Date 11 July 1746 Location Port la Joye, near Northeast River, Ile Saint Jean (present day Hillsborough River, Prince Edward Island) Result French, Mi'kmaq victory
Belligerents
France  New France Mi'kmaq militia	British America  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Roch de Ramezay (overall French commander) Nicolas Antoine II Coulon de Villiers (French commander) Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot Joseph-Michel Legardeur de Croisille et de Montesson	Captain John Rous, Captain Hugh Scott
Units involved
29th Regiment Gorham's Rangers	Acadian militia Wabanaki Confederacy (Mi'kmaq militia) Troupes de la marine
Strength
300 French regulars and militia; 200 Mi’kmaq	40 British troops
Casualties and losses
2 Mi’kmaq killed, 2 wounded; 40 Acadian prisoners	34 British troops killed, 7 prisoners

The Battle at Port-la-Joye (also known as the Port-la-Joye Massacre) was a battle in King George's War that took place with British against Canadian troops and Mi'kmaq militia on the banks of present-day Hillsborough River, Prince Edward Island in the summer of 1746. French officer de Ramezay sent French and Mi'kmaq forces to Port-la-Joye where they surprised and defeated a company of 200 Massachusetts militia in two British naval vessels that were gathering provisions for recently captured Louisbourg.

After the first fall of Louisbourg, British commander William Pepperrell sent an expedition against Ile Saint Jean in July 1745. This force divided, one part going to Three Rivers (present-day Georgetown/Brudenell), the other to Port-La-Joye. At Three Rivers, Acadian Jean Pierre Roma and others did not give any resistance because they only had one six pound cannon to mount a defence. Roma, along with his son and daughter escaped into the woods where they witnessed the New Englanders burn the village. The family then escaped to Saint Peters (PEI) and then went on to Quebec, remaining there until the end of the war.

At the same time, in July 1745, the other English detachment landed at Port-la-Joye. Under the command of Joseph de Pont Duvivier, the French had a garrison of 20 French troops (Compagnies Franches de la Marine) at Port-la-Joye. The troops fled and New Englanders burned the capital to the ground. Duvivier and the twenty men retreated up the Northeast River (Hillsborough River), pursued by the New Englanders until the French troops received reinforcements from the Acadian militia and the Mi'kmaq. The French troops and their allies were able to drive the New Englanders to their boats, nine New Englanders killed, wounded or made prisoner. The New Englanders took six Acadian hostages, who would be executed if the Acadians or Mi'kmaq rebelled against New England control. The New England troops left for Louisbourg. Duvivier and his 20 troops left for Quebec. After the fall of Louisbourg, the resident French population of Ile Royal were deported to France. The Acadians of Ile Saint-Jean lived under the threat of deportation for the remainder of the war.

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Wikipedia