Battle of Port Royal (1690)

Battle of Port Royal
Part of King William's War

Sir William Phips
Date19 May 1690
Location
Port Royal, Acadia (present-day Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia)
Result Massachusetts Bay victory
Belligerents
Massachusetts Bay Acadia
Commanders and leaders
Sir William Phips
John March		 Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Meneval Surrendered
Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste Surrendered
Strength
446 provincial soldiers
226 seamen
7 warships
78 cannons[1]		 Fewer than 90 soldiers
18 cannons (none mounted)[2]
Casualties and losses
None All surrendered

The Battle of Port Royal (19 May 1690) occurred at Port Royal, the capital of Acadia, during King William's War. A large force of New England provincial militia arrived before Port Royal. The Governor of Acadia Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Menneval had only 70 soldiers; the unfinished enceinte remained open and its 18 cannon had not been brought into firing positions; 42 young men of Port-Royal were absent. Any resistance therefore appeared useless.[3] Meneval surrendered without resistance not long after the New Englanders arrived. The New Englanders, led by Sir William Phips, after alleging Acadian violations of the terms of surrender, plundered the town and the fort.

After the British sacked Pentagouet, the Wabanaki Confederacy retaliated with raids along the New England border (See Siege of Pemaquid (1689) and Raid on Salmon Falls) . These attacks were coordinated from Fort Meductic in Acadia. The merchants of Salem and Boston got up a subscription, and in the spring of 1690 the government of Massachusetts organized a campaign led by William Phips against the Acadian settlements.[3]

The aftermath of the surrender of Port Royal was unlike any of the previous military campaigns against Acadia. The violence of the plunder alienated many of the Acadians from the New Englanders, broke their trust, and made future relations with their English-speaking neighbors more difficult.[4] Meneval was replaced by Governor Joseph de Villebon who moved the capital of Acadia to Fort Nashwaak on the Saint John River for defensive purposes, and to better coordinate military attacks on New England with the natives at Meductic Indian Village / Fort Meductic.

  1. ^ Griffiths (2005), pp. 150–151.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference BR87 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Baudry, René (1979) [1969]. "Des Friches de Menneval, Louis-Alexandre". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. II (1701–1740) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  4. ^ Plank, p. 32