Battle at Winnepang (Jeddore Harbour)
Encyclopedia
The Battle at Winnepang (Jeddore Harbour) occurred during Dummer's War
when New England forces attacked Mi’kmaq at present day Jeddore Harbour
, Nova Scotia
. The naval battle was part of a campaign ordered by Governor Phillips to retrieve over 82 New England prisoners taken by the Mi'kmaq in fishing vessels off the coast of Nova Scotia. The New England force was led by Ensign John Bradstreet and fishing Captain John Elliot.
occurred as a result of an expansion of New England settlements along the Kennebec River (in present-day Maine
) and of the movement of more New England fishermen into Nova Scotia waters (particularly at Canso, Nova Scotia
). The Treaty of Utrecht
(1713), which ended Queen Anne's War
, had facilitated this expansion. The treaty, however, had been signed in Europe and had not involved any member of the Wabanaki natives (see Wabanaki Confederacy
). None had been consulted and they protested through raids on British fishermen and settlements. For the first and only time, Wabanaki would fight New Englanders and the British on their own terms and for their own reasons and not principally to defend French imperial interests. In response to Wabanaki hostilities toward the expansion, the Governor of Nova Scotia Richard Philipps
built a fort in traditional Mi'kmaq territory at Canso, Nova Scotia
(1720) and Massachusetts Governor Shute built forts on traditional Abenaki territory at the mouth of the Kennebec River. These fortifications escalated the conflict.
In July 1722 the Abenaki and Mi’kmaq created a blockade of the capital of Nova Scotia Annapolis Royal
in an attempt to starve the capital. They captured 18 fishing vessels along with prisoners between present-day Cape Sable and Canso. They also captured vessels and took prisoners from the Bay of Fundy. One of the captured vessels had been dispatched from Canso to Annapolis Royal by Governor Phillips and contained a year supply of provisions for the capital. The Maliseet seized another vessel and used it to transport 45 warriors up the bay to join with 120 Mi'kmaq from Shubenacadie and Cape Sable in preparation to march against Annapolis Royal. In response, to protect the capital from native attack and secure the release of the New England prisoners, Lieutenant Governor John Doucett
took 22 Mi'kmaq hostage at Annapolis Royal. Soon after the blockade began, Massachusetts Governor Samuel Shute
declared war
on the Abenaki and Mi'kmaq. (Lieutenant Governor William Dummer
, after whom the war is named, took the position of Acting Governor in 1723.)
, on July 22, 1722, Governor Richard Philipps
commissioned Capt. John Elliot and Capt. John Robinson in two sloops with regiments to protect the fishery at Canso, Nova Scotia
and retrieve the New England prisoners. There was a Mi'kmaq camping place at near-by West Jeddore
. There were thirty-nine natives at Winnepang (present-day Jeddore Harbour) who were harbouring prisoners in seven vessels. Captains Elliot and Bradstreet arrived in the harbour and attacked the natives in a two hour naval battle. Bradstreet led a boarding party that overwhelmed the natives with hand grenades and disciplined fire. The New Englanders had five men killed and several injured, including a badly wounded Capt. Elliot.
As the Mi’kmaq tried to swim ashore to escape, the New Englanders opened fire on them. Thirty-five Natives were killed. The New Englanders managed to rescue fifteen prisoners from the vessels, while discovering that nine had been killed.
Only five native bodies were recovered from the battle and the New Englanders decapitated the corpses, setting the severed heads on spikes surrounding Canso's new fort.
In Captain Robinson's expedition, he captured ten of the vessels and killed three Abenaki. Robinson warned the Mi’kmaq not to harm the New England prisoners because they still had Mi’kmaq hostages at Annapolis Royal. He then arrived at Malagash harbour where the natives held five of the fishing vessels along with twenty prisoners. Robinson paid a ransom and they were released.
Captain Southack killed one Mi’kmaq and took another five as prisoners off the Gut of Canso.
The Natives had sent sixteen prisoners to Richibucto, New Brunswick
.
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
when New England forces attacked Mi’kmaq at present day Jeddore Harbour
Head of Jeddore, Nova Scotia
Head of Jeddore is a rural community of the Halifax Regional Municipality on Trunk 7 on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia 47.06 kilometers from Downtown Halifax.- Battle at Winnepang :...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. The naval battle was part of a campaign ordered by Governor Phillips to retrieve over 82 New England prisoners taken by the Mi'kmaq in fishing vessels off the coast of Nova Scotia. The New England force was led by Ensign John Bradstreet and fishing Captain John Elliot.
Historical Context
Dummer's WarDummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
occurred as a result of an expansion of New England settlements along the Kennebec River (in present-day Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
) and of the movement of more New England fishermen into Nova Scotia waters (particularly at Canso, Nova Scotia
Canso, Nova Scotia
For the headland, see Cape Canso.Canso is a small Canadian town in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, next to Chedabucto Bay. The area was established in 1604, along with Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The British construction of a fort in the village , was instrumental...
). The Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
(1713), which ended Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
, had facilitated this expansion. The treaty, however, had been signed in Europe and had not involved any member of the Wabanaki natives (see Wabanaki Confederacy
Wabanaki Confederacy
The Wabanaki Confederacy, as it is known in English, is a historical confederation of five North American Algonquian language speaking Indian tribes....
). None had been consulted and they protested through raids on British fishermen and settlements. For the first and only time, Wabanaki would fight New Englanders and the British on their own terms and for their own reasons and not principally to defend French imperial interests. In response to Wabanaki hostilities toward the expansion, the Governor of Nova Scotia Richard Philipps
Richard Philipps
General Richard Philipps was said to have been in the employ of William III as a young man and for his service gained the rank of Captain in the British army. He served at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and made the rank of Lt. Col. in 1712.In 1717 he was appointed Governor of Nova Scotia by...
built a fort in traditional Mi'kmaq territory at Canso, Nova Scotia
Canso, Nova Scotia
For the headland, see Cape Canso.Canso is a small Canadian town in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, next to Chedabucto Bay. The area was established in 1604, along with Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The British construction of a fort in the village , was instrumental...
(1720) and Massachusetts Governor Shute built forts on traditional Abenaki territory at the mouth of the Kennebec River. These fortifications escalated the conflict.
In July 1722 the Abenaki and Mi’kmaq created a blockade of the capital of Nova Scotia Annapolis Royal
Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
Annapolis Royal is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. Known as Port Royal until the Conquest of Acadia in 1710 by Britain, the town is the oldest continuous European settlement in North America, north of St...
in an attempt to starve the capital. They captured 18 fishing vessels along with prisoners between present-day Cape Sable and Canso. They also captured vessels and took prisoners from the Bay of Fundy. One of the captured vessels had been dispatched from Canso to Annapolis Royal by Governor Phillips and contained a year supply of provisions for the capital. The Maliseet seized another vessel and used it to transport 45 warriors up the bay to join with 120 Mi'kmaq from Shubenacadie and Cape Sable in preparation to march against Annapolis Royal. In response, to protect the capital from native attack and secure the release of the New England prisoners, Lieutenant Governor John Doucett
John Doucett
John Doucett was probably of French descent although he did not speak the language and was likely born in England. He was a career military man and, from 1702 on, received several promotions....
took 22 Mi'kmaq hostage at Annapolis Royal. Soon after the blockade began, Massachusetts Governor Samuel Shute
Samuel Shute
Samuel Shute was a military officer and royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. After serving in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession, he was appointed by King George I as governor of Massachusetts in 1716...
declared war
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
on the Abenaki and Mi'kmaq. (Lieutenant Governor William Dummer
William Dummer
William Dummer was Acting Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1723 to 1728.-Family:Dummer was born in Boston and died in Newbury, Massachusetts, the son of Jeremiah Dummer, the first American born silversmith, and Anna Atwater...
, after whom the war is named, took the position of Acting Governor in 1723.)
The Battle
Immediately after the declaration of Dummer's WarDummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
, on July 22, 1722, Governor Richard Philipps
Richard Philipps
General Richard Philipps was said to have been in the employ of William III as a young man and for his service gained the rank of Captain in the British army. He served at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and made the rank of Lt. Col. in 1712.In 1717 he was appointed Governor of Nova Scotia by...
commissioned Capt. John Elliot and Capt. John Robinson in two sloops with regiments to protect the fishery at Canso, Nova Scotia
Canso, Nova Scotia
For the headland, see Cape Canso.Canso is a small Canadian town in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, next to Chedabucto Bay. The area was established in 1604, along with Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The British construction of a fort in the village , was instrumental...
and retrieve the New England prisoners. There was a Mi'kmaq camping place at near-by West Jeddore
West Jeddore, Nova Scotia
West Jeddore is a community of the Halifax Regional Municipality in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.- Battle at Winnepang :...
. There were thirty-nine natives at Winnepang (present-day Jeddore Harbour) who were harbouring prisoners in seven vessels. Captains Elliot and Bradstreet arrived in the harbour and attacked the natives in a two hour naval battle. Bradstreet led a boarding party that overwhelmed the natives with hand grenades and disciplined fire. The New Englanders had five men killed and several injured, including a badly wounded Capt. Elliot.
As the Mi’kmaq tried to swim ashore to escape, the New Englanders opened fire on them. Thirty-five Natives were killed. The New Englanders managed to rescue fifteen prisoners from the vessels, while discovering that nine had been killed.
Only five native bodies were recovered from the battle and the New Englanders decapitated the corpses, setting the severed heads on spikes surrounding Canso's new fort.
Aftermath
Elsewhere in the campaign to retrieve the New England prisoners, James Blinn negotiated a prisoner exchange at Canso and won the release of 24 fishermen. Blinn later kidnapped another three or four natives at Cape Sable Island.In Captain Robinson's expedition, he captured ten of the vessels and killed three Abenaki. Robinson warned the Mi’kmaq not to harm the New England prisoners because they still had Mi’kmaq hostages at Annapolis Royal. He then arrived at Malagash harbour where the natives held five of the fishing vessels along with twenty prisoners. Robinson paid a ransom and they were released.
Captain Southack killed one Mi’kmaq and took another five as prisoners off the Gut of Canso.
The Natives had sent sixteen prisoners to Richibucto, New Brunswick
Richibucto, New Brunswick
Richibucto is a Canadian town in Kent County, New Brunswick.The town is situated on the Richibucto River where it discharges into the Northumberland Strait. The town takes its name from a Mi'kmaq term meaning "river of fire"....
.