unenthusiastically. A ﬁrefight occurred at Pont—à-Buot between the British besiegers and French defenders on lune 4. 1755 as a prelude to the taking of the fort.

The claim of 20 or more British sol- diers having been taken prisoner and 20 to 22 killed is a gross exaggeration. A total of seven joumals have survived, all written by officers who were present — four British and three French. All are unanimous on the number of British soldiers taken prisoner - a grand total of one throughout the two weeks (not 18 to 20 da s, as indicated by Félix) during which the campaign lasted. As for the number of British soldiers killed in the campaign, the joumals are less consistent. Nevertheless, it would ap- pear that British losses were no less than tvvo and no more than five, inclu- ding the one man who had been taken prisoner - he died accidentally as a re- sult of a British bomb striking the case— ment in which he was being incarcerated.

Paul Daigre, under whose command Félix served for at least part of the siege at Fort Beauséiour, himself had close connections t0 Ile Saint-Jean. He appears to have settled at Malpec about 1750 and was living there in 1752 at the time of Sieur de la Roque's census. Census records for Aulac during the winter of 1754—1755 show that he was by then living in the Chignecto region. Since considerable numbers of rési— dents of Chignecto were in those years relocating to Île Saint-Jean to get away from political and military tensions and uncertainty, it is quite possible, or even probable, that Daigre moved in the reverse direction specifically to play a role in the British/French conflict.

Félix and his family (wife, Marie— Josèphe Thériot, and at least two chil— dren) were, according t0 his petition, among those deported to Carolina in the aftermath of the battle at Fort Beau- séjour. Their return to the Maritimes occurred the following spring. ln two letters, Québec govemor Vaudreuil re- ported that five Acadian families (50 people in total) had arrived on the Saint John River on 16 lune from Carolina, and that M. Villejouin had sent a boat tu Cocagne t0 pick up 85 Acadians of whom 16 were among those who had

:—— 1755 * I763 -—:

retumed from Carolina.4 It is well known that Charles Boishébert played a major role in assisting Acadian refu- gees in present—day New Brunswick during the years 1756—1757, particularly along the Saint John River, and in refu- gee camps along the Northumberland Strait. He is known t0 have facilitated the passage of some refugees to Île Saint-Jean.

M. Villejouin, who provided employ- ment t0 Félix, is Gabriel Rousseau de Yillejouin, major and commandant of [le Saint-Jean from 1754 t0 1758, the year that approximately 3000 lsland Acadians were deported t0 France.S One interesting bit of information revealed by the etition is that the cartel vessel whicl: carried deportees t0 Boulogne was the Neptune. lt was previously known that one of the vessels which left Port La Joye was the Ne tune. It was also known that one of t e vessels had discharged its human cargo at Boulogne rather than at Saint- Malo, where most of the other vessels docked. This anomaly occurred on account of bad weather which blew the vessel further up the English Channel than the captain had wanted, and, per— haps also, because of provisions run— ning low. Archival information which survives at Boulogne‘ tells of the arrival of the vessel from Ile Saint—Jean, but neglects to mention the name of the vessel. Though the petition refers t0 Boulogne—en—Mer, the form «Boulogne— sur—Mer» is used today, and is frequen— tly shortened t0, simply, Boulogne.

Lastly, the petition illustrates a com- monly—found form of shorthand used to denote calendar dates on eighteenth century French documents. One might (mistakenly) think that "le 29 9bre 1774" refers to 29 September 1774, Sep- tember being the ninth month of the year. The date of the pétition is in fact 29 November, 1774. “Neuf” is derived from the Latin novem, and in the Roman calendar, which had, as does our mo- dern calendar, 12 lunar months, the first month was Martius (mars), while the ninth was November.

Félix LeBlanc’s petition prescrits a glimpse of his life duringthe1750s and tells us a bit about his character. Though the information is somewhat limited,

PAGE 15

it is considerably more than is availa- ble for most of his contemporaries dur- ing a period when Île Saint—Jean went through much turmoil. lt is not known whether his petition was successful. Félix LeBlanc was not an ordinary or typical Acadian. At the same time, he and Paul Daigre were certainly not unique. lt is reliably documented that during tlie 17505 other Acadians rési- dent on [le Saint-Jean made tri s to the mainland to partici ate in t e siege of Beauséjour and tiat of Louisbourg - in the latter case a group of lsland Acadians (estimates variously ran‘re from 100 to 400) were put under tlie command of Boishebert. And in an in— cident reported t0 Vaudreuil by Vil— lejouin, un delaclunent de 60 Aca— diens de bonne volante prit un nombre de chevaux el quarante boeufs aux environs du fort de Pégeguit, tua 13 Anglais et en blesses quatre, se rendit maître d’un magasin dans lequel il y avoir trois cents barriques de blé, 60 barriques de farine, quatre—vingt-dix quarts de lard et dix tierçons de beurre, et après avoir fait pro- visions il y mit le feu. Il brilla aussi cinq cents gerbes de froment, deux granges, une boulangerie et un moulin.“

There is one way however in which our Félix is unique. According to ge- nealogist Stephen White, Félix Le- Blanc’s family is the sole family which was deported to the American colonies in 1755 and to France in 1758. One ot' Félix’s daughters, Marie-Blanche, had the unenviable distinction of being the sole Acadian deported four ti— mes by the British - in 1755 from Chignecto to South Carolina; in 1758 from Île Saint—Jean to France; in 1778 from Saint—Pierre and Miquelon to France; and in 1794 from Saint- Pierre and Miquelon to BostonÎ

lockerbyél‘nlinel. nb.ca

We did upon pretenses not worth a farthing, root out the poor. innocent, deservi ng people. wh‘om our utter inability t0 govern or t0 reconcile gave us no sort of right t0 extirpate.

- Edmuud Burke, British statesnum.

one of'theﬁn‘emost politiml thinkers ofh‘ngluml. ('hurles l ). iilahaﬂie .Ir.. .4 Land ofl’ismni Almn's, 1905. {un

4 Vuudreuil lo Minisler. Augusl () and 7. I756. Archives Nationales. Paris. Archives des Colonies (AC). Série C"A. Vol. I0|, pp.73-.‘<3 and 83-88. respectively.

5 Sc' Eurle Lockçrby. '“llic Dcpnmtliun ol' Ihe Aeudiuns l'roin lle SL—Jcnn", I758, Avr/clienvixx XXVIl. 2. 199:4, pp. 45-94 and Earlc Lix‘kerhy. "Deponulion of the Aezldiuns front lle SL-Jeun. l758", 7710 Nom! Magazine, No. 4o, 1999, pp. I7-25.

(i Vuudrcuil loMinister, Il) April I757. AC, C"A.Vo|. l02. pp. H—I l.

7 Stephen A. Whilc. « Ruppmi du Secteur Généalogie C‘nnau'l-Aaalie. No 34, 2004. p. 26