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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 16
The Battle of the Restigouche
by Judith Beattle and Bernard Pothier
Abstract
The battle of the Restigouche, 1760, was fought between the remnants
of a French relief fleet bound for Montreal and a British squadron. The
three French ships, only half the number that had sailed from Bordeaux
in the spring, captured six British vessels in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
On learning that the British had already reached the St. Lawrence River,
the French fleet sought refuge in Chaleur Bay and the Restigouche River
where its numbers were further increased by 25 to 30 Acadian sloops and
schooners. A British fleet from the Fortress of Louisbourg made contact
with the French on 22 June. By 8 July, the final day of the engagement,
the French had lost, in addition to 10 vessels sunk across channels in
the river to halt the British advance, 22 or 23 vessels, most of which
the French destroyed to prevent the British from taking them. The loss
of the French fleet and its supplies contributed to the fall of New
France. The battle was the last naval engagement between France and
Great Britain for the possession of North America.
Submitted for publication 1973, by Judith Beattie, Toronto, and
Bernard Pothier, Canadian War Museum, Ottawa.
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