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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
Introduction
Over the past 200 years, the facts of the battle of the Restigouche
have been forgotten or altered by imaginative and misinformed story
tellers. The bullets, buttons and bones found on local farms, the
occasional glimpse of charred timbers protruding from shallow waters,
and a desire to explain such phenomena have helped to form a tragic
tale parading as a description of the battle. Also, those who disdain
popular legend view the battle as poorly documented. When Doughty
published a collection of documents on the battle1 it was
considered to be a complete record or, if not complete, certainly
sufficient for such a trivial battle.
It is as a minor engagement in the Seven Years' War that the battle
of the Restigouche has most frequently been described, when described at
all. But although the French fleet was small and although the battle was
waged in an obscure part of the Atlantic coast, the battle's outcome
was significant for the future of New France. Because the French fleet
never delivered its stores to the beleaguered troops at Montreal, the
troops were forced to abandon their attempt to regain Quebec City. Nor
could the French establish a strong base in Acadia. At length Montreal
itself capitulated and New France became British. These events may not
have been necessary results of the battle of the Restigouche, but were
precipitated by the loss of the fleet.
1 Location of Restigouche River.
(Map by S. Epps.) (click on image for a PDF version)
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