page_title: Military history of the Miꞌkmaq people
section_title: Battle at St. Aspinquid's Chapel
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of the Miꞌkmaq people / 18th century / French and Indian War / Battle at St. Aspinquid's Chapel
caption_attribution_description: English: St. Aspinquid Chapel, Point Pleasant Park, Nova Scotia
context_page_description: Miꞌkmaq militias were made up of Miꞌkmaq warriors who worked independently as well as in coordination with the Wabanaki Confederacy, French and Acadian forces throughout the colonial period to defend their homeland Miꞌkmaꞌki against the English. The Miꞌkmaq militias deployed effective resistance for over 75 years before the Halifax Treaties were signed. In the nineteenth century, the Miꞌkmaq "boasted" that, in their contest with the British, the Miꞌkmaq "killed more men than they lost". In 1753, Charles Morris stated that the Miꞌkmaq have the advantage of "no settlement or place of abode, but wandering from place to place in unknown and, therefore, inaccessible woods, is so great that it has hitherto rendered all attempts to surprise them ineffectual". Leadership on both sides of the conflict employed standard colonial warfare, which included scalping non-combatants. After some engagements against the British during the American Revolution, the militias were dormant throughout the nineteenth century, while the Miꞌkmaq people used diplomatic efforts to have the local authorities honour the treaties.
context_section_description: Tradition indicates that at St. Aspinquid's Chapel in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, Lahave Chief Paul Laurent and a party of eleven invited Shubenacadie Chief Jean-Baptiste Cope and five others to St. Aspinquid's Chapel to negotiate peace with the British.
  Chief Paul Laurent had just arrived in Halifax after surrendering to the British at Fort Cumberland on 29 February 1760. In early March 1760, the two parties met and engaged in armed conflict.
   Chief Larent's party killed Cope and two others, while Chief Cope's party killed five of the British supporters. Shortly after Cope's death, Miꞌkmaq chiefs signed a peace treaty in Halifax on 10 March 1760. Chief Laurent signed on behalf of the Lahave tribe and a new chief, Claude Rene, signed on behalf of the Shubenacadie tribe. (During this time of surrender and treaty making, tensions among the various factions who were allied against the British were evident. For example, a few months after the death of Cope, the Miꞌkmaq militia and Acadian militias made the rare decisions to continue to fight in the Battle of Restigouche despite losing the support of the French priests who were encouraging surrender.)
caption: Site of the battle at St. Aspinquid's Chapel (Chain Rock Battery, Point Pleasant Park, Nova Scotia)
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