page_title: Military history of the Miꞌkmaq people
section_title: Raid on Lawrencetown
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of the Miꞌkmaq people / 18th century / Father Le Loutre's War / Raid on Lawrencetown
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Nova Scotia official Michael Francklin
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: In 1754, the British unilaterally established Lawrencetown. In late April 1754, Beausoleil and a large band of Miꞌkmaq and Acadians left Chignecto for Lawrencetown. They arrived in mid-May and in the night open fired on the village. Beausoleil killed and scalped four British settlers and two soldiers. By August, as the raids continued, the residents and soldiers were withdrawn to Halifax. By June 1757, the settlers had to be withdrawn completely again from the settlement of Lawrencetown because the number of Native raids eventually prevented settlers from leaving their houses.
  Prominent Halifax business person Michael Francklin was captured by a Miꞌkmaw raiding party in 1754 and held captive for three months.
caption: Michael Francklin taken captive by Miꞌkmaq (1754)
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