Battle at Port - la - Joye The Battle at Port - la - Joye ( also known as the Port - la - Joye Massacre ) was a battle in King George ' s War that took place with British against Canadien and Mi ' kmaq forces on the banks of present - day Hillsborough River , Prince Edward Island in the summer of 1746 . French officer de Ramezay sent French and Mi ' kmaq forces to Port - la - Joye where they surprised and defeated a company of 200 Massachusetts militia in two British naval vessels that were gathering provisions for recently captured Louisbourg . Background . After the first fall of Louisbourg , British commander William Pepperrell sent an expedition against Ile Saint Jean in July 1745 . This force divided , one part going to Three Rivers ( present - day Georgetown / Brudenell ) , the other to Port - La - Joye . At Three Rivers , Acadian Jean Pierre Roma and others did not give any resistance because they only had one six pound cannon to mount a defence . Roma , along with his son and daughter escaped into the woods where they witnessed the New Englanders burn the village . The family then escaped to Saint Peters ( PEI ) and then went on to Quebec , remaining there until the end of the war . At the same time , in July 1745 , the other English detachment landed at Port - la - Joye . Under the command of Joseph de Pont Duvivier , the French had a garrison of 20 French troops ( Compagnies Franches de la Marine ) at Port - la - Joye . The troops fled and New Englanders burned the capital to the ground . Duvivier and the twenty men retreated up the Northeast River ( Hillsborough River ) , pursued by the New Englanders until the French troops received reinforcements from the Acadian militia and the Mi ' kmaq . The French troops and their allies were able to drive the New Englanders to their boats , nine New Englanders killed , wounded or made prisoner . The New Englanders took six Acadian hostages , who would be executed if the Acadians or Mi ' kmaq rebelled against New England control . The New England troops left for Louisbourg . Duvivier and his 20 troops left for Quebec . After the fall of Louisbourg , the resident French population of Ile Royal were deported to France . The Acadians of Ile Saint - Jean lived under the threat of deportation for the remainder of the war . The following year , in an effort to recapture Acadia , an expedition under the command of Jean - Baptiste Nicolas Roch de Ramezay was sent from Quebec to work with the Duc d ' Anville Expedition . De Ramezay ' s force arrived in Nova Scotia in July 1746 . He had 700 soldiers and 21 officers . He made camp at Chignecto , where he was met by 300 Abenaki from St . John River and about 300 Mi ' kmaq from Nova Scotia . The total French - Indian force numbered close to 1 , 300 men . De Ramezay ' s soldiers spent the summer and the fall waiting for the arrival of the long overdue D ' Anville expedition . During this time period , Ramzay sent troops to British - occupied Port - La - Joye on present - day Prince Edward Island . Battle . Captain John Rous commanded the snow Shirley Galley and a schooner on a tender . On board the vessel was 40 soldiers of F . B . Fuller ’ s 29th Regiment of Foot , including Captain Hugh Scott . The newly appointed British governor of the Isle Royal , Commodore Sir Charles Knowles , 1st Baronet sent Rous to get supplies from the Acadians to feed the British troops at Louisbourg . Ramezay initially sent French officer Boishébert to Ile Saint - Jean on a reconnaissance to assess the size of the New England force . Boishébert learned there were two English naval vessels and 200 troops - the galley HMS Shirley and HMS Ruby - at Port - la - Joye boarding supplies for Louisburg . On board the vessels were at least two of the Acadian hostages taken by New Englanders the year before . After Boishébert returned , Ramezay sent Joseph - Michel Legardeur de Croisille et de Montesson along with over 500 men , 200 of whom were Mi ' kmaq , to Port - La - Joye . While the 29th regiment waited for the Acadians to release half of their cattle for the British at Louisbourg , the regiment was unarmed in the field on the banks of the Northeast River ( Hillsborough River ) , close to Port - la - Joye , making hay . Their arms remained in a tent . On July 11 , de Montesson caught the New England troops by surprise . The Canadian and Mi ' kmaq force " massacred " 34 of the British troops ( 27 soldiers and 7 sailors ) . The British killed two Mi ’ kmaq and knocked out two others with a firelock . While the attack was happening , Captain Rous and Captain Scott were on the Shirley , which open fired on the attackers , with little effect . The attacking party eventually retreated and Captain Scott took 40 Acadians prisoners and ransomed them to the commander of the Duc D ’ Anville Expedition . On July 23 , 1746 , de Montesson returned to de Ramezay at Chignecto with two of the Acadian prisoners the New Englanders had taken previously , numerous English prisoners and the Acadian pilot . Aftermath . Months later Ramzey was unsuccessful in his attack on Annapolis Royal because of the failure of the Duc d ’ Anville Expedition to arrive at the capital . The following year Ramezay would have victory at the Battle of Grand Pré . Montesson was commended for having distinguished himself in his first independent command . The battle led to an order that all officers in the 29th Regiment must always be armed , thus earning their first nickname as the " Ever Sworded " due to the sword s the officers are required to wear even when off - duty a tradition still in effect today as the orderly officer is still armed even at the officers mess . Endnotes