Battle of Petitcodiac The Battle of Petitcodiac was fought during the Bay of Fundy Campaign ( 1755 ) of the French and Indian War . The battle was fought between the British colonial troops and Acadian resistance fighters led by French Officer Charles Deschamps de Boishébert on September 4 , 1755 at the Acadian village of Village - des - Blanchard on the Petitcodiac River ( present - day Hillsborough , New Brunswick , Canada ) . Background . After the capture of Fort Beauséjour in June 1755 by British troops during the Seven Years War , they began rounding up and deporting the local French population . Using Fort Cumberland as a base , British troops and colonial militia made forays into the surrounding countryside , rounding up Acadians and destroying their settlements . Some of the Acadians surrendered , while others fled from the coastal communities into the interior , where they joined with local Mi ' kmaq and Maliseet Indians in resisting the British deportation . Charles Deschamps de Boishébert was a French militia commander who became a resistance leader . Based in the Miramichi River valley , he helped Acadians fleeing the British deportation operations escape to Quebec . After the fall of Beausejour , Monckton sent a naval squaldorn to evict him from the satellite fort at the mouth of the Saint John River . Knowing that he could not defend his position , Bosishebert destroyed the fort . When he received word that the British were planning an expedition to the Petitcodiac River , he hurried to Chipoudy , where he organized 120 Acadians , Maliseets and Mi ' kmaq into a guerrilla fighting force . During Bay of Fundy Campaign ( 1755 ) , on August 28 , Monckton sent Major Joseph Frye with an expedition of 200 provincial militia from Fort Cumberland in two armed sloops , with instructions to clear Acadians settlements on the Petitcodiac River . After setting the buildings on fire at Shepody , New Brunswick , they began moving up the river , torching settlements and taking prisoners along the way . Battle . On September 2 , the expedition began these clearing operations on settlements in and around the Village - des - Blanchard . While the main body worked on the eastern bank of the river , a detachment of fifty or sixty under John Indicot was despatched to the western bank . When they set fire to the village church , Boishébert and three hundred men attacked . The British retreated behind a dyke and were in a near panic when Frye landed with the remainder of the force and took command . After three hours of spirited fighting , Frye eventually extracted the force to the boats and retreated . Twenty two British were killed and another six were wounded . Ranger Joseph Gorham was wounded in the battle . Aftermath . The battle was a stinging defeat for the British . Abbe Le Guerne wrote that it " made the English tremble more than all the cannons of Beausejour . " For many of the provincial fighters this was their first experience with combat and over 50 percent of those who participated became casualties . The battle was the first bright spot for the Acadians . Boishebert rescued thirty Acadian families and brought off several fields worth of crops and supplies . Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot ' s created an Acadian refugee camp known as " Camp de l ’ Espérance " , on Beaubears Island near present - day Miramichi , New Brunswick . The Acadians also managed to reach camps Baie des Chaleurs and the Restigouche River . On the Restigouche River , Boishébert refugee camp was at Petit - Rochelle ( present - day Pointe - à - la - Croix , Quebec ) . Boishebert also led Acadians against the British in the 1759 siege of Quebec . The British would return three years later to destroy the village again for the final time in the Petitcodiac River Campaign ( 1758 ) . The site is now marked by a National Historic Sites and Monument plaque .