Battle of Winnepang The Battle of Winnepang ( Jeddore Harbour ) occurred during Father Rale ' s War when New England forces attacked Mi ' kmaq at present day Jeddore Harbour , Nova Scotia . The naval battle was part of a campaign ordered by Governor Richard Philipps to retrieve over 82 New England prisoners taken by the Mi ' kmaq in fishing vessels off the coast of Nova Scotia . The New England force was led by Ensign John Bradstreet and fishing Captain John Elliot . Historical context . Father Rale ' s War occurred as a result of an expansion of British settlements along the Kennebec River ( in present - day Maine ) and of the movement of more New England fishermen into Nova Scotia waters ( particularly at Canso , Nova Scotia ) . The Treaty of Utrecht ( 1713 ) , which ended Queen Anne ' s War , had facilitated this expansion . The treaty , however , had been signed in Europe and had not involved any tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy . None had been consulted and they protested through raids on British fishermen and settlements . In response to Wabanaki hostilities toward the expansion , the Governor of Nova Scotia Richard Philipps built a fort in traditional Mi ' kmaq territory at Canso in 1720 and Massachusetts Governor Shute built forts on traditional Abenaki territory at the mouth of the Kennebec River . The construction of these fortifications raised tensions which in 1722 spilled into open warfare . In July 1722 , the Abenaki and Mi ' kmaq blockaded the capital of Nova Scotia Annapolis Royal in an attempt to starve it out . They captured 18 fishing vessels along with prisoners between present - day Cape Sable and Canso . They also captured vessels and took prisoners on the Bay of Fundy . One of the captured vessels had been dispatched from Canso to Annapolis Royal by Governor Philipps and contained a year supply of provisions for the capital . The Maliseet seized another vessel and used it to transport 45 warriors up the bay to join with 120 Mi ' kmaq from Shubenacadie and Cape Sable in preparation to march against Annapolis Royal . In response , to protect the capital from native attack and secure the release of the New England prisoners , Lieutenant Governor John Doucett took 22 Mi ' kmaq hostage at Annapolis Royal . Soon after the blockade began , Massachusetts Governor Shute declared war on the Wabanaki Confederacy . ( Lieutenant Governor William Dummer , after whom the war is named , took the position of Acting Governor in 1723 . ) Battle . Immediately after the declaration of war , on July 22 , 1722 , Governor Philipps commissioned Capt . John Elliot and Capt . John Robinson in two sloops with regiments to protect the fishery at Canso and retrieve the New England prisoners . There was a Mi ' kmaq camping place near Canso at present - day West Jeddore . There were thirty - nine natives at Winnepang ( present - day Jeddore Harbour ) who were holding prisoners in seven vessels . Captains Elliot and Bradstreet arrived in the harbour and attacked the natives in a two hour naval battle . Bradstreet led a boarding party that overwhelmed the natives with hand grenades and disciplined fire . The New Englanders had five men killed and several injured , including a badly wounded Capt . Elliot . As the Mi ' kmaq tried to swim ashore to escape , the New Englanders opened fire on them . Thirty - five Natives were killed . The New Englanders managed to rescue fifteen prisoners from the vessels , while discovering that nine had been killed . Only five native bodies were recovered from the battle and the New Englanders decapitated the corpses , setting the severed heads on spikes surrounding Canso ' s new fort . Aftermath . Elsewhere in the campaign to retrieve the New England prisoners , James Blinn negotiated a prisoner exchange at Canso and won the release of 24 fishermen . Blinn later kidnapped another three or four natives at Cape Sable Island . In Captain Robinson ' s expedition , he captured ten of the vessels and killed three Abenaki . Robinson warned the Mi ' kmaq not to harm the New England prisoners because they still had Mi ' kmaq hostages at Annapolis Royal . He then arrived at Malagash harbour where the natives held five of the fishing vessels along with twenty prisoners . Robinson paid a ransom and they were released . Captain Cyprian Southack killed one Mi ' kmaq and took another five as prisoners off the Gut of Canso . The Natives had sent sixteen prisoners to present - day Richibucto , New Brunswick .