Battle off Port La Tour (1677)

The Battle of Port La Tour happened on July 18, 1677, at Port La Tour, Acadia as part of the Northeast Coast Campaign (1677) during the First Abenaki War (the Maine/ Acadia theatre of King Phillips War) in which Mi’kmaq attacked New England fishermen, however, the New Englanders eventually overwhelmed them and many Mi’kmaq were enslaved.

Historical Context
Prior to King Philip's War, there is no record of New England and the Mi’kmaq being in conflict. During First Abanaki War, Major Richard Waldron captured natives for the slave trade. The most signficant siezure of natives happened in Dover on September 7, 1676. Later Waldron gave a mandate to the merchant Henry Lawton (Laughton), of Picataqua, Maine, to seize all the Indians "of the East" who had been raiding the New England villages along the border with Acadia. Lawton was assisted by William Waldron and John (Laverdure) Mellanson (A Huguenot whose brothers were Pierre and Charles Mellanson of Port Royal).

November 9, 1676 (old style), they hired a vessel, the "Endeavor" commanded by Captain John Horton. They stopped at Machias and nine natives taken captive. They sailed to Cape Sable (Nova Scotia) and 17 Mi’kmaq members of Mi’kmaq families were taken captive, including the local chief and his wife. They were taken as slaves and sold to the Portuguese in the Azores.

A New England vessel in the Azores notified the authorities in Boston of this possible illegal activity and Endeavor was seized and taken to Boston. The John (Laverdure) Mellanson was let out of jail when his mother Prescilla Mellanson got him out on bail and then was never seen again. Henry Lawton and William Waldron were kept in jail but were eventually acquitted.

The Battle
In response, in July 1677, at Port La Tour about 80 natives attacked 26 New England fishermen who were in six fishing vessels. The natives boarded one of the vessels, stripped the men of their clothing, tied them up, leaving them on deck until nightfall, when they commanded them to set sail towards Ponobscot River, in Maine (close to Castine). A few hours later, while still in harbor, the New England captain was able to overthrow the natives. While some natives escaped, the New Englanders imprisoned some of the natives, taking them to Marblehead, Massachusetts where they were tortured and stoned to death by a group of women.

Afterward
In response, some merchants from Salem, to whom most of the vessels belonged, immediately armed a large ketch, transforming it into a warship, mounted by forty men, which sailed for southern Nova Scotia. It scanned the coast, scrutinized every port, but to no avail. The Indians, knowing probably of the mighty force that they would have to deal with, went into hiding.