Band of Acadians (12 page)

“Actually,” Frank complained when he heard this, “it's hurting something important — our production of bleach. We only have thirty barrels in stock. That's not enough to defend ourselves.”

“In that case, I'm going to stop this foolish competition,” Nola said. “Jocelyne and Hector are our friends, not competitors. Why don't you and Hector work together on improving the catapults? That should tone down the competition. Jocelyne and I can help.”

Frank grinned. “That's a sensible solution, Nola.”

8
War

I
n early May, Governor Drucour sent a courier to warn the Westmount residents: a British attack was imminent. Everybody was upset, but Frank was by far the most agitated.

“Hector, we've got to keep an eye on what's happening at Louisbourg,” he said. “Some sort of relay should be organized so we can monitor what's going on. And we've got to make more of that bleach.”

Hector frowned. “I'm with you on that relay idea, but surely the forty barrels of bleach we have is enough. It's Louisbourg that they'll attack, not us.”

“If they attack Louisbourg, they'll come here, too. I've read military histories, and it's the rare battle that involves just one target. We have to get more of us to work on the bleach project.”

Hector agreed to set up the relay. At the end of May this new route produced encouraging news. Joseph reported that French warships had anchored in front of the fortress. “The French fleet is impressive,” he told them. “There are ten huge ships at anchor. I was told that the fleet has 494 guns and 3,870 battle-hardened men. There was supposed to be ten more ships, but these were turned away by the British blockade. Unfortunately, one of those turned away was the largest — the eighty-gun
Le Formidable.
”

“It's comforting to hear that so much armaments and men have come to defend us,” Grandpa said. “Too bad the others couldn't get through. There were almost twice as many French warships here last year. It looks like the British blockade is getting tighter.”

The next report by Joseph was chillingly bad. On June 3 an immense British fleet anchored in Gabarus Bay, a scant six miles from the fortress. “The size of their fleet is shocking,” Joseph told them. “I counted over a hundred ships at Gabarus, several larger than those in the French fleet. I'm sure they have thousands of more guns and many more men than the French.”

“Then we're in deep, deep trouble,” Frank said.

Nola asked Frank what he thought would happen.

“It's simple, Nola. Louisbourg will fall, then we'll be attacked and probably killed.”

Hector heard this. “Don't be so gloomy, Frank. The fortress has mighty defences. They can handle the British, even if the odds are against them.”

“I hope so, but I'm doubtful. It's clear the British have prepared well, and they're like bulldogs. Once they start a fight, they won't stop until they've won. They have much more firepower than the French, at least a four-to-one advantage if Joseph's report is correct.”

Westmount was, unfortunately, not long in waiting for an attack. On June 11 the residents were stunned to see a large warship sail into their bay. Hector pulled out his spyglass. “It's flying the Union Jack! I see the name now. It's the
Shannon
. It looks like she has twenty-eight guns. They're coming after us!”

Frank ran to the shore, yelling, “I didn't expect them to attack so soon! Come on, men, get our catapults and fire pumps ready. Make sure they don't see anyone over our embankments. We want them to think we're totally defenceless.”

Nola noticed that Hector scowled as Frank's tense voice resonated along the shoreline, but in the midst of nerve-wracking battle preparations, no one drew attention to Frank's single-minded, almost scary resolve. The warship anchored only a hundred yards from the little settlement's embankments.

“Arm those catapults and fill up the pumps!” Frank cried. “Then be absolutely quiet. Not a peep. And wait until my signal. I want them very close before we show our hand.”

The
Rameurs
watched fearfully as they saw the
Shannon
launch twenty longboats. Each was manned with ten soldiers and loaded with muskets. Huddled behind the embankments, Frank signalled that they should allow the lead vessels to approach within ten yards. Hector fidgeted noticeably at this risky plan but kept his silence. This encounter was much worse than the skirmish with Governor Drucour.

As the boats came closer and Hector was almost bursting with impatience, Frank ordered, “
Now!
Spray them with all the fire we've got!”

Liquid fire leaped from the pumps, splashing each boat with sheets of flame. The attackers, astonishment pasted on their faces and desperate to douse their burning clothes, dived into the sea. This vaulting tipped several craft to their gunnels, causing many to capsize. Realizing their peril in further advance, the more distant boats reversed course and narrowly averted the next wave of
Rameur
flames.

At this development Frank snapped out two orders. “Drag those soldiers in the water ashore and secure their boats. The rest of you launch all catapults. I want that ship hit
hard
!”

Not one of the first salvo of bleach bombs hit the
Shannon
. Three overshot and one fell just short of the ship. Frank was furious. Glancing at Hector, he glared. “I knew we should have practised more. Adjust the lever up one notch on the first three and down one on the fourth. Launch again as soon as you've made the adjustments.”

Before they could fire again, the
Shannon
blasted a broadside at the settlement. Several cabins were smashed to bits, killing the few who had foolishly stayed in them. The second
Rameur
salvo proved more successful: two direct hits cracked the
Shannon
's main mast.

“Excellent!” Frank cried. “Keep firing!” He ordered his men to drag the drenched British oarsmen ashore. Then he told them to take off their jackets and blindfold them by wrapping the jackets around their heads.

All four barrels of the third salvo hit the ship, knocking out its quarterdeck and its second mast and setting all its sails ablaze. This punishment didn't stop the warship from firing its cannons again and again, but each time its aim became less accurate.

When the ten fleeing longboats reached the
Shannon
, tow lines were thrown to the oarsmen and anchor lines were cut. They began to row the crippled warship out of harm's way.

“They're getting away!” Frank shouted. “Keep launching those barrels!”

The
Rameurs
managed to launch another four salvos before the rowers succeeded in pulling the ship out of range. The
Shannon
's main deck had suffered extensive damage. Few men on it could have escaped injury. But the ship itself carried on.

The whole incident — from appearance to departure of the ship — lasted less than three-quarters of an hour. Ninety longboat men had been captured; ten had drowned. Eight longboats were recovered, including their contents of muskets, a quantity of ammunition, and two Union Jacks. Five
Rameurs
lay dead.

The prisoners were treated for burns, were fed codfish chowder, and were marched off to work in the coal mine. As they marched past Nola, she recognized one prisoner as a soldier she had encountered at Grand Pré. She slapped him hard. “I remember you grabbing and pinching me. You're a beast!”

The man recoiled in dread.

Frank came up and asked, “What's going on here?”

“This animal groped me when we were at Grand Pré.”

Anger flickered in Frank. “Well, the shoe's on the other foot now, isn't it, soldier? This lady is my wife. What do you think we should do with you and your bad behaviour?”

The soldier apologized, profusely begging Nola for forgiveness. Gracious in victory, she pledged the man to be more respectful of women and, that done, accepted his apology and sent him off to work.

Hector was delighted with the victory but miserable with his miscalculation. He had to accept that he had been wrong about the threat to Westmount. “What can I say, Frank, you were right.”

Frank didn't answer directly, but shifted attention to immediate concerns. “We only have ten bomb barrels left after repelling that attack. We have to put those prisoners to work rebuilding our supplies.”

“You make the decisions about our defence, Frank,” Hector said. “It's obvious you know more about this than I do. If we'd followed my advice, we'd probably be captives of the British by now or dead. Without your discovery of how to make bleach bombs … well, I don't want to even think about it.”

“You're a good man, Hector. There's no need to put yourself down. We couldn't have done what we did without you.”

That evening Frank confided in Nola about their prospects. “I don't want to scare people more than they are already, but I have little doubt that Louisbourg is doomed. I've talked to some of the prisoners, and it's clear they mean to crush the French. As soon as they're done at Louisbourg we'll be next.”

“You aren't going to give up, are you?”

“Of course not. Hector agrees that I'm now the leader. I mean for us to fight until we win. Or die. Do you think the
Rameurs
are tough enough? Five of those who stayed in their cabins died and several were injured.”

“We've already been through a lot, but everyone I've talked to is ready to fight. They know what it is to be a prisoner, and none want a life of subservience. I'm positive all will do what needs to be done.”

“That's just what I wanted to hear,” Frank said, hugging her gently. “It's certain that we'll have to work hard, but that, unfortunately, might not be enough.”

Frank organized the prisoners into work gangs. “We'll operate in three shifts — one on the job, another getting food, and the last on break. Hector, we need to arrange guards for each of these shifts.”

“I'll do that. How do you want the prisoners distributed among the coal mine, the distillation works, the red rock quarry, and the evaporation flats?”

“Our efforts must be focused on bleach production. Those yellow grains are the key to our defence. We have maybe a month before they attack again. We must have lots of bleach ready by then or it will be all over for us.”

A week after repelling the
Shannon
the community experienced a heart-wrenching setback. Joseph went missing while on reconnaissance at Louisbourg. Hector reported to Frank, “He must have been captured or maybe killed.”

Frank discovered that there had been only three men on relay duty. “That's not enough. I imagine Joseph was tired from all the travel and was spotted taking a rest. After all, it's thirty miles by land to Louisbourg.”

Frank decided a rotating team of seven — one every five miles plus a spare ready to go — would be needed and that each would be armed with a musket. Because he wanted all available men for guard or bleach production jobs, he gave Jocelyne the responsibility for this task. “Do you have enough girls to handle this relay, Jocelyne?” he asked. “I don't have to tell you it's dangerous.”

“I'll need to have them do some training first, but other than that I'm sure we can do it. We're eager to do our part.”

Later, Nola asked Jocelyne why she had assigned little Adele to the relay team. “Adele has been pestering me for weeks to help,” Jocelyne told her friend. “First, I was surprised by how well she learned to handle a musket and then she showed me the skills she'd picked up from our Mi'kmaq friends. She can camouflage herself so well and walk so noiselessly in the forest that she can almost fade out of sight magically. Adele is so good at these hunting skills that I despair she'll ever learn to become a proper young lady.”

Two weeks later there was a positive, though bittersweet, interlude to the community's defence efforts. A Basque fishing boat carrying the two Louisbourg deserters and their new wives dropped anchor. The captain mentioned he had to travel to Westmount at night to avoid British patrols but that he was used to such manoeuvres and it had posed little real inconvenience. The arrival of the immigrants, plus the regular exchange of goods, gave a much-needed boost to everyone's spirits.

Frank was particularly pleased that the ship had brought a mercury thermometer. “I've wanted this for a long time. I'm going to put it to immediate use to check some temperatures on the distillation tower.”

For a full month Jocelyne's team reported that the fortress defenders were holding out against the thousands of bombs and cannonballs hurled at them. Then, in mid-July, she reported that the defences were starting to crumble. The King's Bastion and almost all the larger structures in the fortress had been destroyed. “I'm sure they can't hold out much longer,” she told Frank.

Although distraught, Frank wasn't surprised at this news. Production at the bleach works was progressing well. But who knew if it would be enough?

Frank learned from an officer prisoner that his uncle was one of the commanders of the force attacking Louisbourg. The overall commanders were General Amherst and Admiral Boscawen, but next in charge were Brigadiers Lawrence, Wolfe, and Whitmore. Frank mentioned this to Hector without comment, but secretly he hoped it could somehow be used to his advantage.

The last week of July Jocelyne reported Louisbourg had fallen. “I went myself and climbed a tree about half a mile from the fortress. I saw the British parade in and raise the Union Jack. There was utter misery in the faces of the defenders. Stacks and stacks of dead were heaped against the walls. It was a pitiful sight. The British have won.” She began to sob inconsolably.

Frank understood what he had to do. He realized it wasn't wise to provoke the British lion unnecessarily, so he assembled the prisoners in the settlement's main square and stepped up on an overturned bucket to gain height. When Frank announced that Louisbourg had fallen, they cheered so passionately that it was a full five minutes before he could speak again. Then he told them the
Rameurs
were prepared to set them free as long as they pledged not to come back and attack the settlement.