Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste
Encyclopedia
Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste (born in Bergerac, France 1663, died in Acadia
after August 1714) was a French privateer
famous for the success he had against New England merchant shipping and fishing interests. Baptiste's crew members were primarily Acadians.
, Baptiste fought in the Battle of Port Royal (1690)
. On May 9, 1690 English forces under Sir William Phipps attacked the capital of Acadia of Port Royal with a fleet of seven vessels and 700 men. Baptiste was among only 85 men defending an unfinished fortification at Port Royal. After spending 12 days pillaging Port Royal, Phipps' troops pillaged the rest of Acadia, including Castine, La Héve, Chedabucto and the settlements at the head of the Bay of Fundy. Baptist was taken prisoner along with other Acadians but shortly after escaped.
Upon Baptiste's return to Acadia, Governor Joseph Robineau de Villebon
commissioned him to protect Acadian interests as a privateer. Baptiste set off to prey on the busy and dangerous shipping lanes off Boston Harbour. On his first mission, he took eight ships, including a brigantine within sight of Boston. He received much praise from the Governor of New France Comte de Frontenac.
As a result of his success, Baptiste was given command of a fast warship named Bonne. In early June 1694, Baptist arrived at Cape Sable and scattered the New England fishing fleet, taking five vessels into Fort Jemseg on the St. John River.
He followed up this initiative in July 1694 by returning to Boston and sank a few vessels that were too small to be worthwhile prizes, while capturing three that were. In 1694, over a three month period he captured 10 vessels. Six months later, January 1695, he returned to St. John River with more prizes that he had captured. Fear of Baptiste is reported to have kept 400 New England fishing vessels tied up guarding their coasts. All the English settlers fled from Coastal Maine to safety further south.
On May 24, 1695, returning from Boston with more prizes, Baptiste ran into an English war ship. Baptiste ran his vessel aground and fought. Cannon fire raged throughout the day, the English ship was crippling Bonne. Having lost the ship Bonne, Baptiste went ashore and walked to Villebon at Fort Nashwaak on the St. John River.
's expedition out of Acadia to attack strongholds on the New England coast. After having captured two frigates at the mouth of St. John River, the first target was the vitally important port at Pemaquid (present day Bristol, Maine
). The port was protected by Fort William Henry
(also known as Fort Pemaquid). Baptiste and the expedition soundly destroyed the fort and dismantled it. Acadia became a source of torment for the settlers of New England.
(present day Fredericton, New Brunswick
; See Fort Nashwaak), then Acadia's capital. Villebon had been alerted and prepared his defences. On October 18 the British troops arrived opposite the fort, landed three cannons and assembled earthworks on the south bank of the Nashwaak River. Baptiste was there to defend the capital. Baptiste joined the Indians and put himself at their head for the duration of the siege. There was a fierce exchange of fire for two days, with the advantage going to the better sited French guns. The New Englanders were defeated, having suffered 8 killed and 17 wounded. The French lost one killed and two wounded.
. While in Grand Pre he armed the vessels and recruited Acadian crew members to make a descent on the coast of Nova England. In March 1697 Baptiste had captured eight English fishing vessels within three leagues of Casco Bay
. Bapiste was injured three times in raid, however, he was able to capture the vessels and took many prisoners. Two New England privateer ships arrived at the scene but Baptiste was able to beat them back and safety return to Grand Pre with his prizes.
In May 1697, Villebon again sent Baptiste to raid the New England ports. For a second time Baptiste was captured and imprisoned in Boston for over a year. Despite the official end of King William's War with the Treaty of Ryswick
, the New Englanders were reluctant to release Baptiste. The European war ended in 1697 with the Treaty of Ryswick, but continued in New England for two more years.
Upon his release, in December 1698, Baptiste returned to Port Royal. Villebon made him captain of a small coast guard vessel and captain of the Port Royal militia. Baptiste was protecting Acadian fishing interests off of Acadia when he was captured in 1702 and again imprisoned in Boston on the eve of Queen Anne's War.
, Queen Anne
is reported to have ordered that no prisoners were to be exchanged and that Baptiste was to be hanged, because he was an officer of the garrison of Port Royal who had been made prisoner during peacetime, and who had then failed to recover his freedom, on the ground of his being a pirate. On hearing this, Governor of Plaisance (Placentia
), Newfoundland Jacques-François de Monbeton de Brouillan
sent an express messenger to Boston, to declare to the governor that the he would retaliate if Baptiste was killed. This saved Baptiste's life.
Baptiste was kept in strict seclusion on Boston's Castle Island until 1706. New France and Acadia made significant diplomatic efforts to get him back, insisting that he be released as part of a prisoner exchange involving captives taken by French and Indian raiders in the 1704 Raid on Deerfield. Difficulties in obtaining Baptiste's release also lead to the delay in the return of another prominent prisoner, Acadian Noel Doiron
.
served as port captain of the Acadian settlement of Beaubassin
. He is reported to have served with distinction in the first Siege of Port Royal (1707)
.
He sailed along the coast between Port Royal and to the French capital of Newfoundland Plaisance (present day Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador
). In 1709 and 1711 he participated in the arming of privateers at Plaisance.
Because of his immense knowledge of the North Atlantic coasts, the Governor of Plaisance, Philippe Pastour de Costebelle consulted Baptiste on the site for the new settlement on Cape Breton Island, Louisbourg (1714).
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
after August 1714) was a French privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
famous for the success he had against New England merchant shipping and fishing interests. Baptiste's crew members were primarily Acadians.
Battle of Port Royale (1690)
During King William's WarKing William's War
The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...
, Baptiste fought in the Battle of Port Royal (1690)
Battle of Port Royal (1690)
The Battle of Port Royal occurred at Port Royal, the capital of French Acadia, during King William's War , the first of the four French and Indian Wars. A large force of New England provincial militia arrived before Port Royal, which was surrendered without resistance not long after...
. On May 9, 1690 English forces under Sir William Phipps attacked the capital of Acadia of Port Royal with a fleet of seven vessels and 700 men. Baptiste was among only 85 men defending an unfinished fortification at Port Royal. After spending 12 days pillaging Port Royal, Phipps' troops pillaged the rest of Acadia, including Castine, La Héve, Chedabucto and the settlements at the head of the Bay of Fundy. Baptist was taken prisoner along with other Acadians but shortly after escaped.
Upon Baptiste's return to Acadia, Governor Joseph Robineau de Villebon
Joseph Robineau de Villebon
Joseph Robineau de Villebon , a governor of Acadia, was born in New France and received much of his education and military experience in France....
commissioned him to protect Acadian interests as a privateer. Baptiste set off to prey on the busy and dangerous shipping lanes off Boston Harbour. On his first mission, he took eight ships, including a brigantine within sight of Boston. He received much praise from the Governor of New France Comte de Frontenac.
As a result of his success, Baptiste was given command of a fast warship named Bonne. In early June 1694, Baptist arrived at Cape Sable and scattered the New England fishing fleet, taking five vessels into Fort Jemseg on the St. John River.
He followed up this initiative in July 1694 by returning to Boston and sank a few vessels that were too small to be worthwhile prizes, while capturing three that were. In 1694, over a three month period he captured 10 vessels. Six months later, January 1695, he returned to St. John River with more prizes that he had captured. Fear of Baptiste is reported to have kept 400 New England fishing vessels tied up guarding their coasts. All the English settlers fled from Coastal Maine to safety further south.
On May 24, 1695, returning from Boston with more prizes, Baptiste ran into an English war ship. Baptiste ran his vessel aground and fought. Cannon fire raged throughout the day, the English ship was crippling Bonne. Having lost the ship Bonne, Baptiste went ashore and walked to Villebon at Fort Nashwaak on the St. John River.
Raid on Pemaquid (1696)
In the summer of 1696, Baptiste led Pierre Le Moyne d'IbervillePierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1702 (probable)was a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of...
's expedition out of Acadia to attack strongholds on the New England coast. After having captured two frigates at the mouth of St. John River, the first target was the vitally important port at Pemaquid (present day Bristol, Maine
Bristol, Maine
Bristol is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,644 at the 2000 census. A fishing and resort area, Bristol includes the villages of New Harbor, Pemaquid, Round Pond, Bristol Mills and Chamberlain. It includes the Pemaquid Archeological Site, a U.S. National...
). The port was protected by Fort William Henry
Fort William Henry (Pemaquid Beach, Maine)
The Fort William Henry is located in the village of New Harbor in the town of Bristol, Maine. The fort was the largest in New England. The fort was originally built in 1692 but destroyed four years later by New France in the Siege of Pemaquid . The fort was rebuilt in 1908. The fort was added to...
(also known as Fort Pemaquid). Baptiste and the expedition soundly destroyed the fort and dismantled it. Acadia became a source of torment for the settlers of New England.
Siege of Fort Nashwaak (1696)
Within weeks of the attack on Pemaquid, the New Englanders struck back. In 1696 an expedition under command of Major Benjamin Church set out to destroy the capital of Acadia Fort NashwaakSiege of Fort Nashwaak (1696)
The Siege of Fort Nashwaak occurred during King Williams War when New England forces from Boston attacked the capital of Acadia in present-day Fredericton, New Brunswick. The siege was in retaliation for the French and Indian Siege of Pemaquid at present day Bristol, Maine. In the English...
(present day Fredericton, New Brunswick
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Fredericton is the capital of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by virtue of the provincial parliament which sits there. An important cultural, artistic, and educational centre for the province, Fredericton is home to two universities and cultural institutions such as the Beaverbrook Art...
; See Fort Nashwaak), then Acadia's capital. Villebon had been alerted and prepared his defences. On October 18 the British troops arrived opposite the fort, landed three cannons and assembled earthworks on the south bank of the Nashwaak River. Baptiste was there to defend the capital. Baptiste joined the Indians and put himself at their head for the duration of the siege. There was a fierce exchange of fire for two days, with the advantage going to the better sited French guns. The New Englanders were defeated, having suffered 8 killed and 17 wounded. The French lost one killed and two wounded.
Raid on Casco Bay, Maine (1697)
By withdrawing from the Siege of Fort Nashwaak, the British gave up two small boats. Baptiste used them to head to Grand PreGrand Pre, Nova Scotia
Grand-Pré is a Canadian rural community in Kings County, Nova Scotia. Its French name translates to "Great Meadow" and the community lies at the eastern edge of the Annapolis Valley several kilometres east of the town of Wolfville on a peninsula jutting into the Minas Basin, framed by the Gaspereau...
. While in Grand Pre he armed the vessels and recruited Acadian crew members to make a descent on the coast of Nova England. In March 1697 Baptiste had captured eight English fishing vessels within three leagues of Casco Bay
Casco Bay
Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth...
. Bapiste was injured three times in raid, however, he was able to capture the vessels and took many prisoners. Two New England privateer ships arrived at the scene but Baptiste was able to beat them back and safety return to Grand Pre with his prizes.
In May 1697, Villebon again sent Baptiste to raid the New England ports. For a second time Baptiste was captured and imprisoned in Boston for over a year. Despite the official end of King William's War with the Treaty of Ryswick
Treaty of Ryswick
The Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces.Negotiations started in May...
, the New Englanders were reluctant to release Baptiste. The European war ended in 1697 with the Treaty of Ryswick, but continued in New England for two more years.
Upon his release, in December 1698, Baptiste returned to Port Royal. Villebon made him captain of a small coast guard vessel and captain of the Port Royal militia. Baptiste was protecting Acadian fishing interests off of Acadia when he was captured in 1702 and again imprisoned in Boston on the eve of Queen Anne's War.
Queen Anne's War
During Queen Anne's WarQueen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
, Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
is reported to have ordered that no prisoners were to be exchanged and that Baptiste was to be hanged, because he was an officer of the garrison of Port Royal who had been made prisoner during peacetime, and who had then failed to recover his freedom, on the ground of his being a pirate. On hearing this, Governor of Plaisance (Placentia
Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador
Placentia is a town on the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador, consisting of the amalgamated communities of Jerseyside, Townside, Freshwater, Dunville and Argentia...
), Newfoundland Jacques-François de Monbeton de Brouillan
Jacques-François de Monbeton de Brouillan
Jacques-François de Monbeton de Brouillan French military officer and Governor of Plaisance , Newfoundland....
sent an express messenger to Boston, to declare to the governor that the he would retaliate if Baptiste was killed. This saved Baptiste's life.
Baptiste was kept in strict seclusion on Boston's Castle Island until 1706. New France and Acadia made significant diplomatic efforts to get him back, insisting that he be released as part of a prisoner exchange involving captives taken by French and Indian raiders in the 1704 Raid on Deerfield. Difficulties in obtaining Baptiste's release also lead to the delay in the return of another prominent prisoner, Acadian Noel Doiron
Noel Doiron
Noel Doiron was a leader of the Acadians, renown for the decisions he made during the Deportation of the Acadians. Doiron was deported on a vessel named the Duke William . The sinking of the Duke William was one of the worst marine disasters in Canadian history...
.
Siege of Port Royal (1707)
Baptiste eventually returned to Acadia in 1706 and for the rest of Queen Anne's WarQueen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
served as port captain of the Acadian settlement of Beaubassin
Beaubassin
Beaubassin was the first settlement on the Isthmus of Chignecto, Nova Scotia, which was Acadian. The area is now known as the Tantramar Marshes. Beaubassin was settled in 1672, the second Acadian village to be established after Port Royal. The village was one of the largest and most prosperous in...
. He is reported to have served with distinction in the first Siege of Port Royal (1707)
Siege of Port Royal (1707)
The Siege of Port Royal in 1707 was two separate attempts by English colonists from New England to conquer Acadia by capturing its capital Port Royal during Queen Anne's War. Both attempts were made by colonial militia, and were led by men inexperienced in siege warfare...
.
He sailed along the coast between Port Royal and to the French capital of Newfoundland Plaisance (present day Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador
Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador
Placentia is a town on the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador, consisting of the amalgamated communities of Jerseyside, Townside, Freshwater, Dunville and Argentia...
). In 1709 and 1711 he participated in the arming of privateers at Plaisance.
Because of his immense knowledge of the North Atlantic coasts, the Governor of Plaisance, Philippe Pastour de Costebelle consulted Baptiste on the site for the new settlement on Cape Breton Island, Louisbourg (1714).