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Heroine of
§§§§
//he ſºomantze Story of //e Z2/e
of Aºrances AZaz-ze /acque//ne,
W2/e of Szeuz de / a 7 ozer, and
A/ey. Hero/ce /9c/ence of Zºor/
A.a 7 ou?", aſ //e 4/o/, //, of //e
Aºver St. John ºn //e year 645
A y
James Hammay, D. C. L., F. R. S. C.
Arinzed at 7%e Sáza/hºnore /’ress and
Auð//s/ed by /o/,” A. Bowes, S/./o/n,
AW. A., AWineſeem Hundred and /en





- Eºrºntºr-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º: srººttºmatºs-e-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º:
Đubligher's ji).Ote
ºr FA W days before has death, which
occurred on January 12, 1910, Or.
J -** Hammay handed me the manuscript of
the Zife story of Zady Za Zour, with the request
that ºf Öe pub/2shed ºn pamphlet form. The
mazº detaz's of the story had already appeared
Žn has A/zstory of Acadža, pub/2shed 2n 1878, and
Åas Óeen frequently quoted by writers on early
history of St. John. Za Zour, the husband of
Frances Marze Jacque/ºne, was practica/Zy the
“first settler” on the Rºver St. John, and an
Żmportant figure ºn French Acadia for over half
a century. At the end of a tempesāous career he
was Zazd to rest somewhere on the banks of the
river he Zoved so well, where also is the resting
place of his herozc wife, the Heroine of Acadia.
G|James Hannay, D.C.Z., F.A.S.C., the author
of this brochure, was a matzve of Mew Brunswick,
Æav2ng Öeen Öorn at A'zchzöucto on April 22, 1842.
With the exception of a few years spent in
Montrea/ and AWew York, Dr. Hammay’s whole
A&ſe was Zºved ºn AWew Brunswick. At an early



|Dublisher's ſºote
age he became 2nterested ºn Acadian history and
the result of his studies in Zhis direction were
given to the pub/2c ºn 1878 under the title of “A
Aſistory of Acadia,” a book which has been exten-
s?ve/y read wherever £he AEng/zs/, /anguage is
spoken. As a yourma/isſ ZX7. Hannay held a
zecognized poszłżon ºn Canada for many years.
A/e was an exce/Zerzá wrzáez and Žossessed a Zazge
fund of 2nformatzon and a retentzve memory.
Q. Mo man was more 2n/2 mate/y acqzzazmáed than
AMr. Hannay wº/, //e contemporary events of the
/asſ half century. From the beginning of the
campaign which Zed up to the confederation of £he
four Provinces, which origina//y composed the
AMomzizzon of Canada, down £o the last genera/
election, he had taken some paré ºn d'ºrect2ng £2,6/2c
op?nzon. 84/uch of Az's £2me, during the five years
Żrecedzng Az's death, was spezzá 27, gatherzng
materza/s and preparºng the manuscript for the
Aſistory of AVew Brunswick, which was pub/2shed
only three weeks before / 2's death. Q|ZZ was always
a marvel amongs? /.2s frzends where Dr. Hannay
found the £2me to do so match work of a Żermanent
character, req 2, 27-272 g deep and painstaking
zºesearch, as at a comparatzve/y ear/y age he
attached himself to the staff of the St. John
|Dubligher's ſhote
7.elegraftſ,” and from that time until has retire-
ment from acázve ſourma/zsm, five years ago, he
a/ways he/d a responszó/e foszázon 2n one of the
most exact?ng professzons, ºf such zł may 6e ca/Zed,
of the present day. G|Dr. Hannay's pató/?shed
works are the “AZästory of Acadia '' (1878); “M,”fe
and Zºmes of Sir Zeonard 7./Zey’’ (1897);
“Aſistory of the War of 1812'' (1907), a second
edition of thºs work was pató/?shed ºn Zorozzo and
another ºn Great Britain ; “AZasłory of the Queen's
A’angers ” (1908), “AEa/Zads of Acadža '' (1909);
“Aſistory of AVew Brunswick’’ (1909). Afz's
tempzzó/?shed manuscripts 2nclude a Hzstory of the
Aloya/zsts. Q|Dr. Hannay will always occupy a
/ead/zng place as one of the Azoneers among the
writers of hzstory ºn Canada.
John A. Bowes.
St. John, AV. B., 1970.


º
P
sºrº
fºgº
[º
§
º: Fº
sº
º; § º
tº HE story of Lady LaTour is the most
§ romantic in the annals of Acadia.
The world’s heroines have always been
few in number, and fewer still have
been those women who have been impelled to
deeds of heroism by love of husband and home.
Yet this was the influence that made Lady LaTour
an Amazon and a heroine, so that her name will
be handed down to the most distant ages linked
with deeds of valor. The soil upon which she
fought and died and in which her bones still rest
must therefore always be looked upon with interest
by those who admire those qualities by which men
may become immortal.
The husband of our Acadian heroine was
Charles de St. Etienne, Sieur de La Tour, who
came to Acadia from France with his father about
the year 1609, when he was only fourteen years of
age, and formed a part of the Port Royal colony
of Poutrincourt. Father and son were Huguenots,
and the father had been ruined by the wars of the
League which devastated France for so many
years. The LaTours were of an ancient family and
claimed to be allied to the noble house of Bouillon,





Che #Heroine of El Cabia
--- ------ - - - - - <-- - -i, a $3.3 - “...***** $ -- *-* * * * * *-* →---------
but their fortunes were at a very low ebb when
they came to Acadia. Yet they had influential
and wealthy friends in France who were always
ready to assist them, and upon whom they drew
largely for help in after years. Most of the state-
ments that have been published in regard to the
LaTour family in France have been written by their
enemies, so that it is not always easy to ascertain
the exact truth in regard to them. It has been
said that the elder LaTour became so poor that he
worked as a stone mason in Paris. If this is true
he deserves all the more credit for having risen to
an important position in Acadia.
The Port Royal colony was broken up by
Captain Samuel Argal and a force from Virginia
in 1613. Biencourt, the son of Poutrincourt the
founder of the colony, took to the woods and
young LaTour, then only eighteen years old, went
with him. They remained together until 1623,
when Biencourt returned to France, leaving
Charles LaTour in possession of his property and
rights in Acadia. It was soon after this date that
LaTour married Frances Marie Jacqueline, who
became the heroine of Acadia. She was a
Huguenot, and it is believed, a native of Rochelle,
the great centre of Huguenot power at that time.
The Menou family which was always hostile to
LaTour published a memoir in which it is stated
that LaTour's wife was selected for him by his
agent in France and shipped to him like a bale of
* ~ * ~%– - --- -- - * I. I. ºr - -º- “ ” -, --- – - - - - - - ~ *- --~~4. --~~~~ -º
(6)

Che Heroine Of Eicačia
goods. The same memoir alleges, that she was
the daughter of a barber of Mans. It is imposs-
ible either to absolutely contradict or to verify
these statements, at the present day. They are
highly improbable, however, and as they were
written by an enemy of LaTour and for the purpose
of injuring him few persons will be disposed to
believe them. One thing is certain, that if
LaTour's wife was selected for him by another, his
agent made an admirable choice, for no man ever
had a more faithful and devoted life partner.
Francis Marie Jacqueline was probably not
more than fifteen years old in 1625 when she was
married to Charles LaTour. Acadia was then a
wilderness, inhabited only by Indians and the few
Frenchmen who followed the fortunes of her
husband. Their home was at Port LaTour, near
Cape Sable, where her husband had built a resi-
dence and fort which he named Fort St. Louis.
It was not until ten years later, in 1635, that they
took up their abode in Fort Latour in St. John
harbor.
The ten years that elapsed between the arrival
of Lady LaTour in Acadia and the taking up of
her residence at St. John were years of war and
adventure, but only one of many incidents need
be stated, the one which gave her the title by
which she is known in history. LaTour, the elder,
while on his way to France was captured by an
English ship and taken to England. There he
(7)

(ſhe jFieroine of Eicabia
became acquainted with Sir William Alexander,
who then had a grant of Acadia from the King of
England, and who was a court favorite. LaTour
was introduced at the court of King Charles I.
and was received with favor as a person likely to
promote the plans of Alexander for colonizing
Acadia. One of the maids of honor of the Queen
Henrietta Maria fell in love with him and married
him, and he was made a baronet of Nova Scotia.
The same title was given to his son Charles whose
wife thus became Lady LaTour. Moreover a
grant was issued to father and son by Sir William
Alexander of a large tract of territory in Nova
Scotia having an area of about four thousand five
hundred square miles. In consideration of these
favors the elder LaTour promised that he and his
son would become subjects of the English King
and would assist in promoting its settlement by
Sir William Alexander. *
This arrangement became inoperative in con-
sequence of the refusal of Charles LaTour to
consent to it. He was rising in favor at the
French court and did not feel disposed to change
his allegiance. The reward of his fidelity came
soon, for in 1631 he was granted a commission by
King Louis XIII. appointing him to command
as lieutenant general for the King in Acadia.
The homeless wanderer of 1613 who was driven
into the wilderness with Biencourt had risen to be
the first man in Acadia.
(8)

Che Hieroine of £iCabia
In 1635 LaTour removed his establishment to St.
John and took possession of the fort whose ruins
still speak of its former strength. Prior to this
change of residence he had received a grant from
the Company of New France of the fort at St.
John and the lands surrounding it, comprising
about 600 square miles of territory. This grant
carried with it not only the ownership of a splendid
domain, but the control of the trade of the vast St.
John river, a trade which carried with it the
potentiality of great wealth. Denys, a contem-
porary of LaTour, states that in those days the
trade of this territory amounted to 30OO moose
skins a year, besides large quantities of beaver
skins and other peltry. Unfortunately for LaTour
the prosperity which had thus fallen upon him
provoked the jealousy of rivals and ultimately
proved his ruin.
Fort Latour was a structure of four bastions, one
hundred and eighty feet square, and enclosed by
palisades after the fashion of that age. It mounted
twenty-four cannon and usually had a garrison of
2Oo men. From its position it commanded not
only the entire harbor to the south of it, but the
entrance to the river, so that no boat or vessel
could pass up without the permission of LaTour.
Here he lived in state like a great feudal baron,
the master of a region as large as a European
kingdom, surrounded by armed retainers, and with
the spoils of the sea, river and forest at his com-
(9)

(ſhe #ieroine of El Cabia
mand. In those days the fisheries of the river and
harbor yielded enormously, while all manner of
wild animals and birds swarmed in the forest.
The visitor can see today the very place where
LaTour caught fish in such abundance that they
broke his nets, for there great ocean liners lie
freighted with goods for Europe which have come
over thousands of miles of railway from the prairies
of the West.
Across the Bay of Fundy, at Port Royal, LaTour
had an enemy who viewed his prosperity with
jealous eyes, and sought to compass his ruin.
This was Charles de Menou, Sieur d’Aulnay
Charnisay, who had been second in command to
De Razilly, who up to the time of his death in
1636 represented the Company of New France in
Acadia. Charnisay succeeded to the command at
Port Royal and at once began that series of
intrigues which had such a sinister influence in the t
prosperity of Acadia. The family of Menou to
which Charnisay belonged was in some way con-
nected with that of Cardinal Richelieu, and
Richelieu was then the master of France. Charni-
say's father, who is described in state documents
as “Councillor of the King,” had the ear of the
great minister and soon brought his influence to
bear to advance his son's fortunes. His first
efforts, however, were not very successful, for
they resulted in the issuing of a royal letter
addressed to both Charnisay and LaTour in which
(10)

Çbe jheroitle of £icășia
the boundaries of their commands were so plainly
defined as to leave no room for controversy. In
this letter it was stated that it was the will of the
King that Charnisay should be his lieutenant-
general on the coast of the Etchemins “beginning
from the centre of the firm land of the French
Bay, thence towards Virginia,” and that LaTour
should be his lieutenant-general from the coast
of Acadia, “from the middle of the French Bay
to the Strait of Canso.” The French Bay, it may
be explained, was the Bay of Fundy. Charnisay
was told that he was not empowered to change
any arrangement in the setttlement of the River
St. John made by LaTour, while LaTour on the
other hand, was not to attempt to change anything
in the settlements of Charnisay at La Have or
Port Royal. The fatal defect of this arrangement
was that both of Charnisay's settlements were in
the territory which was under the government of
LaTour, while LaTour's fort and settlement at
St. John was in the territory which was under the
government of Charnisay. The authority of the
latter amounted to nothing so long as LaTour
held the mouth of the River St. John and com-
manded the trade and resources of that great
Stream. -
Charnisay was by no means satisfied with this
settlement of his difficulties with LaTour and he
continued his intrigues in Paris against his rival
both personally and through the medium of his
(11)

Che jFieroine of El Cabia
father. LaTour was accused of all sorts of crimes,
his wife was denounced as a heretic, and as the
author and instigator of his rebellious conduct.
All these charges were made in LaTour's absence,
for he was pursuing his business quietly in Acadia
while his rival was in France seeking his ruin.
The result of all these efforts was that in February,
1641, an order was issued by the King of France
commanding LaTour to embark and return to
France immediately to answer the charges which
had been made against him. A letter was like-
wise sent by the King to Charnisay, directing him
that if LaTour failed to obey the order of the King
he was to seize his person and make an inventory
of his effects. To accomplish this Charnisay was
ordered to employ all the means and forces at his
disposal, and to put LaTour's forts in the hands
of persons well disposed to the King's services.
LaTour, in short, was at one blow to be stripped
of his property, deprived of his liberty, and sent a
prisoner to France. A few days after this order
was issued, the King in Council revoked the com-
mission as governor which LaTour had held for
ten years and which he had never disgraced.
A vessel named the St. Frances was sent by the
King to Acadia to carry LaTour back to France,
but when she made her appearance at Fort LaTour
in August, 1638, the deposed governor utterly
refused to obey the order of the King either in
respect to yielding up his fort or returning to
(12)

(Vhe jºieroine of El Cabia
France a prisoner. He had with him a body of
armed men who were faithful to him, and he had
his heroic wife's advice and support to sustain him
in defying the King's authority. Even a King's
writ cannot always be executed without force, and
LaTour felt himself to be master of the situation for
the time and in a position to defy his enemies.
Charnisay had no force to oppose that of LaTour,
and he returned in the St. Frances to France, deeply
disappointed, but more determined than ever to
destroy his rival.
LaTour was well aware that by refusing to obey
a royal order he had placed himself in a position
which he could only sustain by superior force, so he
at once began to look about him for aid against his
enemies. Naturally enough he thought of the
people of New England as most likely to become
his allies in defying the King of France, and he
immediately sent one Rochette, a Huguenot of
Rochelle, who was in his employment, to Boston
to endeavor to arrange a treaty with the men of
Massachusetts. LaTour desired free trade with
Massachusetts and assistance against his enemy
Charnisay. The Boston people were willing
enough to grant the former, but declined the latter
on the ground that Rochette had brought no
letters or commission from LaTour. This, how-
ever, was only a pretext, for when LaTour a year
later sent his lieuteuant to Boston with full power
to arrange a treaty he had no better success than
(13)

(Whe Heroine of Eicabia
before, and no steps were taken to give him the
assistance asked for. The only substantial result
of this mission was the opening of a trade with
certain merchants of Boston, who, in after years,
perhaps regretted that they had made LaTour's
acquaintance. These merchants freighted a smail
vessel with goods and sent her to Fort LaTour.
They made a good sale of their wares and were
treated by LaTour with much courtesy, but on
their return journey they fell in with Charnisay at
Pemaquid. He informed them that LaTour was a
rebel and he showed them an order which he had
obtained in France for his arrest. He sent a copy
of this document to Governor Winthrop, accom-
panied by the threat that if any of the merchants
of Boston sent their vessels to trade with LaTour
he would seize them as lawful prize.
The King of France had granted this order of
arrest to Charnisay in February, 1642, but he
imposed upon the latter the cost of carrying it out.
To accomplish this it was necessary for Charnisay
to employ a large force, a measure which involved
him in lavish expenditures and made it necessary
for him to mortgage his property to persons in
France. With all his diligence it was more than
a year before he was ready to attack LaTour in his
St. John stronghold. At length in the early
spring of 1643 Charnisay appeared at Fort LaTour
with his ships, a galley and three pinnaces,
manned by five hundred men. As he found the
(14)

Kºbe jºieroine of £icabia
fort too strong to be attacked he resorted to a
blockade, anchoring his ships in the channel to the
south west of Partridge Island and the smaller
vessels in the channel north east of the Island.
Thus Fort LaTour was effectually cut off from all
kinds of supplies, except such as could be obtained
from the river which rolled through a savage
wilderness. It was evident that unless relief
came LaTour and his men must in time be starved
into surrendering.
This blockade continued for weeks and LaTour
had no force sufficient to drive away his enemies.
There was but one source from which relief could
come and that was France. Many months before
LaTour had sent Rochette to France to inform his
friends in Rochelle of the danger which menaced
him and to obtain aid if possible to enable him to
maintain himself in Acadia. Rochelle, although
stricken down and deprived of its ancient
privileges, was still the home of a wealthy and
energetic Hugenot population who hated the very
name of Richelieu and were ready to defend any
who dared to resist his orders. The people of
Rochelle responded nobly to LaTour's appeal.
They fitted out a large armed ship named the
Clement, loaded her with ammunition and supplies,
and putting on board of her one hundred and forty
armed men sent her to the aid of LaTour in Acadia.
It was early in June before the Clement reached
St. John but LaTour had kept a close watch for
(15)

Che Heroine of El Caoia
her, and his scouts warned her of the blockade of
the harbor. So well was the affair managed that
Charnisay had no knowledge of her arrival, and
in the night LaTour and his wife passed down the
harbor and through the blockading fleet, and
boarding the Clement set sail for Boston. There
he hoped that the interest of the merchants with
whom he had dealings and who desired to retain
his trade would induce the Massachusetts people
to assist him against his enemies. The Clement
entered Boston harbor on a Sunday morning just
as the people of that pious town were returning
from church, and her appearance caused no small
amount of consternation. LaTour was not long in
convincing the Boston people that he had no evil
designs against them. Governor Winthrop called
a meeting of the magistrates at which it was
agreed to permit LaTour to have ships and men in
Boston to enable him to reach his own fort in
safety. Armed with this authority LaTour hired
from Edward Gibbins and Thomas Hawkins of
Boston four vessels, manned by fifty-two men and
armed with thirty-eight cannon. He also enlisted
ninety-two soldiers to augment the force on board
his vessels and provided them with arms. As
soon as this was accomplished he lost no time in
setting sail for his fort, confident in his ability to
destroy his enemy.
It was on a fine morning in July that Charnisay
saw LaTour's fleet of five armed ships approaching.
(16)

ºbe Heroine of £icabia
He did not wait for their onslaught but cut cables
and fled to Port Royal, LaTour's vessels pursued
him and drove the enemy into Port Royal River,
Some of Charnisay's men fortified themselves in a
mill near the mouth of the river, but were driven
out of it with loss and a pinnace laden with four
hundred moose skins and four hundred beaver
skins was captured. Then the ships sailed back
in triumph to St. John to succor its half famished
garrison.
LaTour had been relieved for the time from a
great danger, but he was well aware that his
enemy would not be deterred by one repulse.
More help must be obtained and it was only from
his friends in France that he could look for
efficient aid. To obtain that aid it was necessary
to send a competent representative, and who was
so fit for such a mission as his faithful and devoted
wife? Accordingly when the Clement returned
to France in the autumn of 1643 she carried with
her Lady LaTour. It is to be regretted that we
have no portrait and no description of our heroine
at this period. She was then about thirty-four ;
years old, an age when a woman should have
reached the maturity of her beauty and vigor.
She was the mother of several children, the oldest
a daughter of seventeen named Jean, the only one
of her children who remained in Acadia. There
were sons also, for they are mentioned in a docu-
ment written ten years later, but how many we
(17)

(Vibe Thieroine of £icabia
*::I*.*…º.º.º.º. Hºfºrº.
are not told. But these children had all to be
left behind while she undertook a long and tedious
voyage to France to serve her husband's interests.
Charnisay set sail for France about the same
time as Lady LaTour, and as soon as he got there
he heard of her presence in Rochelle. He imme-
diately went to Paris and, representing her as a
traitor to the King, he procured an order for her
arrest. Fortunately the designs of this ungenerous
enemy were defeated by the vigilance of her
friends. She received a timely warning of the
danger in which she stood and fled to England,
which, although vexed by civil war, was a safer
retreat for a Huguenot lady than France. In
England she found friends, and in March, 1644,
she set sail for Fort LaTour with a large stock of
provisions and ammunition, in a London ship
which had been fitted out by Alderman Berkley
and Captain Bailey. It is a singular fact that this
ship had for a passenger Roger Williams, the
founder of the Providence plantation. If any
writings of his are extant, may it not be possible
that among them are some records of this famous
Voyage.
Lady LaTour and Roger Williams were destined
to be fellow passengers for six months, for the
master of the vessel instead of proceeding on his
voyage to Fort LaTour with all possible despatch,
as he was bound to do, lingered on the coast of
Nova Scotia to trade, and did not reach Cape
(18)

Che Heroine of £icabia
Sable until September. As soon as he got into
the Bay of Fundy he fell in with one of Charnisay's
vessels, which was cruising to intercept supplies
for LaTour. Charnisay himself was on this ship
and boarded the London trader, but he had no
suspicion of the prize that was within his grasp,
for Lady LaTour was concealed in the hold.
After this the voyage to Fort LaTour had to be
abandoned, and Lady LaTour and her goods were
carried to Boston. LaTour himself had left that
place only a short time before, for, after waiting
for months at St. John for the return of his wife,
he had been forced to seek supplies elsewhere.
He tried once more to enlist the people of Boston
on his side, but the most he could accomplish was
to obtain a ship load of provisions, with which he
returned to Fort LaTour. º
Lady LaTour's position when she got to Boston
was a difficult one, but she was equal to the
occasion. She brought an action on the charter
party against the persons who freighted the ship
for unreasonable delay and deviation in the
voyage. The case was tried at a special court in
Boston, before all the magistrates and a jury of º
the principal men, who gave her a verdict of two
thousand pounds damages. On this judgment
she seized the cargo of the ship, which was
appraised at eleven hundred pounds, and, hiring i
three vessels in Boston to convoy her home, at
length arrived safely at Fort LaTour. • {
º

Che Hetoine of Eſcadia
Great was Charnisay's rage when he heard of
the escape of the hated wife of LaTour. As he
had a great superiority of force, he was able to
maintain the command of the Bay of Fundy and
to prevent any supplies from reaching Fort
LaTour. The people of Boston, who had no
desire to encounter the enmity of so powerful a
personage, agreed to withdraw their support from
LaTour, although they did not bind themselves
not to trade with him. LaTour's force had in the
meantime been weakened by sickness and by
desertions. He had to contend against treason
within his fort, as well as an implacable enemy
without. Supplies of all kinds had to be provided
and they could only be obtained from New
England. It was necessary for him, therefore, to
have a well equipped ship at sea most of the time,
and this weakened his force in Fort LaTour and
gave his enemy an opportunity to destroy it.
Early in the winter of 1644–45, LaTour had to
go to Boston to obtain provisions for his fort.
Charnisay soon after began a blockade of St. John,
and while his vessel was cruising there he was
hailed from the shore by two friars, who asked to
: be taken on board. These men had been turned
out of her fort by Lady LaTour, because she
discovered that they were in league with her
enemies and endeavoring to corrupt her men.
They informed Charnisay that LaTour was absent
and that the fort contained but fifty men. There
(20)

Che jFieroine of El Cabia
was little powder left in the fort and that much
decayed, and if he made a vigorous attack he
might easily capture it. This was in February,
1645. Encouraged by this intelligence Charnisay
entered the harbor of St. John and ranged his
vessel in front of Fort LaTour. He expected to
see its flag hauled down immediately, but he had
miscalculated the spirit of the lady who held the
command. She had inspired her men with a
courage equal to her own, and Charnisay's attack
was met by a still more vigorous defence. The
cannon of the fort were handled so well that in a
short time Charnisay's vessel was reduced to a
sinking condition, and to keep her from going
down beneath him he had to run her ashore on
Sand Point, out of the range of the guns of the
fort. In this affair the besiegers had twenty men
killed and thirteen wounded. Lady LaTour had
well vindicated her right to be the leader of brave
†1621).
Charnisay repaired his shattered ship and sent
to Port Royal for reinforcements. As the trait-
orous friars were able to tell him of the weak
points in the defences of the fort, he resolved to
attack it again from the land side. Fort Latour
lies upon a long point of land, which is connected
with the mainland on the west side of the harbor
by a narrow neck. Charnisay's forces were landed
and took up a position which commanded this
neck, so that those in the fort were cut off on
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Che Heroine of EłCaoia
every side. There are only two contemporary
accounts of the siege and capture of Fort Latour,
one by Governor Winthrop, who has recorded the
event briefly in his diary, and the other by
Nicholas Denys, a neighbor and friend of LaTour,
who relates the events of the siege in his book,
which was published in 1672 in Paris. Denys
says:
“Charnisay would have had great difficulty in
accomplishing his design had he not been advised
of the absence of Sieur de LaTour, who had taken
with him a part of his garrison, leaving only his
wife and the remainder of his people to keep the
fort. After having sustained for three days and
three nights all the assaults of Charnisay, and
having obliged him to withdraw beyond reach of
her cannon, she was finally obliged to surrender
on the fourth day, which was Easter Day, having
been betrayed by a Swiss who was on guard while
she, hoping for some respite, was making her
followers rest. The Swiss, bribed by Charnisay's
men, allowed them to mount to the assault, which
was resisted for some time by the lady commander
at the head of her garrison. She only surrendered
at the last extremity and under condition that
Charnisay should spare all, which, indeed, he did
not do, for, after making himself master of the
place, he threw them all into prison, along with
their lady commander. Then, with the advice of
his Council, he hung them, with the exception of
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(Whe Heroine of £icabiá
a single one, whose life was spared on condition
that he would do the hanging, and the lady com-
mander had to be present at the scaffold with a
rope around her neck, as though she was the vilest
criminal.”
Lady LaTour did not long survive the destruc-
tion of her home and the death of her men. In
three weeks she died, heart broken, leaving to the
tender mercies of her enemy a young child, which
was sent to France. Her grave is somewhere on
the shores of the harbor of St. John, marked by
no stone, the exact spot unknown. But her
memory will never fade so long as courage and
fidelity are admired by the human race, and she
must always stand the foremost and the most
heroic figure in Acadian history.
The believers in a nemesis will be glad to know
that Charnisay did not live long to enjoy his
triumph. Five years later he was drowned in the
River of Port Royal, by the upsetting of a canoe.
He might have been saved, but an Indian who
was with him, remembering some blows that
Charnisay had given him some days before, held
his head under water until he died. With his
death the whole fabric of his greatness vanished.
All the proceedings he had obtained against
LaTour were reversed, and the latter was made
Governor of Acadia. Three years later LaTour
married Charnisay's widow and entered into
possession of all his dead rival's property. His
tº
Che Heroine of £icabia
fort was captured by Cromwell's men in 1654, but
it was restored to him, and he died at a good old
age by the River St. John, which had been the
scene of his trials and triumphs, and which he
loved so well.
N
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WILLIAMLCLEMENTS
LIPRARY OF
AMERICAN HISTORY
UNIVERSITY:/MICIIIGAN
§ 2,