During the first week of
August, 1755, a Battalion of
British and New England
Irregulars left Fort
Cumberland, near present day
Amherst, under orders to
follow the Cumberland Road
for about 150 km to Cobiquid,
now present day Truro.
From there they were to
| carry on northward 70
kilometres to the small
Village of Tatamagouche on
the Northumberland Strait.
The march took about 10 days.
They were lead by a New
England Officer named Lt.
Obijiah Willard and were
under sealed orders from
Lieutenant Colonel Robert
| Monckton and Nova Scotia,
Governor Charles Lawrence.
After gaining supplies at a
French Village near Cobiquid,
they marched on towards
Tatamagouche. A few
kilometres from Tatamagouche
they stopped to read their
sealed orders.
The orders shocked
| Willard. He was told to
continue on to the Village of
Tatamagouche where he was to
capture all the French
inhabitants and burn the
homes of all settlers along
the Northumberland shore.
This was the first act of the
Deportation of the Acadian
people from Nova Scotia.
|