Of course this was the community that welcomed many Acadians during the expulsion...

https://johnwood1946.wordpress.com/2015/04/29/the-official-account-of-the-destruction-of-burnt-church

​It is thus proven that Burnt Church was destroyed by Colonel Murray in 1758, acting under orders from General Wolfe, as part of a plan of military operations. The account by Cooney, contained in his History of Northern New Brunswick and the District of Gaspe, 1832, and widely accepted locally, is erroneous in almost every particular. Cooney says (page 35), that after the conquest of Quebec a vessel containing the remains of General Wolfe and carrying despatches, was driven by stress of weather or other adverse circumstances into Miramichi, where the captain resolved to replenish his stock of water, and despatched six men for the purpose. They proceeded to Hendersons Cove, and having loaded their boat were rambling about when they were surprised and murdered, with refined tortures, by the Indians, supposed to be assisted by the French. In retaliation the Captain proceeded up the river, destroyed all the French settlements there, and on his way out to sea burnt the Chapel at Neguac, thus originating the name Burnt Church. A form of this erroneous tradition is given by Father Gaynor on page 56 of this volume of these Collections.

Probably around 1770 after the Citadel and before the AmRev (not many military ships) 

I had to write passages in the novel that took place in Halifax so I had to dig up these old maps...

​Courville
1755.-0n lived for I'hiver in 1755, a great tranquility li I 'Acadia is ignorant of the preparations that crowns them faisoient, however ali had warned by deesolls hands Ie S. VergaI 'he tramoit something against the Fort, but there is not faisoit attention, and merely ask the Marquis du Quesne to meet the troops who were depllis long time, and send him a small reinforcement: Ie spring comes, go ~ lettes coutnme who had come early to Fort Lawrence, gave their delays by some SOllp <; ons of some events; Ie S. Jacan Piedmont, Officer of AI'-artillery, and who has faisoit Beausejour functions lngenieur, faisoit Toules possible representations that left him complete Ie Fort: The abbe de Ia head in laloutre had completed aboiteau for his leqllel it had re <; u liVl'es fifty miles, and almost employoit to us lea Acadians in Sorle that Ie S. Jacan Scarcely could not use that very little of the world: representations of this officer were useless to laloutre I'emporta.
S. Vergor, plot of \ the silent Englishman, sent couriers to Port Royal, learned nothing, and Ie did return to his safety, the English had made their preparalit's very secret, however Vel'gor was warned by it would be very few Acadians soon as;; iege; cash SUi, his intelligence, he replied that we dare not, and he feared nothing ow.
Mr. Braddock, Official, who had acquired the reputation, and his Highness the Duke of Cumberland Ie esteemed by its value, had been appointed by the Court of London, for Abel * 'order in America British forces, he taste was attacking Beausejour, and Dement horny Ie Cornman says Colonel Robert Monckton, he was given troops and train ArtiIlerie quite considerable for this expedition, his fieet was composed of three fi'egates, a sen to, and thirty-six boats, he was made in Grand Anse Bay in Maringouin Fondy, two leagues from Beausejour; Vergor the ignorant, the inhabitants of Chipoudyet of Pekek.oudiac, * aper9u with this fleet, ie made him savoil 'with all diligence Ie June 2, 1755, Ii two o'clock in the morning Alol's Vergor could no longer dou · lerdu purpose of the English, sent orders to all · IES Acadians in condition to bear arms, to prom make dough.
member at Fort Beausejour: The main endroi live ts were three rivers: Memeramcouk ie, Chipoudy, Pekekoudiac, then-Beausejour, Lac Oueskak Ie, Pont Buot, La Coupe, and the Baie Verte: All men of those places, gathered together make twelve pouvoient Oll fifteen hundred men they were, it is true, some seasoned pen and good will,-sUI'tout refugees who had everything crain · dre the English, who had often threatened their wind make a bad fate if they had arms against prenoient.
xLes first who introduced themselves, said to S, Vergor they consentoient to take up arms in favor of Fran.
90is, but that IT convenoit they had their security interest, which could not be positive in order to take up arms and defend Fort Ie a penalty of ~ sobeissance me and my punishment and this is what Commander did, and sent ilies, they gave all the captains Ii Militia, and after making save their wives and fans in the woods and profondeul 'of such' res they rendit'ent at Fort OR Ie S. Vergol of 'espel'er gave them a speedy relief, and assured me that m ~ is the English prendroient developed its Fort.
The squadron went into battle in Angloise Ie bottom of the Bay, at the sight of the two forts, and Mr. Monckton was sound.
embarkation without any difficulty: he encamped troops Bur see lee glacis of Fort Lawrence, and Ie Iendemain made them relax and just make some evolutions; AL01's Ie S. Vergor felt otter Ia soundness instances of S. Jacan to put Ie strong state of siege, he ordered LOUS IES inhabitants and the soldiers were following orders and travaillassent and made emrer in Ie strong ammunition mouth were in a store outside, he sent a small guard a place called the Isle la Valliere, who is propremellt a grove of timber in the plain between the fund and Beausejour Lawrence, who looks like a Isle, this guard down at the bivouac Ie Commander Wrote Mr. Druconr a Governor of Louisbourg, I'informer for the arrival of this eseadre Angloise, designs-which had been in his position, and he demanded a speedy rescue: also he sent a courier to M. Ie Marquis Duquesne I'en to inform and ordered to batimen8 who were in the Bay Vel'te to return in Canada: it also summoned the inhabitants who were not yet come to give order to the S. Villeray, Captain C? mmandant of the forl Gasparaux, '* to be SUI' guard, he did the same S. Baralon, Teach, which gardoit Ie Pont-a-Buot and he ordered him to burn ee small fort.
The fort was a t Pentagon situated on a small eminence from where he commanded SUI 'Bay, and he was separated by marshes, it was distant from Fort Lawrence as a very short half-league-a Ilne league Pont-a-Buot, and einq-Green Bay; pits were only begin; works had languished for lack of workers, Ia-up pOllvoit have 260 to 280 feet largeUl ';-8a garrison was composed of one hundred and fifty troops of the Navy, eommancles pal 'fourteen officers from Canada and Louisbourg, he was filled with pieces of cannon vingt.et.une, a mortiel'de 16 inches, and provided plenty of ammunition and mouth.
Ie if Sieul 'Vergor had heard ia war, he might have long contest. Ie tel'rein time against the English; dll Two hundred and fifty men stationed in the fort were sufficient for gal'de and work. It was not necessary to wait until the point the enemy in his fori, especially ~ ith greater amount of people that could not contain; pouvoit allel II 'it cam · per view of the enemy and Roma pre-abserver sea ​​dess ~ ins, to dispute the passage Ie I'iviere Beaubassin, hal-Ie "eeler constantly having the advantage of the ground, he might have to fight a battle without consommeI 'it Mr. Monckton, a part campaign, before he could form Ie biege, and eet interval he had auroil relief of Canada, which would not have inlriguer Ie General lack of English, and would have · ~ can be changed in the country the constitution of the war, making offensive on our part.
4 J une, it five in the morning, sortit'ent their enemies in battle and camp spun Ie vel'S Buot path, there had sent some Acadians, who had made a kind of retrenchment, and a few volunteers came to join them, the English having three small pieces of cam · paign 6lbs. advanced proudly to throw leut 'bridge the Acadians fired, the enemy responded with their cannon and musketry, some Indians who were among the Acadians fled and threw I'epou.
boasts, so each has 11 pens are sauveI '; quelq ues Officers in me made me, so they threw the English bridge, no.
Serent quietly, and came to camp ala Butte · Amirande, half Iieue Beausejour; Ie then made Commander bnller the church and houses a round the fort.
Enemies settled at the bottom of this hill, on the small river, a bridge of communication with Ie Fort Lawrence, and they did montel 'bed until their boats loaded artillery, munitions of war, and mouth on s' amused. elllement ~ lem has drawn some of Beausejour,, oops cannon, which firenl rieo, and some giddy Ie shoot went along the embankment, but they soon flll'ent disgusted because these Boats were armed with Pierriers; Ie eight enemies defilel'ent vel'S Butte-a-Charles, they went only reconnoitre terrein Ie, some shootings despised, and that they Tirat, it took an officer cejour Englishman named Hay, who was returning to the camp of Fort Lawrence; Indians who had pl'i ~ I'amenerent; 00 Ie bought, and made him many courtesies; eo.t we even care to warn Mr. Moncklon from its socket.
S, however, endeavored Vergor relief everywhere Acadians d6sertoient and highly faid they did not wish to stay in Fort Ie Ie during siege because the smallness feroit all perish by fire and Ie pal 'misery: This commander was sending order on order, often when he anfwered ilies had had it asa discretion aUl'oit dO.
having made proper use; finally turned 11 S.
Germain, Jesuit, missionary then the river St. John, and Ie asked to send him, but his father replied, having also a concern for this post, its not Wild pouvoient solve a I'abandonner; Vergor wrote again and even ordered the Commander to send him, but he was more o'en listen.
10, the English still reconnoitre fent by a strong d6tachement, location OR They might prepare their batteries. There was a small escal'mouche; Ie 12 Ie S. Valve SOI tit FOl't it's the head of a detachment of ISO men and Acaciiens troops, and boasted that he was going fail'e much fear and give pl'euves its value, which is dou- -roof it just aperlfut it the enemy, he withdrew and malgl'e lea representations of a few brave people who were with him, he returned even stronger in Ie, without having perm that fusiIlftt - and confirmed they had the wrong opinion of him, he became the laughing stock of each uo.
Ie vel's soil 'enemies who had been working, through the woods and ravines, Poul path, lead their artillery onto Charles Ie hill, about 120 yards from the fort, vim'ent to capture this hill; some Indians and Acadians orders Ie S. Caput Bailleul, brave officer, left the fort and shot awhile. This officer is leaving too bear pal e ~ 'courage, and thinking that it was a small detachment 11 that it had to do, it would be comfortable to dislodge, avanlfa too - the enemy, as some wood Ii stole his view, made their discharge by pelotono and wounded Ie, Ie-detachment then retreated, and was content to take a few shots of the fort, only to promote leul 'retirement.
The Bune-it-paralltjle Charles was at the fort is only entitled Ie Ie favorable to beat, only 120 yards distant, Earth-Ia and Ie instead of fascines;-the enemies they worked Ie 12 IS, to open their trancMe, which proved HOI'S insult Ie morning of the 13th, and established JEUR mortar battery and answered by fifty-one bombs a few guns that they read.
As M, Vergor had sent to request Mr. Drucours, Governor of Louisbourg, send him a speedy secQurs, it 14, he re <jut a letter which marquoit or the impossibility of I'On Croof Ie rescue :-Ies enemies fuzzy prcsentant sOllvent at the sight of the place: on this answer, he assembled the officers whom he shared the letter, and Leu! ' asked their opinion, which was Ie take longer. poufI'oit that time, and carefully conceal this news to Acadians, however, it was much earlier disclosed - both I'indiscretion some officers, whom he plaisoit not be besieged, by the imprudeHce he had not had to take his domeslique lars Officers of the Meeting, it is true that co ~ ight noise Ie the wife of this man, though ugly, Ie had talent to please him, and impertinent fa <; screw ons · a-vis each souffi'oit it, Ie confirmoit.
Acadians, alarms speeches by some officers, came Ie done 15 in the morning, find Ie Commander, and he represented that they could no longer remain in a strong defense if unlikely, and they Ie prioient of them let out, he could do it easily - the place does not etanl invested attaqllce and being on one side only.
Finally Ie 16 morning, a bomb tombce a bunker, it I'entrea ue left the fort-I'enfons: a rem'ersa and part of the curtain; Ie S. Rambaut, Official 'Frans: ois,-Hay, Officer English, prisoner-Fernand, interpreter - Ie Knight and Billy were killed, another officer wounded-very-l ~ gerement, which made to Fort Ie, for can the 'ajoutallt it's inexperience, each it except for a few. brave opilla make it up, it Vergor Wrote Mr.
Monckton, and asked for a suspension of al'lnes 48 hours to prepare the articles of capitulation, he sent at Vannes, this officer I mentioned earlier, and as thin faisoit one topic that negotiation 'value; Ie General Englishman was surprised that did before. takes only a few bombs, and ignoring} effect of the latter, which Croof parallel masked by a curtain, it was asked to capitulate; iI knew about it by Ie sent him, it queues per sons he had to do, and gave · Following-toot of the articles of capitulation that accorderoit.
In vain a few brave officers insis1l ~ \ 'ent they Poul' Ja defense, everything was useless Ie S. Jacan of Piedmont, which for Ie if 10ut ~ ge had done what had depended on him, Be pointed by z ~ stU'etc for the Acadians,-a demand for eult honorable conditions and healthy, and to attempt It is if we do not defend actordoit: Ie S. the Abbe laloutre says that he must rather be highly buried in Fort Ie Ie make that; were sent several times Mr. It
Monckton, who had threatened to use gun batteries see if the soil It heul'es September, it was not the place livery, but this' Commander aecorder wanted nothing more than what he had proposed, the Entin was made up to the following conditions - lere.-Commander, Officers, Staff and other employees for Ie King, and the garrison of Beausejour, come out with arms and baggage, drum beating.
2e.-J ~ a garrison seraenvoyee directly by sea 11 Louisbourg, BUX dcpens the King of Great Britain.
3e.-Garrison will victuals enough to arrive at Louisbourg.
4e.-For Acadians, etc., as they obliged to take up arms under penalty deperdre life, they seroDt to forgive Ie party they had taken.
5e.-La. Garn.ison shall not bear arms I dalilS America during espaoe six months.
6e.-Lestel 'ei · my front are granted, subject que.ta garrison troops will rendueaux Britain has septheures apt-es this afternoon. (Sigm5) Robert Monk.
tone-Camp to the Bea \ l6ejour, Ie 16 June 1755.
Mr. Monckton had good reason to want prescl'il'e conditions, Ie from morning till soil ', it had been a division in Fort Ie, the Official's were not occupied qu'11 plunder it depute him had that drunken et0ient in his camp, they signed without deliberation, and ent much trouble pulling the Ii dn looting pOlll 'come sign the capitulation.
Seven of the soil heul'es a detachment Englishman entered, which sped on rempal'ls the soldiers fUl'ent witnesses looting, and prevented point.
The next day at seven in the morning, the troops evacuated the site France, the Acadians were already withdrawn and were on soil Ie, Ii Embedded board Go ~ lettes.
Commissioner Englishman voulnt have a state sigce guage ammunition! 'Fe and mouth and that he suffered to goods, but Ie-guard m <tgas.in FI' <tnc; ois he replied, S. and year Vergor who was with him, he signeroit aucnn state, because he would find that charge be wanting, and theft and looting that had been made for the 11 Commander, with no MIT ol'dre, malgl'e its representations, tomberoient SUI 'him, and attirproient of atfaires, and is no more about it.
It still remained Ie With Gaspereaux or commanded Mr.
of Villerai, Captain of Louisbourg, brave man, but that was a m <tuvais (ort, and had no troops to defend Mr Monckton sent him otfrir by 300 man ~, m ~ I surrender he had given at Fort Beausejour, ill'accepta, can not do otherwise.
24 m of ~ month I left the troops of the two forts to Louisbourg, where they Ie there arrived on July 6.

I was raised and played as a child in an around the Beausejour, Au Lac and Pree des Bourgs areas of Tantramar. As a child we used to play in canals in and around the Enterprise Foundry (not worried then about toxic waste.
As I grew older, as we are wont to do, I wanted to know more about where I came from and that resulted in a novel and hopefully a film...
I remember as a young child finding long abandoned building foundations on the high ground near the foundry.
And I was curious to see from where they might have come...
So over the last few years I have been trying to nail down the history of that tortured ground of my youth. Last year I drove around the old Enterprise site and the raw land adjoining certainly looked like dykelands and where there are dykelands, there were probably Acadians.
So here's my analysis by map, working from Paul Surette's positioning of Pree des Bourgs.
​Comments, criticisms, observations will be very appreciated.

Acadian Singer, Songwriter and Icon, Edith Butler Performs Tintamarre! Theme Song: "Le-Grain-De-Mil"...

I've highlighted all the structures occupied by Acadian Settlers in the Chignecto area that were identified by the British in Summer of 1755. This would have been used by the New England Rangers to track down the Acadians for expulsion.

Taken by my lifelong friend, Peter Oulton. Location - Between Sackville, NB and Amherst, NS

Old family friend, Gerry Landry, fulfilled one of my dreams when we visited him in Fitchburg, MA last weekend... He gave me his copy of the rare Clarence Webster history of New Brunswick with several one of a kind maps of Beausejour / Chignecto.
I've taken annotated aerial photos from about 1830 of the Beausejour / La Coupe and Jolicure areas and compared them to contemporary maps from the Province of NB Government and Bing "Bird's Eye View" maps ..

​Comments much appreciated...

Had a wonderful time visiting life long friends from Cap Pele, Gerry and Clara Landry in Fitchburg on the weekend. 
When I was a kid, and they hung out with my sister Wanda and her then boyfriend Fred Girouard, they were like movie stars. Hot cars, black pants/white shirts and DA haircuts. Usually a guitar around.
Gerry picked up this piece of brick at Fort Beausejour about 60 years ago, and he generously gave it to me to protect. So it's on one of our fireplace mantels.
Merci, Gerry!!!

The English had Excellent Mappers. One was Charles Morris who mapped all the existing Acadian structures and also mapped where the English settlers would locate. In his map he shows where the old Grand Pre Church was. It is fairly simple to approximate its location on a modern map.
This map presentation may inform those seeking the exact location.

Nathan Adams suddenly awoke to the rude pounding of drums. He was bivouacked along with a score of other men in a barn outside of the palisades of Fort Lawrence. It had been a cold night but the hijinks of young men, rum and bad singing had made it bearable.
The sun was just rising as he hurriedly pulled on his breeches, tunic and coat and donned his tricorn.
He and the other older men all kicked at a few of the young bucks who were deep sleepers.
"Hie, there shall be no rest for the lazy on this day, soldiers. Get your bat and clobber and get to parade! Now! Outta yer kip! Get on yer smalls!" shouted a sergeant to no one in particular.
Adams was the first to leave the barn, which was a good thing because the first thing he saw outside was John Winslow. "Adams. You're up early. Good. Ye're a Captain and this morning you'll lead the vanguard. Be sharp and ready."
"Yes, Major General."
The sergeants were following around the drummers and shaking men out of their sleep and drunken stupors. As the sun was fully in the sky and temperature began rising, so did the expeditionary force. Men were frantically cleaning up their mess, pulling on breeches, counting their cartridges, pulling on boots.
"Officers to the front! Single columns, ranks of three. Now! Hie to it! Faster! Move! "
It took almost an hour to get all two thousand men in a column and ready to march.
Finally they were in three columns, each in a rank of three, Monckton's regulars were in the front, Winslow's First Battalion of Provincial militia behind and George Scott's Second in the rear. Trailing behind were carts with large structures made from long tree trunks that had been awaiting the expedition for weeks.
Monckton said, "Mr. Adams."
"Yes, Lieutenant General."
"Lead the vanguard to the front."
"Yes, Lieutenant General."
"Mr. Adams, follow the top of the ridge to the bridge area."
"Yes, Lieutenant General."
Adams, "Expeditionary Force right…. turn. In ranks of three, March!"
It took almost three hours for the eight hundred men to follow the high ground and get to a point immediately across the river and about five hundred yards away from the Mésagouèche River, the Pont à Buot and French redoubt and blockhouse.
"Expeditionary Force…. Halt!"
Monckton stiffly marched to Adams.
"Captain, Take your vanguard down in three ranks to maximum musket range and draw fire from the enemy. We will follow with our regulars to kill, install the bridge and cross the river. Go now."
Adams gave the command and led his men carefully through the bare trees, some of which still had snow at their base, down the slippery grassy hill. They reorganized their column at about two hundred yards from the French position and right wheeled until they were parallel to their opponent. The ground was soaking wet and many men found their feet getting stuck in the muck.
Adams stood at their centre and ordered the men to stop. He continued on to the end of the column. He looked across the river to his opponents. The French launched undirected fusillades with the musket balls not coming near the New England lines. The New Englanders could hear the loud hoots and hollers of the savages across the river and, with the bridge destroyed, could see some of the Indians splashing across waving their bows and flintlocks shouting and making rude faces.
Adams ordered, "All ranks, open pan."
"Prime and load."
"First two ranks, kneel."
"Third rank, make ready."
The Indians were running toward the New Englanders with blood curdling screams.
"Third rank… fire."
Fifty muskets opened fire at once and tore apart the dozen or so Indians that had approached to within a hundred yards. The few remaining stood and looked confused. They started walking back to the French line and were taken down by the French fusillade.
"First two ranks stand and advance. Third rank to follow."
Within a minute Adams' vanguard was within effective musket range of the French and their balls whistled overhead. Their adversaries were on slightly elevated ground, but they would soon adjust.
"First rank, kneel."
"Second rank, shoulder arms."
"Third rank, prime and load."
"Second rank, Fire."
A deadly fusillade of fifty well maintained Brown Bess muskets fired at once, all identically on plane. A wall of lead five feet high tore apart those French standing and preparing to shoot.
"Second rank, kneel."
"First rank, stand."
"Fire."
"First rank, kneel."
"Third rank, Fire."
The French were badly injured by the steady and unassailable hail of lead sent their way by the British and the Indians and Acadians dropped back leaving only a few dozen French regulars to defend the crossing. But they loaded their swivels with grapeshot and the New Englanders took their first casualties. From behind, Adams could sense movement and he saw a column of over two hundred British regulars led by Monckton starting to cross the field. At the tale end of Monckton's column was a train of carts carrying the portable bridge.
As had Adams before but with more men, Monckton arranged his men in rows of one hundred in each of three lines. They delivered twice the devastation to the French position than had the vanguard. Monckton yelled, "Captain Sturtevant, your cannon, please."
The captain quickly brought up his six pounders on small carriages and they further tore up the French installation until there was little left. There was silence for a few moments and then some explosions and the French breastworks, blockhouse and even the tavern were no more. The French soldiers that had remained were running full speed up the hill on the other side, up the Butte à Roger. They quickly buried their swivel guns to try and keep them out of British hands.
By one of the clock Monckton had his portable wooden bridge crossing the Mésagouèche River and the English were following the route of the French retreat, dealing violently with their adversary's attempts at skirmishing to slow them down.
Winslow followed up with his battalion and relieved Monckton's regulars to begin establishing a base camp for their siege. Monckton and his men crossed back across the river and joined Scott's reserves for the return march to Fort Lawrence. They used the carriages that had brought the cannon to the battlefield to take back the casualties.
Engineers and carts carrying digging and construction tools passed Monckton and Scott's men en route to the new siege camp.
* * * * *
Louis-Thomas Jacau de Fiedmont had had his hands full getting soldiers up in the middle of the night to work on the fortress. He knew exactly what had happened to all the money that had not been spent. But there was nothing he could do about it.
He found his way to the officers' quarters and roused a couple of captains from their beds. He told them, "Les Anglais sont venus ici. Mainténant!" And soon enough they got dressed and made their way to the barracks and he got more men to start the reinforcement of the casemates and bomb-proofs.
As he finally got the men pointed in the right direction and told them what to do, Jean Louis Le Loutre appeared, looking bedraggled and dressed in peasant clothes rather than his cassock. Jacau thought this was unusual as Le Loutre always insisted on being recognized and commanding appropriate respect. Nevertheless the grenadier appreciated having the priest and the dozen hard working men that accompanied him. de Fiedmont was a veteran, not quite an “old moustache”, but experienced. He knew that the fort had no hope of withstanding the siege that the English would bring against it. So any divine support that could be requested would be appreciated.
Then the cannons roared from further down the river; probably by the bridge. de Fiedmont pushed the men harder knowing he only had hours before they would be under bombardment. He saw Acquila working hard as always and hurried over to him.
"Monsieur Girouard, thank you for all the hard work."
"Grenadier de Fiedmont, I do this for you and to protect the church and people, not for the fool who manages the military affairs."
"Thank you for helping me, then. We will need to bring the wives and children into the fort. As much as they might be safe in the church, they will be in direct line of the English artillery and at some point we will need to put fire to the settlement and the church so the English cannot use them against us."
"I understand. I will have them come in."
* * * * *
Louis-Thomas Jacau de Fiedmont took it upon himself to put fire to the settlement. He had helped settle the Acadians four years before, and he would continue to protect them now; but the settlement had to be razed. The English would otherwise use the buildings in their assault on the fort.
He called to a few men he knew to be dependable, "Philippe, Jean-Rene, Henri-Maurice, venir ici. Light torches, we need to put fire to the settlement. Hurry!"
Louis waved the men forward toward a small stack of torches that he had prepared for the overnight reinforcement of the fortress, but had never been used. They each took two and lit one from a bonfire. "Allons-y!"
They rushed over the drawbridge and down the hill toward the village, passing the female settlers, now refugees, on their way to safety in the fort. They came first to the church. The Abbé stood at the front door.
"What are you doing?"
"Pardon, Monsieur Abbé. I am afraid we must raise the church and village before they are used by the English."
"I will not stop you, but I will need help removing the bell. It is not hung yet."
"Rene, Maurice, take men and remove the bell to safety."
The two men followed the abbé into the church. Fortunately the bell was still on a skid and they were able to pull it into a place near the holy well. There was a large area of freshly turned soil that appeared to have been dug and refilled recently which would make the digging easier. Le Loutre brought shovels and followed them and stayed to make sure it was buried properly.
Louis and Philippe set fire to the church and moved on to other homes, kicking in doors in their urgency and lighting whatever was flammable inside. When the two others joined them they soon had the dozen or so other houses fully aflame and returned to the fort.
* * * * *
The two days since the initial assault across the river Winslow's company had been preparing a siege camp on the Butte à Mirande; eight hundred paces from the French fortress and a few hundred from the now smoldering settlement. They had needed to defend themselves against raids from Acadians and Miqmaqs since locating here but had avoided casualties.
John Winslow was surprised to see Sylvanus Cobb's sloop, the Coverley, making its way along the Mésagouèche River toward their position. The tide was high and the wind favourable and the ship was slowly and carefully maneuvering along the winding river. He wondered how it had managed to navigate past the French fort and suspected it proved how badly prepared were his opponents.
He was relieved because at least his men would stop complaining about being low on cartridges and food. He really needed to see them relieved; they'd been on a state of high alertness for days with little sleep and had to respond to steady sniping from Acadians and Indians. Winslow had sent Ensign Hay to request relief from Monckton and he was hoping that Cobb carried with him orders to prepare to be relieved.
As the ship approached, musket fire erupted from dykes and the remains of the French village that had been burned the night before. The houses and church were still smoking which served to make the shooters indistinct as targets.
"Adams!"
Nathan Adams responded to Winslow and rushed over.
"Adams, take a company and go and clear out those French muskets."
"Aye, sor."
Adams collected ten of his best men and they skirted the edge of the trees toward the French. In just a few minutes the French attackers were sent scrambling back to their fort.
Once it was clear, Cobb's crew and the men from Winslow's battalion took down carriages and sledges and returned with provisions, cannon and balls and a massive mortar. The mortar balls were so heavy that two men had to sledge each of them up the hill to the new position.
The last sledge brought up two large kegs of rum and a message sealed with wax for Winslow from Colonel Monckton, himself. He opened it gingerly.
He cracked the seal and unfolded the note. It was not from Monckton himself, but from an adjutant. The pompous ass had refused his request for relief; had even stated that if he could not hold his position, that he should retreat to a secure one. Even worse, Monckton had appointed an underling to deliver his orders.
Winslow tore up the note in anger. Monckton expected him to retreat and then, likely in the morning, endeavour to take back the ground he had already secured. The missive also ordered Winslow and all his field officers to meet at the bridge at ten of the clock the next morning with work crews to improve the road.
* * * * *
Commandant du Pont and his cousin, Lieutenant de Vannes, Thomas Pichon, the Abbé and a few other officers met for breakfast at first light as they had every morning for over a week; in the bombproof casemate farthest from the British lines.
The grounds of Fort Beauséjour were soaked from several days of rain; they were a morass of blood, gore and water filled cannon ball holes. Several of the bastions had been destroyed by English cannon. Only one of the barracks buildings remained standing and the addition of the Acadians to the population had created stress so great that soldiers were volunteering to take on dangerous missions against well defended English positions.
As it was, every square foot of covered space in the fortress was over at least one nervous, hungry and desperate head.
As they were having their tea poured a messenger arrived. Du Pont took it, broke the seal and examined its contents. It was from Commandant de Drucour in Louisbourg, "Monsieur Commandant du Pont, I regret to inform you…"
"Damn him to hell."
Le Loutre responded, "What?"
"de Drucour refuses to reinforce us. He says that the English are guarding the passage from Ile Royale and he can not be assured that any support he might send would arrive here. All is lost… We must offer terms."
Le Loutre said, "We will offer them nothing! Rien! We will win this fort for God and King or should be buried in its walls."
Pichon commented, "We are indefensible. We must try to save what we can."
"Monsieur Abbé, you do not have a wife and family who would suffer by losing you. And your Acadians seem to have become much sparser in the last few days. We are too few in men and ammunition to defend this fort.
"Monsieur de Vassan, if you will, please prepare your parchment and ink."

Completed by English Cartologist at Time of Excursion
Open map in new tab and then use Ctrl+ to zoom in and see location of structures.

My old friend John DeMont wrote an excellent article on new efforts to do archeology at Grand Pre.
Link

"It isn’t, after all, uncommon for people to hide things in times of conflict like the Acadian War. Throughout the Grand Pre area, in fact, many caches of Acadian farming equipment have been discovered, presumably hidden in the hope that the owners could recover them later on."

Bonjour,
I think everyone in all our efforts have missed some research opportunities.
There hasn’t been a lot of effort to trace back the old Acadian presence in Sackville / Pre de Richard
and Middle Sackville / Pre des Bourg.
A plaque has been set up at Tintamarre / Upper Sackville to their credit
But no information on the other two settlements.
From the records, we know there was a small settlement somewhere in what is now Sackville.
Franquet's Map - seems to indicate that there were 9 households near what is now Sackville (attached)
The 1751 inhabitants (including refugees who had left Beaubassin or other  former settlements) included nine families in Sackville:
Jean-Baptiste CORMIER, his wife, 3 boys, 4 girls.
Antoine LANDRY, his wife, 3 boys, 2 girls. (Veskak)
Joseph RICHARD, his wife, 4 boys, 2 girls. (Nanpan)
Martin RICHARD, widower, 2 boys, 1 girl
Jean RICHARD, his wife, 1 boy, 1 girl
Pierre RICHARD, his wife, 2 boys, 2 girls
Pierre BOURGEOIS, his wife, 2 boys, 2 girls
Joseph RICHARD, his wife, 2 boys, 2 girls
Francois BERNARD, his wife, 1 boy
Francois BOURG, his wife, 7 boys, 3 girls
So there seems there were nine families with about 60 people. Question is...  where?
When I was very small - perhaps in the late 1950s - I remember my older sisters playing in some old ruins near the old Enterprise Foundry - - I have pointed at their location on the attached aerials and map.
Like most Acadian villages - the remains were on the higher sloped ground near a flat field and a tidal river. I have never heard if this stretch of the Tantramarre River was dyked with aboiteaux or not - but the aerials certainly suggest this.
While a full archeological dig probably isn't worthwhile, any foundations (although the stones were probably taken) or some evidence of structures might be found by a Geophysical scan.

I've analyzed census counts to try and see how Acadians moved around...
Comments and observations welcome...