The Voyage | Arrival in Chaleur Bay | The Battle | Sequel
Conclusion
Map of Bay of Chaluer
When Giraudais received word of the power their foes retained, he landed four twelve pound cannons and one six pound cannon, and quickly constructed a battery on the north shore of Pointe à la Batterie.
Byron's entire squadron reached the mouth of the Restigouche River on the 27th of June. After being seperated by foul weather the Repulse and the Scarborough regrouped with Byron's Fame. The Achilles and Dorsetshire remained five leagues down river.
The English and the French fleets were ready for battle. The English fleet consisted of three warships and two frigates:
- The Fame with 74 guns
- The Dorsetshire with 70 guns
- The Achilles with 60 guns.
- The Repulse with 32 guns
- The Scarborough with 29 guns.
The French only had one frigate-the Machault with only 28 guns, and two merchant ships: the Marquis de Malauze with 16 guns, and the Bienfaisant with a meager 12 guns.
The total French manpower was approximately 450. Their Acadian allies offered about 20 schooners and small boats but they weren't able to handle the firepower the English had to offer. The French also had the support of the Acadian refugees and the MicMac tribe which in total was about 1500 people on land. They had little strength for a counter attack not to mention defending themselves against the British naval attack.
Due to shallow waters, and limited knowledge of the area, the English were grounded several times. It took them three days to cover nine intervening miles.
The only (and most vital) advantage the French had over the English was their knowledge of the river; they were able to maneuver better then the English. The shallow waters bought the French some time so they continued to go up river, lightening their load to give more buoyancy. They also formed a blockade by sinking some of the Acadian schooners. Pointe-à-la-Batterie was ready to launch its surprise attack on the English.
On the 27th of June, the Fame, the two frigates, and the schooners finally succeeded in maneuvering just beyond the chain of sunken ships. Once in range, the battery had received a major retaliation. This skirmish lasted all night and was repeated with various breaks from the 28thof June to the 3rd of July.
While Byron and his ships were fighting the French battery, Giraudais stayed aboard the Machault and watched. By the 3rd of July, Byron was able to navigate the Fame into the south channel which gave him the power to crush Pointe à la Batterie, including 150 to 200 buildings which made up the Acadian village community at Pointe à la Batterie. The men at the battery retreated and re- grouped with the Machault.
At this point the French ships discharged most of their cargo and traveled three leagues up river. The English cleared the channel by raising some of the sunken schooners from the blockade; it took them all day to complete the task. With less then two fathoms of water in the river the English lightened their cargo to increase buoyancy. This brought them within a short distance of the French vessels.
The French tried to maintain a blockade by sinking more schooners along the way. With the knowledge they had of the waters they moved faster than the English. At this time two new batteries were formed, one on the South shore at Pointe de la Mission (today Listuguj, Quebec), and one on the North shore at Pointe aux Sauvages (today Campbellton, New Brunswick). Giraudais had also placed the Machault in the middle of the river, armed and ready to go!
The Bienfaisant and the Marquis de Malauze were moved upstream. The English prisoners were placed in the latter's hold to keep them from the natives-who they feared would scalp them.
Giraudais took further precautions and formed another blockade with the Acadian schooners at Pointe aux Sauvages.
"When Byron saw that his great battleships would be unable to navigate the Restigouche River, he placed his best men throughout the frigates and a crew of 100 on a schooner. However the British were forced to withdraw on two attempts, but succeeded in defeating the batteries on a third."3
On the 7th Byron spent the day getting rid of the battery at Pointe aux Sauvages and later returned to the task of destroying the Machault. By the morning of July 8th the Scarborough and the Repulse were in range of the blockade and face to face with the Machault.
Artist redition of the battle.
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cannons firing
The battle commenced early in the morning of July 8th. The English carried out several violent blows to the Machault and the remaining battery. The Machault launched a counter attack. The crews of the other two French vessels were at the battery. The French were out gunned and out numbered.
The British Repulse was taking a beating; "her sails were shredded, her masts were toppled, her hull was pierced, and holes at the water line were visible."4
When the Repulse sank the water was so shallow the crew was able to get off the ship and repair the damage. In no time it was up and ready for battle again. The Machault suffered the same fate but never sank. "The damage and casualties were light for both adversaries."5
Having divided up the Machault's gunpowder amongst the three ships it soon ran out, so Giraudais sent some men to fetch more-unfortunately they never returned.
Without gunpowder Giraudais was powerless. He held a
meeting with D'Angeac (the commander of troops), who
wasn't going to leave until the ship was blown up. It was
a dark time for the Machault and the crew. Knowing the end
was eminent, Giraudais ordered the Machault and the
Bienfaisant to be scuttled so they would not fall into
enemy hands.
The Marquis de Malauze, with the English prisoners, was moved away from the combat. The prisoners refused to leave the ship out of fear of being scalped by the natives, so they were left on the ship to fend for themselves. The 62 English prisoners were petrafied of being blown up at any moment. One of the prisoners was so afraid he jumped off and swam to the Repulse, which was a league or two away, and informed the English of the whereabouts of the other prisoners. Captain Allen of the Repulse sent nine boats to rescue the prisoners and then sunk the Marquis de Malauze, losing only six men.
At this point Byron sent a schooner and 17 boats to capture or destroy any French ships still remaining. They safely got past the battery and launched an attack.
Giraudais wasn't about to let his rivals capture any of his ships so he set ablaze the best of the remaining four. He prevented the English from landing on the banks by creating another blockade on land and firing at the ships with muskets. The English retired empty handed.
The battle was over that night. The English withdrew downstream and later departed for Halifax for repairs. The French stayed behind to salvage what they could, and because they had only a few small ships to cross a large ocean.
All in all the English losses amounted to six men, while the French lost approximately 23 vessels, 33 including the ten Acadian schooners they sunk. To add to the battle toll, many men were killed and injured.
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