The soldiers of the garrison
were sent as prisoners to Halifax.
After the fall of Beausejour, which Monckton renamed Fort
Cumberland, the British met with little further resistance.
Fort Gaspereau on Baie Verte, against which Monckton next
proceeded, was evacuated by the commandant Villeray, who
found himself unable to obtain the assistance of the
Acadians. And the few Acadians at the river St John, when
Captain Rous appeared before the settlement with three
ships, made an immediate submission. Rous destroyed the
cannon, burned the fort, and retired with his troops up
the river. The Indians of the St John, evidently impressed
by the completeness of the British success and awed by
their strong force, invited Rous to come ashore, and
assured him of their friendliness.
Having removed the menace of the French forts, Lawrence
was now able to deal more freely with the question of
the Acadians. The opportunity for action was not long in
presenting itself. In June the Acadians of Minas presented
to Lawrence a petition couched in language not as tactful
as it might have been.
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