The Battle of La Nouvelle-Ernée was a battle of the Anglo-French War which occurred in 1628 when an English and Native American force from New Tealby destroyed the French colony of La Nouvelle-Ernée at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula in Massachusetts.
History[]
The outbreak of war between the colonial powers of England and France in 1627 amid the French Wars of Religion led to a limited degree of colonial violence in North America, where the French had colonized Canada since 1534 and the English had colonized the Plymouth Colony in New England in 1620. A French expedition led by Louis de Cadillac founded the colony of La Nouvelle-Ernée (named for Ernée in the Mayenne department of northern France) at the tip of the present-day Cape Ann peninsula in 1628, while, farther down the peninsula, the English established the colony of New Tealby.
The English established trade with two Huron villages between their settlement and the French one, and Langham also had a Native American embassy built at his village. His growing town came to house a garrison of pikemen, musketeers, and longbowmen, and this force was able to respond to an attack on New Tealby by French-hired pirates. After this French raid, which killed two English settlers, the English bolstered their ranks with Huron and Mohawk warriors obtained through local treaties. This combined force, aided by English cannon, marched north and located the French village, which Langham had previously come across during his solo exploration. The English cannon bombarded the French town as the Huron manlets spearheaded the torching of the French town center and military buildings. Once the French town center burned to the ground, the English and Indian soldiers massacred the coureurs de bois, forcing the French colony to surrender.
Gallery[]
