Individual Details
René Beaupré Richard
(1688 - 26 Dec 1776)
THE ESCAPE OF THE ACADIANS FROM "FORT LAWRENCE" AT THE TIME OF THE EXPULSION
=================================
At the time of the Expulsion of the Acadiens, there had been two escapes from two forts located each side of the Missaguash River, which makes the boundary between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. One was from Fort Lawrence, located in Nova Scotia, on route 104 or the Trans Canada Highway, four kilometers west of the limit of the town of Amherst. The other was from Fort Beausejour (which was called later Fort Cumberland), in New Brunswick, just south of the Trans Canada Highway, two kilometers from the border.
The account of the escape from Fort Lawrence comes mainly from one of the grandsons of one of the prisoners, who heard it from his grandfather.
July 23rd. 1755, Charles Lawrence, governor of Nova Scotia, secretly sent a message to all the military posts in the province that it had been dicided to do away with the Acadiens by embarking them in vessels and sending them abroad, mainly on the coast of what is now the United States.
A couple of weeks later, all the men living in the vicinity of Amherst were summoned to gather at Fort Beausejour, to discuss matters relating to the Oath of Allegiance to the Sovereign of England. On the 11 of August, 150 Acadiens arrived at the fort, all men, and were immediately incarcerated. As they were too numerous to be held in one fort, the majority were sent, the same day, to Fort Lawrence. The following weeks, other Acadiens were apprehended. This is what we read in Dr. JohnThomas' diary, which he kept at the time. On August 11, he writes: "Colonel Muncton got 250 of the inhabitants into Fort Cumberland and confined them. Major Bourn with 150 men guarding the greater part of them to Fort Lawrence where they are to be confined."
After much debate, the wives and relatives of the captives were allowed in groups to visit them, now and then. In doing so, they were able to conceal different objects which they thought would be useful to the prisoners. Tradition tells us that some brought women clothes so that some of the prisoners, under a feminine disguise, would be able to walk out of prison with them. And sure enough, some were able to deceive the guards and make their escape. Unfortunately it was easily discovered. From then on, nobody was allowed to visit the prisoners.
If the officers of the fort were frustrated for having been duped by this strategy, they were to be much more baffled by what was to take place a short time later. One morning, one of the guards making his rounds, went down to the cellar where the prisoners were kept, and found the cellar empty. How could all those prisoners, 86 of them, escape without being noticed by the sentry? It was, for a while a mystery. Finally, a hole was discovered in the ground which ran under the walls of the fort where prisoners were hiding. The officers sent one man in the hole to investigate. He could only go a few feet, when he felt that he was caught, no doubt still wearing his heavy uniform, surrounded and squeezed by dirt. The story goes that, even though those who stood by did what they could to pull him out, he suffocated and died.
Women while visiting their husbands, hid small instruments, like knives and spoons, in the loaves of bread that they were bringing them. With these small rudemental "implements", the prisoners started to dig a hole in the ground. They kept on unceasingly, no doubt, day and night, each taking turns, being notified by others when the guard was approaching to make his rounds, until they reached the ground outside the walls of the fort. The dirt that they dug out was concealed under their beds.
When all the work had been completed, they chose a very stormy night to make their escape; it was the night between the 1st. and 2nd. of October. Dr. John Thomas wrote in his diary October First: "Stormy dark night eighty six French prisoners dugg under ye wall att Foart Lawrence and got clear undiscovered by ye Centry......".
The smaller ones of the crowd went first through the tunnel, each of them rubbing off some of the dirt and making the passage a little larger. It must have taken most of the night for everyone to get out. According to tradition, the last one to leave the cellar or prison was an Acadien named Rene Richard. He told the story to his grandson, Joseph L. Leblanc, of Memramcook, many times. This story, I read in Placide Gaudet's papers, the eminent Acadien genealogist, "Gaudet" got it directly from this grandson.
Posted by Lucie Leblanc Consentino
=================================
At the time of the Expulsion of the Acadiens, there had been two escapes from two forts located each side of the Missaguash River, which makes the boundary between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. One was from Fort Lawrence, located in Nova Scotia, on route 104 or the Trans Canada Highway, four kilometers west of the limit of the town of Amherst. The other was from Fort Beausejour (which was called later Fort Cumberland), in New Brunswick, just south of the Trans Canada Highway, two kilometers from the border.
The account of the escape from Fort Lawrence comes mainly from one of the grandsons of one of the prisoners, who heard it from his grandfather.
July 23rd. 1755, Charles Lawrence, governor of Nova Scotia, secretly sent a message to all the military posts in the province that it had been dicided to do away with the Acadiens by embarking them in vessels and sending them abroad, mainly on the coast of what is now the United States.
A couple of weeks later, all the men living in the vicinity of Amherst were summoned to gather at Fort Beausejour, to discuss matters relating to the Oath of Allegiance to the Sovereign of England. On the 11 of August, 150 Acadiens arrived at the fort, all men, and were immediately incarcerated. As they were too numerous to be held in one fort, the majority were sent, the same day, to Fort Lawrence. The following weeks, other Acadiens were apprehended. This is what we read in Dr. JohnThomas' diary, which he kept at the time. On August 11, he writes: "Colonel Muncton got 250 of the inhabitants into Fort Cumberland and confined them. Major Bourn with 150 men guarding the greater part of them to Fort Lawrence where they are to be confined."
After much debate, the wives and relatives of the captives were allowed in groups to visit them, now and then. In doing so, they were able to conceal different objects which they thought would be useful to the prisoners. Tradition tells us that some brought women clothes so that some of the prisoners, under a feminine disguise, would be able to walk out of prison with them. And sure enough, some were able to deceive the guards and make their escape. Unfortunately it was easily discovered. From then on, nobody was allowed to visit the prisoners.
If the officers of the fort were frustrated for having been duped by this strategy, they were to be much more baffled by what was to take place a short time later. One morning, one of the guards making his rounds, went down to the cellar where the prisoners were kept, and found the cellar empty. How could all those prisoners, 86 of them, escape without being noticed by the sentry? It was, for a while a mystery. Finally, a hole was discovered in the ground which ran under the walls of the fort where prisoners were hiding. The officers sent one man in the hole to investigate. He could only go a few feet, when he felt that he was caught, no doubt still wearing his heavy uniform, surrounded and squeezed by dirt. The story goes that, even though those who stood by did what they could to pull him out, he suffocated and died.
Women while visiting their husbands, hid small instruments, like knives and spoons, in the loaves of bread that they were bringing them. With these small rudemental "implements", the prisoners started to dig a hole in the ground. They kept on unceasingly, no doubt, day and night, each taking turns, being notified by others when the guard was approaching to make his rounds, until they reached the ground outside the walls of the fort. The dirt that they dug out was concealed under their beds.
When all the work had been completed, they chose a very stormy night to make their escape; it was the night between the 1st. and 2nd. of October. Dr. John Thomas wrote in his diary October First: "Stormy dark night eighty six French prisoners dugg under ye wall att Foart Lawrence and got clear undiscovered by ye Centry......".
The smaller ones of the crowd went first through the tunnel, each of them rubbing off some of the dirt and making the passage a little larger. It must have taken most of the night for everyone to get out. According to tradition, the last one to leave the cellar or prison was an Acadien named Rene Richard. He told the story to his grandson, Joseph L. Leblanc, of Memramcook, many times. This story, I read in Placide Gaudet's papers, the eminent Acadien genealogist, "Gaudet" got it directly from this grandson.
Posted by Lucie Leblanc Consentino
Events
| Birth | 1688 | Port-Royal, Acadie (Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada) |  | ||
| Marriage | 26 Jan 1712 | Port Royal, Annapolis, Nova Scotia, Canada - Marguerite Thériault | | ||
| Death | 26 Dec 1776 | Bécancour, Québec, Canada | | ||
| Alt name | Rene Richard |
Families
| Spouse | Marguerite Thériault (1689 - 1777) |
Endnotes
1. Diane Lebrun , "Ancestors of Marie St-Hilaire," pp. 1-205; Unpublished family tree, 2025-02-09, Al Perreault, Calgary, AB, Canada.
2. Diane Lebrun , "Ancestors of Marie St-Hilaire," pp. 1-205; Unpublished family tree, 2025-02-09, Al Perreault, Calgary, AB, Canada.
3. Diane Lebrun , "Ancestors of Marie St-Hilaire," pp. 1-205; Unpublished family tree, 2025-02-09, Al Perreault, Calgary, AB, Canada.