By the time Edward Cornwallis had arrived in Halifax, there was a long history of the Wabanaki Confederacy (which included the Mi'kmaq) resisting British colonization along the New England–Acadia border in Maine by attacking colonial settlements (See the Northeast Coast Campaigns 1688, 1703, 1723, 1724, 1745, 1746, 1747).

A generation later, Father Le Loutre's War began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports on June 21, 1749.

On September 30, 1749, prior to the battle, about forty Mi'kmaq attacked six men who were cutting trees at a saw mill in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

The Battle at St. Croix occurred when New England Rangers were en route to Grand Pre to arrest the Acadians who had supported the siege and the taking of the three prisoners.

[10] Their mission was to establish a blockhouse at Pisiguit (i.e., Fort Edward), and to seize the property of Acadians who had participated in the Siege of Grand Pre.

Arriving there, Gorham established himself at the Parish Church of L'Assomption (in present-day Fort Edward) and proceeded to scour the surrounding countryside in a search-and-destroy mission against the Mi'kmaq.

"[12] In March 1750, the Mi'kmaq and Acadian militias killed Cornwallis' messenger who was en route from Halifax to Chignecto.