Fort Lawrence (Nova Scotia)

Despite the British Conquest of Acadia in 1710, Nova Scotia remained primarily occupied by Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq.

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

To guard against Mi'kmaq, Acadian and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (1749), Bedford (Fort Sackville) (1749), Dartmouth (1750), Lunenburg (1753), and Lawrencetown (1754).

In the spring of 1750, a British Army expeditionary force under Major Charles Lawrence arrived at Beaubassin.

The village was ordered burnt by the French priest Jean-Louis Le Loutre to ensure that the British could not profit from its seizure.

Lawrence's troops retreated but returned in September 1750 in greater numbers and engaged in the Battle at Chignecto.

[8] Preparations were then being made for an attack on Beauséjour, and he was appointed to command one of the two battalions of Massachusetts troops.

[15] Today the site of Fort Lawrence is a barren field behind a visitor information centre.

Plans are in place for a full reconstruction of the fort, however funding from various levels of government has yet to be allocated.