Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre (; 26 September 1709 – 30 September 1772) was a Catholic priest and missionary for the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Le Loutre became the leader of the French forces and the Acadian and Mi'kmaq militias during King George's War and Father Le Loutre's War in the eighteenth-century struggle for power between the French, Acadians, and Miꞌkmaq against the British over Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).
Historical context
Nova Scotia had been under the rule of the British since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The British were settled mostly in the capital Annapolis Royal, while Acadians and the native Mi'kmaq occupied the rest of the region. Île-Royale (present-day Cape Breton Island) remained under French control, as it had been granted to the French under the Treaty of Utrecht, and the mainland portion of Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) was British and contested by the French.
In 1738, the French had no formal military presence at mainland Nova Scotia because they had been evicted in 1713. The Acadians had refused to sign a loyalty oath to the British Crown since the defeat in Port-Royal in 1710, but the settlers were unable to assist French efforts to recapture Nova Scotia without French military support.
Life
Le Loutre was born in 1709 to Jean-Maurice Le Loutre Després, a paper maker, and Catherine Huet, the daughter of a paper maker, in the parish of Saint-Matthieu in Morlaix, France in Brittany. In 1730, the young Le Loutre entered the Séminaire du Saint-Esprit in Paris; both his parents had already died. After completing his training, Le Loutre transferred to the Séminaire des Missions Étrangères (Seminary of Foreign Missions) in March 1737, as he intended to serve the church abroad. Most of the priests associated with the Paris Foreign Missions Society were assigned as missionaries to Asia, particularly during the nineteenth century, but Le Loutre was assigned to eastern Canada and the Mi'kmaq, an Algonquian-speaking people. Le Loutre arrived at mainland Nova Scotia in 1738.
Île Royale
Shortly after being ordained, Le Loutre sailed for Acadia and arrived in Louisbourg, Île-Royale, New France in the autumn of 1737. He spent about a year at Malagawatch, Île-Royale, working with missionary Pierre Maillard to learn the Miꞌkmaq language. Le Loutre was assigned to replace Abbé de Saint-Vincent, at the Mission Sainte-Anne in Shubenacadie. He left for Saint-Anne's on 22 September 1738. His duties included the French posts at Cobequid and Tatamagouche. Lawrence Armstrong was lieutenant-governor at Annapolis Royal. Although Armstrong was initially annoyed that La Loutre hadn't presented himself at Annapolis Royale, on the whole, La Loutre's relations with the British authorities remained cordial.
King George's War
The conquest of Acadia by Great Britain began with the 1710 capture of the provincial capital, Port Royal. In the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, France formally ceded Acadia to Britain. However, there was disagreement about the provincial boundaries, and some Acadians also resisted British rule. With renewed war imminent in 1744, the leaders of New France formulated plans to retake what the British called Nova Scotia with an assault on the capital, which the British had renamed Annapolis Royal.
Siege of Annapolis Royal
During King George's War, the neutrality of Le Loutre and the Acadians was tested. By the end of the war, most British officials who had been sympathetic toward the Acadians concluded that they and Le Loutre were supportive of the French position. Le Loutre may have been involved in two raids on the British at Annapolis Royal. The first Siege of Fort Anne was made in July 1744 but ended after four days due to the failure of French naval support to arrive.
A second attempt in September was orchestrated by François Dupont Duvivier. Without with siege guns and cannon, Duvivier could make little headway. In the late-spring/early summer Nova Scotia Lieutenant-Governor Paul Mascarene wrote to Massachusetts governor William Shirley requesting military aid. Gorham's Rangers arrived in late September to reinforce the garrison. Wampanoag, Nauset, and Pequawket members were offered bounties for Mi'kmaq scalps and prisoners as part of their pay. The Mi'kmaq's withdrew and Duvivier was forced to retreat back to Grand Pré in early October. After the two attacks on Annapolis Royal, Massachusetts Governor William Shirley put a bounty on the Passamaquoddy, Mi’kmaq and Maliseet.