In the middle of the seventeenth century, England and France began to show interest in developing their North American colonies. The English concentrated on the New England colonies, while France actively encouraged the settlement of Quebec, Newfoundland and the Maritimes. French settlents and fortifications were established in Quebec, Acadia and Cape Breton. 

 In the 1620's the French Crown dispatched war ships to the north coast of Newfoundland in order to to protect French fishermen from Beothuk raids.Such  bloody feuds between fishermen, ,settlers and beothuks lasted for centuries. Eventually the Boethuk were marginalized from their traditional food sources and trade routes. 

The Beothuks and European fishermen clashed often. Atrocities occurred on both sides. As late as 1812, Beothuk braves killed two Royal Marines at "Bloody Point" on the Exploits River. 

In 1828, Shanawdithit, "Last of the Beothuks" died in St. John's Newfoundland. 

In 1689 the French Governor of Newfoundland sent out small bands of French and Indian soldiers to pillage and destroy English settlements. At this time, French and English naval squadrons would lay seige to one anothers settlements. 

In 1692, the English Navy attacked Placentia in reprisal. This seige failed. After the English Naval seige of Placentia, Placentia's Governor, de Brouillon, seems to have been determined to drive the English from Newfoundland. 
 

In the summer of 1696 France and England were opponents in King William's War.  Newfoundland's French Governor de Brouillon ordered a  French naval squadon under Chevalier Nesmond to lay  seige to St. John's.  The flotilla of warships attacked St. John's. The attack was repelled. The French and English navys fought pitched battles on the high seas, around Newfoundland. For example, in  1695, H.M.S. Sapphire was attacked and sunk at Bay Bulls. 

In the fall of the 1696, the French-Canadian Naval Officer Captain Pierre Le Moyne sieur de'Iberville arrived in Newfoundland, at the direction of Quebec's Governor Frontenac.. With some 400 French and Indian troops, de'Iberville marched across the Avalon peninsula. de'Iberville sacked and burned Ferryland, Bay Bulls and  Petty Harbour and many other communities. 

From Petty Harbour, de'Iberville marched to St. John's. In St. John's English settlers scattered, many sailed away, others escaped to the forests. However, a number of settlers and soldiers  took refuge in Fort William. 

To induce the English to surrender, de'Iberville ordered one of his Indian soldiers to scalp an English settle, one William Drewr. This prisoner was told to approach Fort William, scalp in hand, and warn the English settlers and soldiers, onder the command of Governor Miners, that unless they surrendered they could expect the same treatment. 

Governor Miners surrendered on condition that they be granted free and unmolested  passage out of St. John's. To this de'Iberville. Some 220 men, women and children were sent off in a ship and duly arrived in England. However a further 80 refugees were drowned when their ship floundered off of Spain. 

After destroying St. John's, the French marched on Torbay, Portugal Cove, Holyrood, Harbour main, Brigus, Port de Grave and Carbonear. 

All communities fell before the French except for Carbonear. The Battle of Carbonear island  occurred in mid-winter of 1697. On the arrival of the French, the  residents of Carbonear withdrew to Carbonear Island where they did  successfully stave of the French and Indian soldiers in musket battles and sword duels.

 In 1696, only the communities of Bonavista and Trinity were spared war.

From Carbonear, the French sailed to  Bay de Verde and Old Perlican before marching to Hants Harbour and  Heart's Content, burning and pillaging as they went. 

At the end of this campaign, Captain de'Iberville and  his troops sailed in a convoy of ships, including the French Naval Ship Pelican, north along the Labrador coast and into Hudson's Bay attacking English trading posts and settlements.

When the French army vacated St. John's, they removed all arms, ordinance and anything else of value, leaving behind a barren, burnt and d abandoned settlement.

In the fall of 1697, the English army reoccupied St. John's. However, harsh conditions faced the garrison, there was no lumber to build cabins with, the soldiers built drafty teepee type "tilts". There was no food stores for the troops and in the winter disease ravaged the soldiers. In the  the winter of 1696-7  214 of the 300 soldiers, a full 71%, perished due to lack of food, clothing and shelter. 

In 1704, a French fleet laid seige to Bonavista. They were repelled by one Lieutenant Gill and his heroic soldiers. 

In 1705 French and Indian soldiers again marched on English settlements, in Newfoundland. Holyrood, Harbour Grace and  St. John's all fell to the French. However, they failed to capture St. John's' Fort William. The French maintained a seige on Fort William for  five weeks before ceasing hostilities and returning to Placentia. 

In 1708, the French again attacked St. John's. This time they overwhelmed the garrison, and captured St. John's as well as Fort William, destroying the community in the process. 

In 1711, the British attempted an unsuccessful and short lived  seige on Plaisance. 

Finally, in 1713, The Treaty of Utrecht was signed between France and England. The Treaty contained the clause "the island called Newfoundland, with the adjoining islands, shall from this time forward belong of right wholly to Britain". 

Placentia was given up and no part of the island was allowed to be fortified by the French.

In 1745, a naval squadron from Newfoundland was dispatched to Cape Breton to support the seige of  Louisbourg.

In 1673, Dutch buccaneers returned under Captain Jacob Overson. The Dutch buccaneers laid seige to the Colony of Avalon at Ferryland. There is evidence that the Dutch pirates sacked the settlement . 

The Dutch continued toward St. John's. However, on this occassion the defences of St. John's were organized by  Captain Christopher Martin. Captain Martin stretched a large heavy iron chain from Prosser's rock on the south side of St. John's Harbour to Chain rock on the north side. 

The Dutch ships ran aground on this chain and were stopped. As the Dutch tried to deal with this obstacle, Captain Martin and his followers set fire to a number of shallops and dories that were filled with combustibles. These boats were steered toward the Dutch fleet and set it aflame.  Several Ditch pirate ships were burned and sunk in the narrows of St. John's harbour.

In June, this French force landed at Bay Bulls and marched to St. John's to capture it. 

Meanwhile the new Governor was sailing to Newfoundland  from England, when he was intercepted and informed of the invasion.  He dispatched a sloop to Halifax to request assistance. 

From Halifax, the Royal Navy dispatched a fleet of ships to lay seige to St. John's harbour. Meanwhile 800 British and American soldiers landed at Torbay and marched 7 miles to St. John's. 

In the beginning of September, a sharp battle was fought at Quidi Vidi village, which the British won. Eventually the British and American forces managed to dominate the highest points of land around Signal Hill and Quidi Vidi. This action is known as the Battle of Signal Hill. 

At this point the French were apparently in a hopeless position, with British troops dominating the high land around St. John's and the English fleet blockading the harbour. 

The French were in a desperate position, however, a thick fog allowed the French fleet to escape without being detected while the French army in St. John's was abandoned. After a brief symbolic struggle, the French garrison surrendered to Colonial William Amherst. 

This battle can be considered the first English victory over the French in Newfoundland. Unfortunatly, the Battle of Signal Hill was needless and blood was shed in vain as it occurred after the Treaty of Versailles was signed, yet before news of the event was recieved in the new world. 

For two days the French fleet sailed around Spear Bay at the mouth of St. Johns harbour. Perhaps the French were daunted by the defenses of St. John's. Perhaps they had other reasons. However, the French fleet withdrew. Instead, it sailed to Bay Bulls, a community to the south of St. John's and burntit to the ground before sailing  away.

In 1800, there was a mutiny. The mutiny was suppressed: some soldiers were hanged, others were imprisioned. The remainder of the unit was dispatched to Halifax, Nova Scotia 

In 1803 Brigadier John Skerrett again raised the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles. The Regiment was reorganized  in 1808, into five companies and  served as seamen and marines with the Naval Squadrons on the Great Lakes, in Upper Canada. 

The Newfoundland Fencibles were stationed in  Canadas for ten years and regimental detachments served in most of the major engagements during the War of 1812. . 

Detachments of the Regiment were sent to Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. A company of the  Regiment served as marines with the Lake Erie Royal Navy Squadron. Two other companies were sent to reinforce Michilimackinac on Lake Huron. 

In June 1814, the regimental detachments began to return to St. John's. Some Newfoundland soldiers obtained land grants in the Colonies of Canada. New Brunswick etc.The Regiment was disbanded on June 24, 1816. 

To see a actors portraying the  Royal Newfoundland Regiment in a military re-enactment of the War of 1812's  Battle of Stoney Creek Press Here.

Strangely, the committee was comprised of private citizens and worked with the sanction of the Newfoundland governement, but beyond it's control. Infact, it was not until the conscription crisis of 1917, that the Newfouundland government took formal control of administrating and regulating the Newfoundland Regiment. 

In October 1914 the First Contingent of the Newfoundland Regiment arrived in England. These first soldiers arrived in England without caps, rifles. They were known as the "Blue Puttees" because khaki cloth had not been available to eq2uip them in standard British uniform puttees. 

Over the next four years over 6130 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians enlisted to serve overseas. A further 41 enlisted in the Newfoundland Regiment in Great Britain. 

During  World War One, the  Newfoundland Regiment gained the suffex  "Royal" for distinguished service at the battle of Cambrai. 

During  World War One, the  Newfoundland Regiment suffered the following casualties: 846 Newfoundlanders and labradorians were either killed or reported missing in action, 253 died of wounds, 146 died of disease, 2 died accidentally and 1 committed suicide. 

In addition there were a further 2314 soldiers wounded. The total number of casualties for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment were 3565. 

To find out more about Newfoundlanders and their life in the trenches press here: Trenches on the Web - Special: The Narrow Way Project

To visit the war memorials to Newfoundland's fallen heros press here: The Newfoundland Beaumont Hamel Memorial

To find out about Newfoundland's volunteer cadet units press here.
 

For more information on the history of tNewfoundland's military heritage, please refer to The Fighting Newfoundlander G.W.L. Nicholson. Printed by Thomas Nelson Printers London U.K. 1964.
 
 
 

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