First warfare

In 1696, Benjamin Church of Massachusetts led an expedition against Acadia in retaliation for raids along the New England frontier by French and Amerindian forces from Canada.

The Acadian settlement at Beaubassin was the primary target for the Church expedition. In 1704, Church once again attacked the Beaubassin region, and then moved on to devastate Grand-Pré.

The attacks in 1696 and 1704, a half-century before Forts Beauséjour, Lawrence and Gaspareaux were constructed, demonstrate that the Chignecto region was a target for New Englanders long before the 1750s.