Port Toulouse

1750 Military Revolt

On 23 Jun 1750, a violent and dramatic confrontation between soldiers and officers took place at the military outpost of Port Toulouse. The Isle Royale troops had a long history of turbulence.

Captain Duhaget, commander at Port Toulouse, wrote an account of the mutiny while recovering from a leg wound he sustained during the event.

The soldiers were annoyed by the substandard quality of their rations. During an argument over food, a corporal struck a soldier and it was to protest this indignity that men turned out in unauthorized battle formation. When Duhaget and the corporal ran for their weapons, they were fired upon and both were wounded. Bloodshed, probably unintended, immediately raised the stakes and, fearing a punitive expedition from Louisbourg, 23 rebels commandeered boats and set off for English-held Acadian settlements. On the way, however, there was an explosion on one of the boats and four or five of the fugitives were killed. Apparently the others either returned to give themselves up or were captured, since other documents indicate a mass court-martial. In September 1750, six men were convicted of mutiny and shot, while a large number of others were sentenced to servitude in the king’s galleys.

Duhaget’s account is unhelpful in determining why the soldiers would risk such brutal punishment. Anxious to avoid any blame, the commander insisted he had provided no grounds for complaint, implying that his men had revolted impulsively over a trivial incident.