Book Description

While master of a schooner engaged in carrying supplies and men to Fort Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia, Pote was captured May 17, 1745, along with his crew and that of another vessel by a party of French and Indians in Annapolis Basin near the fort. He was alloted to the Huron Indians and taken by them and French troops to Quebec, where he was imprisoned by the French at Cazarnes and at a camp until July 30, 1747. This Journal was kept by Pote, May 17, 1745-Aug. 8, 1747, describing his capture by the French and Indians, journey to Canada, prison experiences, and return voyage to Louisbourg. Enroute to French Canada through what is now New Brunswick, Pote notes daily distances, food supplies, means of travel, and his own treatment at the hands of his Huron captors, the neutral French, and the local Indians. Also recorded is the unsuccessful attempt of the French and Indian forces with whom he traveled to reinforce Louisbourg and news of its fall to the English. The second half of the journal, kept while Pote was imprisoned at Cazarnes, is an account of the arrival of new prisoners of war from the English colonies, the circumstances of their capture, and their illnesses, marriages, deaths, etc. There are also periodic tallies of the total number imprisoned and hospitalized. The volume concludes with a list of all prisoners who died while Pote was in Quebec.