- Joseph Broussard
Joseph Broussard, also known as Beausoleil, (1702 - 1765) was a leader of the
Acadian people inAcadia ; laterNova Scotia andNew Brunswick .He was born in Port Royal in 1702 but he lived much of his life along the
Petitcodiac River . With his wife Agnes, he had eleven children.After the construction of
Fort Beausejour in 1751, he lent aid to the garrison there. He became a leader of an armed resistance following the expulsion of the Acadians, leading assaults against the British on several occasions between 1755 and 1758. He traveled through the upper Bay of Fundy region in his schooner, which the British finally seized in November 1758. He was then forced to flee, travelling first to the Miramichi and later to Fort Edward. He was permitted to travel with several others toDominica but, unable to adapt to the climate, he went to Louisiana. [C. A. Pincombe and E. W. Larracy, "Resurgo: The History of Moncton, Volume 1", 1990, Moncton, p. 30]Not long after his arrival in 1765, Joseph Broussard died in St. Martinville. The exact date of his death is unknown, but it assumed to have been on or around
October 20 .Modern cultural references
The
Cajun music groupBeauSoleil is named after him.References
* John Mack Faragher, "A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from their American Homeland" (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005).
*Warren A. Perrin, "Acadian Redemption: From Beausoleil Broussard to the British Queen's Royal Proclamation" (Opelousas, La.: Andrepont Publishing, 2005).External links
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=1227 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
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