th October, sent an
urgent message to Father Simon, the missionary at Medoctec, to get the
Indians to come down as soon as possible if they wished to fight the
English. He lost not a moment and having sent out word on all sides
(the Indians being then dispersed upon the river) he arrived the
afternoon of the 14th, with thirty-six warriors and expressed his
desire to remain at the fort as the chaplain was absent. Two days
later Neuvillette returned to the fort and reported that he had seen
the enemy in great force about a league and a half below the Jemseg.
The last preparations were now hurriedly made and on the evening of
the 17th, Villebon caused the "generale" (or assembly) to be beat and
all the garrison being drawn up under arms he addressed them in
stirring words, bidding them to maintain the honor of their country
and the reputation of French soldiers, adding that if any should be
maimed in the approaching combat the king would provide for him during
the rest of his life. This speech created the greatest enthusiasm and
the cry of "Vive le roy" awoke the forest echoes and was borne over
the waters. The same evening a dozen Frenchmen who lived in the
vicinity arrived at the fort. Among them were the brothers Mathieu and
Rene d'Amours and the privateersman Baptiste. Villebon assigned to
Baptiste and Rene d'Amours the duty of heading the Indians and
opposing the landing of the English.

The sketch on the next page, based upon a plan in the archives de la
Marine, Paris[8] will serve to give an idea of the general character
of Fort Nachouac. The space of ground enclosed by the palisade was
about 125 feet square; the site, as already stated, lay in the upper
angle formed by the junction of the Nashwaak with the river St. John,
nearly opposite the Cathedral in Fredericton. The general arrangement
of the buildings is shown in the plan. At the rear of the enclosure is
the commandant's lodging, on the right hand side the guard house and
on the left the soldiers' barracks; at the front is the gate and in
the lower left hand corner the bake oven; cannons were placed at each
corner. A small room in the left end of the commandant's lodging was
fitted up as a chapel. The ditches and ramparts that surrounded the
enclosure added considerably to the strength of the position. The
bastions were so arranged that the space outside the walls was
entirely commanded by the musketry fire of the defenders. The
loopholes at the corners from