English invasion of Acadia (1654)

The English invasion of Acadia was a 1654 incursion into the French colony of Acadia spurred on in part from an aborted attempt to invade New Netherland as a consequence of the First Anglo-Dutch War. While preparations were being made in New England for an incursion into New Netherland, the expeditions leader Robert Sedgwick received word that the war had ended. However, Sedgwick's orders also stipulated that if time permitted that he could take over other territories of the French. The casus belli was in retaliation for French privateers on maritime commerce, as promoted by Charles II and Prince Rupert. With a mix of both English Soldiers, New England militia, and a small flotilla, Sedgwick captured the forts of Saint John and Port Royal, and Pentagouet (now Castine, Maine). Thus, Acadia was captured by the English, and it was administered as a colony from 1654 to 1667, until it was returned per agreement in the Treaty of Breda (1667), which concluded the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Ultimately over a hundred years later, Acadia would be taken over again by the English (now British after the Acts of Union 1707) during Father Le Loutre's War and the French and Indian War, which resulted in the Expulsion of the Acadians and the absorption of Acadia into other English colonies.