Whig. Governor of Nova Scotia Founding of Halifax The British Government appointed Cornwallis as Governor of Nova Scotia with the task of establishing a new British settlement to counter France's Fortress Louisbourg. In this period, governors were frequently selected from senior officers. He sailed from England aboard HMS Sphinx on 14 May 1749, followed by a settlement expedition of 15 vessels (including HMS Baltimore and HMS Winchelsea) carrying about 2500 settlers. Cornwallis arrived at Chebucto Harbour on 21 June 1749, followed by the rest of the fleet five days later. The expedition suffered only one death during the passage, due to careful preparations, good ventilation on the ships, and good luck. This was remarkable at a time when the lengthy transatlantic expeditions regularly lost large numbers of persons to infectious disease. Cornwallis immediately had to decide where to site the town. Settlement organizers in England had recommended Point Pleasant, due to its close access to the ocean and ease of defence. His naval advisers opposed this site because it lacked shelter and had shallows preventing the docking of ocean-going ships. They wanted the town to be located at the head of Bedford Basin, a sheltered location with deep water. Others favoured Dartmouth. Cornwallis decided to land the settlers and build the town at the site of present-day Downtown Halifax; it was halfway up the harbour with deep water, and protected by a natural, defensible hill (later known as Citadel Hill). By 24 July, the plans of the town had been drawn up. In August lots were drawn to award settlers their town plots in a settlement that was to be named "Halifax" after Lord Halifax, the President of the Board of Trade and Plantations. Lord Halifax (likely his staff) had drawn up the expedition plans for the British Government. Father Le Loutre's War When Cornwallis arrived in Halifax, there had already been a decades-long history of the Mi'kmaq participating in raids on British settlements in present-day Maine, often allied with French colonists in continuing national tensions. Both sides took captives, sometimes for ransom or adoption by First Nations. (See the Northeast Coast Campaigns 1688, 1703, 1723, 1724, 1745, 1746, 1747). During this time period, various British governors had issued proclamations against the Mi'kmaq for their participation in the raids. One of Cornwallis's first priorities was to renew early treaties with the Mi'kmaq and other indigenous tribes in the region. He