Count Frontenac 9781487576479

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COUNT FRONTENAC

COUNT FRONTENAC By William D. Le Sueur

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS 1964

Copyright, Canada, 1964 by University of Toronto Press Printed in the United States of America Reprinted in 2018 ISBN 978-1-4875-7720-9 (paper)

PUBLISHER'S NOTE This standard general biography of Frontenac, the "fighting governor" of New France, was issued previously in the famous Makers of Canada Series, which is now out of print, although still in constant use in libraries. This is the first time this volume has been published separately from the complete set. William Dawson Le Sueur ( 1840-1917), was a civil servant and journalist, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and President of the Society in 1912. He was a noted essayist, contributing frequently to Canadian newspapers and periodicals of his day.

INTRODUCTION

T

HE foil owing volume is a re-issue of the "Life of Frontenac," by the late W. D. Le Sueur, and of the "Lives of Wolfe and Montcalm," by the late Abbe H. R. Casgrain. Mr. Le Sueur had done his work so well that after careful re-reading I have recommended its re-issue as it stands. Many years ago during the preparation of the Siege of Quebec I had frequent opportunities of meeting the late Abbe Casgrain, and of discussing with him the merits of a series of manuscripts throwing new light on the subject matter of his book, "Wolfe and Montcalm." The discussions were always most friendly and he encouraged me to pursue my quest, although, as this volume was then in the press, no change could at that time be made. For this re-issue of his work I have been requested to correct certain statements of fact which have been disproved by authentic documents. This I have consented to do the more readily because I am aware that during his later years the Abbe was afflicted with almost total blindness and could not make use of the new material which was gradually becoming available. Apart from the correction of statements of fact,

.li'.KONTENAC, WOLFE AND MONTCALM few changes have been made, although I do not in all cases fully agree with the Abbe's opinions. The Abbe is, above all things, loyal to his native province and ofttimes seems to wish to shield Vaudreuil, the Canadian-born governor, behind the alleged errors of Montcalm, the French commander. But it is no longer possible to defend Vaudreuil at the expense of Montcalm and Bougainville, nor do I think that the Abbe would now do so with the material open to the student. Vaudreuil, in spite of his partiality for Bigot and his accomplices, appears to have been honest in his administration. He was, however, incompetent and exceedingly vain, and his ~anity led him to proclaim his own part in every success, while failure was attributed to the non-acceptance of this advice. With little military knowledge, he dictated to Montcalm with all the assurance of a veteran commander. Many of his orders were undoubtedly given for the purpose of asserting his authority over Montcalm, and frequently with disastrous results to the colony. Montcalm, like the British generals, had a poor opinion of colonial troops. This naturally exasperated Vaudreuil, who exaggerated their merit. This jealousy was unfortunate, but it was a defect of the colonial system and both England and France suffered thereby. The jealousy which began soon after the arrival of Montcalm increased with the

INTRODUCTION progress of events. The charges, however, which were made by Montcalm against the administration, although they were ignored during his life time, were amply proved after his death. How far the fall of New France was brought about by the weakness of Vaudreuil, it is not our purpose at the moment to enquire, but it is certain that the historians of the future will find it exceedingly difficult to present as favourable a view of the last French governor as that found in the pages of this book. Vaudreuil had absolute confidence in himself and appears to have thought that single-handed he could frustrate the most ambitious designs of his enemies. Thus, shortly before the arrival of the British fleet, in 1759, he had written to France in these terms: "I expect to be sharply attacked and our enemies will make their most powerful efforts to conquer our colony but there is no ruse, no resources, no means which my zeal does not suggest to lay snares for them; and, finally, when the emergency demands it to fight them with an ardour and even a fury which exceeds the range of ambitious desires. The troops, the Canadians, and the Indians are not ignorant of the resolution I have taken and from which I shaJl not recoil under any circumstances whatsoever." Yet, in the face of this assurance, the Traverse was left unprotected and the British were allowed to land upon the Island of Orleans without opposition. Vaudreuil's zeal was confined

FRONTENAC, WOLFE AND MONTCALM to an unceasing reiteration of his devotion to the colony and to a scrupulous neglect of its dangers. The Abbe was a charming writer and his life is a record of devotion to duty under great difficulties and one is forced to admit that although much of his work is of enduring merit, the man was better than the best of all his works. His Histoire de la Venerable Mere de ['Incarnation and l' Histoire de l' Hotel Dieu de Quebec-are perhaps the principal books upon which his fame as a writer will rest. Towards the end he became somewhat out of touch with present day historical science, and much as one may become attached to an author and to his style, it is impossible to close one's eyes to the fact that throughout the world a change has taken place in the method of writing history, and that the public demands and insists upon scientific accuracy before every other quality. The present revised edition of his lives of "Montcalm and Wolfe" will be found to possess such accuracy of fact, but it has been found impossible without rewriting the whole book to purge it of a touch of bias in favour of his muchloved Canadians, a bias of which the Abbe was opeul_y unashamed. A. G. DOUGHTY

CONTENTS CHAPTER I CANADA BEFORE FRONTENAC, 1608 TO 1632

Page I

CHAPTER II

CANADA BEFORE FRONTENAC, 1632 TO 1672

23

CHAPTER III

THE BEGINNING OF FRONTENAC'S ADMINISTRATION

61

CHAPTER JV

THE COMMENCEMENT OF TROUBLES •

87

CHAPTER V

DIVIDED POWER

105 CHAPTER VI

THE LIFE OF A COLONY

131

CHAPTER VII

GOVERNORSHIP OF M. DE LA BARRE, 1G82 TO 1685

Iil

CHAPTER Vlll

GOVERNORSHIP OF MARQUIS 1685 TO 1689 •

DE

DENONVILLE, 197

COUNT FRONTENAC CHAPTER IX

FRONTENAC TO THE RESCUE

Page

•

229

CHAPTER X

FRONTENAC DEFENDER OF CANADA .

263

CHAPTER XI

FIRE AND SWORD ON THE BORDER

305

CHAPTER XII

THE DRAMA OF WAR-PEACE AT THE LAST

INDEX.

333 •

365

CHAPTER I CANADA BEFORE FRONTENAC

W

1608 TO 1632

HEN Count Frontenac landed at Quebec, in the month of September, 1672, to administer the government of Canada or, as it was then more generally called, New France, the country had been for a period of a little over sixty years under continuous French rule. The period may, indeed, be limited to exactly sixty years if we take as the starting-point the commission issued to Samuel de Champlain on the 15th of October, 1612, as "Commander in New France," under the authority of the Count de Soissons, who had been appointed by the queen regent, Marie de Medicis, as lieutenant-general of that territory. What had been accomplished during those sixty odd yeBrs? How had the country developed, and what were the elements of the situation which confronted Frontenac on his arrival? Answers to these questions may be gathered, it is hoped, from the following brief introductory narrative. The territorial claims of France in the gulf and valley of the St. Lawrence were founded on the discoveries made in the name of the French king, Francis I, by that brave Breton mariner, Jacques Cartier, in the celebrated voyages undertaken by 1

COUNT FRONTENAC him in the years 1534 and 1535. An attempt at colonization made in the latter year, the site chosen being the left bank of the St. Charles near Quebec, failed miserably ; nor were the similar attempts made in 1541 by Cattier and in 1542 by Robervnl any more successful. Cartier did not again return to Canada, and all efforts in the direction of colonization were suspended for sixty years, though French fishermen continued to visit the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In the year 1603 a notable figure appears upon the scene, Samuel Champlain, the true founder of French power on the continent of America. A few years previously a certain naval captain named Chauvin, who enjoyed considerable influence at court, had applied for and obtained from King Henry IV a patent granting him exclusive trading privileges in the St. Lawrence. This he had done at the instance of one Pontgrave, a leading merchant of St. Malo, well acquainted with the St. Lawrence trade, whose business instinct had led him to see that the fur trade alone of that region might be a source of vast wealth to any single company controlling it. One condition of the grant was that not less than five hundred persons should be settled in the country, and another that provision should be made for the religious instruction both of the settlers and of the natives. Having obtained the patent, neither Chauvin nor Pontgrave, whom he appointed as his lieutenant, seems to have thought of anything but the conversion of their privilege 2

EARLY CAREER OF CHAlVIPLAIN into money. They sailed to the St. Lawrence, but proceeded no further than Tadousac, where they set up a trading establishment. At the end of the first summer season they returned to France, leaving some sixteen men behind them so ill provided for that eleven died during the winter of disease and hardship. The rest would have died of starvation had not friendly Indians supplied them with food. Chauvin made two more trips to the St. Lawrence without doing anything to redeem his engagements, and in the year 1601 he died. The death of Chauvin having voided his patent, the king was moved to constitute Knight Commander de Chastes, Governor of Dieppe, his representative in the western world. A company was formed, and an expedition was organized and placed under the command of Pontgrave, as a man having special knowledge of the St. Lawrence navigation. By request of