Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal (22 November 1698 – 4 August 1778) was a Canadian-born French colonial governor in the North-America. He was born November 22, 1698 to the governor of New France, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil and his wife Louise-Élisabeth de Joybert de Soulanges et de Marson, in Quebec. He was the last governor of New France (or Canada), during the period when the British conquered it in the Seven Years' War (known in the USA as the "French and Indian War").
Vaudreuil-Cavagnal rose quickly through the New France military and civil service, in part owing to his father's patronage but also due to his own innate ability. Commissioned an officer of the French army while still a youth, in 1733 he was appointed governor of Trois-Rivières, and in 1742 of Louisiana, serving there from to May 10, 1743 to February 9, 1753 and proving himself a skilled officer and capable administrator. He moved to France in 1753 before being appointed by King Louis XV as governor of New France in 1755, just as the Seven Years' War began.
The first governor of New France to be born in Canada, his leadership was questioned and some of his orders were ignored by high-ranking officials of the French army such as Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, who judged him to be "too Canadian." Although Vaudreuil-Cavagnal held supreme civil authority in Canada and was technically commander-in-chief of all French forces there, he clashed often with Montcalm, the military commander in the field, who resented his oversight role. The two men grew to detest one another, much to the detriment of the French war effort. Vaudreuil-Cavagnal had excellent relations with the Canadian militia and with the Native-Canadian tribes allied with France; Montcalm looked down on both, preferring to rely upon French regular troops and making poor use of irregular Canadian and pro-French Native-Canadian forces.
After Montcalm lost to the British forces under Maj. Gen. James Wolfe at Quebec City in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Vaudreuil-Cavagnal tried to rally resistance to the British, but to no avail. He was forced to surrender Montreal on September 8, 1760 to Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Amherst.
The Marquis sailed back to France in British custody, and was briefly imprisoned, from March to May 1762, in the Bastille for his role in the loss of Canada. After an inquiry in 1763, he was exonerated and retired to his ancestral estate near Rouen, although the episode ruined his fortunes. He died in Paris on August 4, 1778.
The Vaudreuil-Soulanges county regional municipality of Quebec, Canada, is named after him.
His nephew Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil defeated the English at the naval battle in front of Yorktown in 1781 on the ship Le Septre. This nephew was also on the Triomphant in Boston in 1782 to protect the American army and Washington, and bring back to France the victorious French army of Rochambeau. The Vaudreuils will finally defeat the English in America and give Americans their freedom and all the territory of New France under the great lake to the Americans, thus creating Canada in the second treaty of Paris in 1783 which replace the first treaty.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- CyberAcadie : Biographie : Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, marquis de Vaudreuil (in French)
- Canadian Military Heritage - Mutual Dislike Between Colonial and Metropolitan Officers
- 1759 From the Warpath to the Plains of Abraham (Virtual Exhibition)
- National Battlefiels Commission (Plains of Abraham)
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since October 2006. |
| Preceded by Jean-Baptiste le Moyne de Bienville |
French Governor of Louisiana 1743–1753 |
Succeeded by Louis Billouart, Chevalier de Kerlerec |
| Preceded by Ange Duquesne de Menneville, Marquis Duquesne |
Governor General of New France 1755–1760 |
Succeeded by Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst |
