Count frontenac biography definition

Franco-American History. College Library. Essay Guide. Style Guide. Cours de civilisation occidentale. Social Science Program. In , when the uprising of the Iroquois and the Lachine massacre, in retaliation of Governor Denonville's treacherous dealing, threatened the existence of the colony, Frontenac was sent to the rescue and was hailed as a deliverer.

He had to fight the allied Iroquois and English; but his bravery and ability were equal to the task. When, to avenge these disasters, Boston sent a fleet against Quebec , Frontenac's response to the summons of Phipps's envoy was: "Go tell your master that we shall answer him by the mouths of our guns "—a threat which was made good by the enemy's defeat.

In Frontenac wisely disregarded the instructions of France to evacuate the upper country, which would have ruined the colony, and merely observed a defensive attitude. He dealt the Iroquois power a severe blow, burned the villages of the Onnontagues and Onneyouts, and devastated their country. They united their forces for a land and sea attack on Canada.

The overland expedition against Montreal foundered, but a New England fleet reached Quebec only to find Frontenac with the entire armed strength of the colony waiting to oppose their assault force of untrained militia. After a few days of skirmishing they gave up and sailed away. The colony now came under constant attack by the Iroquois, but within 2 years the Canadians had mastered the art of guerrilla warfare and began carrying the war to the enemy.

The Iroquois, also under attack by the western tribes, suffered heavy losses while French strength grew with the arrival of troop reinforcements from France. The Iroquois therefore tried to split the French alliance with the western tribes by a peace offensive. Frontenac's subordinates were convinced that he was being duped when he agreed to a cessation of hostilities pending peace talks; they demanded a full-scale invasion of the Iroquois cantons.

It was then discovered that the Iroquois diplomats had informed the western tribes that the French had abandoned them and made a separate peace. They were the more easily persuaded to abandon their alliance and make peace with the Iroquois because they were disgruntled with the French for economic reasons. French traders, with Frontenac's encouragement, had pushed farther west and were trading directly with the tribes that provided the furs to the middleman tribes in the French alliance.

These, in turn, resented even more that the French were supplying firearms to their ancient foes, the Sioux. The French found themselves in a precarious position, their allies defecting, and the Iroquois, their western flank secure, now reopening their attacks on the colony. In Frontenac was forced by pressure from his subordinates to launch a major campaign against the Iroquois.

This crushed their offensive spirit and disrupted their negotiations with the French allies. The following year the war ended in Europe, and the Iroquois, denied English aid, were forced to treat for peace in earnest. Canada had escaped the military consequences of Frontenac's inept policy, but the economic consequences could not be avoided.

The amount of beaver traded in the west had increased during the war until there was a surplus approaching 1 million pounds, enough to manufacture half a million hats. The beaver trade, backbone of the Canadian economy, was bankrupt. Frontenac was by no means solely responsible for this condition, but despite repeated warnings he had done nothing to prevent it and not a little to engender it.

In civil affairs Frontenac's second administration was less turbulent than his first, but he frequently used his authority in a very despotic manner. By the minister, Louis de Pontchartrain, had become weary of excusing his kinsman's arbitrary conduct to Louis XIV. Frontenac was in imminent danger of again being recalled in disgrace. The aged governor, however, spared the King the necessity of making this decision.

Frontenac's faint-hearted successor had abandoned Forts Niagara and Frontenac and English forces from New York, New England and Virginia were now pressing hard upon the established realms of the French king.

Count frontenac biography definition

Louis XIV's instructions to Frontenac were expressed very simply: "I send you back to Canada where I expect you to serve me as well as you did before. The Iroquois believed that Onontio had lost his power. They were to learn differently. New France faced a crisis that called forth all the courage the seigneurs and habitants could muster and they rose to the demands of the hour.

The frontiersmen were fighters and no braver breed of warriors answered the call of Frontenac. The French waged war against the English from Albany and New York and at the same time fought off the ferocious attacks on the colony by the Iroquois. Frontenac's first task was to re-take and rebuild Fort Frontenac which his predecessor had abandoned as indefensible against the Iroquois attackers.

With an army of some three thousand men Frontenac proceeded re-occupy Fort Frontenac in July After its restoration he launched an attack with some two thousand men against the Onondagas and the Oneidas. The seventy-four year old Count was borne in a chair between the two divisions. Nothing was left undestroyed in their country by the invading French forces.

Carrying the war into their own country, he struck them hard and often. The Oneidas and the Onondagas began to sue for peace and shortly thereafter four of the Iroquois nations - the Mohawks being the exception - sent deputies to Quebec to start peace negotiations. French-English border raids and reprisals became an established pattern until New England and New York decided to up the ante by attempting an invasion of Canada.

Frontenac believed that nothing short of some swift success at arms would awe the Iroquois and rebuild morale along the St. He settled for a series of guerrilla raids into the English-American colonies and his three raiding brigades achieved his aims. The legacy of these shocking French raids roused a deep enmity for and a strong suspicion of anything French in the northernmost of the 13 Colonies.

Two raids were planned in retaliation. The first of these was an English invasion by a land force sent from Albany to attack Montreal. When it collapsed in confusion by the French colony was motivated by fresh hope. The second assault was by sea. Command of the naval exedition had been given to Sir William Phips who managed to bring the ships involved from Boston to Quebec.

In his gun battleship, Six Friends, and with his new rank as major general Phips was ready to sweep the French completely from North America. Phips sent a subaltern to Frontenac under the protection of a white flag to demand the French surrender. The messenger was kept blindfolded until he was ushered into the reception room of the chateau.

When the blindfold was removed an unexpected sight greeted him. Hoping to do a little bit of intimidating himself the aging governor had arranged an impressive spectacle using costume, colour, demeanour and display. The subaltern, who blinked in the sudden light and at the brilliant assembly, found himself surrounded by dignified deputies in brightly coloured raiments of finest lace and richest silk with their swords ready to be unsheathed at the slightest pretext.

Governor Frontenac - A Flourish for Phips Nervously saluting the governor the subaltern handed a letter to Count Frontenac who passed it to an interpreter. It was an ultimatum demanding the surrender of "all your forts and castles undemolished and the King's and other stores unimbezzled, together with a surrender of your persons and estates.

You may expect mercy from me. Your answer is required in an hour. The answer must be had before eleven. In a calm voice Frontenac said he would not keep the messenger waiting for as long as an hour and curtly refused the terms. When the messenger asked whether he would be so kind as to put his answer in writing, Frontenac famously replied: "I will answer your general by the mouths of my cannons and muskets.

He ordered his ships to begin their bombardment. He fired rounds in a useless cannonade against the cliffs and walls of the Upper Town without effect. Frontenac outgunned the British, his cannon fire from the ramparts high on Cape Diamond forcing them to turned away. Finally, with his fleet badly riddled by fire from the batteries on the rock, Phips decided that discretion was the better part of valour and sailed away.