Augustin Mottin de La Balme (28 August 1733 - 5 November 1780) was a French cavalry officer who served in Europe during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
and in the United States during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
. His attempt to capture
Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit (1701–1796) was a fort established on the north bank of the Detroit River by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and the Italian Alphonse de Tonty in 1701. In the 18th century, Fre ...
in 1780 ended in defeat when he was ambushed by forces under Chief
Little Turtle
Little Turtle ( mia, Mihšihkinaahkwa) (1747 July 14, 1812) was a Sagamore (chief) of the Miami people, who became one of the most famous Native American military leaders. Historian Wiley Sword calls him "perhaps the most capable Indian leader ...
.
Seven Years' War
Augustin Mottin was born 29 August 1733, in the
French Alps
The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...
near
Saint-Antoine. He was the 9th of 13 children born to Antoine Mottin, a
tanner, and Marguerite Reynaud.
Augustin served as a trooper in the distinguished "Scottish" company of the
Gendarmerie de France during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
. He was one of the French cavalry officers who survived the crushing defeat at the
Battle of Minden
The Battle of Minden was a major engagement during the Seven Years' War, fought on 1 August 1759. An Anglo-German army under the overall command of Prussian Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of Fr ...
.
Following the war, Augustin studied horsemanship, eventually becoming master at the Gendarmerie's Riding School in Lunéville. Mottin was promoted to Fourrier-Major in 1766, and retired with a pension in 1773. Using the assumed name "Mottin de La Balme," he wrote a book on horsemanship in 1773, titled ''Essai sur l'équitation ou principes raisonnés sur l'Art de monter et de dresser les chevaux''. He followed with a book on cavalry tactics in 1776.
American Revolution
Augustin de La Balme received a letter of recommendation from
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
and left for the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
to assist in the American Revolution. He arrived with a group of French volunteers that included the
Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
, and expressed a "love of liberty" as the motivation for his service. In 1777, he was appointed as the
Continental Army's
Inspector General of
Cavalry. Due to his performance in the 1777
Battle of Brandywine, however,
Casimir Pulaski
Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski of the Ślepowron coat of arms (; ''Casimir Pulaski'' ; March 4 or March 6, 1745 Makarewicz, 1998 October 11, 1779) was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called, tog ...
was made a Major General over all cavalry, including La Balme, who was not at the battle. When he learned that he would no longer be in command of the United States Cavalry, La Balme resigned in October 1777.
Western Campaign
![LaBalme's Defeat - Whitley County, Indiana](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/LaBalme%27s_Defeat_-_Whitley_County%2C_Indiana.jpg)
In 1780, allegedly under secret orders from
General Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the ...
, but as likely acting on his own, La Balme traveled down the Ohio River to
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in ...
. The success of
General Clark's capture of Fort Sackville
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the French, British and U.S. forces built and occupied a number of forts at Vincennes, Indiana. These outposts commanded a strategic position on the Wabash River. The names of the installations were change ...
at
Vincennes
Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attache ...
inspired La Balme to attempt a similar feat against the British at
Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit (1701–1796) was a fort established on the north bank of the Detroit River by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and the Italian Alphonse de Tonty in 1701. In the 18th century, Fre ...
. La Balme arrived in Kaskaskia as a French officer and was "greeted as
Masiah" by the local
Canadien
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
residents, who had been living under British rule for over a decade. He represented himself as a representative of
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
and gathered a list of grievances from residents living under the rule of the Virginians, which was to be delivered to the French Ambassador at
Fort Pitt. La Balme openly disdained Clark, whom he considered an uneducated woodsman. He coordinated a diversionary attack against
Fort St. Joseph, then began his journey to Detroit, recruiting militia from among the Canadian citizens of Kaskaskia,
Cahokia
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south- ...
, and Vincennes. At Vincennes, he started up the
Wabash River
The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...
with the expectation of adding to his force from the Canadian villages of
Ouiatenon
Ouiatenon ( mia, waayaahtanonki) was a dwelling place of members of the Wea tribe of Native Americans. The name ''Ouiatenon'', also variously given as ''Ouiatanon'', ''Oujatanon'', ''Ouiatano'' or other similar forms, is a French rendering of ...
(present day
West Lafayette, Indiana
West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister cit ...
) and
Kekionga
Kekionga (meaning "blackberry bush"), also known as KiskakonCharles R. Poinsatte, ''Fort Wayne During the Canal Era 1828-1855,'' Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1969, p. 1 or Pacan's Village, was the capital of the Miami tribe. It was ...
(present day
Fort Wayne). La Balme apparently expected Canadian residents at Fort Detroit to join him once they arrived. La Balme kept the French ambassador,
Anne-César de La Luzerne, updated on his movements, and the expedition marched under a French flag.
La Balme's mounted force moved so quickly that it had little opposition until reaching
Kekionga
Kekionga (meaning "blackberry bush"), also known as KiskakonCharles R. Poinsatte, ''Fort Wayne During the Canal Era 1828-1855,'' Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1969, p. 1 or Pacan's Village, was the capital of the Miami tribe. It was ...
, where La Balme had planned to arrest
Charles Beaubien, the British agent. Beaubien and many of the
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
were not there, however, so the force raised the French flag and raided British stores for two weeks while awaiting reinforcements that never arrived. Upon learning of the return of a Miami hunting party to Kekionga, Le Balme departed to raid another trading post on the
Eel River. La Balme left twenty French soldiers to guard the captured stores at Kekionga and marched his force out over the Eel River trail.
The Miami Indians, learning of the intrusion, destroyed the small group of men left at Kekionga. The group of twenty French soldiers left at Kekionga were slaughtered to a man.
[Hogeland, William (2017). Autumn of the Black Snake. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. .] Chief
Little Turtle
Little Turtle ( mia, Mihšihkinaahkwa) (1747 July 14, 1812) was a Sagamore (chief) of the Miami people, who became one of the most famous Native American military leaders. Historian Wiley Sword calls him "perhaps the most capable Indian leader ...
, who lived in a village along the Eel River, received permission from the Kekionga Miami to lead an attack. He gathered available warriors and attacked La Balme in camp at dawn on 5 November, before he reached the Eel River trading post and just 3 miles from Little Turtle's village. La Balme and his men fortified themselves on the banks of the river but were only able to fire one volley before being overwhelmed. The ensuing battle was entirely one-sided; only a few survivors managed to escape. Augustin de La Balme died in the battle, which became known as
La Balme's Defeat.
Legacy
![Labalme 2010c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Labalme_2010c.jpg)
Although La Balme's expedition resulted in failure, it did cause the British considerable concern. Major de Peyster subsequently deployed a detachment of British Rangers to protect Kekionga. Fort Detroit would remain under British control until the
Jay Treaty
The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted ...
was ratified in 1796. (Detroit was again surrendered to the British in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
, but was returned at the conclusion of the war.) The British commander at Detroit, Major
Arent DePeyster
Arent Schuyler DePeyster (27 June 1736 – 26 November 1822) was an American-born military officer best known for his term as commandant of the British controlled Fort Michilimackinac and Fort Detroit during the American Revolution. Following t ...
, thought La Balme had survived, and recorded a log entry dated 13 November:
* The Spanish Governor at St. Louis,
Francisco Cruzat, wrote
References
Notes
Sources
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External links
The Whitley County Historical Society – LaBalmeAugustin La Balme's letter to Benjamin FranklinA letter from Gen. Washington to LaBalmeMottin de La Balme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Labalme, Augustin
1733 births
1780 deaths
Inspectors General of the United States Army
United States military personnel killed in the American Revolutionary War
French people of the American Revolution
Indiana in the American Revolution
French military personnel of the Seven Years' War