Fort Denonville was a French fort built in 1688 at the current site of

Fort Niagara Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes. The fort is on the river's e ...

. It replaced

Fort Conti Fort Conti was built in early 1679 at the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario as a post for the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. Because of the fort's location, the French hoped to control the fur trade in the lo ...

which had been built on the site in 1679 and had burned later that year. The fort was located at the mouth of the

Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York (state), New York in the United States (on the east) ...

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

. In the summer of 1687 the

Governor of New France The governor of New France was the viceroy of the King of France in North America. A French nobleman, he was appointed to govern the colonies of New France, which included Canada, Acadia and Louisiana. The residence of the Governor was at the Chatea ...

Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville (10 December 1637 – 22 September 1710) was Governor General of New France from 1685 to 1689 and was a key figure in the Beaver Wars. Replacing Joseph Antoine de LaBarre in 168 ...

, was on a military expedition to pacify the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

. Nearing the end of the campaign season the governor, wishing to keep French presence in the area, moved his army to the site and constructed a post and named it after himself. The fort, which comprised eight wooden buildings and a stockade, was garrisoned by one hundred men and commanded by Captain

Pierre de Troyes, Chevalier de Troyes Pierre de Troyes (born at unknown date – died 1688) was a captain that led the French capture of Moose Factory, Rupert House, and Fort Albany on Hudson Bay 1686. Arrival in Canada A captain in the French army de Troyes arrived at Quebec in Aug ...

. The governor and the rest of the force returned to Montreal for the winter. The Seneca, in reprisal for Denonville's attack of 1687, laid siege to the fort and denied the garrison the benefits of forage or fresh air. Eighty-nine of the garrison died of scurvy, disease, and starvation during the siege.Claiborne A. Skinner, ''The Upper Country'' (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 71. On Good Friday of 1688 a relief force returned and found twelve survivors. The chaplain of the relief force, Jesuit Father

Pierre Millet Pierre Millet (Milet) (19 November, 1635 at Bourges – December 31, 1708 at Quebec) was a French Jesuit missionary to the Iroquois people in the area that is now New York State. Life Having graduated Master of Arts, he entered the Society of Jes ...

, erected a cross and gave a mass of thanksgiving for their survival. The fort was re-garrisoned, but in September 1688 the French would pull down the stockade and would not winter there again until 1726 when "The House of Peace" (today known as the French Castle) and

were built on the same site.

References

''Biography - Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville''
{{coord missing, Western NY 1687 establishments in New France 1688 disestablishments in New France Denonville Military units and formations established in 1687 Buildings and structures in Niagara County, New York Denonville French forts in the United States Military installations established in the 17th century Military installations closed in the 17th century