Fort Richelieu is a historic
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
in
La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The fort is designated as a
National Historic Site of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...
.
Fort Richelieu was part of a series of five forts built along the
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kn ...
and is at the mouth of the Richelieu River.
Fort Chambly
Fort Chambly is a historic fort in La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec. It is designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. Fort Chambly was formerly known as Fort St. Louis. It was part of a series of five fortificat ...
formerly known as Fort St. Louis at
Chambly, Fort Sainte-Thérèse, and
Fort Saint-Jean at
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, are on the way.
Fort Sainte Anne (Vermont) on
Isle La Motte, Vermont in
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec.
The New York portion of t ...
is near its source. The forts were built in order to protect travellers on the river from 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 ...
. The region is informally known as la Vallée-des-Forts.
History
The fort was established at the mouth of the
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kn ...
, near the modern city of
Sorel-Tracy
Sorel-Tracy (; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada and the geographical end point of the Champlain Valley. It is located at the confluence of the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River, on the western edge of Lac Saint-Pierre, downstr ...
, in 1641. It was built by
Charles Huault de Montmagny, first Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
, and named in honour of
Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister to
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...
. The fort was burned down by 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 ...
in 1647. In 1665, the
Carignan-Salières Regiment, under the direction of
Pierre de Saurel Pierre de Saurel (1628–1682) was a captain in the Carignan-Salières Regiment and a seigneur who was born in Grenoble and came to New France in 1665.
Captain Saurel was immediately sent to rebuild Fort Richelieu, the fort having been burned by th ...
, rebuilt the fort on the same site.
Affiliations
The museum is affiliated with
Canadian Museums Association,
Canadian Heritage Information Network and
Virtual Museum of Canada
The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity.
Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...
.
See also
List of French forts in North America
This is a list of forts in New France built by the French government or French chartered companies in what later became Canada, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the United States. They range from large European-type citadels like at Quebec City to ...
References
External links
''Richelieu River Forts''''Pierre de Saurel''
{{coord, 46.046772, -73.115741, format=dms, region:CA, display=title
History museums in Quebec
Richelieu
Buildings and structures in Montérégie
National Historic Sites in Quebec
Richelieu
Buildings and structures completed in 1641
Buildings and structures completed in 1665
Tourist attractions in Montérégie
History of Montérégie
1641 establishments in the French colonial empire
Forts or trading posts on the National Historic Sites of Canada register
Sorel-Tracy