François Riday Busseron (Bosseron, Beauceron) was a

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 ...

fur trader, general store operator, and militia captain in the American village of

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 attached ...

. He supported the Americans 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 Revolut ...

and funded the first

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...

made in Indiana. As a U.S. citizen, he would serve as a judge in the court of general quarter sessions. Busseron was born in 1748, when the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

was still part 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 Spai ...

. The territory became the domain of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

following the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, but Busseron elected to stay. On hearing the news of the American Revolution and the French alliance from Father Gibault, however, Busseron sided for the Americans. François Riday Busseron grave

When Lt-Governor Henry Hamilton retook control 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 ...

and confiscated local supplies of ammunition, Busseron, along with Colonel Legras, "buried the greater part of their powder and ball."

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier during the Ame ...

and his American forces arrived on 23 February 1779, his

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

ruined while wading across 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 fro ...

.Somes, 70 Clark wrote of Legras and Busseron, "We found ourselves well supplied by those gentlemen." Hamilton noted not only that Busseron supplied Clark with powder, but that he also offered the services of himself and 75 men of the Vincennes militia, which greatly discouraged the Canadians inside Fort Sackville. Busseron was involved in many of the Vincennes militia actions, including a mission led by Captain Leonard Helm that captured Hamilton's reinforcements on the

. When Clark withdrew his Virginia troops in Spring 1780, he left Busseron in charge of the fort- now renamed Fort Patrick Henry. By 1781, the Canadian residents of Vincennes had become frustrated with the Virginia government, depreciated US currency, and the Virginia militias that used or took their property without proper compensation. The leading citizens of Vincennes, including François Busseron, signed a letter of grievances to the governor of Virginia. Over the course of the American Revolution, Busseron extended up to $12,000 credit to Clark. None of this was ever repaid to him. He and all but one of his children died in poverty. Busseron died in 1791 at age 43. Joseph Somes says he died "a broken and much disillusioned man." He is buried near the Old French Cathedral in Vincennes, next to the George Rogers Clark National Historic Park. Busseron Street, in Vincennes, is named in honor of François Busseron. Busseron Creek and Busseron Township, both in

Knox County, Indiana Knox County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana in the United States. The oldest county in Indiana, it was one of two original counties created in the Northwest Territory in 1790, alongside, St. Clair County, Illinois. Knox County was gradu ...

, are also named for him.

Notes

References

* Barnhart, John D. and Riker, Dorothy L. ''Indiana to 1816. The Colonial Period.'' 1971, Indiana Historical Society. * English, William Hayden. ''Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio 1778-1783 and Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark'' Vol I. 1896. The Bowen-Merrill Company. Indianapolis, Ind., and Kansas City, Mo. * Commager, Henry Steele and Richard B. Morris. ''The Spirit of Seventy-Six. The story of the American Revolution as told by its participants.'' Castle Books. HarperCollins Publishers. 1958. LCCN 67-11325. . *Somes, Joseph Henry VandeBurgh. ''Old Vincennes'' Graphic Books, New York. 1962. .

External links

Online memorial to François Riday BusseronNational Park Service: George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Busseron, Francois Riday Indiana in the American Revolution French Canadians in the American Revolution 1791 deaths Year of birth unknown