Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène was a Canadian soldier who was born on April 16, 1659 in Montréal. He was the son of Charles Le Moyne and Catherine Thierry. He died in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

in 1690.

History

In 1686, Jacques Le Moyne, with his brothers,

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...

and Paul Le Moyne de Maricourt, and the Chevalier de Troyes set out for the

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

to drive out the English, reclaiming it for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The trip took 85 days up the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

Lake Timiskaming Lake Timiskaming or Lake Temiskaming (french: Lac Témiscamingue) is a large freshwater lake on the provincial boundary between Ontario and Quebec, Canada. The lake, which forms part of the Ottawa River, is in length and covers an area of ...

, and

Abitibi River The Abitibi River is a river in northeastern Ontario, Canada, which flows northwest from Lake Abitibi to join the Moose River which empties into James Bay. This river is long, and descends . It is the fifth longest river entirely in Ontario A ...

. They and fourteen other men were successful in attacking a series of forts in the area, in effect, winning back the territory. In 1687, he headed 300 Indians against the

Senecas The Seneca () ( see, Onödowáʼga:, "Great Hill People") are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west w ...

. The 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 Spai ...

, the

Marquis de Denonville A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

made him lieutenant. In 1689 the

Compagnie du Nord The (also referred to as the Northern Company) was a French colonial fur-trading company, founded in Québec City 1682 by a group of Canadien financiers with the express intent of competing with the English Hudson's Bay Company. It was founded by C ...

asked Jacques Le Moyne to try out a new route to Hudson Bay. He left with 38 men, as well as British ships, seized in Hudson Bay, and completed the trip in 28 days. In 1690, Governor

Louis de Buade de Frontenac Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau (; 22 May 162228 November 1698) was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France in North America from 1672 to 1682, and again from 1689 to his death in 1698. He established a nu ...

counterattacked the English colonies with the raids made by the Iroquois incited by the English. Of the three expeditionary corps he raised, the Montreal detachment was led by Jacques Le Moyne and Nicolas d’Ailleboust de Manthet. The detachment was composed of 96 Canadians and 114 Frenchmen. In October of that same year, Le Moyne was posted as for the attack by

William Phips Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695) was born in Maine in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was of humble origin, uneducated, and fatherless from a young age but rapidly advanced from shepherd boy, to shipwright, s ...

. With accurate firing, two of Phips's ship retreated and tried to take refuge. The flagship was struck and leaking with many of its crew dead or wounded. Major Jown Walley was prevented from taking Québec City by gunners and by a detachment of men led by Jacques Le Moyne. However, Le Moyne was wounded in the leg, and the wound became worst after a few days. Sainte-Hélène was taken to the

Hôtel-Dieu de Québec The Hotel-Dieu de Québec is a teaching hospital located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, and affiliated with Université Laval's medical school. It is part of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), a network of five teaching hos ...

hospital where he died at the beginning of December 1690. Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène married Jeanne Dufresnoy Carion in Montreal. They had three children, one of whom, Jacques, made a career in Louisiana.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Moyne De Sainte-Helene, Jacques Canadian explorers People of New France French explorers of North America Canadian nobility (French) Le Moyne family Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Order of Saint Louis recipients 1659 births 1690 deaths