Major-General Jean Erdman, Baron Dieskau (1701 – 8 September 1767) was a

French Royal Army The French Royal Army () was the principal land force of the Kingdom of France. It served the Bourbon dynasty from the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century to that of Charles X in the 19th, with an interlude from 1792 to 1814 and another du ...

officer who served in the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

and

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

Biography

He was the aide-de-camp of Marshal

Maurice de Saxe Maurice, Count of Saxony (, ; 28 October 1696 – 20 November 1750) was a notable soldier, officer and a famed military commander of the 18th century. The illegitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania ...

and visited

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

in that officer's interest in 1741. He also served in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and in 1748 became major general of infantry and commander of Brest. He was sent to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on 20 February 1755 as the head of French troops to conduct the campaign against the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. His forces comprised 600 Canadians, the same number of Indians, and 200 regular French troops. He ascended

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

to its head, designing to attack Fort Edward, but the guides took the road to Lake George by mistake . On 8 September, he was informed by scouts that a detachment of 1,000 men under Colonel

Ephraim Williams Ephraim Williams Jr. (Wyllis Eaton Wright, Colonel Ephraim Williams, a documentary life' (1970), p. 4.Correct date of birth of February 24, 1714 is obtained from primary source: Massachusetts Vital Records "Newton Births 1674-1801 Book 1 Vol 10 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, had been sent against him, and disposing his men in ambush in the form of a horseshoe, he surprised the enemy and put it to flight. After pursuing their opponents to the British camp, the Indians halted; the Canadians became alarmed; and Dieskau, with his 200 regulars, was forced to sustain the fight. For five hours, the New England militia "kept up the most violent fire that had yet been known in America." Almost all the French regulars perished , and Dieskau himself was wounded three times but refused to retire and seated himself on a stump exposed to the bullets. Finally, seeing a soldier approaching as if to capture him, Dieskau put his hand into his pocket for his watch, which he intended to give to his captor, but the man, supposing that he was drawing a pistol, shot him and inflicted a wound that ultimately caused Dieskau's death over a decade later. The event became known as the

Battle of Lake George The Battle of Lake George was fought on 8 September 1755, in the north of the Province of New York. It was part of a campaign by the British to expel the French from North America, in the French and Indian War. General Jean-Armand, and Jean Erdma ...

. Dieskau was kept a prisoner until 1763, when he was exchanged and returned to France, where he was given a pension. Command in Canada passed to

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Lieutenant-General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Montcalm de Saint-Veran (; 28 February 1712 – 14 September 1759) was a French Royal Army officer best known for his unsuccessful defence of New France during the French and Indian ...

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dieskau, Jean Erdman 1701 births 1767 deaths Military personnel from Dresden Erdman, Jean French generals People of the French and Indian War People of New France Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to France