Michel Maray de La Chauvignerie (January 24, 1704August 10, 1778), also known as Michel Maray, sieur de la La Chauvignerie, was a French military officer in the Troupes de la Marine and interpreter of

Iroquoian languages The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian ...

Biography

Michel Maray de La Chauvignerie was born on January 24, 1704 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

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 ...

to Sieur Louis Maray de la Chauvignerie, an officer in the Troupes de la Marine, and Catherine Joly. He was baptized in

on September 5, 1704. Together with

Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire (1670June 29, 1739), also known as Sononchiez by the Iroquois, was a French army officer and interpreter for New France who worked with the Iroquois tribes during the French and Indian Wars in the early 18th centu ...

, La Chauvignerie convinced several Native American tribes to renew their alliance with New France at a banquet in

by singing an Iroquois war song when New France was threatened by an attack from the British in August 1711. In 1736, La Chauvignerie published a list of names from the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

and other peoples that he had compiled. In June 1755, Lieutenant La Chauvignerie replaced

Philippe-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire Philippe-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire (), also known as Nitachinon by the Iroquois, was a French army officer and interpreter in New France who established Fort Machault in the 18th century. During his career, he largely served as a diplomat with t ...

as the officer in charge of constructing

Fort Machault Fort Machault (, ) was a fort built by the French in 1754 near the confluence of French Creek with the Allegheny River, in northwest Pennsylvania. (Present-day Franklin developed here later.) The fort helped the French control these waterway ...

(initially known as Fort d'Anjou). His construction efforts were set back by shortages of manpower and wood, resulting in sporadic construction and improvements until November 1758 when he was replaced by

François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery (24 August 1703 – 29 July 1759) was a colonial military leader in the French province of Canada. Active in the defense of New France during the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War), ...

. During 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 ...

, La Chauvignerie and Lignery left Fort Machault to relieve

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 ...

when it was sieged by the British in July 1759. The battle resulted in the capture of La Chauvignerie, the death of Lignery, and the loss of Fort Niagara. La Chauvignerie died on August 10, 1778 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France.

Personal life

On August 16, 1740, La Chauvignerie married Marie-Joseph Raimbaut.

Biography

Personal life

References

Further reading