Pierre de Troyes (born at unknown date – died 1688) was a captain that led the French capture of

Moose Factory Moose Factory is a community in the Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Moose Factory Island, near the mouth of the Moose River, which is at the southern end of James Bay. It was the first English-speaking settlement in lands n ...

, Rupert House, and Fort Albany on

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 ...

1686.

Arrival in Canada

A captain in the French army de Troyes arrived at Quebec in AugustMarsh 1988, p. 2196. 1685 with reinforcements for the colony. On 20 March 1686, with a party of twenty Troupes de la Marine (marines) and sixty ''Canadien'' militiamen (selected for their

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

skills) out of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, he led a mission to chase the English from

James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost par ...

(then known as the bottom of

). Among his officers were three Le Moyne brothers,

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

Jacques Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, and Paul. They were divided into three groups and headed to their destination using the interior waterways.

Hudson Bay Expedition

The mission made audacious use of canoes for transportation in

voyageur The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ...

style, following 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 ...

north,

portaging Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

by way of

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

Lake Abitibi Lake Abitibi (french: Lac Abitibi, oj, Aabitibiiwi-zaaga’igan) is a shallow lake in northeastern Ontario and western Quebec, Canada. The lake, which lies within the vast Clay Belt, is separated in two distinct portions by a short narrows, ma ...

(on the

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 ...

). The assault caught the British entirely by surprise and captured Moose Fort with ease on 20 June. On 3 July, de Troyes took Rupert House along with HBC ''Craven'', which he used to descend on Fort Albany, which fell 26 July. Leaving

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 ...

in charge of the captured forts, de Troyes returned to Quebec. By 1696 the British recaptured Fort Moose. In 1713, the Fort Moose area was formally given to the British under the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...

Fort Denonville

In June 1687, de Troyes commanded a company under Governor Denonville for his famous attack against the

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

. De Troyes' military career was cut short by his death the following year. When Denonville created

Fort Denonville Fort Denonville was a French fort built in 1688 at the current site of Fort Niagara. It replaced Fort Conti which had been built on the site in 1679 and had burned later that year. The fort was located at the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake ...

(now

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 ...

) in his own honor, de Troyes was left in charge. He died during the winter of 1687–1688, along with most of the troops in his garrison, due to

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

Works

* Caron, Ivanhoë (ed.) ''Journal de l'expédition du chevalier de Troyes à la baie d'Hudson, en 1686''. Beauceville: Compagnie de "L'Éclaireur", 1918

References

Notes

Cited literature

* Lamontagne, Léopold. "Troyes, Pierre de." In: ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography,'' vol. 1: 653. 1979 * Marsh, James. "Troyes, Pierre de." In:''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', vol. 4: 2196. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1988. * Sutherland, Stuart R. J. "Troupes de la Marine". In: ''The Canadian Encyclopedia,'' vol. 4: 2196. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1988.

External links

The ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

de Troyes
at the

Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage ...

: CV, animated map of his expedition to Fort Saint-Anne; English or French {{DEFAULTSORT:Troyes, Pierre People of New France Deaths from scurvy 1688 deaths Year of birth unknown French knights