The Sainte-Thérèse Raid was a military raid on the town of Sainte-Thérèse in

French Canada 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 Fre ...

conducted by British elite forces known as

Rogers' Rangers Rogers' Rangers was a company of soldiers from the Province of New Hampshire raised by Major Robert Rogers and attached to the British Army during the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War). The unit was quickly adopted into the British army as ...

that took place 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 ...

from 3 to 18 June 1760. Led by

Robert Rogers Robert Rogers may refer to: Politics * Robert Rogers (Irish politician) (died 1719), Irish politician, MP for Cork City 1692–1699 *Robert Rogers (Manitoba politician) (1864–1936), Canadian politician * Robert Rogers, Baron Lisvane (born 1950), ...

the raid was a pre-emptive strike ordered by Major General

Jeffery Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign ...

as a prelude to his three pronged attack on

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 ...

the following month. Setting off from

Fort Crown Point Fort Crown Point was built by the combined efforts of both British and provincial troops (from New York and the New England Colonies) in North America in 1759 at a narrows on Lake Champlain on what later became the border between New York and Verm ...

they had to fight against a superior force of French and their allied

natives Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

along the shores of

Lake Champlain , native_name_lang = , image = Champlainmap.svg , caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada , coords = , type = , ...

. The Rangers then advanced further north to strike at the Forts of Chambly, Saint-Jean and

Île aux Noix Île aux Noix () is an island on the Richelieu River in Quebec, close to Lake Champlain. The island is the site of Fort Lennox National Historic Site of Canada. Politically, it is part of Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix. Background Île aux Noix ...

. Rogers seeing them too well defended, struck at Sainte-Thérèse instead realising it was an important supply hub. Through a clever ruse he destroyed the fort, supplies and settlement capturing prisoners and gaining valuable information before arriving back at Crown Point.

Background

By 1759 in North America forces of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

had succeeded in capturing

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French milit ...

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 ...

, and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

from the French. The following year the Chevalier De Lévis led a French counterattack to retake

. In April despite winning the Battle of Sainte Foy Lévis failed to take Quebec after a three-week siege and retreated once the British garrison under James Murray had been relieved by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. Lévis retreated to

and helped organise the defense of the region against the inevtiable British attack. The British commander in chief Major General Jeffrey Amherst intended to marshal his numerous forces in a three pronged assault on Montreal from Lake Champlain,

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

and Quebec to seek a decisive victory that would end the war. From French prisoners captured after the Quebec siege Murray informed Amherst that Lévis had sizeable contingents along the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kno ...

at Forts Chambly, Saint-Jean and Île aux Noix. Amherst ordered Major

, leader and founder of an elite military group called

Roger's Rangers Rogers' Rangers was a company of soldiers from the Province of New Hampshire raised by Major Robert Rogers and attached to the British Army during the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War). The unit was quickly adopted into the British army ...

, on a spoiling attack on these French posts, and destroy as many supplies and boats as possible along the Richelieu River. The Rangers in particular Robert, their reputation at a high from the Saint Francis Raid the year before were well prepared for the task. Rogers was to lead 275 Rangers and 28 Regulars (

Light Infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

) in the raid which was hoped to weaken French forces and help divert man power against Amherst's drive on Montreal. Unknown to Rogers and Amherst - the French under Lévis had ordered

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolutio ...

to significantly reinforce the posts along the Richelieu river by June with nearly 1,800 men including militia and

Raid

Departing from Crown Point with four vessels and a number of

bateau A bateau or batteau is a shallow- draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. T ...

x on 2 June 1760. A day later they landed fifty Rangers under Lieutenant Robert Holmes at

Missisquoi Bay Missisquoi Bay is a large extension in the northern part of Lake Champlain, at the East of the output of the latter in Richelieu River. It takes the form of a violin head, with the neck extending from the head of the lake and is about in diameter. ...

with orders to raid the French post known as ' Wigwam Martinique' on the

Yamaska River The Yamaska River is a river in southern Quebec, Canada. Sourcing water within the Eastern Townships, it ends its journey in Lake Saint-Pierre where it is a tributary to the Saint Lawrence River; altogether it is long. Crossing nearly twent ...

east of the Richelieu river. Another four Rangers were also dispatched overland to Quebec with a letter for Murray. A diversion was created - several vessels commanded by Captain Alexander Grant seconded to the Rangers from the 77th Highlanders attempted to distract the French further down the lake. Rogers and the remaining 213 men crossed to the Northwest shore of Lake Champlain the next day and landed near

Chazy River Chazy River is the name of two tributaries of Lake Champlain in Clinton County, New York in the United States. The more northerly river is the Great Chazy River, which empties into Lake Champlain at King Bay in the Town of Champlain. The more s ...

. Despite the diversion Bougainville soon learned of the Rangers location and sent out a party of 350 French, Canadian militia and Indians led by a Pierre Pepin LaForce to ambush the Rangers along the lake's shore.

Battle of Pointe Au Fer

While his scouts relayed the probable point of attack the Rangers and Light Infantry held a site on the Pointe Au Fer Peninsula on the shore of Kings Bay. On his left lay the shore with his whale boats drawn up. On his right was a bog - Rogers dispatched a force of seventy Rangers to fall upon the rear via Catfish Bay if the French were to attack. On 6 June in the morning, La Force ambushed the Rangers and attempted to drive them against the Lake shore and trap them. Outnumbered nearly three to one Rogers' 144 men managed to hold off the French long enough for the seventy Rangers that had successfully advanced through the bog to fall upon on the French rear. Rogers at the same time led the main body of Rangers forward and soon forced the French force to retreat in a Westerly direction. The Rangers harried the French for a mile before the latter took refuge in a cedar swamp and a huge rainstorm ended any further combat. In the three hour combat the Rangers had lost twenty four casualties of which seven were initially killed. another seven would later die of their wounds. Of the highest was company commander Captain Noah Johnson, who had been badly wounded in three places. The French had suffered nearly fifty casualties including La Force who was mortally wounded in the chest. In the aftermath Rangers gathered 34 firearms and three Native scalps.

Sainte-Thérèse

The Rangers regrouped on the

Isle La Motte Isle La Motte is an island in Lake Champlain in northwestern Vermont, United States. At 7 mi (11 km) by 2 mi (3 km), it lies close to the place that the lake empties into the Richelieu River. It is incorporated as a New England town in Grand Isle ...

and a were reinforced by a number of

Stockbridge Indians Stockbridge may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Stockbridge, Edinburgh, a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland * Stockbridge, Hampshire * Stockbridge, West Sussex * Stockbridge Anticline, one of a series of parallel east–west trending folds in th ...

. On 9 June 222 Rangers and Indians landed at the mouth of the

and marched north parallel to the West bank of the Richelieu to Fort Saint Jean. Rogers soon learned the French had heavily reinforced the fort and his reconnaissance unit was fired upon by outlying sentries. Rogers seeing that the fort was aware of his presence realised it be foolish to assault. He now marched for Fort Chambly in a night march further downriver but came across Sainte-Thérèse, a stockaded post and a village with two major storehouses at the upper end of the Chambly rapids five miles south of the Fort Chambly. Realising the Sainte-Thérèse's importance Rogers decided on an attack. Rogers reconnoitred the place at 8am on June 16 and found it lightly manned. As the day wore on they then found most of the occupants busy carting hay into the fort. Rogers and some of his men crept close to the fort while other detachments silently approached the surrounding farmhouses. Rogers and a few men rushed the gates while a haycart was passing through. Then the men rushed into the stockade and surprised the men inside. The French were caught completely off guard - within less than ten minutes the Rangers had captured twenty four soldiers without a shot being fired. Outside the rest of the Rangers seized another 78 soldiers and civilians in the outlying houses. A few civilians managed to escape to warn Fort Chambly. In the meantime Rogers ordered that Sainte-Thérèse be plundered and burned - the village, stockade, boats, canoes, wagons, supplies and livestock were burned or destroyed and anything of value was taken. Rogers' captives of women, and children were set free on the road to Montreal. Rogers interrogated the prisoners and learned that Sainte-Thérèse was a vital link to communications with Île aux Noix. It was also used to supply all the military posts along the Richelieu river. They were unloaded at Chambly, then reloaded by bateaux at Sainte-Thérèse and transported to Saint Jean and Île aux Noix. Rogers realised that an attempt on Fort Chambly which had been reinforced, was not worth the risk. No casualties were sustained on either side during the raid;"Rogers left some humorous messages for the French, and Rogers took with him twenty seven prisoners in total.

Withdrawal

The Rangers departed and crossed the Richelieu and returned to Lake Champlain by a route East of the river on a detour that led past Ile Aux Noix. They headed for Windmill Point to rendezvous with Grant and his ships. As they came across along the shores of the Missisquoi Bay they noticed a large a body of troops pursuing them. Roger's advance party engaged in a similar number which preceded a force in excess of 800 men out from Île aux Noix. The Rangers managed to ambush them and the French were beaten off. Realising the numbers Rogers quickened his march, so much so that the French prisoners could not keep up pace so Rogers ordered their

breeches Breeches ( ) are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each human leg, leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. Formerly a standard item of Weste ...

cut off so their pace could quicken. Having arrived at Windmill Point, Rogers sent the prisoners and a contingent of fifty soldiers along with his intelligence report to Crown Point, Rogers and the rest of the men waited for Holmes' force. On June 21 Rogers soon met up with Holmes and his men - they were unable to find the 'Wigwam Martinique' so had to turn back. Just as they departed the French began to arrive in significant numbers on the shore but as the Rangers rowed away they were well clear of them. Two days after their departure the force celebrated their largely successful campaign at Chimney Point.

Aftermath

In contrast to the Saint Francis Raid - there was no slaughter at Sainte-Thérèse and the Natives held back on taking scalps. Rogers saw that there were no English scalps decorating the village - what's more the village was Canadian, not a native settlement. The raid was Rogers' most successful - the Rangers had only suffered losses in the Pointe Au Fer action - in the raid itself they suffered none. The raid left a telling mark from both the point of view of the British and the French. Amherst was delighted with the result and praised Rogers - the British took over 100 soldiers and militia captive, burned or captured valuable supplies. In addition they had gained vast knowledge on the French defensives up to Montreal. The raid proved a shock to the French, demonstrating Roger's ability to do so much harm deep into their territory. In the aftermath, the raid forced some militias to desert and many natives to abandon their cause for France. Lévis attempted to raise morale but this had little affect. Amherst's three pronged assault on Montreal began in July. Rogers and his Rangers were part of

William Haviland William Haviland (1718 – 16 September 1784) was an Irish-born general in the British Army. He is best known for his service in North America during the Seven Years' War. Life William Haviland was born in Ireland in 1718. He entered milit ...

's advance up Lake Champlain. After Roger's attack, the Richelieu River forts were further reinforced by Bougainville which came to some 3,000 regulars, Canadians and natives. The Rangers would be heavily involved in the reduction of Ile Aux Noix as well as Forts Saint Jean and Chambly before Montreal surrendered on 8 September. After this triumph sustaining little loss Amherst selected Rogers for an expedition to the western French posts —

Fort Detroit Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit (1701–1796) was a fort established on the north bank of the Detroit River by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and the Italian Alphonse de Tonty in 1701. In the 18th century, Fre ...

Fort Michilimackinac Fort Michilimackinac was an 18th-century French, and later British, fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac; it was built on the northern tip of the lower peninsula of the present-day state of Michigan in the United States. Built aroun ...

Fort Ouiatenon Fort Ouiatenon, built in 1717, was the first fortified European settlement in what is now Indiana, United States. It was a palisade stockade with log blockhouse used as a French trading post on the Wabash River located approximately three miles ...

and others. This was the first British expedition into the French held Great Lakes region in almost a hundred years. The mission was a huge success, rounding off what Rogers called the most ''glorious'' year in the history 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 ...

References

;Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sainte-Thérèse Raid Conflicts in Canada Battles of the French and Indian War Battles involving Canada 1760 in New France Conflicts in 1760 Battles involving France Battles involving Great Britain 1760 in North America