The siege of Little Butte des Morts was a battle fought during the

Fox Wars The Fox Wars were two conflicts between the French and the Fox (Meskwaki or Red Earth People; Renards; Outagamis) Indians that lived in the Great Lakes region (particularly near the Fort of Detroit) from 1712 to 1733.In their book ''The Fox Wars ...

, in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and Michigan. The battle was fought at

Little Lake Butte des Morts Little Lake Butte des Morts is a lake in the US state of Wisconsin, eight miles north of Lake Butte des Morts. It is part of the Fox–Wisconsin Waterway and receives its inflow from a short segment of the Fox River which drains from the north ...

, in what is now

Winnebago County, Wisconsin Winnebago County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 171,730. Its county seat is Oshkosh. It was named for the historic Winnebago people, a federally recognized Native American tribe now known ...

, in 1716. At the time, the Fox had a massive stronghold at Butte Des Mortes, with possibly thousands of inhabitants. New France, knowing that Butte Des Morts was an important stronghold during the Fox Wars, laid siege to the fort. The French brought two pieces of cannon and a grenade mortar. The siege lasted three days, much longer than the French had anticipated. Butte des Morts was attacked by New France again in 1730, led by

Paul Marin de la Malgue Paul Marin de la Malgue ( bap. 19 March 1692 – 29 October 1753) was the eldest son of Charles-Paul Marin de la Malgue and Catherine Niquet. He was born in Montreal and, as many of the prominent historical figures of his time, had a military c ...

. There has recently been some doubt about the veracity of the 1730 attack, leading to the removal of the Butte des Morts historic marker in March 2017.

Notes

Winnebago County, Wisconsin Pre-statehood history of Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-stub