Daniel d'Auger de Subercase (February 12, 1661 – November 20, 1732) was a naval officer and the French governor of Newfoundland and later

Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17t ...

. Subercase was baptised a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

to Jean Daughter, a rich merchant and bourgeois who had purchased several noble estates, including the lay abbey of Subercase, near Asson. He served about 10 years in the land forces and in 1684 was a captain in the Régiment de Bretagne before he joined the navy and sailed for Quebec. No sooner had he landed in 1687 than he set off with his contingent on a campaign against the Senecas. In 1693 he was named lieutenant-commander, garrison adjutant and adjutant general. On 1 April 1702 he succeeded Monic as governor of Plaisance, arriving at his post in 1703 during the early years of

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...

. He immediately attacked

Ferryland Ferryland is a town in Newfoundland and Labrador on the Avalon Peninsula. According to the 2021 Statistics Canada census, its population is 371. Seventeenth century settlement Ferryland was originally established as a station for migratory fis ...

where he learned from prisoners of a planned English attack on Plaisance with a fleet of thirty-three sail from St. John's under the command of Admiral John Graydon. He immediately set the town's defenses in order and discouraged the attack with the help of two French warships. During the fall of 1704 he organized a series of attacks against English outposts on Newfoundland. With a party of one hundred reinforcements from Canada and three hundred and fifty of his own men, this campaign resulted in the temporary capture of Bay Bulls and Petty Harbour in January 1705 and a failed siege of the main English settlement at St. John's. Unable to subdue the fort they set out to destroying settlements in Conception Bay and Trinity Bay and succeeded in destroying every colony, with the exception of

Carbonear Island Map of fortification in 1750 Carbonear Island or "Stoners Island" as one may call it is a small uninhabited island on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada. It is located at the mouth of Carbonear harbour. It became a strategic haven for ...

. The expedition took 1,200 prisoners, and boasted the destruction of 40 cannon, 2,000 shallops, and pillaged 2,600 livres in cash. Subercase estimated that, although St. John's remained intact, the total losses inflicted on the enemy was 4 million livres. Subercase made full use of the following lull in aggression to rebuild the fortifications at Plaisance, improve morale, and generally improve the living conditions of the residents. In 1705 he was made a knight of the order of Saint-Louis and became the governor of

in April 1706. He successfully led the outnumbered defense of Port Royal against two failed sieges in 1707, leading several sallies himself and having his own horse killed below him in one skirmish. The governor of Boston was not prepared to accept defeat and on 5 Oct 1710 General Francis Nicholson's fleet appeared before Port-Royal and began the Siege of Port Royal. The fleet comprised a landing force of 2,000 men (3,400 according to Subercase), made up of one regiment of English regulars and four regiments of militiamen raised by Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, and carried in 36 vessels, seven of which were warships. Subercase had fewer than 300 men to set against them. After a few days of defense, Subercase surrendered the partially ruined and under provisioned

Port-Royal Port Royal is the former capital city of Jamaica. Port Royal or Port Royale may also refer to: Institutions * Port-Royal-des-Champs, an abbey near Paris, France, which spawned influential schools and writers of the 17th century ** Port-Royal A ...

to 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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, expressing to the English commander his hope of returning to pay him a visit the following spring. Subercase, accused of negligence by some officers and reprimanded by

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 ...

governor Vaudreuil, was summoned before a court martial at Rochefort, but rapidly acquitted. In 1711 he was offered to be sent to serve at Quebec under Vaudreuil where he could formulate a plan to retake Port Royal while continuing to be paid his salary as governor of Acadia. Subercase refused in disgust and two years later 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 ...

was signed ending aggression between the French and English and ceding Acadia and Newfoundland to England for good, thus making Subercase the last governor of French Acadia. Subercase retired and returned to France to live on his estates in Béarn. He continued to draw a captain's pension of 600 livres a year until he died on 20 Nov 1732 at Cannes. A ledger-stone marks his grave in the church of this village.

References

External links

Biography at Government House ''The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subercase, Daniel dAuger de People of Queen Anne's War 1661 births 1732 deaths People from Orthez Governors of Plaisance Governors of Acadia French Navy officers French Protestants

See also

References

External links