Joseph-François Hertel de la Fresnière (; baptised 3 July 1642 - buried 22 May 1722) was a military officer of

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, 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 Kingdom of Great Br ...

. Born in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

when it was a small frontier town to Jacques Hertel, Lord Hertel and Marie Marguerie, he grew up with the constant threat of military action against the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

. Captured by the Iroquois in 1661, he was adopted by an old Iroquois woman, and spent as long as two years among them, learning their language and ways. He managed to escape and make his way home, where his family had thought him dead. He participated in numerous expeditions against the Iroquois, and assisted in the construction of Fort Frontenac. He was briefly imprisoned by French authorities on allegations of illegal fur trade in 1678. Upon the outbreak of

King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Allian ...

in 1689, he was chosen by Governor Frontenac to lead an expedition in 1690 that successfully raided Salmon Falls on the Maine-New Hampshire border, and then contributed to the massacre and destruction of a settlement on Falmouth Neck (site of present-day

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

). Upon his return to Canada, he participated in the defense of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

when it was attacked by New England colonists under Sir

William Phips Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695) was the first royally appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and the first native-born person from New England to be knighted. Phips was famous in his lifeti ...

Personal life

He married Marguerite de Thavenet on September 22, 1664, and had 15 children. Some of his sons, most famously Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville, followed him into military service, and the name Hertel became notorious in the English colonies because of their exploits. In 1716, after many years of requests by New France's governors on his behalf, he was elevated to local nobility. One of Hertel's sisters was Marguerite (b. 26 August 1649), who married Jean Crevier de Saint-François, in 1663.

References

''Biography at Dictionary of Canadian Biography''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertel de la Fresniere, Joseph Francois 1642 births 1722 deaths French military personnel of the Nine Years' War Military history of Acadia Military history of Canada Military history of New England Military history of Nova Scotia People of New France