Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive (1700–1774), was an officer in the
French marine troops in
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 ...
.
Biography
Born in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
in 1700, Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive followed his father,
Robert Groston de Saint-Ange, to
Fort Saint-Joseph in 1720. In 1723, he accompanied the explorer
Étienne de Veniard along the banks of the
Missouri River and the
Platte River
The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itsel ...
, and assisted in the construction of
Fort Orleans.
Louis served as a military officer until 1736, when his father asked the Governor of
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
,
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville (; ; February 23, 1680 – March 7, 1767), also known as Sieur de Bienville, was a French colonial administrator in New France. Born in Montreal, he was an early governor of French Louisiana, appointed four ...
, to promote him to lieutenant and commander of
Fort Vincennes, replacing
François-Marie Bissot, who was killed in an Indian raid. Louis received that promotion and remained commander of the fort until 1764. He was promoted to
captain in 1748.
On May 18, 1764, Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive surrendered Fort Vincennes to the British under the terms of the
Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France:
Treaties
1200s and 1300s
* Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade
* Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France
* Trea ...
of 1763. He then took command of
Fort de Chartres
Fort de Chartres was a French fortification first built in 1720 on the east bank of the Mississippi River in present-day Illinois. It was used as the administrative center for the province, which was part of New France. Due generally to river floo ...
.
[France in America, W.J. Eccles, Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, p.180]
On October 10, 1765, he surrendered Fort de Chartres to the British. He took his regiment to
Saint-Louis,
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, a part of French Louisiana that had been yielded to the Spanish, who were not yet in control of the full territory.
In 1770, he swore allegiance to the Spanish Governor, and became a captain in the Spanish army, where he continued to serve until his death in 1774.
[Canada-Québec(Synthèse Historique), Montreal, Qc., 1977, p.144]
Legacy
Bellerive Country Club
Bellerive Country Club is a golf country club in the central United States, located in Town and Country, Missouri, a suburb west of St. Louis. With the Old Warson, Westwood, and St. Louis country clubs, it is considered one of the "big four" old ...
in suburban St. Louis is named for him;
its golf course has hosted three
major championships. The club's previous location (1910–1959) near
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
is now a village called
Bellerive.
References
External links
Dictionnaire biographique canadienMémorial des Canadiens français aux États-unis
1700 births
1774 deaths
Canadian explorers
Commandants and Lieutenants of the Illinois Country
People of New France
{{Explorer-stub