Topic summary
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River (French:) 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 known by the French as the Iroquois River and the Chambly River, and was named for Cardinal Richelieu, the powerful minister under Louis XIII.
This river was a key route of water transport for trading, first by indigenous peoples, and then for cross-border trade between Canada and the United States. With 19th-century construction of the Champlain Canal (1823) south of Lake Champlain and the Chambly Canal (1843) to the north, the Richelieu provided a direct route from the Saint Lawrence River to New York via Lake Champlain, the canals, and the Hudson River. The construction of rail transport in the mid-19th century competed with such river/canal routes and ultimately succeeded them, because of faster service with greater freight capacity.
Because of the river's strategic position between New France and New England, several military fortifications were erected on its course. It served as a key pathway for several military tours and was the scene of several battles between the end of the 17th and early 19th centuries, first between the French and the Iroquois; then between the French and the English, during the regime of New France; and finally between the British and the rebel Americans after 1760.