Why was frontenac called the fighting governor

Known as a 'piece,' each bale was fitted with straps for backpacking at a canter along a portage. Liquor had become an essential article in the fur trade, but Bishop Laval demanded an end to the baneful influence of brandy traffic traded by the French for furs.

However, if the French had no brandy to offer, the English got the best furs for their rum, so Frontenac persisted in using it in the face of opposition from Laval. The unrestrained growth of the French fur traders also aroused the Iroquois and their English allies who complained bitterly, "'Tis a very hard thing that all Countryes a Frenchman walks over in America must belong to them. It was not only the fur trade over which the two officials fought.

Duchesneau and Frontenac found they could fight over anything. In letters to the government in France they accused each other of taking an illicit profit from the fur trade. Their infighting got out of hand and reached the point where their supporters attacked each other in the streets. Frontenac was cautioned by Colbert that there were many in New France who were complaining about his autocratic and even tyrannical behaviour. Even the king warned the high-handed governor "New France runs the risk of being completely destroyed unless you alter both your conduct and your principles.

Frontenac proved unwilling to conform and finally in frustration he was and Duchesneau were ordered to return to France. Frontenac, recalled in disgrace, seemed to be a ruined man. To friend and foe alike Frontenac's recall at sixty-two seemed the definite, humiliating close to a career. While his domestic squabbles with Duchesneau had seriously upset the administration of the colony, Frontenac's presence had ensured there was no war in his first term of office. Despite his contentious behaviour Canada could thank Frontenac for keeping the Iroquois at arm's length.

He did this with firmness, sympathy and fair-dealing. His arrogant and dogmatic manner with those who were his equal disappeared when he came into contact with Natives.

With them he was never intolerant or narrow-minded and the Iroquois, who were always good judges of character, were impressed by his manner and demeanour. They knew that behind any of his displays there was always his power. Frontenac's strength was evident and citical to all but for a time it was forgotten. As more and more furs found their way to New Yor, the supremacy of the French system on the St. Lawrence was increasingly threatened.

When war once again broke out between France and England in , the latter rapidly became a rival imperial system. As the Iroquois took advantage of this conflict they became more daring. Their ferocity culminated in an attack on Lachine which led to the massacre of its inhabitants under the very walls of the French stronghold of Montreal.

During this savage assault, it was declared that those who fell from the tomahawk were the most fortunate. The Lachine disaster threatened the colony's lifeline.

Frontenac's successor lacked both his skill and fierce aggressiveness in dealing with the Natives and the crisis led to Frontenac's recall to New France in The mist of time obscures events so they cannont be known with certaintly, but it is a good bet that the mercurial-tempered Frontenac fumed at the failure of his successors to keep the colony secure. The Iroquois had become murderously bold during his absence as demonstrated by the massacre at La Chine. According to a local bishop the terror at the time had been so indescribable that ever since its occurrence the simple appearance of a few Natives put the whole neighbourhood to flight.

Frontenac's faint-hearted successor had abandoned Forts Niagara and Frontenac and English forces from New York, New England and Virginia were now pressing hard upon the established realms of the French king.

Louis XIV's instructions to Frontenac were expressed very simply: "I send you back to Canada where I expect you to serve me as well as you did before. The Iroquois believed that Onontio had lost his power.

They were to learn differently. New France faced a crisis that called forth all the courage the seigneurs and habitants could muster and they rose to the demands of the hour.

The frontiersmen were fighters and no braver breed of warriors answered the call of Frontenac. The French waged war against the English from Albany and New York and at the same time fought off the ferocious attacks on the colony by the Iroquois. Frontenac's first task was to re-take and rebuild Fort Frontenac which his predecessor had abandoned as indefensible against the Iroquois attackers. With an army of some three thousand men Frontenac proceeded re-occupy Fort Frontenac in July After its restoration he launched an attack with some two thousand men against the Onondagas and the Oneidas.

The seventy-four year old Count was borne in a chair between the two divisions. Nothing was left undestroyed in their country by the invading French forces. Carrying the war into their own country, he struck them hard and often. The Oneidas and the Onondagas began to sue for peace and shortly thereafter four of the Iroquois nations - the Mohawks being the exception - sent deputies to Quebec to start peace negotiations. French-English border raids and reprisals became an established pattern until New England and New York decided to up the ante by attempting an invasion of Canada.

Frontenac believed that nothing short of some swift success at arms would awe the Iroquois and rebuild morale along the St. He settled for a series of guerrilla raids into the English-American colonies and his three raiding brigades achieved his aims. The legacy of these shocking French raids roused a deep enmity for and a strong suspicion of anything French in the northernmost of the 13 Colonies. Two raids were planned in retaliation. The first of these was an English invasion by a land force sent from Albany to attack Montreal.

When it collapsed in confusion by the French colony was motivated by fresh hope. The second assault was by sea. Command of the naval exedition had been given to Sir William Phips who managed to bring the ships involved from Boston to Quebec.

The progress of events during the next few years proved that the recall of the governor had been ill-timed. The Iroquois were assuming a threatening attitude towards the inhabitants, and Frontenac's successor, La Barre, was quite incapable of leading an army against such cunning foes. At the end of a year, La Barre was replaced by the marquis de Denonville, a man of ability and courage, who, though he showed some vigor in marching against the western Iroquois tribes, angered rather than intimidated them, and the massacre of Lachine on August 5, must be regarded as one of the unhappy results of his administrations.

The affairs of the colony were now in a critical condition; a man of experience and decision was needed to cope with the difficulties, and Louis XIV, who was not wanting in sagacity, wisely made choice of the choleric count to represent and uphold the power of France.

When, therefore, on October 17, , Frontenac arrived in Quebec as governor for the second time, he received an enthusiastic welcome, and confidence was at once restored in the public mind. On October 16, several New England ships under the command of Sir William Phips , governor of Massachusetts, appeared off the Island of Orleans, and an officer was sent ashore to demand the surrender of the fort. Frontenac handled so vigorously the forces he had collected as completely to repulse the enemy , who in their hasty retreat left behind a few pieces of artillery on the Beauport shore.

The prestige of the governor was greatly increased by this event, and he was prepared to follow up his advantage by an attack on Boston from the sea, but his resources were inadequate for the undertaking.

New France now rejoiced in a brief respite from her enemies, and during the interval Frontenac encouraged the revival of the drama at the Chateau St-Louis and paid some attention to the social life of the colony. New France had been under constant attack during the 15th century. The people however, were not yet subdued, and for two years a petty warfare was maintained.

The sufferings of the colony, infested by war parties, were extreme. The fur trade, which formed its only resource for subsistence, was completely cut off, and a great accumulation of furs remained in the trading posts of the upper lakes, prevented from descending by the watchful enemy.

The Christian Indians of the neighboring missions rose and joined them, and so also did the Hurons and the Algonquins of Lake Nipissing, while Frontenac led the dance, whooping like the rest. His allies, roused to martial frenzy, promised war to the death, and several years of conflict followed. At length, after three years of destitution and misery, Frontenac broke the blockade of the Ottawa; the coveted treasure came safely to Montreal, and the colonists hailed him as their father and deliverer.

In Frontenac decided to take the field against the Iroquois, although at this time he was seventy-six years of age. On July 6 he left Lachine at the head of a considerable force for the village of the Onondagas, where he arrived a month later.

In the meantime the Iroquois had abandoned their villages, and as pursuit was impracticable the army commenced its return march on August The old warrior endured the fatigue of the march as well as the youngest soldier, and for his courage and prowess he received the cross of St. Under Frontenac's leadership, the Canadian militia became increasingly adept at guerrilla warfare and took the war into Iroquois territory and attacked a number of English settlements.

The result was that the Iroquois would never again be a peril to the colony. At the time of his second appointment as Governor in , France authorized the importation of slaves to Quebec from the West Indies. Frontenac died on November 28, at the Chateau St-Louis after a brief illness, deeply mourned by the Canadian people.

The faults of the governor were those of temperament, which had been fostered by early environment. His nature was turbulent, and from his youth he had been used to command; but underlying a rough and hard exterior there was evidence of a kindly heart. Remember me. I forgot my password. Why sign up? Create Account. Suggest an Edit. Enter your suggested edit s to this article in the form field below. Accessed 12 November In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published January 14, ; Last Edited June 15, The Canadian Encyclopedia , s.

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