Battle of Fort Albany (1709)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Fort Albany (about 26 June 1709) was an attack by French colonial
volunteers and their native allies against the Hudson's Bay Company
outpost of Fort Albany
in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay
. About 70 Frenchmen and 30 Indians attacked the fort, which was under the command of John Fullartine. Fullartine repulsed the attack, killing eighteen men including the leaders. He lost two men to ambush on their way back to the fort shortly after the attack.
by English
investors in 1670, a lucrative fur trade was established on the shores of Hudson Bay
by the company. By the early 1680s the company had established several trading posts near the mouths of rivers entering into the bay, and Indians living in those watersheds would deliver their furs to these trading posts in exchange for provisions and European goods, including weapons, ammunition, and other items.
The success of this enterprise drew the attention of the authorities in New France
, who objected to English encroachment on their claimed territories, and whose fur trade (and concomitant economic benefits) was hurt by the company's activities. Beginning with an expedition
in 1686, and running through the Nine Years' War (1689–97, known in the English colonies as King William's War
), raiders from New France repeatedly attacked
the company's outposts, capturing and holding the facilities, and sometimes making off with furs awaiting transport to Europe. By the end of the war, only one of the company's outposts, Fort Albany
(so named because it was located near the mouth of the Albany River
in what is now far northern Ontario
), remained in the company's hands.
When the War of the Spanish Succession
(known to English colonists as Queen Anne's War
) began in 1702, the idea of raiding this last vestige of English authority came up in New France. In 1709, a group of French colonists decided to launch an overland raid against Fort Albany. New France's governor, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
, gave his blessing to the raid, and also helped fund the expedition from his private purse. The investors in the expedition expected to recoup their costs from the furs that would be taken. Command of the expedition was given to Nicolas d'Ailleboust de Manthet, an experienced frontier raider who appears, by the few surviving records concerning his life, to never have been to Hudson Bay before. Manthet recruited between 60 and 70 Frenchmen and 30 Caughnawaga Mohawk, and set out, arriving near Fort Albany in late June 1709.
traders, and thus had time to prepare a defense; the number of defenders and the exact date of the event are not known from the fragmentary records of the event.
All that is known of the French attack is that it was successfully repulsed, and that both Manthet and his second in command were killed. French casualties totalled 18 killed (including the two leaders), while the company lost only two men. They had not been in the fort and were ambushed by the French as they made their way toward it.
learned of the event through an unexpected channel. Francis Nicholson
, who had led an aborted expedition against New France from New York
in 1709, brought one Mahican and three Mohawk chiefs
to London in a bid to gain support for a new expedition in 1710. The Mohawks informed company officials that they learned of the attack because they were in Montreal at the time of the expedition's return. Fullartine filed a report on the event when he returned to England in 1711, but it has apparently been lost.
Governor Vaudreuil was criticized by government ministers in Paris
for his role in supporting and funding the expedition. The Hudson's Bay Company recovered all of its outposts in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht
that ended the war, but France and Great Britain continued to dispute the extent of French and company territories in the following decades.
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
volunteers and their native allies against the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
outpost of Fort Albany
Fort Albany, Ontario
Fort Albany First Nation is a community in within the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada. Situated on the southern shore of the Albany River, Fort Albany First Nation is only accessible by air or by winter road....
in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
. About 70 Frenchmen and 30 Indians attacked the fort, which was under the command of John Fullartine. Fullartine repulsed the attack, killing eighteen men including the leaders. He lost two men to ambush on their way back to the fort shortly after the attack.
Background
Following the creation of the Hudson's Bay CompanyHudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
by English
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
investors in 1670, a lucrative fur trade was established on the shores of Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
by the company. By the early 1680s the company had established several trading posts near the mouths of rivers entering into the bay, and Indians living in those watersheds would deliver their furs to these trading posts in exchange for provisions and European goods, including weapons, ammunition, and other items.
The success of this enterprise drew the attention of the authorities in New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, who objected to English encroachment on their claimed territories, and whose fur trade (and concomitant economic benefits) was hurt by the company's activities. Beginning with an expedition
Hudson Bay expedition (1686)
The Hudson Bay expedition of 1686 was one of the Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay. It was the first several expeditions sent from New France against the trading outposts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay...
in 1686, and running through the Nine Years' War (1689–97, known in the English colonies as King William's War
King William's War
The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...
), raiders from New France repeatedly attacked
Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay
Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay: When the English built trading posts on Hudson Bay the French tried to drive them out. This lasted from 1672 until 1713 when British sovereignty over the Bay was recognized by the Treaty of Utrecht...
the company's outposts, capturing and holding the facilities, and sometimes making off with furs awaiting transport to Europe. By the end of the war, only one of the company's outposts, Fort Albany
Fort Albany, Ontario
Fort Albany First Nation is a community in within the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada. Situated on the southern shore of the Albany River, Fort Albany First Nation is only accessible by air or by winter road....
(so named because it was located near the mouth of the Albany River
Albany River
The Albany River is a river in Northern Ontario, Canada, which flows northeast from Lake St. Joseph in Northwestern Ontario and empties into James Bay. It is long to the head of the Cat River, tying it with the Severn River for the title of longest river in Ontario...
in what is now far northern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
), remained in the company's hands.
When the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
(known to English colonists as Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
) began in 1702, the idea of raiding this last vestige of English authority came up in New France. In 1709, a group of French colonists decided to launch an overland raid against Fort Albany. New France's governor, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil was a French politician, who was Governor-general of New France from 1703 to 1725....
, gave his blessing to the raid, and also helped fund the expedition from his private purse. The investors in the expedition expected to recoup their costs from the furs that would be taken. Command of the expedition was given to Nicolas d'Ailleboust de Manthet, an experienced frontier raider who appears, by the few surviving records concerning his life, to never have been to Hudson Bay before. Manthet recruited between 60 and 70 Frenchmen and 30 Caughnawaga Mohawk, and set out, arriving near Fort Albany in late June 1709.
Battle
Fort Albany was inhabited by company employees under the direction of John Fullartine, a longtime company employee who had spent time as a prisoner of the French in the earlier raids. Fullartine was alerted to the French expedition by CreeCree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
traders, and thus had time to prepare a defense; the number of defenders and the exact date of the event are not known from the fragmentary records of the event.
All that is known of the French attack is that it was successfully repulsed, and that both Manthet and his second in command were killed. French casualties totalled 18 killed (including the two leaders), while the company lost only two men. They had not been in the fort and were ambushed by the French as they made their way toward it.
Aftermath
Because the company did not send a ship to Fort Albany in 1709, officials in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
learned of the event through an unexpected channel. Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson was a British military officer and colonial administrator. His military service included time in Africa and Europe, after which he was sent as leader of the troops supporting Sir Edmund Andros in the Dominion of New England. There he distinguished himself, and was appointed...
, who had led an aborted expedition against New France from New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
in 1709, brought one Mahican and three Mohawk chiefs
Four Mohawk Kings
The Four Mohawk Kings or Four Kings of the New World were three Mohawk chiefs of the Iroquois Confederacy and a Mahican of the Algonquian peoples...
to London in a bid to gain support for a new expedition in 1710. The Mohawks informed company officials that they learned of the attack because they were in Montreal at the time of the expedition's return. Fullartine filed a report on the event when he returned to England in 1711, but it has apparently been lost.
Governor Vaudreuil was criticized by government ministers in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for his role in supporting and funding the expedition. The Hudson's Bay Company recovered all of its outposts in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
that ended the war, but France and Great Britain continued to dispute the extent of French and company territories in the following decades.