Battle of La Prairie

Battle of La Prairie
	Part of King William's War and the Beaver Wars
	; 1704 map of La Prairie
Date	August 11, 1691
Location	La Prairie, New France
Result	French victory
Belligerents
France ; New France	New York ; England; Mohawk ; Mohicans
Commanders and leaders
Callière	Pieter Schuyler
Strength
700-800 regulars, militia and Indians	120 militia ; 146 Indians
Casualties and losses
45 killed ; 60 wounded	37 killed ; 31 wounded

The Battle of La Prairie was an attack made on the French colonial settlement of La Prairie, New France on August 11, 1691 by an English, Mohawk and Mohican force coming north from Albany, New York. The force, led by Major Pieter Schuyler, initially intended to attack Montreal, but was repulsed with significant casualties by the French and their Indian allies.

Background edit

During the summer of 1691, an English and Indian force led by Major Pieter Schuyler, consisting of 120 militiamen from Albany and 146 warriors from the Mohawk and Mohican tribes, attacked French colonial settlements along the Richelieu River south of Montreal. Louis-Hector de Callière, the local French governor, responded by amassing 700-800 French marines, militiamen and Indian allies at Fort Laprairie, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River.^{[citation needed]}

Battle edit

Schuyler's men surprised the much larger French force in a rainstorm just before dawn on August 11, inflicting severe casualties before withdrawing towards the Richelieu River. The Anglo-Indian force might have remained intact but instead was intercepted by a French force of 160 men led by Philippe Clément du Vuault de la Valrennes that had been detached to block the road to Chambly. The two sides fought in vicious hand-to-hand combat for approximately an hour, before Schuyler's men broke through the French and retreated.^{[citation needed]}

Aftermath edit

The French had suffered the most casualties during Schuyler's initial ambush, but the casualties the Albany force suffered after Valrennes' counterattack meant that they had incurred the greater proportion of loss. Instead of continuing his raids, Schuyler was forced to retreat back to Albany. The battle was also the subject of a 19th-century poem by William Douw Schuyler-Lighthall. In 1921, the site of Valrennes' counterattack was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.^[1]

Notes edit

^ Second Battle of Laprairie. Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Parks Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2012.

References edit

Eccles, W.J. (1979) [1969]. "Clément du Vuault de Valrennes, Philippe". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. II (1701–1740) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
Pell, John H. G. (1979) [1969]. "Schuyler, Peter(1657-1723/24)". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. II (1701–1740) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
"The Battle of La Prairie", by W.D. Schuyler-Lighthall
"A Costly Raid Against Montreal". Canadian Military History Gateway. Government of Canada. 1 June 2017.