Winnebago County, Wisconsin - Chapter 18, 1880

The French Posts and Settlements in the West - The Coureur de Bois - His Mode of Life and Canoe Voyages - - French Officers Trained in Forest Warfare, in the Campaigns of the Fox Valley - De Beaujeu at the Battle of the Monongahela - De Langlade, the Pioneer Settler of Wisconsin, Plans and Executes the Defeat of Braddock - The Opening and Closing of the French-Indian War - De Langlade Attempts to Repeat his Exploit in the Battle of the Monongahela, by an Ambuscade of a Large Division of Wolf's Army before Quebec - De Langlade Returns to his Home in Green Bay - Pontiac's War - Massacre of the English Garrison at Michilimackinac.

FTER the expulsion of the Sauks and Foxes from this valley, the greatest harmony prevailed between the French and Indians of the West. The whole net-work of lakes and rivers west of the Alleghanies, was now in the possession of New France, and a series of posts extended from Montreal to the Mississippi. One at Niagara guarded the entrance to the lakes. One at Detroit controlled the passage between Lakes Erie and Huron. Another at the Straits of St. Marys, and one at Michilimackinac commanded the entrance to Lakes Superior and Michigan. The post at Green Bay secured the mouth of the Fox, which was the chief entrance-way to the great Mississippi valley. One at the mouth of the St. Joseph, controlled the route from the head of Lake Michigan to the Illinois, by the Kankakee portage; while posts on the Wabash and Maumee, with Fort Du Quesne on the Ohio, secured the control of the Ohio valley, and completed the circuit from Quebec and Montreal through the Great Lakes, the Fox and Wisconsin, to the Mississippi, and up the Ohio to its tributaries on the Western slope of the Alleghanies.

Little French settlements sprang up adjacent to many of these posts, which constituted in 1750 the only settlements in the whole interior. Their communication with each other was by canoe navigation, and the chief business was the fur trade. The Indians and French were now being rapidly merged into one people, and a class of men came into existence who were vastly the superiors of the Indians in forest craft, and in all the skill of savage life - whites and half-breeds - and known as coureicrs de bois. Many of these were born on the frontier posts and inured from childhood to hardship and danger. No Indians could surpass them in the chase or in shooting the rapids in the light canoe. In mode of life they conformed to that of the Indians; they were in fact simply superior savages, leading a half civilized life. Dressed in buck-skin huntingfrock and leggings gaily ornamented with porcupine quills and beads, with eagle feathers

He explored the most remote recesses of the interior, was as familiar with its trails and lines of travel as the denizen of a city with its streets. He read his way by the moss and bark on the trees - by the stars at night, and by all those signs so familiar to those accustomed to forest life. In his canoe, laden with furs, and in the enjoyment of the companionship of the congenial Indians, he cheerily paddled it along the silvery stream, enlivening his toil with song and banter. For a thousand miles - from the far-off land of the Dacotah, or Illinois, he guided the frail bark through river and lake, through foaming rapids and stormy seas; through great stretches of dense forests, where the sinuous stream was almost hidden from the light of day - and again through countless leagues of prairie, where herds of buffalo, antelope and deer browsed unscared at the sight of man, and then over the transparent waters of the great inland seas. But when his frail canoe shot like a startled deer through the milky foam and tearing rapids, and rushed madly by the jagged rocks, then, holding his life in his hands, and dependent on his skill and intrepidity, the coiweur dc bois was in his glory.

If his life was one of hardship and danger, it was one of pleasurable excitements and of freedom from the cares of civilization. It had its fascinations, too, and the camp fire at night was always a festive scene, where song and merry jest or story, pleasantly whiled away the evening hours.

In the war-dance, or at the dog-feast - by the side of his dusky mistress in the wigwam - on the war-path or in the chase, he was to all intents, Indian - " native to the manor born.

At the most remote posts were found scions of the French nobility mingling in the dusky circle of the wigwam - those who were reared amid the elegancies and luxuries of the court circles of Versailles and Paris. And here were found military officers whose earlier years had been passed in the feudal camps of Europe.

Many a gallant, young French officer who distinguished himself in the long French-Indian war that had its closing scene in the fall of Montreal, took his first lessons in forest warfare in the sanguinary contests of the Fox valley.

De Langlade, of Green Bay, the Indian forces who defeated Braddock in that memorable opening scene in the great drama, whose closing act was the English conquest, in itself, but the prelude to that great contest which established the standard of self-government in America, and the overthrow of both French and English feudalism.

The post at Green Bay was, up to 1745. but a military and trading post with the Mission attached. In that year was commenced the permanent settlement of Wisconsin by Augustine and Charles De Langlade, who settled at that point and whose descendants still reside there.

Augustine De Langlade, born in Three Rivers, 1 703, was of patrician extraction - a descendant of the house of the Count of Paris. He established a trading post among the Ottawas at old Michilimackinac, where he married Dometilde, widow of Daniel Villeneuve, the sister of the principal chief of the Ottawas, King Nis-so-wa-quet. Charles Michel De Langlade, the issue of the marriage, was born at Michilimackinac, in 1729, and, with his father, Augustine, removed to the Bay des Puants (Green Bay) in 1745, and established there the first permanent white settlement in the country. After the termination of the French and Indian war he married Charlotte Bourassa and returned to his home with her, at Green Bay, The surviving child of this union was Dometilde, who was married to Pierre Grignon. A large family sprung from this union, and they and their descendants constitute the pioneer settlers of Wisconsin.

Charles De Langlade is one of the historical characters of this state. After he had settled at "the Bay," England declared war against France.

From the accession of William of Orange to the throne of England, and the espousal of the cause of King James by France, the English and French colonies were at strife; but in 1754 the great drama known as the French and Indian war, and which involved the political destinies of a continent, had its opening scenes at the Great Meadows and Fort Du Ouesne, and its closing at the fall and surrender of Montreal - the last stronghold of the French.

By the treaties of Utrecht and Aix la Chapelle, Acadia had been ceded to Great Britain, but a dispute sprung up between the two powers, respecting the boundaries of that territory. While the question was still pending and the courts of Versailles and London were holding diplomatic intercourse, so inevitable

The French sent a force to take a position on the head waters of the Ohio. They fortified themselves at the mouth of the Monongahela, and constructed F"ort Du Ouesne, destined to become memorable in American History.

So confident was Braddock of his success, that he said to Franklin, "After taking Fort Du Ouesne I am to proceed to Niagara, and after taking that, to Frontenac. Du Ouesne can hardly detain me aboxe three or four days, and then I see nothing to obstruct m\- march to Niagara." When Franklin replied that the Indians and French were skillful in forest warfare, Braddock answered, "The)' may be formidable to your raw American militia, but upon the King's regulars and disciplined troops it is impossible that they should make any impression. '

De Beaujeu,the brave young officer who had served in the campaigns in the Fox valley, had been sent with reinforcements to Fort Du Ouesne; and Charles de Langlade, of Green Bay, marched to its defense at the head of six hundred Indians. Arriving there, they camped in bark lodges in the surrounding forests, and sent out their scouts to watch the approach of the enemy.

The grand army of the English was slowly pushing its way through the unbroken forest. So slow was its progress that it was determined to push forward with twelve hundred chosen men and the light artillery. On the eighth of July this ad\'ance body reached the Monongahela, at a point twelve miles from the French fort.

The imposing appearance of the formidable forces of Braddock, surpassing in military grandeur anything the Indians had ever before witnessed, discouraged them, for scouts had been bringing in accounts of their numbers and appearance - exaggerating the force, as usual with Indians.

It was plain, not onl}- to the Indians but to Contrecoeur, the commander of the fort, that their numbers were insufficient to cope with the powerful and well equipped army moving upon them, and their only alternative seemed retreat, when Beaujeu and De Langlade proposed an ambuscade. Twice in council the Indians refused to go on the hazardous enterprise; but at last inspiring confidence from the urgent appeals of their brave leaders, they started. Their number was two hundred and thirty French soldiers and six hundred Indians. Before reaching the place chosen for an ambuscade, they found themselves suddenly in the presence of the English army. De Langlade, who saw the necessity for immediate action, urged an attack, when Beujeu, at the head of his French forces, suddenly struck the advancing colnmn. The English were taken by surprise. The advance saw the gallant Beujeu in his fringed hunting shirt, wave his hat to his followers and bound forward, when in an instant the woods seemed filled with screeching fiends. While the French opened a brisk fire on the head of the English column, the Indians under De Langlade, attacked both flanks. The brave Beujeu fell in the first encounter, and the British seemed to rally from their consternation and madeaspirited fight; but De Langlade's tactics were something they were unabletomeet,ashis Indians would suddenly attack their flank on both sides and disappear; at times the English could hardly see an enemy, although a deadly storm of lead was continually poured upon them. At last every tree and bush was flashing with a deadly fire and the troops fell by scores. Washington with his Virginians was cool throughout, and they made a violent resistance, but it was of no avail. The British troops wasted their fire, shooting over the heads of the Indians. The officers behaved with great gallantrj-. Fifty-three out ofeightysi.x were killed or wounded, Braddock himself receiving a mortal wound after five horses were shot under him. Two horses were also shot under Washington, while four bullets pierced his clothes. Seven hundred soldiers out of the twelve hundred who crossed the Monongahela were killed or wounded. After the slaughter had continued nearly three houis the survivors, panic-stricken, precipitately fled to the rear division. The soldiers of this division, catching the infection, destroyed their cannon and stores and fled in dismay. Washington with a handful of men covered the disgraceful retreat, feeling chagrined at the calamity which had been brought upon them through the incompetency and obstinate pride of Braddock.

The English general, Burgoyne, in a letter written by him in \JT] , says: "We are expecting M. de Langlade, the person who at the head of the tribe zvhich he now eoniinands, planned and executed the defeat of General Braddock. " had his importunities for support been heeded he would have repeated, on the army of the heroic Wolf, a similar disaster, and turned the tide of American empire.

The Plains of Abraham were the Waterloo of America. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at its flood, leads on to greatness, glory, and renown."

In 1759, on the ninth of July, the largest division of Wolfs army established itself on the left bank of the river, below the falls of Montmorency, and, on the twenty-fifth a detachment of two thousand men pushed a reconnoisance across a belt of forest, almost to the F"rench entrenchments. De Langlade and his Indians watched theirevery movement, unseen by the English, and, ascertaining their great number, determined on an ambuscade. He succeeded in placing his Indians in ambush, so as to surround the English force; and then sent to the Division General, acquainting him with the situation, and urging him to send a support of French to aid him in an immediate attack. The General hesitated to do so, without Qrders from head quarters. At last M. De Levis ordered a force of French forward, but it was too late.

For five hours the Indians had remained crouched in the grass and bushes, impatient for the attack, when an English soldier discovered one of them and fired his piece. The Indians could restrain themselves no longer, and prematurely commenced their engagement, when the English effected a retreat to their main body.

"After having lain flat on the ground for five hours in the face of the enemy, without observing the slightest movement among our troops, the Indians, carried away at last by their impatience, and seeing, moreover, that the enemy was profiting by it, by bringing fresh troops into the woods, decided to make the attack alone. They were so impetuous, as we were subsequently told by a sargeant, who had deserted to the enemy, and two Canadians, their prisoners, that the English were obliged to fight, retreating more than two hundred paces from the place of combat before they could rally. The alarm was communicated even to the main camp, to which Gen. Wolf had returned. The savages, seeing themselves almost entirely surrounded, effected a retreat, after having killed or wounded more than a hundred and fifty men, losing only two or three of their own number. They met at the ford of the River Montmorency, the detachment coming to their support, which M. De

Levis had been unwilling to take the responsibility of sending, until he recei\ed an order from M. De Vaudreuil. The whole army regretted that they had not profited by so fine an opportunit}'. "

The contest which began at Du Ouesne lasted for five years. The celebrated battles of Lake George, Ticonderoga and the others of this long French Indian war, are matters of standard history. The memorable battle on the plains of Abraham, where the heroic Wolf won imperishable laurels, and where the gallant Montcalm struggled against adverse fate, virtually ended the contest. The subsequent surrender of Montreal closed thej'war; and F"rench empire in America was ended.

It was now a century and a half since Champlain commenced at Quebec, that French occupation, which in time embraced the whole interior from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi. But during that period a mighty host who peopled the sea coast was gradually accumulating a power before whose resistless forces, both French and English ascendancy were doomed to yield.

" His majesty, having made choice of Sieur Langlade to serve in the capacity of half-pay lieutenant in connection with the troops stationed in Canada, he commands the Lieutenant General of New France to receive him, and to cause him to be recognized in the said capacity of half-pay lieutenant by all those and others whom it may concern.

" I inform you, sir, that I have to-day been obliged to capitulate with the army of General Amherst. This city is, as you know, without defences. Our troops were considerably diminished, our means and resources exhausted. We were surrounded by three armies, amounting in all to twenty thousand eighty men. General Amherst was, on the sixth of this month, in sight of the walls of this city. General Murray within reach of one of our suburbs, and the army of Lake Champlain was at La Prairie and Longueil.

Under these circumstances, with nothing to hope from our efforts, nor even from the sacrifice of our troops, I have advisedly decided to capitulate with General Amherst upon conditions very advantageous for the colonists, and particularly for the inhabitants of Michilimackinac. Indeed, they retain the free exercise of their religion ; they are maintained in the possession of their goods, real and personal, and of their peltries. They have also free trade, just the same as the proper subjects of the King of Great Britain.

can appoint persons to act for them in their absence. They, and all citizens in general, can sell to the English or French their goods, sending the proceeds, thereof, to France, or taking them with them if they choose to return to that country after the peace. They return their negroes and Pawnee Indian slaves, but will be obliged to restore those which have been taken from the English. The English General has declared that the Canadians have become the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, and consequently the people will not continue to be governed as heretofore by the French Code.

" In regard to the troops, the condition has been imposed upon them not to serve during the present war, and to lay down their arms before being sent back to France. You will therefore, sir, assemble all the officers and soldiers who are at your post. You will cause them to lay down their arms, and you will proceed with them to such sea-ports as you think best, to pass from thence to France. The citizens and inhabitants of Michilimackinac will consequently be under the command of the officer whom General Amherst shall appoint to that post.

" You will forward a copy of my letter to St. Joseph, and to the neighboring posts, in order that if any soldiers remain there, they and the inhabitants may conform thereto.

De Langlade returned to his home at Green Bay. He had married a Miss Charlotte Bourassa, and with her now returned to the enjoyments of domestic life. As before stated, his daughter, Domitilde, was the first white child born in the limits of Wisconsin, and her descendants still live at Green Bay.

By the treaty of Paris, 1763, France ceded all her territory east of the Mississippi. The English took possession of all the Western posts, and the control of the country passed into the hands of that power. But the Indians were irreconcilable; they were unalterably attached to the French, and hated the English.

The great Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, planned a conspiracy. He declared that "the luiglish are dogs, disguised as men in garments always stained in blood." He united the various nations in an attempt to take the several forts by stratagem, and then by a general ujjrising to drive the English out of the coiintr}-.

Capt. Etherington was commandant of Michilimackinac; and De Langlade, who had remonstrated with the Indians against the useless bloodshed, hastened to acquaint I"'therington of his danger. But this officer, blinded by the treacherous professions of Indians, gave no heed to the warning.

On the birthday of King George, June fourth, 1763, there was a grand celebration at the fort, and the Chippewas and others were invited to participate. The Indians proposed to play their game of ball, called la crosse. They managed to throw their ball over the palisades of the fort, several times, when the soldiers threw it back to them. Etherington, becoming much interested in the game, and desiring to give the Indians all possible facilities, ordered the gates of the fort to be thrown open. The ball was soon thrown inside, when the Indians rushed after it. The squaws followed and handed the warriors the weapons, which were concealed under their blankets. The war-whoop was now yelled, and the unsuspecting soldiers fell under the murderous blows of the savages. Seventeen were massacred, and the survivors taken prisoners, Etherington and Lieut. Leslie among the latter. When they were found outside of the fort after the massacre, they were taken and stripped of their clothing, and fire was prepared to burn them at the stake. De Langlade, in anticipation of this fearful event, had come to the fort with a number of friendly Ottawas from I'Arbre Croche. He now hastened to the succor of Etherington and his companion, who were bound to stakes; and at once cut the cords, saying to the Chippewas in a resolute tone: "If you are not satisfied with what I have done, I am ready to meet you." They knew the man and yielded to him their prisoners, whom De Langlade subsequently sent with an escort of Ottawas to Montreal.