Jacques Legardeur De Saint-Pierre: Officer, Gentleman, Entrepeneur

The Relief and Command of Michilimackinac, 1747

4 MICHILlMACKINAC, 1747-1749 THE RELIEF AND COMMAND OF MICHILIMACKINAC, 1747 Louis de La Corne, the Michilimackinac commandant from 1745 to 1747, left that post in July 1747 with a war party of Potawatomis, Illinois, Sauks, Miamis, and Menominees to raid rural settlements in New York. His second-in-command at Michilimackinac, Charles-Joseph Noyelles de Fleurimont, known as De(s) Noyelle(s), was acting commandant of the post after La Corne's departure. After accomplishing their mission , on 30 August 1747, La Corne's Indians were assembled in Montreal about to return to their villages, awaiting their promised presents from the French for their war service. At the same time Beauharnois, who was in his last weeks as governor-general, ordered the assembling of two strong convoys of militiamen and voyageurs to bring desperately needed supplies and men to relieve Detroit and Michilimackinac. The more powerful Detroit convoy contained more than 170 Frenchmen, including 150 militiamen, and sixteen Algonquin scouts under the command of Ensign Louis-Jacques-Charles Renaud Dubuisson. The convoy to Michilimackinac consisted of seventy militiamen and engages, two officers, a cadet, an interpreter, Father Pierre Du Jaunay, and eight Indians, all under the command of Lieutenant Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, on his way to take command of Michilimackinac. Beauharnois's orders were for Saint-Pierre's ten-canoe convoy to carry "thirty thousand weight" of supplies to the beleaguered post in order to maintain the garrison, which would be increased to 100 men after the arrival of Saint-Pierre's convoy, as well as "the people of the place" during the coming winter.1 91 doc. 35b 92 Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre The enumerations of both the supplies given to the Indians returning to the pays d'en haut and of those carried by the Michilimackinac-bound convoy are presented here. The list of "presents" to the 130 men, women, and children of the four tribes and to their villages for the seventy-eight-man war party is instructive, throwing light on the material and subsistence needs of these Indians and their dependence on provisions from their European allies.2 Folio 303r: 30 August. Presents given to the Potawatomi, Sauk, Menominee, miami, and ilinois Indians who had come from Michilimakinac into This town with M. De la Come and who had Gone To War in the rural settlements of New england and who are returning to their villages: To wit Potawatomis .......73 ilinois And miamis ... .12 Sauks .............32 menominees ........13 to Seventy Eight men 144 ells of Cadis3 24 ells Beaufort 72 ells of serge 40 marks4 of imitation braid 3 lbs of sewing thread from Rennes [Folio 303vj 187 ells of sergeS 110 ells ofDourgne cloth6 35 marks of imitation braid 4 lbs of Rennes thread 1 130 In 24 outfits with Braid, to 24 Chiefs In 54 Hooded Coats with Braid 234 ells of Lyon cloth and 6 ells of Batiste cloth in 78 shirts of which 24 are trimmed; 78 2 112 point Blankets; 78 ells of molton in 78 pairs of leggings; 19 112 ells of wool cloth in 78 Breechcloths; 7 ells of Calamanco7 and 7 ells of Kersey8 for short capes. Michilimackinac, 1747-1749 93 to thirty one women: 31 2 112 point Blankets; 93 ells of morlais Cloth in 31 Chemises; 31 ells of molton in 31 pairs of leggings; 46 112 ells of woolen cloth In 31 short skirts.9 to twenty one Children: 21 Iroquois Blankets; 42 ells of Lyon cloth In 21 Chemises; 21 ells of Dourgne In 21 pairs of leggings. For the four villages: In 8 Cases: 400 lbs of powder In 8 Kegs, 600 lbs of lead In 12 oneeighth -size Sacks, 9 gross of Siamese [clasp] Knives, 4 112 gross of Woodcutters' Knives,S gross of wad extractors,S gross of awls, 36 lbs of vermilion, and 63 lbs of Wampum beads; [Folio 304r] 146 halfgallons of Brandy In 19 Kegs; 300 lbs of tobacco In 5 rolls; 32 lbs of Rennes thread; 2750 sewing needles and 700 gunflints In 4 quartersize Sacks; 84 ells of Lyon cloth In 14 banners; 9 bales of Line weighing 58 112 lbs; 200 fishing hooks;lO 2 112 lbs of Fishing line; 7 Hats; 15 6-seat Bark Canoes; 15 Sails; 48 maneuvering poles; 15 sets of spars for canoe bottoms [fonds de Canots]; 69 paddles; 37 lbs of gum; 14...