Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive
Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive (1700–1774), was an officer in the French marine troops in New France.
Biography
Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive was born in Montreal in 1700.
In 1720, he followed his father to Fort Saint-Joseph.[1]
In 1723, he accompanied the explorer Étienne de Veniard along the banks of the Missouri river and the Platte river. He assisted in the construction of Fort Orleans.[2]
Louis served as a military officer until 1736, when his father asked the Governor of Louisiana, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, to promote him to lieutenant and commander of Fort Vincennes, replacing François-Marie Bissot, who was killed in an Indian raid. Louis received that promotion and remained commander of the fort until 1764. He was promoted to captain in 1748.[3]
On May 18, 1764, Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive surrendered Fort Vincennes to the British under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1763. He then took command of Fort de Chartres.[4]
On October 10, 1765, he surrendered Fort de Chartres to the British. He took his regiment to Saint-Louis, Missouri, in a part of French Louisiana which had been yielded to the Spanish, who were not yet in control of it (except for New Orleans).[4]
In 1770, he swore allegiance to the Spanish Governor, and became a captain in the Spanish army, where he continued to serve until his death in 1774.[5]
References
- ↑ Canada-Québec(Synthèse Historique), Montreal, Qc., 1977, p.74
- ↑ Norall, Frank, Bourgmont: Explorer of the Missouri, 1698-1725. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 51-67. Details about the expedition to the Plains are from Norall unless otherwise noted.
- ↑ Canada-Québec(Synthèse Historique), Montreal, Qc., 1977, p.143-144
- 1 2 France in America, W.J. Eccles, Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, p.180
- ↑ Canada-Québec(Synthèse Historique), Montreal, Qc., 1977, p.144