Monarch Louis XV Monarch Louis XV Monarch Louis XV Succeeded by Louis Billouart | Preceded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne Preceded by Marquis Du Quesne Name Pierre Rigaud, | |
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Preceded by Jean-Marie-Josue Boisberthelot de Beaucours Died August 4, 1778, Paris, France Similar People Louis‑Joseph de Montcalm, Francis de Gaston - Chevalier, Jeffery Amherst - 1st Baron, James Wolfe, Michel‑Ange Duquesne de Menn | ||
Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, Marquis de Vaudreuil (22 November 1698 – 4 August 1778) was a Canadian-born colonial governor of Canada (New France) in North America. He was governor of French Louisiana (1743–1753) and in 1755 became the last Governor-General of New France. In 1759 and 1760 the British conquered the colony in the Seven Years' War (known in the United States as the French and Indian War).
Life and work
He was born to the Governor-General of New France, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil and his wife Louise-Elisabeth, daughter of Pierre de Joybert de Soulanges et de Marson, in Quebec. He was the uncle of Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil.
Vaudreuil-Cavagnial rose quickly through the New France military and civil service, in part owing to his father's patronage but also due to his own innate ability. Commissioned an officer of the French army while still a youth, in 1733 he was appointed governor of Trois-Rivieres, and in 1742 of French Louisiana, serving there from to May 10, 1743 to February 9, 1753 and proving himself a skilled officer and capable administrator. He moved to France in 1753 before being appointed by King Louis XV as governor of New France in 1755.
The first governor of New France to be born in Canada, his leadership was questioned and some of his orders were ignored by officials of the French army such as Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, who judged him to be "too Canadian". Although Vaudreuil-Cavagnial held supreme civil authority in Canada and was technically commander-in-chief of all French forces there, he clashed often with Montcalm, the military commander in the field, who resented his oversight role. The two men grew to detest one another, much to the detriment of the French war effort. Vaudreuil-Cavagnal had excellent relations with the Canadian militia and with the Native-Canadian tribes allied with France; Montcalm looked down on both, preferring to rely upon French regular troops and making poor use of irregular Canadian and pro-French Native-Canadian forces.
After Montcalm lost to the British forces under Maj. Gen. James Wolfe at Quebec City in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Vaudreuil-Cavagnial tried to rally resistance to the British, but to no avail. He was forced to surrender Montreal on 8 September 1760 to Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Amherst.
The Marquis sailed back to France in British custody, and was imprisoned, from November 1761 to May 1762, in the Bastille prior to trial for the frauds and peculations that had helped to ruin Canada. He was joined by Bigot, Cadet, Pean, Breard, Varin, Le Mercier, Penisseault, Maurin and Copron amongst others. After an inquiry in 1763, he was exonerated; Bigot and Cadet were banished, and the latter ordered to repay six million Francs. Of the 21 men brought to trial, 10 were condemned, six were acquitted, three received an admonition and two were dismissed for want of evidence. Absent were 34, of whom seven were sentenced in default, and judgement was reserved in the case of the rest.
After selling his Canadian seigneuries at Vaudreuil and Rigaud to his cousin, Michel Chartier de Lotbiniere, Marquis de Lotbiniere, he retired to his ancestral estate near Rouen, although the episode ruined his fortunes. He died in Paris on 4 August 1778.
His nephew Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil was the second in command of the French naval units supporting the Americans during the American Revolution. He was present at the defeat of the British fleet by the French at the pivotal Battle of the Chesapeake during the siege of Yorktown in 1781, although he was later defeated by the Royal Navy at the Battle of the Saintes.