The Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay were a series of conflicts in the 17th and 18th centuries between England and France for control over the area around the

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

Overview

Beginning in 1672, the French sought to drive out the English

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

(HBC) trading posts that were established on

in 1668. This continued during

King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Alli ...

and mostly ended in 1713, when France recognized British sovereignty over the Bay in the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne ...

. The last instance would be in 1782, when the French captured Fort Churchill ( Prince of Wales Fort). Since the posts were held by, at most, a few dozen traders and labourers, they could easily be captured by a small group of soldiers; however, it was difficult to send soldiers to the Bay and impractical to keep them there over winter. The short ice-free season made it difficult to take all the posts in one year. Thus, the posts changed hands more or less at random whenever one side or the other sent a force into the Bay. Only in 1697 did significant British and French forces met on the bay when the Battle of Hudson's Bay was fought.

List of conflicts

Prior to 1670

*1658–68:

Pierre-Esprit Radisson Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636/1640–1710) was a French fur trader and explorer in New France. He is often linked to his brother-in-law Médard des Groseilliers. The decision of Radisson and Groseilliers to enter the English service led to the fo ...

and

Médard des Groseilliers Médard Chouart des Groseilliers (1618–1696) was a French explorer and fur trader in Canada. He is often paired with his brother-in-law Pierre-Esprit Radisson, who was about 20 years younger. The pair worked together in fur trading and explor ...

learn that the best furs come from north of Lake Superior. When their plans are rejected at Quebec they turn to the English. *1668–69: Proto-HBC trades for one winter at Rupert House. (See:

1670s

*1670:

founded. *1670–79: English trading posts built on James Bay, including: **1668: Rupert House (southeast) **1673:

Moose Factory Moose Factory is a community in the Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Moose Factory Island, near the mouth of the Moose River, which is at the southern end of James Bay. It was the first English-speaking settlement in lands no ...

(south) and Fort Albany (west). *1672: Father

Charles Albanel Charles Albanel (1616 – 11 January 1696), born in Ardes or Auvergne, was a French missionary explorer in Canada, and a Jesuit priest. Life Charles Albanel entered the Society of Jesus in 1633 at Toulouse. In 1635 he began teaching at various Je ...

travels from Quebec to Rupert House, but finds it deserted. *1674: Albanel again reaches Rupert House. He and Groseillers are sent to England. Father Albanel and French money induce Groseillers to return to the French service. *1679: Radisson is in Paris.

1670-1688

*1682: Radisson and

Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye (12 February 1632 - 20 September 1702) was a French businessman active in Canada. The richest financier and businessman in New France, he played an important part in the colony's economic life (such as its trade, fin ...

form the

Compagnie du Nord The (also referred to as the Northern Company) was a French colonial fur-trading company, founded in Québec City 1682 by a group of Canadien financiers with the express intent of competing with the English Hudson's Bay Company. It was founded by C ...

. *1682: One French (which included

) and two English groups reach the mouth of the

Hayes River The Hayes River is a river in Northern Manitoba, Canada, that flows from Molson Lake to Hudson Bay at York Factory. It was historically an important river in the development of Canada and is now a Canadian Heritage River and the longest natura ...

. The French capture the English. *1686:

Hudson Bay expedition (1686) The Hudson Bay expedition of 1686 was one of the Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay. It was the first of several expeditions sent from New France against the trading outposts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay. L ...

— A large French force from Montreal captures the three HBC posts on James Bay. The HBC now has only

York Factory York Factory was a settlement and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) factory (trading post) located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately south-southeast of Churchill. ...

. *1688:

Battle of Fort Albany The 1688 Battle of Fort Albany was one of the Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay. In the Hudson Bay expedition (1686) the French had, in time of peace, marched overland from Quebec and captured all three English posts on James Bay. The Frenc ...

—

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...

in the ''Soleil d'Afrique'' returns to James Bay to pick up the remaining furs. There, he defeats two English ships and returns to France.

King William's war (1688-97)

England's

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

lead to a renewed war with France for nine years. Below is a list of incidents during the war: *1690: D'Iberville tries to capture York Factory but finds it guarded by a warship. He goes south and captures

Fort Severn Fort Severn, in present-day Annapolis, Maryland, was built in 1808 on the same site as an earlier American Revolutionary War fort of 1776. Although intended to guard Annapolis harbor from British attack during the War of 1812, it never saw ac ...

. *1693: James Knight captures Fort Albany and 30,000 pelts. *1694:

Capture of York Factory The Capture of York Factory was a 1694 Anglo-French conflict on Hudson Bay. In 1686 Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville marched overland from Québec and captured all the English posts on James Bay. This left York Factory, which was too far away and ...

— D'Iberville captures York Factory. *1695: Three Royal Navy frigates recapture York Factory. The French now hold no forts on the bay. *1697: Battle of Hudson's Bay — A naval battle takes place, after which d'Iberville retakes York Factory and France retains it until 1713. *1698: The war ends and there seems to have been little action thereafter.

18th century

*1709:

Battle of Fort Albany (1709) The Battle of Fort Albany (about 26 June 1709) was an attack by French colonial volunteers and their native allies against the Canadian Hudson's Bay Company outpost of Fort Albany in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay. About 70 Frenchmen and 30 ...

— During

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...

, 100 French soldiers try to capture Fort Albany but are driven off. This seems to be the only case of a fort being successfully defended. *1713:

— British sovereignty over Hudson Bay recognized by France. **After 1713, military competition was replaced by an economic one as the French, and later other British traders, tried to divert trade from the HBC to Montreal. This lasted until 1821, when the HBC absorbed the Montreal traders. In the interior, there were scattered fights involving the traders and their Indian allies, but these have left few records. *1763: Treaty of Paris — France cedes all of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

to Britain. *1782:

Hudson Bay expedition The Hudson Bay expedition was a series of military raids on the fur trading outposts and fortifications of the British Hudson's Bay Company on the shores of Hudson Bay by a French Royal Navy squadron under the command of the Comte de Lapérous ...

— La Perouse successfully raids Prince of Wales Fort and York Factory.

References

*Morton, Arthur S. c.1940. ''A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71''. *Newman, Peter C. 1998. ''Empire of the Bay''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anglo-French_conflicts_on_Hudson_Bay, List_of

Anglo-French_conflicts_on_Hudson_Bay The Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay were a series of conflicts in the 17th and 18th centuries between England and France for control over the area around the Hudson Bay. Overview Beginning in 1672, the French sought to drive out the Engl ...

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