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, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

Overview

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

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

(HBC) trading posts, which were established on

starting in 1668. This conflict 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 Allian ...

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 treaty, 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 vac ...

. The last notable conflict occurred in 1782, with the French capture of 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 meet on the bay when the

Battle of Hudson's Bay The Battle of Hudson's Bay, also known as the Battle of York Factory, was a naval battle fought during the War of the Grand Alliance (known in England's North American colonies as "King William's War"). The battle took place on 5 September 16 ...

was fought.

List of conflicts

Prior to 1670

*1658–68:

Pierre-Esprit Radisson Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636/1640–1710) was a French coureur des bois 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 ...

and Médard des Groseilliers learned that the best furs come from north of Lake Superior. When their plans are rejected at Quebec they turned to the English. *1668–69: Proto-HBC trade for one winter at Rupert House. (See: Médard des Groseilliers.)

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 (Ontario), Moose River, which is at the southern end of James Bay. It was the first English language ...

(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. He was the first to travel by land to Hudson Bay from Tadoussac. Life Charles Albanel entered the Society ...

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 trad ...

form the . *1682: One French (which included Médard des Groseilliers) 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 natu ...

. The French capture the English. *1686: Hudson Bay expedition — 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) on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately south-southeast of Churchill. York ...

. *1688: Battle of Fort Albany —

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, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

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 act ...

. *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 conflicts on Hudson Bay, Anglo-French conflict on Hudson Bay. In 1686. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville marched overland from Quebec City and Hudson Bay expedition (1686), captured all the trading ...

— D'Iberville captures York Factory. *1695: Three Royal Navy frigates recapture York Factory. The French now hold no forts on the bay. *1697:

— 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) — During

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) or the Third Indian War was one 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 Gr ...

, 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

to Britain. *1782: Hudson Bay expedition — 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 wars Battles involving the Hudson's Bay Company Corporate warfare Events in New France Hudson Bay Lists of battles Military operations of the early modern period Natural resource conflicts Rupert's Land Timelines of military conflicts Timelines of New France history