Michel Maray de La Chauvignerie (January 24, 1704August 10, 1778), also known as Michel Maray, sieur de la La Chauvignerie, was a French military officer in the Troupes de la Marine and interpreter of

Iroquoian languages The Iroquoian languages () are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, almost all surviving I ...

Biography

Michel Maray de La Chauvignerie was born on January 24, 1704, in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

to Sieur Louis Maray de la Chauvignerie, an officer in the Troupes de la Marine, and Catherine Joly. He was baptized in

on September 5, 1704. Together with

Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire (; 1670June 29, 1739), also known as Sononchiez by the Iroquois, was a French army officer and interpreter for New France who worked with the Iroquois tribes during the French and Indian Wars in the early 18th cen ...

, La Chauvignerie convinced several Native American tribes to renew their alliance with New France at a banquet in

by singing an

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

war song when New France was threatened by an attack from the British in August 1711. In 1736, La Chauvignerie published a list of names from the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

and other peoples that he had compiled. In June 1755, Lieutenant La Chauvignerie replaced Philippe-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire as the officer in charge of constructing Fort Machault (initially known as Fort d'Anjou). His construction efforts were set back by shortages of manpower and wood, resulting in sporadic construction and improvements until November 1758 when he was replaced by

François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery (24 August 1703 – 29 July 1759) was a colonial military leader in the French province of Canada. Active in the defense of New France during the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War), h ...

. During the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, La Chauvignerie and Lignery left Fort Machault to relieve

Fort Niagara Fort Niagara, also known as Old Fort Niagara, is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great L ...

when it was sieged by the British in July 1759. The ensuing

Battle of La Belle-Famille The Battle of La Belle-Famille occurred on July 24, 1759, during the French and Indian War along the Niagara River portage trail. François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery's French relief force for the besieged French garrison at Fort Niagara fell ...

resulted in the capture of La Chauvignerie, the death of Lignery, and the loss of Fort Niagara. La Chauvignerie died on August 10, 1778, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France.

Personal life

On August 16, 1740, La Chauvignerie married Marie-Joseph Raimbaut. They had one son, Michel Joseph Maray de La Chauvignerie, born in 1741.

Biography

Personal life

References

Further reading