Nicolas Antoine II Coulon de Villiers (25 June 1708 – 3 April 1750) was a French military officer from an influential military family in the

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in ...

(1744–1748) in North America. He was born in

Contrecœur, Quebec Contrecœur () is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 9,480. Contrecœur is approximately northeast of Montreal and is accessible via Quebec Autorout ...

, son of Nicolas-Antoine Coulon de Villiers and Angelique Jarret de Verchères. His brothers were

Louis Coulon de Villiers Louis Coulon, Sieur de Villiers (17 August 1710 – 2 November 1757) was a French military officer who served during the French and Indian War. Perhaps his greatest claim to fame is the fact that he is the only military opponent to force Geo ...

François Coulon de Villiers François Coulon de Villiers (1712 – 22 May 1794) was a French military officer from an influential military family in the French and Indian War and then an influential officer in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, New Spain community of New Orlea ...

and

Joseph Coulon de Jumonville Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de Jumonville (September 8, 1718 – May 28, 1754) was a French Canadian military officer. His last rank was second ensign (''enseigne en second''). Jumonville's defeat and killing at the Battle of Jumonville Glen ...

. In his youth, he fought against the sauks and became commander of Fort St. Joseph (Niles, Michigan),

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, after the death of his father in battle. In 1742, he returned to Quebec and married on 7 October 1743, Madeleine-Marie-Anne Tarieu de La Pérade, widow of Richard Testu de La Richardière, who had died in Quebec on October 24, 1741. In 1746, he was posted as captain in Acadia and won an important victory against a larger British force in the

Battle of Grand Pré The Battle of Grand Pré, also known as the Battle of Minas and the Grand Pré Massacre, was a battle in the mid-18th century King George's War that took place between New England forces and Canadian, Mi'kmaq, and Acadian forces at present-day G ...

on 1 February 1747. For this, he was awarded the

Order of Saint Louis The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis () is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis (King Louis IX of France). It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, notable as the fi ...

, with an 800-livre gratuity, by the King of France. He was also appointed major of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

. Coulon de Villiers had his left arm shattered by a musket ball during the battle. He went to France for treatment of his wound at a thermal spring. After his return to Canada in 1749, after amputation of his wounded arm, he died and was buried at Montréal on 4 April 1750.

Sources

Dictionary of Canadian Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coulon, Antoine French military personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession 1708 births 1750 deaths People of New France