Augustin de La Balme
Encyclopedia
Augustin Mottin de la Balme was a French cavalry officer who served in Europe during the Seven Years War and in the United States during the American Revolution
. His attempt to capture Fort Detroit
in 1780 ended in defeat when he was ambushed by forces under Chief Little Turtle.
near Saint-Antoine, the son of a tanner
. He served as a trooper in the distinguished “Scottish” company of the Gendarmerie de France during the Seven Years War.
The French forces were nearly destroyed at the Battle of Minden
, but Augustin Mottin was one of the surviving French Cavalry officers. Incidentally, another French officer, Colonel Lafayette, was killed in the battle, leaving his two-year old son Gilbert du Mottier with the title "Marquis de Lafayette
". The British forces at Minden were under the command of Lieutenant General Lord George Sackville, who was court-martialed for failing to crush the defeated French. Mottin would hear these names again during the American Revolution.
Following the war, Augustin studied horsemanship, eventually becoming master at the Gendarmerie’s Riding School in Lunéville. Mottin was promoted to Fourrier-Major in 1766, and retired with a pension in 1773. Using the assumed name “Mottin de La Balme,” he wrote a book on horsemanship in 1773, titled Essai sur l’équitation ou principes raisonnés sur l’Art de monter et de dresser les chevaux. He followed with a book on cavalry tactics in 1776.
to assist in the American Revolution. In 1777, he was appointed as the Colonial Army’s Inspector General of Cavalry
. Upon learning that Casimir Pulaski would be in command of the United States Cavalry, La Balme resigned in October of 1777
In 1780, allegedly under secret orders from General Washington
, but as likely acting on his own, he traveled down the Ohio River to Kaskaskia
. The success of General Clark’s
capture of Fort Sackville at Vincennes
inspired La Balme to attempt a similar feat against the British at Fort Detroit
. La Balme arrived in Kaskaskia as a French officer and was "greeted as Masiah
" by the local French residents, who had been living under British rule for over a decade. He gathered a list of grievances from residents living under the rule of the Virginians, which was to be delivered to the French Ambassador at Fort Pitt
. La Balme coordinated a diversionary attack against Fort St. Joseph
, then began his journey to Detroit, recruiting militia from among the French citizens of Kaskaskia, Cahokia
, and Vincennes. At Vincennes, he started up the Wabash River
with the expectation of adding to his force from the French villages of Ouiatenon
(present day Lafayette, Indiana) and Kekionga
(present day Fort Wayne). La Balme apparently expected French residents at Fort Detroit to join him as well, once they arrived. The expedition marched under a French flag.
La Balme's force had little opposition until reaching Kekionga
, where La Balme had planned to arrest Charles Beaubien
, the British agent. Beaubien and many of the Miami
were not there, however, so the force raised the French flag and raided British stores for over three days while awaiting reinforcements that never arrived. Upon learning of the return of a Miami hunting party to Kekionga, Le Balme departed to raid another trading post on the Eel River. Leaving some twenty men to guard the captured stores at Kekionga, his force marched out over the Eel River trail (the same trail Colonel John Hardin would follow ten years later).
The Miami Indians, learning of the intrusion, destroyed the small group of men left at Kekionga. Chief Little Turtle, who lived in a village along the Eel River, attacked La Balme before he reached the Eel River trading post. La Balme and his men fortified themselves on the banks of the river. There remains some confusion as to the length of the battle; accounts of the siege vary from several days to several weeks. They were eventually defeated by an overwhelming force, and only a few survivors managed to escape. Augustin de la Balme died in the battle, which became known as La Balme's Defeat.
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. His attempt to capture Fort Detroit
Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Détroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. The location of the former fort is now in the city of Detroit in the U.S...
in 1780 ended in defeat when he was ambushed by forces under Chief Little Turtle.
Seven Years War
Augustin Mottin was born 28 August 1733, in the French AlpsFrench Alps
The French Alps are those portions of the Alps mountain range which stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions....
near Saint-Antoine, the son of a tanner
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
. He served as a trooper in the distinguished “Scottish” company of the Gendarmerie de France during the Seven Years War.
The French forces were nearly destroyed at the Battle of Minden
Battle of Minden
The Battle of Minden—or Thonhausen—was fought on 1 August 1759, during the Seven Years' War. An army fielded by the Anglo-German alliance commanded by Field Marshal Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of France Louis, Marquis de Contades...
, but Augustin Mottin was one of the surviving French Cavalry officers. Incidentally, another French officer, Colonel Lafayette, was killed in the battle, leaving his two-year old son Gilbert du Mottier with the title "Marquis de Lafayette
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette , often known as simply Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer born in Chavaniac, in the province of Auvergne in south central France...
". The British forces at Minden were under the command of Lieutenant General Lord George Sackville, who was court-martialed for failing to crush the defeated French. Mottin would hear these names again during the American Revolution.
Following the war, Augustin studied horsemanship, eventually becoming master at the Gendarmerie’s Riding School in Lunéville. Mottin was promoted to Fourrier-Major in 1766, and retired with a pension in 1773. Using the assumed name “Mottin de La Balme,” he wrote a book on horsemanship in 1773, titled Essai sur l’équitation ou principes raisonnés sur l’Art de monter et de dresser les chevaux. He followed with a book on cavalry tactics in 1776.
American Revolution
Augustin de La Balme left for the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to assist in the American Revolution. In 1777, he was appointed as the Colonial Army’s Inspector General of Cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
. Upon learning that Casimir Pulaski would be in command of the United States Cavalry, La Balme resigned in October of 1777
In 1780, allegedly under secret orders from General Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, but as likely acting on his own, he traveled down the Ohio River to Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation or Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in the Great Lakes region...
. The success of General Clark’s
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
capture of Fort Sackville at Vincennes
Vincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...
inspired La Balme to attempt a similar feat against the British at Fort Detroit
Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Détroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. The location of the former fort is now in the city of Detroit in the U.S...
. La Balme arrived in Kaskaskia as a French officer and was "greeted as Masiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
" by the local French residents, who had been living under British rule for over a decade. He gathered a list of grievances from residents living under the rule of the Virginians, which was to be delivered to the French Ambassador at Fort Pitt
Fort Pitt
Fort Pitt may refer to:*Fort Pitt , on the site of present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States*Fort Pitt, Kent, in the United Kingdom*Fort Pitt , a trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada...
. La Balme coordinated a diversionary attack against Fort St. Joseph
Fort St. Joseph (Niles)
Fort Saint Joseph was a fort established on land granted to the Jesuits by King Louis XIV; it was located on what is now the south side of the present-day town of Niles, Michigan. Père Claude-Jean Allouez established the Mission de Saint-Joseph in the 1680s...
, then began his journey to Detroit, recruiting militia from among the French citizens of Kaskaskia, Cahokia
Cahokia
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site is the area of an ancient indigenous city located in the American Bottom floodplain, between East Saint Louis and Collinsville in south-western Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. The site included 120 human-built earthwork mounds...
, and Vincennes. At Vincennes, he started up the Wabash River
Wabash River
The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
with the expectation of adding to his force from the French villages of Ouiatenon
Ouiatenon
Ouiatenon is a name that refers to a dwelling place of members of the Wea tribe of Native Americans. The name Ouiatenon, also variously given as Ouiatanon, Oujatanon, Ouiatano or other similar forms, is a French rendering of a term from the Wea dialect of the Miami-Illinois language which means...
(present day Lafayette, Indiana) and Kekionga
Kekionga
Kekionga, also known as Kiskakon or Pacan's Village, was the capital of the Miami tribe at the confluence of the Saint Joseph, Saint Marys and Maumee rivers on the western edge of the Great Black Swamp...
(present day Fort Wayne). La Balme apparently expected French residents at Fort Detroit to join him as well, once they arrived. The expedition marched under a French flag.
La Balme's force had little opposition until reaching Kekionga
Kekionga
Kekionga, also known as Kiskakon or Pacan's Village, was the capital of the Miami tribe at the confluence of the Saint Joseph, Saint Marys and Maumee rivers on the western edge of the Great Black Swamp...
, where La Balme had planned to arrest Charles Beaubien
Charles Beaubien
Charles Beaubien was a French Canadian trader in the 18th century who became British Agent to the Miami Nation.-Biography:Charles was born 5 April 1742, the son of Hubert beaubien and Marie Catherine Roy of Montreal...
, the British agent. Beaubien and many of the Miami
Miami tribe
The Miami are a Native American nation originally found in what is now Indiana, southwest Michigan, and western Ohio. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is the only federally recognized tribe of Miami Indians in the United States...
were not there, however, so the force raised the French flag and raided British stores for over three days while awaiting reinforcements that never arrived. Upon learning of the return of a Miami hunting party to Kekionga, Le Balme departed to raid another trading post on the Eel River. Leaving some twenty men to guard the captured stores at Kekionga, his force marched out over the Eel River trail (the same trail Colonel John Hardin would follow ten years later).
The Miami Indians, learning of the intrusion, destroyed the small group of men left at Kekionga. Chief Little Turtle, who lived in a village along the Eel River, attacked La Balme before he reached the Eel River trading post. La Balme and his men fortified themselves on the banks of the river. There remains some confusion as to the length of the battle; accounts of the siege vary from several days to several weeks. They were eventually defeated by an overwhelming force, and only a few survivors managed to escape. Augustin de la Balme died in the battle, which became known as La Balme's Defeat.
Aftermath
- For his leadership in this battle, Little Turtle gained a reputation that initiated a successful career as a war chief.
- Although LaBalme’s expedition resulted in failure, it did cause the British considerable concern. Major de Peyster subsequently deployed a detachment of British Rangers to protect Kekionga.
- Fort Detroit would remain under British control until the Jay TreatyJay TreatyJay's Treaty, , also known as Jay's Treaty, The British Treaty, and the Treaty of London of 1794, was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain that is credited with averting war,, resolving issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the American Revolution,, and...
was ratified in 1796. (Detroit was again surrendered to the British in the War of 1812War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, but was returned at the conclusion of the war.) In a log entry dated 13 November, Major Arent DePeysterArent DePeysterArent Schuyler DePeyster was a British military officer best known for his term as commandant of the British controlled Fort Michilimackinac and Fort Detroit during the American Revolution...
, in command of the British garrison at Detroit, recorded:
"A detachment of Canadians from the Illinois and Post Vincennes arrived KekiongaKekiongaKekionga, also known as Kiskakon or Pacan's Village, was the capital of the Miami tribe at the confluence of the Saint Joseph, Saint Marys and Maumee rivers on the western edge of the Great Black Swamp...
about 10 days ago, and entered the village, took the horses, destroyed the horned cattle and plundered a store I allowed to be kept there for the convenience of the Indians, soon after assembled and attacked the Canadians, led by a French colonel."
"… The Miami resisting the fire of the enemy, had five of their party killed, being, however, more resolute than savages are in general, they beat off the enemy, killed 30 and took LaBalme prisoner with his papers ... I expect the Colonel in every hour …”
- The Spanish Governor at St. Louis, Francisco Cruzat, wrote
"… I am very sorry for what has happened to Monsieur LaBalme ... [he] having, perhaps, attempted with imprudence an undertaking which needed more time, more strength and better circumstances ... "
Memorials
- In northeast Indiana, near the Allen – Whitley County line, along the Eel River, A brass and stone marker placed by the Daughters of the American RevolutionDaughters of the American RevolutionThe Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
in 1930, reads: "In memory of Col. Augustin de La Balme and his soldiers who were killed in battle with the Miami Indians under Little Turtle at this place, November 5, 1780."
- 5 November 2005, the Indiana Society Sons of the American RevolutionSons of the American RevolutionThe National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is a Louisville, Kentucky-based fraternal organization in the United States...
erected a bronze marker and commemorated the event's 225th anniversary. The ceremony involved descendents of Revolutionary War soldiers and Miami Indians.