Battle of La Prairie

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of La Prairie
partof=the War of the Grand Alliance
date=August 11, 1691
place=La Prairie, near Montreal, Québec, Canada
result=French victory
combatant1=France
combatant2=England
commander1=Louis-Hector de Calliéres,
Philippe Clement du Vuault de Valrennes
commander2=Major Pieter Schuyler
strength1=700-800 regulars, militia and First Nations allies
strength2=120 Albany militia, 146 Mohawk and Mahican allies
casualties1=45 killed
60 wounded
casualties2=37 dead
31 wounded|

During the summer of 1691 a force led by Major Peter Schuyler invaded the French settlements along the Richelieu River south of Montreal. Callières, the local French governor, responded by massing 700-800 French and allies at the fort at La Prairie, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Schuyler surprised the much larger French force in a rainstorm just before dawn on August 11, inflicting severe casualties before withdrawing towards the Richelieu. Schuyler's force might have remained intact but instead was intercepted by the force of 160 men led by Valrennes that had been detached to block the road to Chambly. The two sides fought in vicious hand-to-hand combat for approximately an hour, before Schuyler's force broke through and escaped. The French had suffered the most casualties during Schuyler's initial ambush, but the casualties the Albany force suffered after Valrennes' counterattack meant that they had incurred the greater proportion of loss. Instead of continuing his raids, Schuyler was forced to retreat back to Albany.

The battle was also the subject of a 19th-century poem by William Douw Schuyler-Lighthall.

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=34837&query= Philippe de Valrennes]
* [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=35218&query=Schuyler Pieter Schuyler]
* [http://www.bartleby.com/246/1212.html "The Battle of La Prairie", by W.D. Schuyler-Lighthall]