Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal (22 November, 1698 – 4 August 1778) was a Canadian-born French colonial governor in the North-America. He was born November 22, 1698 to the governor of New France, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil and his wife Louise-Élisabeth de Joybert de Soulanges et de Marson, in Quebec. He was the last governor of New France (or Canada), during the period when the British conquered it in the Seven Years' War (known in the USA as the "French and Indian War").

Vaudreuil-Cavagnal rose quickly through the New France military and civil service, in part owing to his father's patronage but also due to his own innate ability. Commissioned an officer of the French army while still a youth, in 1733 he was appointed governor of Trois-Rivières, and in 1742 of Louisiana, serving there from to May 10, 1743 to February 9, 1753 and proving himself a skilled officer and capable administrator. He moved to France in 1753 before being appointed by King Louis XV as governor of New France in 1755, just as the Seven Years' War began.

The first governor of New France to be born in Canada, his leadership was questioned and some of his orders were ignored by high-ranking officials of the French army such as Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, who judged him to be "too Canadian." Although Vaudreuil-Cavagnal held supreme civil authority in Canada and was technically commander-in-chief of all French forces there, he clashed often with Montcalm, the military commander in the field, who resented his oversight role. The two men grew to detest one another, much to the detriment of the French war effort. Vaudreuil-Cavagnal had excellent relations with the Canadian militia and with the Native-Canadian tribes allied with France; Montcalm looked down on both, preferring to rely upon French regular troops and making poor use of irregular Canadian and pro-French Native-Canadian forces.

After Montcalm lose to the British military of Maj. Gen. James Wolfe at Quebec City in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Vaudreuil-Cavagnal tried to rally resistance to the British, but to no avail. He was forced to surrender Montreal on September 8, 1760 to Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Amherst.

The Marquis sailed back to France in British custody, and was briefly imprisoned, from March to May 1762, in the Bastille for his role in the loss of Canada. After an inquiry in 1763, he was exonerated and retired to his ancestral estate near Rouen, although the episode ruined his fortunes. He died in Paris on August 4, 1778.

The Vaudreuil-Soulanges county regional municipality of Quebec, Canada, is named after him.

See also

• Articles of Capitulation of Montreal
• Timeline of Quebec history

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• CyberAcadie : Biographie : Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, marquis de Vaudreuil (in French)
• Canadian Military Heritage - Mutual Dislike Between Colonial and Metropolitan Officers

1698 births | 1778 deaths | French and Indian War people | People of New France | French nobility | Governors of Louisiana | Governors of New France | Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil