"I think the empire ruined," said George III when he received news that one of his fleets had been defeated just off the Chesapeake Capes of Virginia. An English admiral dismissed the action as no more than "a lively skirmish," but the consequences could not be ignored. Lord Cornwallis was bottled up in Yorktown, and George Washington was ready to strike the final blow of the Revolution. However, the French commander at the battle, Admiral de Grasse, refused to take credit for the momentous victory, claiming "the laurels of the day belong to Bougainville."

Louis Antoine de Bougainville was born on November 11, 1729, to a successful Paris lawyer. As a young man he was something of a genius in mathematics, but pursued a legal career, becoming an advocate in the parliament of Paris. His real goal, contrary to the wishes of his father, was a military life. After serving as a militia officer, Bougainville acquired, in 1753, a commission in the dragoons.

The next year he published a book, Traite du Calcul Integral, and this bright young officer thereby caught the eye of his superiors and was appointed secretary to the French ambassador in London. While he only served the ambassador for several months, he learned to speak excellent English and impressed his hosts to such an extent that he was appointed to the Royal Society for his work in calculus. It was no small accomplishment for any man, let alone a Frenchman at a time when England and France were virtually at war.

It was in 1754 that conflict had erupted in North America, due in no little part to the inevitable clash between the governors of Canada and Virginia over rights to the Ohio Valley. Both sides had taken up arms after a detachment of Frenchmen had been wiped out by a Virginia militia officer, Major George Washington.

In 1756, France officially declared war and dispatched a fresh army to Canada, under the command of Louis Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm. Montcalm was a distinguished officer of the War of the Austrian Succession, and a bold front line commander who had been wounded six times in battle. He was about to make a reputation as one of France's most brilliant military men, and when he sailed from Brest in March, aboard was his newly appointed aide-de-camp, Captain Louis Antoine de Bougainville.

The two were a perfect match, and Montcalm soon wrote that Bougainville was "bright and witty and makes things easier for me by correctly anticipating my wants. I prize his varied talents highly." Over the next several years, the pair would share numerous victories, as well as hardships, and Montcalm came to look on Bougainville as a son. Arriving in Canada, the general immediately took action. In April he crossed Lake Ontario and assaulted the valuable British post of Fort Oswego. After the English commander was cut in half by a twenty-pound solid shot, Bougainville advanced under a flag of truce to demand surrender. The rattled garrison complied after a hurried council. This first battle was a stunning success. Captured were 1,600 men, a large cache of artillery and supplies, as well as the English Ontario fleet consisting of six ships. However, it was a stained victory.

A horrified Bougainville watched as the French allied Indians commenced tomahawking prisoners. Before control was regained by a furious Montcalm, some 100 were dead.

Although later "adopted" by a Canadian branch of the Iroquois tribe, Bougainville early formed an opinion of the natives that was less than favorable. He witnessed numerous acts of brutality, and was especially repulsed by the cannibalism that was so prevalent among the Indians of the time. He once wrote to his brother, "my soul has several times shuddered at the spectacle my eyes have witnessed."

He grew to despise their very presence, yet admitted that they were an integral part of the French war effort, calling them "a necessary evil." Bougainville himself was not averse to dangerous assignments, and in December he co-commanded a party of 500 Canadians and Indians that descended to Fort William Henry on Lake George and ambushed a column of English troops.

In the summer of 1757, Montcalm's entire army invested the British fort. After a six-day siege, Bougainville entered the fort to demand surrender from Lieutenant Colonel Monro, who was forced to capitulate with his 2,200 men and 24 guns. The French general granted generous terms, paroling the English and granting them an escort back to their own lines. Unfortunately the escort was not quite stout enough, and the Indians, fueled by captured rum, again got out of hand and massacred upwards of 200.

Montcalm commanded an army of 8,000 seasoned veterans. Morale was high, and he was poised to bag the English at Fort Edward and move down the Hudson to Albany. But the campaign of 1757 was effectively over, and his one chance to win the war was beyond reach. He now faced an enemy more frustrating than the British: poor supply.

Few supplies arrived from France, and the little that did never seemed to reach the army. Bougainville and other officers suspected, rightly so, rampant corruption in the colonial government. The governor-general, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, had perfected graft to a science, and there soon developed a bitter feud between Montcalm and de Vaudreuil that served to make matters worse. Eventually the governor's cronies had an almost complete monopoly on imports. Inflation and then famine threatened civilian and soldier alike. While the troops were apt to be issued horsemeat, the conspirators dined sumptuously and, as Bougainville noted, "swallowed everything up."

In July of 1758 the British launched their first great offensive aimed at Quebec, under the command of General James Abercromby. Montcalm, with just 4,300 men, fell back to Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) and dug in. When Abercromby arrived with 15,000, he spurned the admonitions of his subordinates and threw his men at the French works. It was a hopeless attempt, and over 1,900 were cut down. The English limped back to Lake George, but the French had suffered considerable casualties that amounted to 400, including Bougainville, who had suffered a flesh wound while on the front lines.

Montcalm knew he had only a temporary reprieve. The following year the British would be back in greater force, and he would be in desperate need of reinforcement and re-supply. In November, Bougainville was sent to France in the hopes that personal pleas would impress on the government the desperate nature of the situation. Montcalm gave him a glowing letter of introduction, which prophesied "he will become a person of distinction . . . I look on him as one of those to whom the Ministry of War should pay the most particular attention."

Although government officials politely heard Bougainville's messages, it was apparent that he would accomplish little. He summed up the situation when he disgustedly wrote, "The King is nothing, the Marchioness is all-powerful-prime-minister." Bougainville was referring to Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's long-standing mistress who all but controlled France. It was the Marchioness who had persuaded Louis to cozy up to Austria, thereby upsetting a delicate balance of power and embroiling France in a disastrous world war that taxed its resources to the limit.

Bougainville was granted an audience with the great concubine and read several of Montcalm's letters to her, but she remained unmoved. Affairs in Europe simply outweighed all other considerations, and that was that. When Bougainville returned to Canada in May of 1759, he had been promoted to Colonel and made chevalier in the Order of St. Louis. But he had procured few supplies and only 300 men.

Situation Bleak

The situation was bleak. Montcalm was forced to fall back on Quebec, and on June 26 was shocked to learn that Major General James Wolfe and 8,500 troops had sailed up the St. Lawrence, presumed impassable by the French, and taken up positions on the south side of the river. What ensued was a two-month stalemate. Wolfe could not break through Montcalm's fieldworks east of Quebec, and to the west, Bougainville commanded 1,500 prowling regulars that made assault in that sector seem impossible. But on September 12, two French deserters informed Wolfe that Bougainville would be occupied that night supervising a supply convoy from Montreal.

Early on the morning of September 13, Bougainville caught wind of an English landing and moved toward Quebec. By the time he arrived, however, it was too late. Wolfe had brought up 4,500 regulars and crumpled Montcalm's hastily formed lines with several devastating volleys. The remnants of the French army were besieged in Quebec, and Montcalm, Bougainville's beloved mentor, had been mortally wounded. Bougainville beat a hasty retreat to Montreal where he gathered reinforcements to march to Quebec's relief. But again he was too late. When he arrived before the city, it had been formally surrendered and the British were safely behind its walls.

Bougainville now had a new commander, the Chevalier Fran‡ois de Levis, who was an able and gallant career soldier who refused to admit defeat. Although supply problems had drastically worsened, Levis boldly moved out in the spring of 1760 and defeated the British garrison of Ste-Foy on April 28. He then moved on to attack the Plains of Abraham and drove the English into Quebec. But it was a forlorn hope. The French were not equipped for siege operations and were forced to fall back to Montreal. It was all but over. Levis and Bougainville, with 2,500 men, were soon cut off by 17,000 British troops. On September 9, Canada was surrendered.

In 1761, both Levis and Bougainville were exchanged and returned to Europe, to serve in Germany in the closing days of the Seven Years War. All that awaited them was the humiliation of their nation by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. A disillusioned Bougainville made the decision to resign from the army and enter the navy.

Bougainville Enters the Navy

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