DUGUÉ DE BOISBRIAND, PIERRE, protégé and officer to the governor-general of New France, Louis de Buade* de Frontenac, and commandant in the Illinois country; baptized 21 Feb. 1675 at Ville-Marie (Montreal); second son of Michel-Sidrac Dugué* de Boisbriand, seigneur of Mille-Îles, and of Marie Moyen Des Granges; d. 7 June 1736 in France.

Dugué began his military career under the aegis of Count Frontenac as a half-pay ensign in the colonial regular troops, but in 1694 he was promoted to the rank of ensign. His first military assignment was as second in command, under Captain Pierre de Saint-Ours in 1695. The following year he served with Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, his cousin, in an attack on Newfoundland. Dugué’s last encounter with the English took place in 1697 when he accompanied Iberville’s expedition to recapture York Fort (Fort Bourbon) in Hudson Bay. After a very difficult voyage from Placentia (Plaisance), Iberville defeated a squadron of three English war-ships and forced Henry Baley, the commander of the fort, to surrender. Iberville then returned to France leaving his brother, Joseph Le Moyne de Serigny, in command, probably with Dugué as his lieutenant.

After the treaty of Ryswick (September 1697), Dugué was recalled to France. By this time Iberville had made an exploratory trip to the mouth of the Mississippi to continue the work of René-Robert Cavelier* de La Salle. In 1699 he made a second voyage and Dugué went with him as an officer of the marine, serving on the frigate Renommée. Iberville established Fort de Mississipi on Biloxi Bay, which Sieur de Maltot and Louis Denys* de La Ronde commanded first, followed by another of Iberville’s brothers, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne* de Bienville. Dugué’s position as town major of Biloxi had been confirmed by royal order in August 1699.

In 1702 the two Le Moyne brothers founded the city of Mobile in which several officers, including Dugué de Boisbriand, received grants of land. Two years later, Dugué, on Bienville’s instructions, escorted 70 Chickasaw to a peace conference with the Choctaw, but the latter killed the envoys in front of Dugué and his force of 25 French soldiers. Dugué was wounded in the fight, and the Choctaw endeavoured to show their regret by sending him back to Mobile with an escort of 300 warriors. Although there is no information concerning Dugué for the next ten years, it appears that he lived in Mobile during that period. In 1714 Bienville became governor and took over Natchez and Fort Saint-Jérôme; he intended to place the latter fort under Dugué’s command, but it was ultimately committed instead to Captain Louis Poncereau de Chavagne de Richebourg.

In 1716 Dugué became garrison adjutant of Louisiana. The following year he was named commandant of Mobile and the surrounding area. At this point he was granted leave to return to France. In Paris, Dugué was considered a man of importance, for the Compagnie d’Occident had just taken over Antoine Crozat’s monopoly of trade from the lands of the Illinois to the coast, and the company was seeking advice on how to proceed. As a result, in the spring of 1718 Dugué returned to Louisiana on board the Duchesse de Noailles with a commission as first king’s lieutenant and member of the council of Louisiana; a few months later he was commissioned commandant of the Illinois. In December of that year, with a strong force of soldiers and some miners who wished to hunt for minerals, Dugué left for the Jesuit mission at Kaskaskia, arriving there on 13 May 1719. The following year, he built Fort de Chartres 16 miles to the northwest. He remained there for several years, and, although a hunchback, became popular with the Indigenous people owing to his positive interactions with them and his interest in their welfare. He sought to push farther into the interior but wars between the First Nations, rising costs of provisions, and difficulties with Philippe de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, governor of New France, prevented him.

By 1720 the Compagnie des Indes, which had absorbed the Compagnie d’Occident, had fallen into serious difficulties, largely through internal squabbles. In 1724 Bienville, accused of misgovernment, returned to France, and the governorship was assumed by Dugué. The latter, however, did not remain in power long, for complaints were made against him as well; when he refused to cooperate with Jacques de La Chaise, who had been sent out to investigate, he also was recalled. In France he was censured, deprived of his rank, and dismissed from the royal service. In 1730, however, he was granted a pension of 800 livres by the king. On 7 June 1736 he died in France. Contrary to Msgr Cyprien Tanguay’s statement Dugué never married.

W. Stanford Reid