ALOIGNY, CHARLES-HENRI D’, Marquis de LA GROYE (La Grois) (baptized Charles), lieutenant, garrison adjutant, military commandant, knight of the order of Saint-Louis, naval captain; baptized 15 Oct. 1662 in the La Grois house at Ingrandes (Ingrandes-sur-Vienne, France) (the ceremony was completed in the La Grois chapel on 25 July 1664), son of Louis d’Aloigny and Charlotte de Chasteigner; he took the title of Marquis de La Groye after the death of his father and his elder brother; d. in the autumn of 1714, in the shipwreck of the Saint-Jérôme near Sable Island.

Charles-Henri d’Aloigny, who was a midshipman at Rochefort, sailed for Canada in 1683 with the rank of lieutenant in the land forces. His 30 years in New France were distinguished by an active military career. He was promoted to captain in 1688 by Brisay de Denonville, and this appointment was confirmed by a royal order dated 1 March 1691. He received a commission in 1692 as sub-lieutenant in the navy.

In 1695 Aloigny accompanied Crisafy on an expedition to re-establish Fort Frontenac. In September of that year, on learning that small groups of indigenous people were setting traps and ambushes for the French, Frontenac [Buade*] and Callière dispatched supporting troops to various points, and Aloigny was assigned the task of leading a detachment in the direction of Boucherville to surprise those responsible for pillaging crops.

In 1700 Aloigny was appointed commandant of Fort Frontenac for some months, replacing Louvigny [La Porte], who had been arrested “for having acted contrary to the king’s orders.” In 1702 Aloigny was appointed garrison adjutant, succeeding Daniel d’Auger de Subercase, who had been appointed governor of Placentia (Plaisance). From this time on, Aloigny received one military promotion after another. He was commandant of the troops in 1704, a position that he held until his death, at which time the king deemed it advisable not to make any further appointments to the position. He was created a knight of the order of Saint-Louis in 1705, and two years later he received a commission as lieutenant-commander.

For health reasons he had to return to France in 1708; in 1709 he was back in the colony, pursuing his military activity. That same year he was promoted commander in the navy, and the following year naval captain. In the autumn of 1714, after being ill for eight months, during which “he was several times at death’s door,” he sailed on the Saint-Jérôme to return to France. The ship foundered off Sable Island.

Apparently La Groye was a good soldier; Frontenac, in 1691, considered him a “brave officer, very devoted to the service, and a gentleman.” Callière, for his part, described him in 1701 as a “good officer.”

Charles-Henri d’Aloigny married Geneviève Macard, daughter of Nicolas Macard and Marguerite Couillard on 5 Nov. 1703 at Quebec. Married first to Charles Bazire*, then to François Provost, she had been widowed twice. No children were born of her marriage with Aloigny.

Noël Bélanger