JOANNÈS DE CHACORNACLE (Chacornac, Chacornade), officer; b. 1672 in the province of Picardy; d. 1707 at Placentia (Plaisance).

Little is known of his origins. No one, it seems, has discovered his certificates of baptism and marriage, which would supply his whole name, the names of his father and mother, and his exact place of birth. Our information about this officer comes almost solely from the correspondence exchanged between the court of France and the colonial authorities, and it always omits his given name. That of Francois-Augustin has been attributed to him, probably by confusion with Baron François-Augustin Joannès de Chacornacle (1683–1754), captain of the garrison at Trois-Rivières and knight of the order of Saint-Louis. They were likely brothers, although the second was born in Paris. The latter’s parents are known: Balthazar de Joannès, knight, baron, and captain in the dragoons, and Catherine Mortier.

Strangely enough, on 5 May 1734 the Baron de Joannès had entered in the registry of Trois-Rivières a document concerning a certain Joannès de Chacornacle which, since it was dated 1692, could only have belonged to his older brother. This certificate of good and faithful services coincides, moreover, with certain details furnished by Callière in 1701 concerning the Sieur de Chacornacle’s career before he came to Canada. He had first been a cadet for two years; as his commanding officer had recommended him to Versailles for his “good conduct” and his “assiduity in the service,” in 1692 he was promoted second lieutenant in Montauban’s company in the Régiment d’Agenais. The following year he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Régiment Royal-Vaisseaux.

In 1694 he became a lieutenant on half pay and went to New France. An order from the king dated 23 May 1695 retained him in his rank in the forces in Canada. In the spring of 1700 the governor of the colony sent him, at the head of a detachment of soldiers, to seize the pelts which Louis de La Porte de Louvigny, the commandant of Fort Frontenac, had obtained through illegal transactions in the fur trade. He executed his mission efficiently.

In the summer of 1701 he was one of the lieutenants of Alphonse Tonty, the captain of the force which was with Lamothe Cadillac [Laumet] at the founding of Detroit. Then, on 1 Feb. 1702, he became captain of a company of infantry in Acadia. Three years later we find him at Placentia, where he died in 1707.

He was highly regarded by his superiors and was, in Callière’s opinion, “a good officer.”

Céline Dupré