command of three small warships and seized
the important fur-trading post of New Severn
in August 1690. Over the next seven years he
raided and plundered the vicinity of Hudson
Bay with near impunity, capturing fur posts,
seizing valuable cargoes, and thwarting re-
peated attempts by superior forces to capture
him. In the course of this work, conducted
with the utmost, Indian-style cruelty, he killed
an estimated 200 settlers and captured 700
more.
But d’Iberville’s greatest battle and most
celebrated victory occurred while at the helm
of the 44-gun frigate Pelican.On September 4,
1697, he encountered three British warships
and, by dint of superior sailing skills, sank
one, captured the other intact, and drove off
the survivor. Once reinforced, d’Iberville then
besieged York Fort, Maine, which fell to him
on September 13, 1697. It was here that his
younger brother, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne
de Bienville, was severely wounded. When
France and England concluded the war by
signing the Treaty of Ryswick, all of these
captured posts were returned to their former
owners, but d’Iberville had become renowned
as New France’s greatest warrior.
D’Iberville’s reputation for courage and
dash did not go unnoticed by the Count de
Pontchartrain, Louis XIV’s minister of marine.
Having returned to France in November 1697,
d’Iberville was selected by the minister to lead
an expedition to the Gulf of Mexico for the
purpose of founding a new French colony. In
October 1698, he sailed from Brest with his
younger brother, four warships, and 200 set-
tlers. The following February he dropped an-
chor off the mouth of the Mississippi River, a
goal that had eluded the famous explorer La
Salle 16 years earlier, and commenced laying
the foundations of Louisiana. Probing up-
stream, he explored the Mississippi Valley and
also established friendly contacts with numer-
ous Indian tribes of the interior. D’Iberville
proved far-sighted in his treatment of Native
Americans, realizing that France could not ac-
quire, let alone govern, such a vast tract with-
out their explicit friendship. He therefore ad-
vocated that young French boys be placed
among them to learn their language and help
bridge the two cultures. The government was
also strongly advised to reward the Indians
with yearly gratuities to cement their alle-
giance to France. D’Iberville then authorized
construction of Fort Maurepas (present-day
Biloxi, Mississippi), the first French settle-
ment in Louisiana, before returning to France
in May 1699. There he received the prestigious
Cross of St. Louis, becoming the first native-
born Canadian to hold this distinction.
D’Iberville subsequently made two more
ventures to Louisiana, in 1699 and 1702. Each
time, he was engaged with either exploration,
fort construction, or diplomacy to strengthen
French ties to the Indians. In these affairs he
was assisted by his brother Bienville, who
was also fluent in several dialects. For all his
military prowess, d’Iberville did not despise
cash, and in 1700 he arrived at New York City
with 9,000 animal skins that he illegally sold
to the English at great profit. He then returned
home in 1703, gaining at that time an appoint-
ment as Louisiana’s first governor-general.
However, d’Iberville never lived to fulfill the
responsibilities of that office.
When Queen Anne’s War with England
broke out in 1702, d’Iberville became com-
mander of an eight-ship naval squadron.
Bouts of malaria kept him sporadically side-
lined over the next three years as he was un-
able to accomplish much. By 1706, d’Iberville
had recovered sufficiently to assume control
of a 12-ship task force, and he was detailed
for the capture and reduction of British pos-
sessions in the West Indies. In April 1706, his
forces captured and sacked the island of St.
Nevis, taking upward of 6,000 slaves.
D’Iberville then began pressing superiors for
permission to attack New York and the New
England coastline, but he died of yellow fever
at Havana on July 9, 1706. A final blot on his
otherwise sterling reputation occurred soon
after, when it was revealed that he had embez-
zled funding from his recent expedition. His
widow was obliged to make amends to the
state. Save for this transgression, the cruel,D’IBERVILLE, PIERRELEMOYNE