LEVIS, FRANÇOIS-GASTON
Levis, François-Gaston
(August 20, 1719–November 26, 1787)
French Army Officer
L
evis was probably
the most accom-
plished French mili-
tary leader of the French
and Indian War, with sev-
eral impressive victories
over the English to his
credit. Had he com-
manded French forces in
Canada at the beginning
of that conflict, the in-
evitable outcome might
have been contested
much longer.
François Levis was
born in Limoux, Langue-
doc, France, into an im-
poverished branch of an
old aristocratic family. He
joined the army at the age
of 15 and was commis-
sioned a second lieu-
tenant in the Regiment de
la Marine on March 25, 1735. For such a poor
Gascon cadet, he enjoyed impeccable blood-
lines and counted among his relatives the
Duke of Levis-Mirepoix, soon to be a French
marshal, who appointed him to his staff.
From the onset, Levis proved himself a gallant
and able soldier. He fought continuously and
with great distinction throughout the War of
the Polish Succession, rising to captain in
- Levis subsequently participated in nu-
merous battles of the War of the Austrian Suc-
cession and also fought at Dettingen in 1743.
After campaigning in Italy in 1747, he left his
regiment to serve as a staff officer with a
brevet rank of colonel and appointment as as-
sistant chief of staff under the Prince de
Conti. This position not only conferred
greater respect on the young soldier but also
afforded him greater pay. Nonetheless, Levis
lacked the money to raise and equip a regi-
ment of his own and was
forced to look elsewhere
for military and monetary
advancement. In 1765, he
volunteered to accom-
pany Gen. Louis-Joseph
de Montcalmto Canada
and gained appointments
as brigadier general and
second in command of
French regulars there.
No sooner had Levis
arrived at Quebec in May
1756 than he became em-
broiled in the cross fire
between Montcalm, his
superior officer, and
Pierre Rigaud de Vau-
dreuil, the governor-gen-
eral. As a professional
soldier, he studiously
avoided personal politics,
and the doughty Vau-
dreuil eventually came to express a great
fondness for him. Levis was nonetheless care-
fully discreet in his dealings with the gover-
nor-general, however, lest the appearance of
favoritism raise the ire of Montcalm. When
the latter went off to successfully besiege
British forts at Oswego, New York, Levis re-
ceived an independent command along Lake
Champlain. Little fighting occurred during
this period of Levis’s career, but he became
thoroughly acquainted with New World mili-
tary tactics, including bush fighting with light
infantry, Native Americans, and other irregu-
lar forces. In the spring of 1757, he accompa-
nied a raid against Fort William Henry at the
head of Lake George, New York, and the fol-
lowing summer accompanied the campaign
against it. There Levis commanded the siege
train, the transport boats, and the advance
guard with consummate skill, but Montcalm’sFrançois-Gaston Levis
National Archives of Canada