tion. The effort held him in good stead when,
following Calliere’s sudden death in 1703,
Vaudreuil won appointment as governor of
New France with the rank of marquis. He
would occupy that post, with some distinc-
tion, for the next 22 years.
Vaudreuil’s first responsibility was the se-
curity of French holdings. Since 1702, the War
of the Spanish Succession had waged over
France’s intention to place a Bourbon
monarch on the throne of Spain, thereby up-
setting the balance of power in Western Eu-
rope. England was foremost in opposition to
France, and the fighting drifted over to the
New World as Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713).
As a soldier, Vaudreuil immediately recog-
nized the weakness of New France, with his
subjects being somewhat scattered and un-
derpopulated. New England, by contrast, en-
joyed 10 times as many people, and the Iro-
quois in New York were well situated to
ravage French settlements. Vaudreuil there-
fore originated a two-track strategy to facili-
tate French survival. Dreading an Indian war,
he went to great lengths to placate Iroquois
sentiments and secured their neutrality
through gifts and trade. He also carefully cul-
tivated friendly relations with the Ottawa and
Miami tribes on the left Iroquois flank, who
could threaten them in the event of hostilities.
In addition, Vaudreuil actively encouraged the
Abenakis of Quebec to attack and harass New
England settlements. This was primarily un-
dertaken to keep that tribe busy and beyond
the grasp of English traders who might, or so
he feared, turn them against France. He antic-
ipated that such tactics would preempt the
English from bringing their numerical superi-
ority in ships and men to bear against New
France. One notable Indian success was the
February 1704 raid against Deerfield, Massa-
chusetts, which killed 40 settlers and netted
more than 100 prisoners. The Abenakis ex-
celled at conducting a “little war,” but their
atrocious conduct toward captives encour-
aged greater English hostility toward New
France. Initially, the English dispatched the
noted Indian fighter Benjamin Church against
French and Indian settlements in Canada, but
clearly more was needed. It finally dawned on
New England leaders that they possessed the
means for conquering Quebec—and hence all
of Canada—in a single blow.
In 1711, after several halting starts, New
England dispatched an enormous fleet com-
manded by Adm. Sir Hovenden Walker and
Gen. John Hill. This was the very strategic
move that Vaudreuil had feared most, but he
prepared to defend his city to the last. Fortu-
nately, nature intervened on the side of New
France. While wending their way up the foggy
St. Lawrence, eight of Hovenden’s ships
grounded, and the English aborted the expe-
dition entirely. By the time Queen Anne’s War
ended in 1713, New France had been com-
pletely spared from attack. In recognition of
Vaudreuil’s fine handling of a difficult situa-
tion, the government raised him to the rank of
commander within the Order of St. Louis.
The onset of peace allowed Vaudreuil to at-
tend to other pressing matters, namely to in-
crease France’s share of the western fur trade
and to curtail English expansion into those
same regions. The numerous and powerful
Fox tribe had recently initiated a costly war
with France, and fighting ranged from Detroit
down into the newly founded province of
Louisiana. Vaudreuil then dispatched several
expeditions against the hostile warriors while
pursuing friendly relations with the Illinois
and other western tribes. After heavy fighting
the Fox finally submitted to peaceful relations
with Canada, but they refused to stop attack-
ing their enemies in Louisiana and elsewhere.
New France had again been spared a costly
Indian war, but the governor of Louisiana
protested that peace had been achieved at his
expense. With his frontiers secured, Vaudreuil
visited France in 1715 to confer with the king.
There he won approval of a new program in-
tended to win over the loyalty of the western
tribes through the granting of trade licenses,
an increase in annual gifts, and permission to
establish new military posts where needed.
The government agreed, but it warned that
France and England, since the Treaty ofDEVAUDREUIL, PHILIPPEDERIGAUD