Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville

• Sources:
  • Drouin Institute (Archived baptismal record - see attached in Media tab)
  • Drouin Institute (Archived marriage record - see attached in Media tab)

Of all the Le Moyne brothers, Pierre, known as Iberville, played the greatest role in the early settlement of what is now Alabama. Baptized in Montreal on July 20, 1661, Iberville served in the French military as a sailor and soldier, and his expertise and bravery in battle earned him a place as New France's greatest military hero in the continual wars over territory between France and England during the seventeenth century. He and two of his brothers made numerous forays against English outposts in the Hudson Bay region. His military successes during the 1690s earned him a high-ranking commission in New France's military, and in 1697 he led the French Canadians to victory in the Battle of Hudson Bay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_William%27s_War

Later that year, Iberville sailed to France, where King Louis XIV appointed him leader of an expedition charged with establishing a series of forts that would protect France's territories in the Mississippi Valley, which had been claimed some 15 years earlier by explorer Robert de La Salle. Iberville's task was to rediscover and secure the mouth of the Mississippi and lay the foundations for future colonization of the Gulf Coast and the interior woodlands.

In late 1698, Iberville left the port of Brest, France, with four vessels, accompanied by his 18-year-old brother Jean-Baptiste (Le Moyne de Bienville). The flotilla reached Pensacola Bay the following year and, finding the best site occupied by the Spanish, continued west to what is now Mobile Bay. Iberville and his crew explored present-day Dauphin Island, which they named Île du Massacre (Massacre Island) after finding a number of skeletons there, and then continued up the Mississippi River. After struggling to find an ideal location, Iberville finally ordered construction of Fort Maurepas on Biloxi Bay at what is now Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Iberville then returned to France but made two additional exploratory expeditions to the Gulf Coast in 1700 and 1701. His activities were recorded in the Annals of Louisiana from 1698 to 1722 by ship's carpenter André Pénigaut. In 1702, Iberville relocated the settlement, called Fort Louis de la Louisiane, to the Mobile-Tensaw Delta near the site of present-day Mobile. Fort Louis and the surrounding settlement would serve as the first capital of the vast expanse of territory known as La Louisiane. In 1706, while engaged in naval battles with the English, Iberville contracted yellow fever and died in Havana, Cuba.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Le_Moyne_d%27Iberville

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706 [probable] was a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of the order of Saint-Louis, adventurer, privateer, trader, member of Compagnies Franches de la Marine and founder of the French colony of Louisiana of New France.

Le Moyne was born in July 1661 at Ville-Marie, now Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the third son[2] of Charles Le Moyne, a native of Dieppe in France and lord of Longueuil in Canada, and of Catherine Thierry, called Primot too, from Rouen.[2][4] He is also known as Sieur d'Iberville[1] [2] or Sieur d'Iberville et d'Ardillières.[3]

He had eleven brothers, most of whom were soldiers. One, Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène led French and Indian forces in the Schenectady massacre. Charles le Moyne de Longueuil, Baron de Longueuil was governor of Montreal. Another, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, founded New Orleans. Paul and Jacques were with him on James Bay and Joseph with him in Louisiana.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenectady_massacre

The Schenectady Massacre was a Canadien attack against the village of Schenectady in the colony of New York on 8 February 1690. A party of more than 200 Canadiens and allied Mohawk nation, Sault and Algonquin warriors attacked the unguarded community, destroying most of the homes, and killing or capturing most of its inhabitants. It was in retaliation to the Lachine massacre, and related to the Beaver Wars in North America and King William's War between France and England.

New France's governor the Comte de Frontenac organized an expedition from Montreal to attack English outposts to the south, as punishment for English support of the Iroquois, and as a general widening of the war against the northernmost English colonies. The expedition was one of three directed at isolated northern and western settlements, and was originally aimed at Fort Orange (present day Albany).

The leaders were Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène and Nicolas d'Ailleboust de Manthet and the second in command was Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, who later founded Louisiana. The raiding expedition consisted of about 160 Canadiens, mostly frontier-savvy coureurs de bois, with 100 Indian warriors, primarily Catholic Mohawk, Sault and Algonquins. They made their way across the ice of Lake Champlain and Lake George toward the English communities on the Hudson River.