Adam Dollard
Adam Dollard was born on July 23, 1635 in Ormeaux,
France and died on May 26, 1660 in New France
He is also known as Dollard des Ormeaux
Dollard got support from the Governor of Montreal,
Paul de Chomedy, to supply weapons for his troops.
He was a soldier of New France and was posted
there in 1657. More specifically, he was a garrison
commander at the Fort of Ville-Marie.
Dollard predicted that Ville-Marie was about to be
attacked my approximately 900 Iroquois.
Dollard got permission to organize a group of defenders
to intercept the Iroquois and stall them so that Ville-Marie had time to better prepare for the attack.
He collected 16 volunteer men of New France, 40 Hurons and 4 Algonquin people to fight with him. The Huron chief, Anahotaha, and the Algonquin chief, Mitiwemeg, both joined his force as well. The Hurons and
Algonquins wanted revenge on the Iroquios because of past events.
The oldest volunteer was 30 and the youngest was 20.
The battle took place in Long Sault Rapids
It took Dollard 10 days travelling
by canoe to get to Long Sault.
First Adam Dollard and his troop spotted 2
canoes full of Iroquois soldiers.
They killed all but one Iroquois.
That one person escaped and
warned his fellow warriors about
Adam Dollard and his troop.
2 days after, 800 Iroquois warriors
attacked Dollard's army.
In that battle, Dollard tried to throw a hand-made grenade made of musket balls and flaming gun powder, but it hit the top of the barricade his troops were hiding behind and fell back on his men. This killed several of his volunteers and blinded others.
The Iroquois took advantage of
the injured defenders and killed them.
Although the Iroquois won, they retreated and went home because they thought that if a few men could cause them to lose 1/3 of their soldiers, what would an attack on Ville Marie cost them?
After The Fight
Many consider Dollard a hero for preventing
many deaths in an attack on Ville Marie.
Others think that he just made that
up so he could go and steal furs.
In honour of Dollard, there is a suburb in Montreal named after him.
It’s population is 48,900.
Also, a monument has been placed in Parc LaFontaine, Quebec
in his honour.
There are also streets in LaSalle and Shawinigan, Quebec named Avenue Dollard and in Saint Boniface, Manitoba there is a road called Rue Dollard.
Victoria Day in Quebec was known as Fete de Dollard until 2003.
Another tribute to Dollard came in 1958-1962, when a stamp was produced to commemorate his heroism.
Bibliography:
New France book by Robert Livesey and A.G. Smith
Wikipedia
Biographi.ca
Mysteriesofcanada.ca
Google images
It is located about 500km north of Montreal
About Him
Before The Battle