Background
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse, a captain in the French Navy, first proposed the idea of an expedition against the fur trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company to Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu, the French minister of ports, during a visit to France in late 1780. France's marine minister, the Marquis de Castries, and King Louis XVI approved the plan, and Castries issued La Pérouse secret orders that could override those of any fleet commander La Pérouse served under in the event an opportunity presented itself for such an expedition. The idea was to organize a small fleet in secret and make as rapid as possible a journey north to Hudson Bay from either Newport, Rhode Island or Boston, Massachusetts, the most northerly ports of North America open to French ships.
La Pérouse's duties during the 1781 campaign season did not provide him with any chances to exercise his secret orders, but the aftermath of the disastrous French loss in the April 1782 Battle of the Saintes presented him with the opportunity. France and Spain had been planning an assault on Jamaica, but the losses incurred during the battle, including the capture of Admiral Paul, Comte de Grasse and his flagship Ville de Paris, led them to call off the expedition. La Pérouse, on his arrival at Cap-Français after the battle, raised the idea with de Grasse's successor, Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil. Vaudreuil approved of the plan, and provided La Pérouse with three ships: a ship of the line Sceptre (74 guns), and the frigates Astrée (38) and Engageante (34). Astrée was under the command of Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle, and Engageante was led by Lieutenant André Charles de la Jaille.
Preparations for the expedition were carried out secretly and in some haste, since the French were aware of the short season in the far north. The ships' crews and most of their officers were not informed of the fleet's destination, and La Pérouse, seeking to avoid all suspicion, even avoided carrying cold-weather clothing. Admiral Vaudreuil recorded the fleet's destination in his records as France, with possible stops in Newport or Boston, and Langle and la Jaille were given sealed orders to be opened only upon reaching the latitude of Nova Scotia. The fleet took on 250 regular infantry from the Régiment Auxerrois, 40 gunners, 4 field guns, and two mortars. These troops were told they were being sent to supplement the French army at Newport. After two weeks of preparation, the fleet sailed from Cap-Français on May 31, 1782.
Read more about this topic: Hudson Bay Expedition
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