Joseph Louis Cook - French and Indian War

French and Indian War

Cook's name in the Mohawk language, Akiatonharónkwen, translates as "he unhangs himself from the group." In English, he is most often referred to as Louis Cook or Colonel Louis. Louis was born to an Abenaki woman and an African father, both of whom were taken captive in a French raid in 1745. A French officer planned to keep him as a slave, but the Iroquois intervened and gave him back to his mother. Out of gratitude, she followed the Iroquois back to their village of Caughnawaga in New York, and Cook was adopted into the Iroquois.

Louis Cook lived in the village of Kahnawake. He fought with the Mohawk nation on the side of the French in the French and Indian War. A friend, Eleazer Williams, later wrote that Cook was at the battle against the Braddock expedition in 1755 (the Braddock party included the young George Washington), and served under General Montcalm at the Battle of Fort Oswego in 1756. The same year, he was wounded in a skirmish with Rogers' Rangers near Fort Ticonderoga. His first command came in the 1758 Battle of Carillon, where he was commended by General Montcalm. He was also present at the Battle of Sainte-Foy in 1760, serving under the Chevalier de Levis.

Following the war, Cook returned to Caughnawaga and married Marie-Charlotte. He never fully accepted the British victory, and moved to St. Regis, Canada prior to the American Revolution.