Adam Dollard Des Ormeaux - Expedition West and The Battle of Long Sault

Expedition West and The Battle of Long Sault

Against the advice of seasoned Aboriginal fighters, Dollard got the support of the governor of Montreal, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, to organize an expedition west. The group comprised about 16 volunteers who had little or no experience of Aboriginal warfare. After a 10-day canoe trip up the Ottawa River, they set up camp not far from Carillon, Quebec, in a former stockade. They were soon surrounded by about 700 Iroquois and after a siege lasting several days, were all killed or captured and massacred in what became known as the Battle of Long Sault. For reasons unknown, the Iroquois did not continue east to capture Ville-Marie. The events were witnessed by about 40 Huron allies who at times had joined the colonists in the stockade and at other times had harried the Iroquois from outside. The battle so weakened the Iroquois they cancelled their planned attack on Ville Marie (Montreal) and returned home. Adam Dollard des Ormeaux was unknown until the 1940s when nationalist historians in Quebec like Lionel Groulx found accounts of the Battle of Long Sault and raised Dollard to hero status. A postage stamp was made to honour his contributions to New France. The deaths of Dollard des Ormeaux and his men were recounted by Catholic nuns and entered into official Church history. For over a century Dollard des Ormeaux became a heroic figure in New France, and then in Quebec, who exemplified selfless personal sacrifice, who had been a martyr for the church, and for the colony.