Augustin de La Balme

La Balme's Defeat.

DAR LaBalme Defeat Historical Marker on Dela Balme Road in Whitley County, Indiana

Date	November 5, 1780
Location	Near present-day Columbia City, Indiana
Result	Indian victory

Belligerents

Miami tribe

French Colonial Militia

Commanders and leaders

Little Turtle

Augustin de La Balme †

Strength

104

Casualties and losses

5 killed

30-40 killed

Augustin Mottin de la Balme was a French cavalry officer who served in Europe during the Seven Years' War and in the United States during the American Revolution. His attempt to capture Fort Detroit in 1780 ended in defeat when he was ambushed by forces under Chief Little Turtle.

Augustin Mottin was born 28 August 1733, in the French Alps near Saint-Antoine, the son of a tanner. He served as a trooper in the distinguished “Scottish” company of the Gendarmerie de France during the Seven Years' War. He was one of the French cavalry officers who survived the crushing defeat at the Battle of Minden.

Following the war, Augustin studied horsemanship, eventually becoming master at the Gendarmerie’s Riding School in Lunéville. Mottin was promoted to Fourrier-Major in 1766, and retired with a pension in 1773. Using the assumed name “Mottin de La Balme,” he wrote a book on horsemanship in 1773, titled Essai sur l’équitation ou principes raisonnés sur l’Art de monter et de dresser les chevaux. He followed with a book on cavalry tactics in 1776.

Augustin de La Balme left for the United States to assist in the American Revolution. In 1777, he was appointed as the Colonial Army’s Inspector General of Cavalry. Upon learning that Casimir Pulaski would be in command of the United States Cavalry, La Balme resigned in October 1777

In 1780, allegedly under secret orders from General Washington, but as likely acting on his own, he traveled down the Ohio River to Kaskaskia. The success of General Clark’s capture of Fort Sackville at Vincennes inspired La Balme to attempt a similar feat against the British at Fort Detroit. La Balme arrived in Kaskaskia as a French officer and was "greeted as Masiah" by the local Canadien residents, who had been living under British rule for over a decade. He gathered a list of grievances from residents living under the rule of the Virginians, which was to be delivered to the French Ambassador at Fort Pitt. La Balme coordinated a diversionary attack against Fort St. Joseph, then began his journey to Detroit, recruiting militia from among the Canadian citizens of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes. At Vincennes, he started up the Wabash River with the expectation of adding to his force from the Canadian villages of Ouiatenon (present day West Lafayette, Indiana) and Kekionga (present day Fort Wayne). La Balme apparently expected Canadian residents at Fort Detroit to join him as well, once they arrived. The expedition marched under a French flag.

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Wikipedia