Battle of La Belle-Famille

Part of the French and Indian War

Date	July 24, 1759
Location	Two miles (3 km) south of Fort Niagara
Result	British-Iroquois victory

Belligerents

France

Colony of Canada

Great Britain
Province of New York

Iroquois

Commanders and leaders

François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery †

Eyre Massey

Sayenqueraghta

Strength

800 regular and militia
500 Indians

350 regular
100 New York militia
450 Iroquois

Casualties and losses

at least 334 killed
at least 96 captured

12 dead, 40 wounded

The Battle of La Belle-Famille occurred on July 24, 1759, during the French and Indian War along the Niagara River portage trail. François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery's French relief force for the besieged French garrison at Fort Niagara fell into Eyre Massey's British and Iroquois ambush. This action formed part of the larger Battle of Fort Niagara.

The British knew of the French approach well in advance and constructed a breastwork across the road about two miles south of Fort Niagara. The French were ambushed, their force was routed, with many casualties. Captain Le Marchand de Lignery was mortally wounded in the battle.

British General Jeffrey Amherst made plans for the 1759 military campaigns of the French and Indian War that included an expedition to capture Fort Niagara, a major French military and supply point between the French province of Canada and their forts in the Ohio Country. Amherst chose Brigadier General John Prideaux to lead the expedition, which was accompanied by Sir William Johnson, the British Indian agent who led the expedition's Iroquois forces. Prideaux arrived at Fort Niagara on July 6 and immediately began siege operations. On July 20, Prideaux was killed when struck by a shell fragment thrown from one of his own guns, and Sir William took over the siege operations.

Fort Niagara had been largely constructed under the direction of Captain Pierre Pouchot of the French Army. In early 1759, General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and New France's Governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, sent him with about 2,500 men to fortify Niagara. About 500 men had wintered there. Pouchot, under orders from Vaudreuil, sent many of those men south to Fort Machault (later Fort Venango) in mid-June as part of a plan to reinforce the French forts of the Ohio Country and attack the British at Fort Pitt. When the British arrived on July 6, he immediately dispatched messages to the south, requesting support.

...
Wikipedia