Battle of La Prairie

Part of King William's War and the Beaver Wars

Date	August 11, 1691
Location	La Prairie, near Montreal, New France
Result	English attack repulsed by French

Belligerents

France

England

Commanders and leaders

Louis-Hector de Callière,
Philippe Clément du Vuault de la Valrennes

Major Pieter Schuyler

Strength

700-800 regulars, militia and First Nations allies

120 Albany militia, 146 Mohawk and Mahican allies

Casualties and losses

45 killed
60 wounded

37 dead
31 wounded

National Historic Site of Canada

Official name

Second Battle of Laprairie National Historic Site of Canada

Designated

1921

37 dead
31 wounded

The Battle of La Prairie (August 11, 1691) was an attack made on the settlement of La Prairie, New France, a frontier settlement not far from Montreal. An English and Indian force came north from Albany, New York to attack Montreal, but was repulsed with significant casualties by the French and their Indian allies.

During the summer of 1691 a force led by Major Pieter Schuyler invaded the French settlements along the Richelieu River south of Montreal. Callières, the local French governor, responded by massing 700-800 French and allies at the fort at La Prairie, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River.

Schuyler surprised the much larger French force in a rainstorm just before dawn on August 11, inflicting severe casualties before withdrawing towards the Richelieu. Schuyler's force might have remained intact but instead was intercepted by the force of 160 men led by Valrennes that had been detached to block the road to Chambly. The two sides fought in vicious hand-to-hand combat for approximately an hour, before Schuyler's force broke through and escaped.

The French had suffered the most casualties during Schuyler's initial ambush, but the casualties the Albany force suffered after Valrennes' counterattack meant that they had incurred the greater proportion of loss. Instead of continuing his raids, Schuyler was forced to retreat back to Albany.

The battle was also the subject of a 19th-century poem by William Douw Schuyler-Lighthall. In 1921, the site of Valrennes' counterattack was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

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