(English translation. Prepared by an arm of the Federal Wo...)
English translation. Prepared by an arm of the Federal Works Agency Works Projects Administration. Typescript. From the Introduction: "The Journal of CHaussegros de Lery for 1754-1755 gives an interesting account in diary form, of the French activities in northwestern Pennsylvania and other parts of the upper country, as the French called the West. Here are to be found the first sketches of the Presque Isle, of Lake LeBoeuf, of the head of Lake Chautauqua; the first measurements of the the Chautauqua and Presque Isle Portages; accounts of the amount of goods carried over these portages; lists of officers; and reports of such interesting events as the Jumonville skirmish and the capture of Fort Necessity." Includes index.
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Joseph-Gaspard Chaussegros de Léry was born at Quebec City in 1721. His father, Gaspard Chaussegros de Léry, a pupil of Vauban, was sent to Canada in 1716 to superintend its fortifications, and erected the defenses of Quebec and Montreal. He married Marie-Renée le Gardeur de Beauvais, of the Canadian noblesse.
Joseph entered Quebec Seminary at the age of ten.
When only thirteen Chaussegros de Léry applied for the position of assistant engineer. He was then considered too young for such an office, but it was granted to him early in 1739. That same year he accompanied the expedition from Canada to Louisiana, which took part in the war against the Chickasaw Indians. With the Louisiana troops was the engineer Broutin, whom Léry assisted in reconnoitring the route to the Chickasaw villages. At the close of this campaign he was commissioned ensign and in 1743 went to Crown Point on Lake Champlain to complete the defenses of Fort Saint Frédéric.
In 1748 he was commissioned first ensign and the following year was sent by the governor to Detroit to survey the route and to report on the fortifications. His account of this voyage is the first of the nine journals which he wrote that are still extant. In 1751 he was promoted to a lieutenancy and employed on forts in Acadia. The governor then sent him to France to explain the necessity of such posts, the existence of which had been declared by the English a violation of neutrality.
The journals of the years 1754-1755 are the longest and most important of his diaries, for during those years he again visited Detroit, aided in erecting the forts along the Allegheny River, and made plans and sketches of routes, which he introduced into the text. In the French and Indian War he took part in the campaign against Oswego, was made captain in 1757, served in Montcalm's army, and was wounded on the Plains of Abraham. After the capitulation he and his wife visited France and England. In the latter country George III so admired Madame de Léry that he said to her: "Madame, if all the Canadian ladies are like you, I have truly made a conquest" (Lindsay, post, p. 373). In 1764 Léry returned to Canada, where in 1778 he was chosen a member of the legislative council of Quebec and in 1791 was member of the same council for Lower Canada. He died at Quebec and was buried in the Cathedral.
During the Seven Years' War he proved himself to be an outstanding officer and was one of only a few colonial officers held in high esteem by the Marquis de Montcalm. In recognition of his military service, in 1759 he was made a Chevalier of the Order of Saint Louis. He also made several journeys to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley and laid out several forts in these regions.
(English translation. Prepared by an arm of the Federal Wo...)
In 1753 Joseph-Gaspard married Louise Martel de Brouague.
