Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville was born in 1661. Issued of a prominent Canadian family, Iberville joined the military and took part in the capture of Hudson's Bay Company posts on James Bay in 1686.
In the raids he revealed a penchant for energetic and aggressive attacks and an extraordinary ability to fight well on both land and water. In 1690, Iberville led a mid-winter overland expedition that destroyed Schenectady, New York. In 1694, the moss famous warrior of New France sailed to Hudson Bay and seized York Fort.
In 1696 he helped destroy Fort William Henry (Pemaquid) on the disputed boundary between Acadia and New England.
Together with the governor of Plaisance, Jacques-Francois de Mombeton de Brouillan, he destroyed St John's and in 1696-97 his raids across Newfoundland wiped out 36 English settlements.
His ship sank two English vessels and drove off a third in Hudson Bay in September 1697. His attacks were not systematic and he always took forts by assault and intimidation, not siege.
Later, during a brief peace, Iberville was sent to help establish the colony of Louisiana. He explored the Mississippi delta and built a fort at Biloxi Bay in 1699.
Illness reduced his military activity until 1706, when he devastated Nevis in the West Indies. He died the same year in Havana, Cuba, while preparing an attack against the English in one of the Caribbean Islands.
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