Daniel d'Auger de Subercase

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Daniel d'Auger de Subercase

Governor of Plaisance
Sketch of Subercase, date unknown
Born(1661-02-12)12 February 1661
Orthez, Béarn, France
Died20 November 1732(1732-11-20) (aged 71)
Cannes, France
Allegiance Kingdom of France
Service/branch French Navy
Years of service1674-1713
RankGovernor of Placentia and Acadia
AwardsOrder of Saint Louis

Daniel d'Auger de Subercase (February 12, 1661 – November 20, 1732) was a naval officer and the French governor of

Newfoundland and later Acadia
.

Subercase was baptised a

Protestant
to Jean Daughter, a rich merchant and bourgeois who had purchased several noble estates, including the lay abbey of Subercase, near Asson.

He served about 10 years in the land forces and in 1684 was a captain in the Régiment de Bretagne, before he joined the navy and sailed for Quebec. No sooner had he landed in 1687 than he set off with his contingent on a campaign against the Senecas. In 1693 he was named lieutenant-commander, garrison adjutant and adjutant general.

On 1 April 1702 he succeeded Monic as governor of

Trinity Bay and succeeded in destroying every colony, with the exception of Carbonear Island. The expedition took 1,200 prisoners, and boasted the destruction of 40 cannon, 2,000 shallops
, and pillaged 2,600 livres in cash. Subercase estimated that, although St. John's remained intact, the total cost of the losses inflicted on the enemy was 4 million livres.

Subercase made full use of the following lull in aggression to rebuild the fortifications at Plaisance, improve morale, and generally improve the living conditions of the residents. In 1705 he was made a knight of the Order of Saint Louis and became the governor of Acadia in April 1706. He successfully led the outnumbered defense of Port Royal against two failed sieges in 1707, leading several sallies himself and having his own horse killed under him in one skirmish. The governor of Boston was not prepared to accept defeat and on 5 October 1710 General Francis Nicholson's fleet appeared before Port-Royal and began the Siege of Port Royal. The fleet comprised a landing force of 2,000 men (3,400 according to Subercase), made up of one regiment of English regulars and four regiments of militiamen raised by Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, and carried in 36 vessels, seven of which were warships. Subercase had fewer than 300 men to oppose them. After a few days of defense, Subercase surrendered the partially ruined and under-provisioned Port-Royal to the British, expressing to the English commander his hope of returning to pay him a visit the following spring.

Subercase, accused of negligence by some officers and reprimanded by

Treaty of Utrecht
was signed ending aggression between the French and English and ceding Acadia and Newfoundland to England for good, thus making Subercase the last governor of French Acadia.

Subercase retired and returned to France to live on his estates in Béarn. He continued to draw a captain's pension of 600 livres a year until he died on 20 November 1732 at Cannes. A ledger-stone marks his grave in the church of this village.

See also

References

Baudry, René (1979) [1969]. "Auger de Subercase, Daniel d'". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. II (1701–1740) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Governor of Plaisance

1702–1706
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Governor of Acadia

1706–1710
Succeeded by
Governor of Nova Scotia