Sometimes it only takes a few things to make a project come to fruition.
In the case of Dave Noël, this “little thing” took the form of information. The journalist and historian had just written a biography of the Marquis de Montcalm when a reader informed him of the existence of two little-known notebooks by Michel Chartier de Lotbinière (1723-1798), forgotten hero of New France.
These notebooks had already been consulted, but barely used, for a doctoral thesis carried out in the 1970s. They had since lain dormant in the archives of the New York Historical Society, waiting to be exhumed for good. Aware of their historical value, Dave Noël chose to use them as central material for his next work, a biography of Lotbinière which has just been published (Chartier de Lotbinière – On all fronts 1723-1798published by Éditions du Boréal).
“This book was not planned. It imposed itself,” says the author, referring to his improbable rediscovery.
The notebooks in question recount in detail the Battle of the Plains of Abraham – a turning point in the history of Quebec if ever there was one – in which Lotbinière participated as aide-de-camp to Governor Vaudreuil. The first-hand information he provides is sometimes unpublished, which gives it immense historical value, explains Dave Noël.
The New York notebooks are important because he describes the course of the event with details which contradict certain testimonies that we knew. Lotbinière is on the general staff. He sees everything that is happening. This opens up new questions…
Dave Noël, author
The story is all the more interesting, adds the author, because it comes from a Canadian born in Quebec, while most military testimonies from this period come from French or British soldiers. “It’s rare,” he sums up.
Worthy of Barry Lyndon
Interesting, too, because these documents complement other notebooks, written by Lotbinière before and after the British conquest.
The latter in fact kept his diary until his death or almost. Placed end to end, these notebooks allow us to largely reconstruct the puzzle of his life, which was not banal, far from it.
Military engineer (we owe him the fort of Carillon), courtier at Versailles, spy, marquis, lobbyist in New York, the man was at the forefront of his time. He met Benjamin Franklin, Marie-Antoinette, the Chevalier d’Éon, as well as a host of French soldiers in New France, of whom only toponymic traces remain today (Lévis, Bougainville, etc.).
“By reading all these notebooks, I really saw that this character’s life was fabulous. He is truly a central character, in the antechamber of power. He is always present. I compare him a lot to Barry Lyndon [personnage du film homonyme de Stanley Kubrick]. They have several points in common: the duel, obtaining the title of marquis and the end of his life, of infinite sadness…”
After the conquest, Lotbinière’s luck indeed changed.
Demobilized, he tried to reinvent himself by investing in real estate and buying lordships. But his acquisitions – including certain lots straddling the United States – escaped him in the wake of the American War of Independence. These losses largely explain his numerous trips to London, Paris and New York, where he pulls every string at his disposal to recover his possessions.
But Lotbinière is also a divisive character, who has many detractors. If it benefits for a long time from certain protections (that of Vaudreuil in particular), it also suffers from its often clear-cut, even radical positions. “He was not a man of compromise. He was whole to the end. He had a conflicting temperament. »
A scattered heritage
Michel Chartier de Lotbinière died of yellow fever in New York in 1798. He was alone, penniless, disowned by many, including his wife, from whom he separated a few years earlier. His notebooks will be collected by his daughter, then distributed among collectors, an “impressive dispersion” according to Dave Noël.
This fishtail end of life perhaps explains why he has since remained on the margins of our great national narrative. If his figure appears here and there in works on New France, his rehabilitation has never been complete.
Apart from the region and the municipality which bear his name, Lotbinière has nevertheless left us certain things, starting with the Carillon fort, located on the banks of Lake Champlain, a tourist site ironically little visited by Quebecers, notes Dave Noël, “like if it were not in our memory.
Not insignificant: Michel Chartier de Lotbinière was also the uncle of a future engineer in the Napoleonic army, but above all the father of Michel-Eustache Chartier de Lotbinière, who contributed, as a deputy, to the establishment of bilingualism in the House, in Quebec, and in official documents, where English previously reigned supreme.
Its oblivion by History is all the more astonishing.
Extract
“Lotbinière skirts the brush, following the sound of the bullets crackling in the plain. The British then fired a new salvo. The ensuing shooting lasted for “three-quarters of a minute,” said the aide-de-camp, who only discerned the final moments of the shock: “I saw a whirlwind of our soldiers fleeing at full speed.” The French battalions retreated in disorder towards Quebec, followed by their bloodied commander. »
Who is Dave Noel?
Dave Noël is a historian and journalist. He is the author of the essay Montcalm, American general (2018) and co-author of Places of power in Quebec (2019). He also participated in the documentary series The last felquist (2020).
Chartier de Lotbinière – On all fronts 1723-1798
Boreal
320 pages