86 F. C. WURTELE ON 
orders shot and shell were cast at the forges, to be used at the bombardment of Quebec. 
Affairs went on thus till the retreat of the Americans began, and Trois Rivières was not 
clear of them till their complete defeat by General Carleton at the battle of Pointe du Lac 
on June 8th, 1776. 
The inspector narrates that when the English fleet with Carleton’s army on board 
arrived at Trois Rivières, the Americans or ‘ Bostonnais”, as they were called, retreated to 
Sorel ; but a force of some 4,000 of them returned to attack Trois Riviéres, conducted by a 
habitant from Machiche, named Larose, as far as Pointe du Lac. The English general was 
informed of their designs and took up a position at La, Croix Migeon, on the heights 
commanding the town and its environs, where he waited their attack and completely 
routed them, killing a great many. The next day his Excellency ordered the inspector of 
the forges to send out all his hands to beat the woods, which they did, taking some 
130 prisoners in a starving condition, fed them and turned them over to the English at 
Trois Riviéres. 
The night before the battle the manager, Pellissier, received a warning note from his 
friend the grand vicaire, St. Onge, which caused him at once to make off in his canoe to 
his friends “ Les Bostonnais ” at Sorel, not forgetting to take with him all the available 
funds of the forges, and also the bills or vouchers of the above mentioned advances, 
which he subsequently collected from the American Congress and sailed for France. 
These losses considerably hampered the operations of the forges, but by hard work 
and inspector Laterriére’s indomitable energy they soon were in as flourishing a condition 
as ever, and reached under his management in 1778 the zenith of success. An order now 
came from Pellissier to make up the accounts and close up his interest in the concern, 
which was completed in October, 1778, when Alexandre Dumas, in whose favor the trans- 
fer was made, took charge of the works and conducted the affairs of the company to the 
expiration of the lease on June 9th, 1783. 
Governor Haldimand, by Royal proclamation, leased the forges and lands pertaining 
thereto to the Hon. B. Conrad A. Gugy, a member of the council, for a term of sixteen 
years, commencing on June 10th, 1785, on the same conditions as those imposed upon 
Pellissier and Company. The annual rental was fixed at the sum of £18 15s. 0d. sterling 
money of Great Britain. 
In the beginning of the year 1787 Gugy got into financial difficulties, and on March 
10th of that year his estate, together with the unexpired lease of the St. Maurice Forges, 
was sold by sheriff Gray of Montreal. The lease was adjudged to Messrs. Alexander 
Davison and John Lees, copartners, for the sum of £2,300 currency. Subsequently this 
partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Davison became sole proprietor of the unexpired lease. 
On June 6th, 1793, Alexander Davison sold his rights and titles to the premises to 
George Davison, David Monro and Matthew Bell, copartners, for the sum of £1,500 currency. 
On March 20th, 1799, at the recommendation of Governor Prescott, the lease was extended 
to April Ist, 1801, at a rental of £18 15s. sterling per annum, in favor of the same parties. 
At the expiration of this lease, the governor, Sir Robert Shore Milne, by proclamation, 
leased the property to Messrs. Monro and Bell for a term of five years, to end in 1806, at a 
rental of £850 per annum. At its expiration the lease was extended for one year, when 
it was advertised in the “Quebec Gazette” to be sold by public auction on June 11th, 
1806, the lease to count from April 1st, 1807. The necessary plans and surveys not being 
