294 THE SCOURGE OF CANADA. [1691. 



He was at Three Eivers at a ball when news of 

 the disaster at La Prairie damped the spirits of 

 the company, which, however, were soon revived 

 by tidings of the fight under Valrenne and the 

 retreat of the English, who were reported to have 

 left two hundred dead on the field. Front enac 

 wrote an account of the affair to the minister, with 

 high praise of Valrenne and his band, followed by 

 an appeal for help. " What with fighting and 

 hardship, our troops and militia are wasting away." 

 " The enemy is upon us by sea and land." " Send 

 us a thousand men next spring, if you want the 

 colony to be saved." " We are perishing by inches ; 

 the people are in the depths of poverty ; the war 

 has doubled jDrices so that nobody can live." " Many 

 families are without bread. The inhabitants desert 

 the country, and crowd into the towns." ' A new 

 enemy appeared in the following summer, almost 



victory against overwhelming odds, it may be well to observe the evi- 

 dence as to the numbers engaged. The French party consisted, accord- 

 ing to Benac, of 160 regulars and Canadians, besides Indians. La 

 Potherie places it at 180 men, and Frontenac at 200 men. These two 

 estimates do not include Indians ; for the author of the Relation of 1682- 

 1712, who was an officer on the spot at the time, puts the number at 

 300 soldiers, Canadians, and savages. 



Schuyler's official return shows that his party consisted of 120 whites, 

 80 Mohawks, and 66 River Indians (Mohegans) : 266 in all. The French 

 writer Benac places the whole at 280, and the intendant Champigny at 

 300. The other French estimates of the English force are greatly exag- 

 gerated. Schuyler's strength was reduced by 27 men left to guard the 

 canoes, and by a number killed or disabled at La Prairie. The force 

 under Valrenne was additional to the 700 or 800 men at La Prairie 

 (Filiation, 1682-1712). Schuyler reported his loss in killed at 21 whites, 

 16 Mohawks, and 6 Mohegans, besides many wounded. The French 

 statements of it are enormously in excess of this, and are irreconcilable 

 with each other. 



1 Lettres de Frontenac et de Champigny, 1691, 1692. 



