Frederick Haldimand
Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB (born François Louis Frédéric Haldimand;[1] 11 August 1718 – 5 June 1791) was a Swiss military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. From 1778 to 1786, he served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, during which time he oversaw military operations against the northern frontiers in the war, and engaged in ultimately fruitless negotiations to establish the independent Vermont Republic as a new British province. His administration of Quebec was at times harsh, with the detention of numerous political dissidents and agitators.
SirFrederick Haldimand
Guy Carleton
5 June 1791 (aged 72)
Yverdon, Switzerland
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1740–1786
Military governor of Trois-Rivières, Quebec
Military command of East and West Florida
acting Commander-in-Chief, North America
Colonel commandant, Royal American Regiment
Early life and career[edit]
Haldimand was born in Yverdon, Vaud, Switzerland on 11 August 1718.[1] He was the second of four sons of François Louis Haldimand, a notary and civil servant, and Marie-Madeleine de Treytorrens.[1][2] His grandfather, Gaspard Haldimand, was a cooper who moved from Thun to Yverdon in 1671.[2] Haldimand received only a limited education and became interested in the military at an early age.[2]
In 1740, Haldimand became a mercenary in the army of the Kingdom of Prussia.[1][2] During the War of the Austrian Succession he fought at the Battle of Mollwitz, and probably also saw action at Hohenfriedberg and Kesselsdorf.[2] He next joined the Swiss Guards of the Dutch Republic in 1748, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1750.[1] There he formed a friendship with Henry Bouquet, another Swiss mercenary, with whom he would serve in the British Army.[2]
French and Indian War[edit]
In 1755, as the Seven Years' War, whose North American theater is also known as the French and Indian War, was in its early stages, Haldimand and Bouquet joined a British regiment composed of German and Swiss men recruited at first from the armies of Europe, but then also from German-speaking settlers in North America. The formation of the regiment, known as the Royal American, took two years and was beset by culture clashes with the rest of the British Army. However, Haldimand and Bouquet earned the respect of the British military establishment with their dedicated professionalism.[2]
While Haldimand's battalion was sent to Louisbourg in 1758, Haldimand himself served under General James Abercrombie at the disastrous Battle of Carillon at which he suffered minor wounds.[3]
After spending the winter in command of the forward British position at Fort Edward, he was made second in command on the 1759 expedition of John Prideaux against Fort Niagara and was placed in charge of the key supply and communication point at Oswego, New York, where he oversaw the construction of Fort Ontario.
When Prideaux was killed early during the Battle of Fort Niagara, Haldimand went to assume command of the operation, but William Johnson, the Indian agent on the expedition who took over, refused to relinquish control. Haldimand returned to Oswego, where he remained throughout the winter.[2]
In 1760, he joined General Jeffery Amherst's army as it descended the Saint Lawrence River, and was the officer who formally took control of Montreal on September 8 following the French surrender.[2] He was given the responsibility for working with the outgoing French leadership as they prepared to depart for France, serving first under Amherst and then under General Thomas Gage.[4]
In 1762, Amherst promoted him to colonel and temporarily gave him the military governorship of Trois-Rivières while its governor, Ralph Burton, was called to serve in the Caribbean.[2] At Trois-Rivières, he oversaw the development of the ironworks at nearby Saint Maurice and arranged for his nephew Peter Frederick Haldimand to serve under James Murray, the military governor of Quebec City.
Pre-American Revolution years[edit]
In 1764, the province of Quebec was turned over to a civil administration, and Haldimand's role was reduced to that of a troop commander.[2] Denied leave to return to Europe, he remained in Quebec until 1765, when his command was merged into another. He traveled to New York with the intention of returning to Europe, but the death of his friend Bouquet led to his promotion to brigadier general and assignment to Bouquet's post as military head of the Southern Department, with responsibility for military affairs in East and West Florida.[2] He remained in this post, which he characterized as "the most disagreeable" of his life, until 1773. Despite good relations with the civil governors, he had ongoing problems with supply and funding, and the high cost of living there put him into debt. He was promoted to colonel commandant of the Royal American in 1772, and received a pro forma promotion to major general later that year.[2]
Later life[edit]
In the summer of 1784, Frederick Haldimand returned to England, on leave, but he was not to return to Quebec, as he was formally replaced by General Carleton in 1786. In 1785, he was awarded the Order of the Bath. He settled in London, but made regular visits to his hometown of Yverdon, where he died, on 5 June 1791, while on one of his visits.[1]
Haldimand never married, and in his will he left all his property to his nephew Anthony Francis Haldimand, father of future MP and director of the Bank of England William Haldimand.[2]
Haldimand created and preserved a great deal of written correspondence, especially during his time in North America. As his military and administrative assignments ranged from Pensacola to Quebec and covered the years 1755 to 1784, this correspondence, much of it deposited in the Haldimand Collection at the British Museum (with copies at the Library and Archives Canada), provides a unique view into the colonial history leading to United States independence.
Haldimand has been memorialized with several place names in North America: