Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, Pierre de Rigaud, marquis de
Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, Pierre de Rigaud, marquis de
(pyĕr də rēgō` märkē` də vōdrö`yə-kävänyäl`), 1698–1765, last French governor of New France, b. Quebec. He was the son of Philippe de Rigaud, marquis de Vaudreuil (1643–1725), also governor (1705–25). After entering the army he became governor of Trois Rivières (1733) and of Louisiana (1742). In 1755 he became governor of New France. Devoted to those who, like himself, were Canadian-born, he nevertheless failed to check his thieving intendant, François BigotBigot, François, 1703–77?, intendant of New France (1748–59), b. Bordeaux, France. At Louisburg, where he served (1739–45) as commissary, it has been said that he indulged in fraudulent practices that contributed to the downfall of that fort.
..... Click the link for more information. . During the last of the French and Indian WarsFrench and Indian Wars,
1689–1763, the name given by American historians to the North American colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the late 17th and the 18th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. , Vaudreuil sought to discredit General MontcalmMontcalm, Louis Joseph de
, 1712–59, French general. His name in fuller form was Louis Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, marquis de Saint-Véran. A veteran of the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession, he was sent (1756) to defend Canada in the
..... Click the link for more information. with the home government and to hamper his conduct of military affairs. After Vaudreuil's surrender of all Canada to the British in 1760, he was charged with maladministration, tried in France, and acquitted.