Lieutenant Charles-Joseph de Noyelles

In my novel, War on the Inland Sea, I describe the main antagonist and commander of the French fort at Toronto as follows:

“Charles-Joseph de Noyelles, Lieutenant de Comagnies Franches de la Marine, was descended from French nobility and had served France ably for more than a decade, though in absentia. His father had come from France to Canada over forty years earlier, as the younger son of the Baron de Fleurimont, with a commission in the military of New France, but little else. Like so many other would-be French aristocrats his father had come to Canada to make his fortune. And like so many, he had made enough to live—and live well—but not to return in grandeur in the mother country despite every effort to the contrary.”

I know that I’m probably doing this very real man an injustice when I portray him in my novel as self-serving, arrogant and out of touch. The records are few and unlike the Captain Houseman Broadley, he left no letters to judge him buy. The portrait I chose is of an unknown French officer painted from somewhere between 1750 and 1760. The portrait of this officer seems to have the right look of arrogance and cultured nonchalance, with the briefest hint of a smirk.

Noyelles was a lieutenant in the Compagnies de la Marine, which as might be expected fell under the French Navy. These companies, in addition to their role on ships, became the armed force that French officials used to garrison their far flung colonies. Lieutenant Noyelles did serve throughout the frontier, including at Michilimackinac at the straights between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. He eventually gained command of the post at Toronto in either 1754 or 1755. The narrative of the novel works better if he took command in 1754, so that’s what I wrote.

I think that I base most of my thoughts on his character by the uprising of the Mississauga in the spring of 1757. In 1756 the Mississauga had participated in the destruction of the forts at Oswego, eliminating the only alternative for trade that they had. The French now controlled all of the fur trade, but due to the British naval blockade they were unable to supply the natives with the supplies that they had promised. After an exceptionally harsh winter, in the spring of 1757 about 90 Mississauga warriors surrounded Fort Rouillé, after looting the trading post called Fort Toronto. They threatened to kill Lieutenant Noyelles and the small garrison, but the latter was able to get a canoe to Fort Niagara which sent a relief force. His subsequent actions are unknown, but its fair to surmise that the Mississauga revolt was a reflection of his relations with them.

After the fall of New France, he and his family returned to France. He remained on some kind of active service and eventually died in 1768 on the Isle of Goree in Senegal as a Captain of Volunteers. Goree was the French slave market. He died as either a slave trader or protecting them. His father was caught up in a scandal on his return to France, being accused of misappropriating government funds while he commanded a post in New France. He died penniless before the charges could be brought to trial. Noyelles’ younger brother, Pierre-Philippe,  remained in Canada after its fall, having been convicted of stealing military funds.

REF:

Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume III (1741-1770).

Schmalz, P.S. (1991). The Ojibwa of Southern Ontario. Toronto, CA: University of Toronto Press.

Portrait of an Unknown French Officer. http://warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com/2021/03/french-officer-portrait.html.