Fur Trader: Charles De Langlade "The Father of Wisconsin" (Part 1)
It was on his death bed that Charles De Langlade said that after fighting in ninety-nine battles he wished he could have fought one more to make it an even one hundred. His first battle was an Indian raid of another tribe. With his father's blessing the twelve year old boy was eager to make his name known in battle. Since then he became one of the greatest frontier warriors on the American continent. He sacked the Miami village of Pickawillany in Ohio (the first battle of the French and Indian war) which reduced the influence of Pennsylvania trader George Croghan in the Ohio Valley. He is the man who was the hero for the French at Braddock's defeat where George Washington barely escaped with his life. From then on the Menominee Tribe called him, "Bravest of the Brave."
Charles De Langlade was born a trader. His father was a French fur trader and his mother was an Ottawa Indian. He was born at Michilimackinac and when his father moved him and his family across Lake Michigan he established a trading post that later became Green Bay, WI. As Charles grew up the Fox River was his backyard and he was as familiar with Indian customs as the Indians themselves. Where other French and English traders felt threatened, Langlade was at ease. He was educated in two cultures, one French, the other native. Jesuit missionaries were his teachers, the wilderness his friend. He took up his father's trade and opened his own trading post where many natives came to trade their furs. When English traders threatened the French markets Langlade did not resign his fate to the English. He raided the Pickawillany Village kicking off the French and Indian War.
When General Braddock led his army into the Ohio country it was Langlade that advocated to the commanding General of when and where to attack. During the fight it is said that Langlade commanded his band of warriors to, "shoot and yell and yell and shoot!" After the raid and Braddock's Defeat, he became famous for his exploits and cool headed nature in combat. He was in command throughout many battles and present at the Battle of Ticonderoga in 1758, also known as the Battle of Carillon. During this battle the French who numbered 3,000 defeated 15,000 English. It was during this battle that Langlade's musket became too hot to fire and so he sat down, smoked his pipe, and when he finished he picked up his musket and began fighting again, all the while bullets were flying.
Though Langlade commanded wonderfully, it takes more than one man to win a war. The English had finally begun to turn the tides and after being promoted by the King of France, Langlade was asked that he and his men lay down their arms, proceed to a sea port and return to France. The war was over. When Langlade assembled his men and read the letter of surrender, they symbolically laid down their arms and immediately picked them back up, for their arms were personal property and not that of the government.
As many French officers, settlers and business men returned to France, Langlade returned to his trading post in Green Bay and set out trading furs like he had done before the war. After all, he was born, raised, lived, and worked in the Old Northwest, never having been to France. Wisconsin was his home.
Langlade's trading post became the most important one in the region, and he, the most important man. When the English raised the flag over Fort Michilimackinac the commander of the post asked for all the French to come to the fort to inquire about how to proceed with governing the region. Charles De Langlade and his father traveled to the fort where Charles was given command of Indian affairs and of the Militia. He accepted the position. Charles De Langlade now worked for the English.
Sources and Further Reading:
"The Bravest of the Brave, Captain Charles De Langlade" by Publius D. Lawson