Queen Anne's War and Death
In 1702, England and France were again at war (War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714). D'Iberville had contracted malaria on the Gulf coast, and both his health and judgment seem to have deteriorated. Early in 1706, he left France in command of twelve vessels. From 1 to 22 April, he devastated the island of Nevis and took the entire population prisoner. He went to Havana, where he was involved in planning an an expedition against Charles Town, Carolina, when he died suddenly, perhaps of yellow fever, in July, 1706.
After his death, his estate became involved in an inquiry that dragged on for more than thirty years. D'Iberville had acquired a large fortune by uncertain means. The accounts of the West Indian expedition were hopelessly disorganized; there were accusations of embezzlement. His widow, Marie Thérèse Pollet (24 March 1672 – 1740) was forced to pay back a large part of her inheritance.
D'Iberville was perhaps the first great soldier born in Canada. Students of the art of war may see his career as an example of the importance of following up after a victory, for he won all his battles but never was able to consolidate what he had won.
Read more about this topic: Pierre Le Moyne D'Iberville
Famous quotes containing the words queen, war and/or death:
““The horror of that moment,” the King went on, “I shall never, never forget!”
“You will, though,” the Queen said, “if you don’t make a memorandum of it.””
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“What war has always been is a puberty ceremony. It’s a very rough one, but you went away a boy and came back a man, maybe with an eye missing or whatever but godammit you were a man and people had to call you a man thereafter.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)
“American family life has never been particularly idyllic. In the nineteenth century, nearly a quarter of all children experienced the death of one of their parents.... Not until the sixties did the chief cause of separation of parents shift from death to divorce.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)