The Military Empire

The End Of The Foxes

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Once Again, War with the Foxes

Eager to expunge the memory of their humiliation in 1716 at the hands of the French, the Foxes began to make their presence felt again in the 1720s, engaging in a number of skirmishes and launching an attack on the Illinois nation, who were allies of the French. Commandant Lignery imposed a precarious peace on the Foxes in 1726, but the next year they concluded alliances with the Winnebagos, Sioux, Mascouten and Kickapoos against the French. In the meantime, the small garrison of the newly built Fort Beauharnois (near Frontenac, Minnesota), finding itself squeezed between the Foxes and the Sioux, evacuated its position in October 1727, only to be captured by the Mascouten and Kickapoos. Fearing French vengeance, the Mascouten and Kickapoos decided to release the garrison the following spring and cancel their alliance with the Foxes. The Winnebagos also withdrew, while the Sioux opted for neutrality. In 1728, some 400 French soldiers and militiamen arrived in La Baie, accompanied by about 800 Amerindian allies. They burned the villages and crops of the Foxes, but were unable to surround them. The attackers then retreated to near the present city of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.