St. Francis Raid

St Francis Raid
	Part of the French and Indian War
	; Robert Rogers in a 1776 painting, the only known portrait from the lifetime of Rogers.[citation needed]
Date	October 4, 1759
Location	Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec46°03′58″N 72°49′34″W / 46.06611°N 72.82611°W
Result	British victory
Belligerents
France; Abenaki	British America
Commanders and leaders
Unknown (village defense); Jean-Daniel Dumas (pursuit)	Robert Rogers
Strength
Unknown	142
Casualties and losses
30-200 killed; 5-20 captured	Assault: 1 killed and 7 wounded; Retreat: 40 killed and 10 captured

The St. Francis Raid was an attack in the French and Indian War by Robert Rogers on St. Francis, near the southern shore of the Saint Lawrence River in what was then the French province of Canada, on October 4, 1759. Rogers and about 140 men entered the village, which was reportedly occupied primarily by women, children, and the elderly, early that morning, slaughtered many of the inhabitants where they lay, shot down many who attempted to flee, and then burned the village. Rogers reported killing as many as 200 people, while French reports placed the number closer to thirty, mainly women and children. One of Rogers' men was killed, and seven were wounded.

Rogers and his men endured significant hardships to reach the village from the British base at Fort Crown Point in present-day New York, and even more hardship afterwards. Chased by the French and vengeful Indians, and short on rations, Rogers and his men returned to Crown Point via the Connecticut River valley. Missteps in caching food stores for the expedition's use led to starvation, and some of Rogers' men were reportedly driven to cannibalism in order to survive. About one third of the raid's participants did not return.

Reports of the raid from the Thirteen Colonies were unapologetic, as St. Francis had long been a place from which the natives raided colonial settlements as far south as Massachusetts, and Rogers reported a large number of scalps decorating the main village buildings.