1724

• C11B, Volume 7, fols. 78-93, 18 octobre 1724; ibid., fols 14-19v., 16 november 1724; ibid., fol. 105, 19 novembre 1724.

Enseigne Bonnaventure reported that while an his way back to Louisbourg from Ile St. Jean his boat was met by a canot carrying two Indians and a deserter, Michel Laugier dit Alexandre of De La Vallière's Company. The Indians reported that they had caught Laugier near Cap St. Louis. He had been in the company of another soldier, Des Rosiers, who managed to elude them. 

The two men had deserted on the Feast of St. Louis (25 August) and were met a couple of days later near Gabarus by another soldier of De La Vallière's Company, Jean Vigneau dit Desour, who was cutting wood in that area. He tried to convince them to return but they said it was too late for that. They asked him to deliver a letter to Sergeant Loppinot requesting him to distribute the belongings they had left behind to certain comrades. Not wishing to cause trouble for their messenger, they dated the letter 24 August, the day before their departure. 

When questioned, Laugier declared that he had no complaints to make against his officers, but he was unhappy with his treatment by the sergeants, corporals and other soldiers. He complained that the men insulted him and the corporal did nothing to stop them. He had not sought the help of the major or governor, he said, because if he had, he would never have dared return to the company. When asked if he was aware of the penalty for desertion, Laugier answered that he did not believe that soldiers were punished for desertion on Ile Royale; a serious error on his part, since he was sentenced to be shot on the glacis of the Place D'Armes.[Source: Margaret Fortier, Fortress Security and Military Justice at Louisbourg, 1720-45, Unpublished Report H E 14 (Fortress of Louisbourg, 1980), p. 71]