By the age of twenty-six, he had attained the rank of Brigadier-General. In , de Frontenac was among the first soldiers selected to join in the defense of the Greek island of Crete from the encroaching Turks.
Despite failure in the face of the Turkish forces, de Frontenac proved himself a valorous soldier and was selected to become the new governor of New France by King Louis XIV.
De Frontenac had a single key goal as governor: make New France as glorious as the old one. Upon claiming the powers vested in him by the King, he began a vigorous series of reforms based on nothing more than his own theories of government. He began by organizing a series of committees consisting of noblemen, clergymen and citizens - the three most powerful factions of society in France - who could aid in the management of the colony.
He built a massive fortress in the western frontier country of Quebec to help fortify that unsettled region. He even arranged for public elections to allow Quebec's citizens to have a say in their municipal government. And while many of his efforts pleased great swathes of society, his headstrong methods angered many others. His democratic efforts would be particularly short-lived: upon hearing of them, the King immediately ordered the elections ended. Plagued by an irascible temper and an exalted opinion of his own capacities, Frontenac quickly quarreled with the senior officials and the clergy.
Many of these disputes centered about the fur trade. The minister of marine, Jean Baptiste Colbert, was striving to keep it within bounds to prevent its crippling his plans to diversify the colony's economy, while Frontenac encouraged the expansion of the western fur trade. This brought the French into conflict with the Iroquois, who were allied with the English of New York. By , however, Frontenac had carried his internal disputes to such lengths that the civil administration was disrupted, and the following year he was dismissed.
Frontenac's successors struggled to curb the Iroquois and retain control of the west, with scant success. In England and France declared war. An assault on New York, by sea and from Canada, was planned.
The governor general of New France had requested his own recall, and Frontenac was reappointed. Owing to delay, for which Frontenac was not responsible, the New York expedition had to be abandoned. That winter, as a reprisal against an Iroquois surprise attack that had inflicted heavy damage, Frontenac launched three war parties against the frontier settlements of New York and New England. These raids did not deter the Iroquois, but they enraged the English colonies.
They united their forces for a land and sea attack on Canada. The overland expedition against Montreal foundered, but a New England fleet reached Quebec only to find Frontenac with the entire armed strength of the colony waiting to oppose their assault force of untrained militia. After a few days of skirmishing they gave up and sailed away. The colony now came under constant attack by the Iroquois, but within 2 years the Canadians had mastered the art of guerrilla warfare and began carrying the war to the enemy.
As the king and his minister had to listen to and adjudicate upon the appeals from the contending parties their patience was at last worn out, and both governor and intendant were recalled to France in the year During Frontenac's first administration many improvements had been made in the country. The defenses had been strengthened, a fort was built at Cataraqui now Kingston, Ontario , bearing the governor's name, and conditions of peace had been fairly maintained between the Iroquois on the one hand and the French and their allies, the Ottawas and the Hurons, on the other.
The progress of events during the next few years proved that the recall of the governor had been ill-timed. The Iroquois were assuming a threatening attitude towards the inhabitants, and Frontenac's successor, La Barre, was quite incapable of leading an army against such cunning foes. At the end of a year, La Barre was replaced by the marquis de Denonville, a man of ability and courage, who, though he showed some vigor in marching against the western Iroquois tribes, angered rather than intimidated them, and the massacre of Lachine on August 5, must be regarded as one of the unhappy results of his administrations.
The affairs of the colony were now in a critical condition; a man of experience and decision was needed to cope with the difficulties, and Louis XIV, who was not wanting in sagacity, wisely made choice of the choleric count to represent and uphold the power of France.
When, therefore, on October 17, , Frontenac arrived in Quebec as governor for the second time, he received an enthusiastic welcome, and confidence was at once restored in the public mind.
On October 16, several New England ships under the command of Sir William Phips , governor of Massachusetts, appeared off the Island of Orleans, and an officer was sent ashore to demand the surrender of the fort. Frontenac handled so vigorously the forces he had collected as completely to repulse the enemy , who in their hasty retreat left behind a few pieces of artillery on the Beauport shore.
The prestige of the governor was greatly increased by this event, and he was prepared to follow up his advantage by an attack on Boston from the sea, but his resources were inadequate for the undertaking.
New France now rejoiced in a brief respite from her enemies, and during the interval Frontenac encouraged the revival of the drama at the Chateau St-Louis and paid some attention to the social life of the colony. New France had been under constant attack during the 15th century. The people however, were not yet subdued, and for two years a petty warfare was maintained. The sufferings of the colony, infested by war parties, were extreme.
The fur trade, which formed its only resource for subsistence, was completely cut off, and a great accumulation of furs remained in the trading posts of the upper lakes, prevented from descending by the watchful enemy. The Christian Indians of the neighboring missions rose and joined them, and so also did the Hurons and the Algonquins of Lake Nipissing, while Frontenac led the dance, whooping like the rest.
His allies, roused to martial frenzy, promised war to the death, and several years of conflict followed. At length, after three years of destitution and misery, Frontenac broke the blockade of the Ottawa; the coveted treasure came safely to Montreal, and the colonists hailed him as their father and deliverer. In Frontenac decided to take the field against the Iroquois, although at this time he was seventy-six years of age. On July 6 he left Lachine at the head of a considerable force for the village of the Onondagas, where he arrived a month later.
In the meantime the Iroquois had abandoned their villages, and as pursuit was impracticable the army commenced its return march on August The old warrior endured the fatigue of the march as well as the youngest soldier, and for his courage and prowess he received the cross of St. Under Frontenac's leadership, the Canadian militia became increasingly adept at guerrilla warfare and took the war into Iroquois territory and attacked a number of English settlements.
The result was that the Iroquois would never again be a peril to the colony. At the time of his second appointment as Governor in , France authorized the importation of slaves to Quebec from the West Indies.
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