DCB/DBC Mobile beta
+

As part of the funding agreement between the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and the Canadian Museum of History, we invite readers to take part in a short survey.

I’ll take the survey now.

Remind me later.

Don’t show me this message again.

I have already taken the questionnaire

DCB/DBC News

New Biographies

Minor Corrections

Biography of the Day

ROBINSON, ELIZA ARDEN – Volume XIII (1901-1910)

d. in Victoria 19 March 1906

Confederation

Responsible Government

Sir John A. Macdonald

From the Red River Settlement to Manitoba (1812–70)

Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Sir George-Étienne Cartier

Sports

The Fenians

Women in the DCB/DBC

The Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences of 1864

Introductory Essays of the DCB/DBC

The Acadians

For Educators

The War of 1812 

Canada’s Wartime Prime Ministers

The First World War

Original title:  Title page of "Les avantures de Monsieur Robert Chevalier, dit De Beauchêne : capitaine de flibustiers dans la Nouvelle-France" by Alain René Le Sage. Published at Paris : Chez Etienne Ganeau, 1732.
Source: https://archive.org/details/cihm_36377/page/n7/mode/2up

Source: Link

CHEVALIER, dit Beauchêne, ROBERT, soldier, adventurer and privateer, writer of memoirs; b. 23 April 1686 at Pointe-aux-Trembles (Montreal), son of Jacques Chevalier and Jeanne Vilain; d. December 1731 at Tours (France).

In Beauchêne’s biography reality and legend overlap. It is now certain that this person did exist and left memoirs, but the story that he told was considerably amplified and modified by Alain-René Lesage.

Let us first summarize the incidents of his life which are vouched for by documents, or which appear probable. The circumstances of his birth are certain. At the age of 20, he and his two elder brothers Paul and Jean entered into an agreement with Lamothe Cadillac [Laumet] to take a canoe full of merchandise to Detroit and to bring back pelts. It also appears likely that he took part in an expedition against Orange (Albany, N.Y.) and Corlar (Schenectady). In 1707 he was one of the group of Canadians recruited by Charles-Joseph Amiot de Vincelotte to go to Port-Royal (Annapolis Royal, N.S.) and make up the crew of the frigate, the Biche; he then served under the privateer captain Pierre Morpain*.

After a lucrative career in privateering, he is supposed, according to Lesage, to have gone to France. He is thought to have lived for a while at Brest, Saint-Malo, and Nantes, and to have died at Tours during a brawl. In fact, his death certificate, dated 11 Dec. 1731, has been found in the parish registers of that city. He is supposed to have left an autobiography which his wife is said to have entrusted to Lesage, who published it under the following title: Les avantures de monsieur Robert Chevalier, dit de Beauchêne, capitaine de flibustiers dans la Nouvelle-France.

The authenticity of these memoirs has been hotly disputed. Charles Bourel de La Roncière and A.-L. Leymarie believed them to be authentic. Gilbert Chinard, Aegidius Fauteux, and Gustave Lanctot have subjected them to close scrutiny and have rejected a good portion of them. It seems certain that Chevalier did indeed draft the biographical notes which served as an outline for Lesage. The general framework of the story, the names of obscure personages such as Abbé Périac (Priat), episodes such as the unsuccessful expedition against Corlar, the journey to Acadia, the enlistment with Morpain, and numerous details correspond to historical reality and could not have been invented.

On the other hand, the Avantures mention several fictitious personages, such as Legendre, frequently confuse names and dates, and contain anachronisms and manifest exaggerations. These inaccuracies may be explained by the unreliability of the memory of the author, who drafted his recollections long after the events, but also by the intervention of Lesage. The latter not only touched up the style but also introduced lengthy expansions, for example the one about “marriages in Canada,” inspired by Lahontan [Lom d’Arce]; in addition he invented the long, fantastic story of the Comte de Monneville, which occupies half the book.

In short, Chevalier was a boastful and unscrupulous adventurer who had the good fortune to encounter a writer of talent who could bring him out of obscurity and transform him into the hero of a novel.

René Baudry

[Alain-René] Lesage, Les avantures de monsieur Robert Chevalier, dit de Beauchêne, capitaine de flibustiers dans la Nouvelle-France (2v., Paris, 1732). Several of the subsequent editions are incorrectly entitled: Les aventures du Chevalier de Beauchêne. Massicotte, “Répertoire des engagements pour l’Ouest,” 240–41. Tanguay, Dictionnaire. Charles Bourel de La Roncière, Histoire de la marine française (6v., Paris, 1899–1932), VI, 508–16. Gilbert Chinard, LAmérique et le rève exotique dans la littérature française au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siècle (Paris, 1913), 271–79. Gustave Lanctot, Faussaires et faussetés en histoire canadienne (Montréal, 1948), 130–47. Gilbert Chinard, “Les aventures de Chevalier de Beauchêne, de Lesage,” Revue du XVIIIe siècle (Paris), I (1913), 279–93. Aegidius Fauteux, “Les aventures du chevalier de Beauchêne,” Cahiers des Dix, II (1937), 7–33. Robert Le Blant, “Les études historiques sur la colonie française d’Acadie, 1603–1713,” Revue dhistoire des colonies (Paris), XXXV (1948), 105. A.-L. Leymarie, “Robert Chevalier dit de Beauchêne, capitaine de flibustiers dans la Nouvelle-France (1686–1731),” NF, V (1930), 358–62 [4–8].

General Bibliography

Cite This Article

René Baudry, “CHEVALIER, Beauchêne, ROBERT,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed March 19, 2024, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/chevalier_robert_2E.html.

The citation above shows the format for footnotes and endnotes according to the Chicago manual of style (16th edition). Information to be used in other citation formats:


Permalink:   http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/chevalier_robert_2E.html
Author of Article:   René Baudry
Title of Article:   CHEVALIER, Beauchêne, ROBERT
Publication Name:   Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2
Publisher:   University of Toronto/Université Laval
Year of publication:   1969
Year of revision:   1982
Access Date:   March 19, 2024