Hi, Here's something to keep your imagination busy...... Do you remember my saying that in one of his emails scholar Winston de Ville suggested that 6th or so Great Grandfather, Antoine Degruÿsverloin, might have been one of the soldiers sent to Fort Niagara [And remember that David Perrin has always said that Antoine died in July of 1759 in the French Indian wars]. I thought that an interesting possibility... but how on earth could we ever "prove" it.... are there any records? I've sort of been "working" on that this week.... and I haven't found anything but I did come across this and so I'm passing it along.... with this thought... did he die there? Any chance he could have been taken prisoner and transported somewhere else????? If he died there, would anyone have recorded it? If transported, would anyone have recorded it? I'm wondering if there are any clues in the writings of Sir William Johnson Renee ------------------------------------- Action During the French and Indian War "During the French and Indian War (about 1755-60), Fort Niagara underwent one of the most classic sieges in the military history of North America. In 1755 a large body of regular French troops under the command of Captain Pierre Pouchot arrived at the Fort with orders to transform the post into a defensible position. By the spring of 1756, the Fort was greatly enlarged with new earthworks to supplement the "Castle". For the next two years, the Fort's French garrison supported their Indian allies in their raids against the British colonies as far south as Pennsylvania and Virginia. Early in the summer of 1759, a British army under Brigadier General John Prideaux began moving west from Albany, New York. On July 6th, the British army of some 2,000 regular soldiers and 1,500 Iroquois warriors arrived at the Fort and began to lay siege to the post. For more than two weeks, the six hundred-man French garrison resisted the British efforts. But the British dug trenches toward the walls and placed heavy guns within 100 yards of the Fort and slowly pounded Fort Niagara to pieces. By July 24th, the trenches were only 80 yards from the Fort and the French were near collapse. Finally, after hearing that his "relief column" had been routed in a sharp struggle with the British and Iroquois only a mile from the fort, Captain Pouchot asked for terms of surrender. On July 25th, Fort Niagara became British." ----------------------------------------