Defending St. Louis from Attack Saves STL
The Colonial Days His Bride
Valles Mines, Missouri, U S A
Founded in 1749 by Francois Valle years before he became Commandante of the Fort of Sainte Genevieve and The King of Spain made him Don Francois Valle for saving their Fort San Carlos (now St. Louis).
270 years later as The Valle Mining Company, his 4000+ acre property every year absorbs 21,000 tons of carbon dioxide and puts out 14,000 tons of oxygen, enough to meet the needs of 63,000 people. [USDA Forest Facts]
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Defender of St Louis

"...a little-known part of the history of the American Revolution..."

fleurdelis "Mangez plomb, cochons!" fleurdelis

"Eat Lead, You Pigs!"

A few good cannons can save a day.

Francois Valle first made his mark in the region as founder of French Colonial Valles Mines after arriving from Quebec in 1748. In later years he moved to Ste Genevieve, ultimately serving as Commandante of the Fort there. But 32 years after Valles Mines he made history a second time by risking everything to help a Spanish fort named Fort San Carlos 60 miles to the North, a vulnerable settlement caught in a battle for the New World, a place today we today call...Saint Louis, Missouri.

"...In his early 70's and commandante of Ste. Genevieve, he sent his two sons and all the Ste. Genevieve militia he could spare to the Spanish settlement at St. Louis in May 1780 to defend against the coming British-Indians' attack. " [With the attack on its way St. Louis had still not been fortified].

"In two weeks the garrison of 350 defenders withstood 1000 attackers. May 26th, outnumbered 3 to 1, the garrison still prevailed after a desperate struggle...

It does not seem excessive to claim that the men from Ste. Genevieve added the weight that tipped the scale of battle in favor of the defenders... *

...by royal decree on April 1, 1782 King Carlos III of Spain conferred upon Francois I the rank of lieutenant in the regular Spanish army. Francois Valle, French Canadian habitant thus became a Spanish don...

"...At the same time that the Franco-Spanish garrison repelled the Anglo-Indian attack on St Louis, Colonel John Montgomery and General George Rogers Clark fended off a secondary British thrust at Cahokia across the Mississippi. These British setbacks in the western theater of action are a little-known part of the history of the American Revolution. Nonetheless, they prevented Great Britain from seizing control of the lucrative fur trade of the lower Mississippi River,...."

Colonial Ste. Genevieve pg 66.Carl J. Ekberg 1996
See Also François Vallé and His World
* Valle gave the defenders a major tactical advantage in two ways, first by supplying genuine lead musket and cannon balls. Secondly, he supplied his own Ste. Genevieve militia, trained and equipped. Note: Riflemen in those days knew the best way to armor themselves came from pouring their own projectiles [see Mel Gibson in "The Patriot" for an accurate depiction] from lead, not pebbles. At 100 feet getting hit with a pebble or stone did not compare to the damage and knockdown power of a 52 caliber lead rifle ball at that distance, used for medium game from 50 to 300 lbs.
[lead=0.409 lbs/cu.in, dolomite=0.0266 lbs/cu.in. or about 15 times heavier.]

"...France fought alongside the United States, against Britain, from 1778..." Francois Valle also supplied lead to the Revolutionary War effort as a Frenchman. The French were a great help to the colonists, often at their own expense." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_in_the_American_Revolutionary_War ] "

The Battle of Fort San Carlos has been called the westernmost battle of the Revolutionary War.

Rumor has it that ruins of Fort San Carlos are buried under Ballpark Village or at Market and Broadway under the site of Mayor Cervantes' Spanish Pavilion.

When did the Revolutionary War end?

Possible answer #1 HistoryPlace.com "August 27, 1782 - The last fighting of the Revolutionary War between Americans and British occurs with a skirmish in South Carolina along the Combahee River. November 10, 1782 - The final battle of the Revolutionary War occurs as Americans retaliate against Loyalist and Indian forces by attacking a Shawnee Indian village in the Ohio territory."

Possible answer #2 from state.nj.us/dca/njht/resources/w3rreport.html "Yorktown was the last major engagement of the war however there are documented cases of skirmishes occurring up til late 1783. One of the last occured in New Jersey near Tuckerton on April 3, 1783."