The Hudson Bay expedition was a series of military raids on the fur trading outposts and fortifications of the British Hudson's Bay Company on the shores of Hudson Bay by a French Royal Navy squadron under the command of the Comte de Lapérouse. Setting sail from Cap-Français, Saint-Domingue in 1782, the expedition was part of a series of globe-spanning naval conflicts between France and Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War.
Operating under secret orders from Charles, marquis de Castries, the incumbent Secretary of State of the Navy, Lapérouse and his squadron set sail from Cap-Français in May 1782, and arrived in the Hudson Bay in early August. Both Prince of Wales Fort and York Factory, two trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company, surrendered without a fight to the French, though a company merchantman that evaded the French fleet spirited away some of the furs stored at York Factory.
Some of captured British prisoners were put on a company sloop and allowed to sail back to England, while others were pressed into service aboard the French squadron. Those serving on Lapérouse's squadron, which had sailed with minimal winter provisioning to maintain secrecy, suffered numerous hardships including scurvy and other diseases. The finances of the Hudson's Bay Company suffered due to the raid, which also indirectly lead to the deaths of up to half of the Chipewyan fur traders, who conducted business with the company.
Background
During a visit to France in late 1780, Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, a captain in the French Royal Navy, proposed to hydrographer and politician Charles, comte de Fleurieu the idea of an expedition against the fur trading posts of the British Hudson's Bay Company. Secretary of State of the Navy Charles, marquis de Castries and King Louis XVI approved the plan, and Castries issued Lapérouse secret orders that could override those of any fleet commander he served under in the event an opportunity presented itself for such an expedition. The idea was to organize a small fleet in secret and make as rapid as possible a journey north to Hudson Bay from either Newport, Rhode Island or Boston, Massachusetts, the most northerly ports of North America open to French ships.
Lapérouse's duties during the 1781 campaign season did not provide him with any chances to exercise his secret orders, but the aftermath of the disastrous French defeat in the April 1782 Battle of the Saintes did present an opportunity. France and Spain had been planning an assault on the British colony of Jamaica, but the losses incurred during the battle, including the capture of French admiral Paul, comte de Grasse and his flagship Ville de Paris led them to call off the expedition. Lapérouse, on his arrival at Cap-Français, Saint-Domingue after the battle, raised the idea with de Grasse's successor, Louis-Philippe, marquis de Vaudreuil. Vaudreuil approved of the plan, and provided Lapérouse with three ships: a ship of the line, the Sceptre (74 guns), and the frigates Astrée (38) and Engageante (34). Astrée was under the command of Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle, and Engageante was led by André-Charles de La Jaille.
Preparations for the expedition were carried out secretly and in some haste, since the French were aware of the short season in the far north. The ships' crews and most of their officers were not informed of the fleet's destination, and Lapérouse, seeking to avoid all suspicion, even avoided carrying cold-weather clothing. Vaudreuil recorded the fleet's destination in his records as France, with possible stops in Newport or Boston, and de Langle and de la Jaille were given sealed orders to be opened only upon reaching the latitude of Nova Scotia. The fleet took on 250 line infantrymen from the Régiment d'Armagnac and Régiment d'Auxerrois, 40 artillerymen from the Régiment de Metz and 4 field guns and 2 mortars. These troops were informed they were being sent to supplement the French Army presence at Newport. After two weeks of preparation, the fleet set sail from Cap-Français on May 31, 1782.