HE could see it all now, the disgrace and humiliation to his small body of troops as something that was inevitable unless be took swift action to avoid it.

A long file of British troops, in their scarlet uniforms, would be at rigid attention, their faces masking their jubilation as best they could in a soldierly fashion.

Facing them would be a long file of French troops at equally rigid attention, only their soldierly training, as with the British masking their true feelings. But a twitching of the lips and a lifting of the eye brow would tell more than words.

There would be sharp commands and the fleur-de-lis of France would come fluttering down off the tall flag staff. Another sharp command would be barked and the Union Jack would go to the top of the pole. There might be some martial airs to go with the ceremony, then crisp orders and the troops would march off to their barracks, the British to toast their conquest of Canada, the French to mourn the loss of half a continent.

There was no hesitancy in the mind of Captain Passerat de Ia Chappelle, only 26, a soldier of France already a veteran of many years service as to what to do when that exigency of surrendering his command to the British would take place. He would not endure it.

He would get permission from his superiors to march them to Louisiana to a place of refuge safe from the British. A journey of 2,000 miles through the winter weather of Canada and the middle west? That was a small matter, he could take supplies, build a fort and spend the winter with his command.

Some personal history of De Ia Chappelle is in order. He was born July 9, 1734 at the chateau of Montville in the department of Contrevez en Budget, France, and entered the army, when he was 18. Commissioned in the royal artillery, he was in Quebec in May 1756. He was in active service against the British at Fort Duquesne near Pittsburgh and May 12, 1758 was wounded in an attack on the British fort near the Potomac. The young army officer was in the battle of Quebec in 1759, when the British under Wolfe defeated the French under Montcalm and the fate of Canada was sealed~now it was to become British territory.

The story of the retreat from Canada to New Orleans to escape sur-render to the British was not known to historians, until one of his des-cendants, the Baron de Ia Chappelle of Paris found documents and other historical information, which he presented to a meeting of the Societe d' histoire du Canada in 1933. It was published in the society's maga-zine, Novia Francia, and in the Mississippi Valley Historical Society and a copy was furnished the author of this publication by Frnest East of Peoria, a past president of the Illinois State Historical Society and was published in the Daily Republican Times, February 2,1943, as one of the most important contributions to Illinois and LaSalle county histories in many years.

The story of the remarkable retreat of this man, his determination and endurance is too long for a publication of this sort.

He was in service at Detroit, when he was ordered September 2, 1760 to march to the aid of besiged Montreal. On the forced march east, he learned from Jesuit priests, that Montreal had surrendered. The troops were all prisoners and all of Canada was to be turned over to the British.

Now he acted swiftly to escape surrender; with the aid of the Jesuits he was able to purchase supplies cheaply for his projected retreat to Louisiana, which was not included in the surrender to the British.

Sergeant Bellivadier was named head of the commissionary depart-ment. Permission was obtained from M. de Bellestre at Detroit to leave Canada. That officer concluded with these words to de Ia Chappelle, "My best wishes accompany you; in spite of miseries that you will have to endure your lot is happier than mine. For I shall have the shame of surrender and turning over my command to the English and becoming their prisoner. Sad end to a career, pity me, be of good courage and the grace of God go with you."

How many men de Ia Chappelle had under his command is not known -it may have reached 200. He speaks of rounding up 32 Canadians and 78 half breed Ottawa Indians and French who were wandering aimlessly and also wanting to go to Louisiana to escape giving up to the British. These he added t~ his own force of soldiers.

The expedition built rafts on the east shore of Lake Michigan to carry its supplies and beasts across the lake to the southwest within sight of shore for safety sake. His goal through the harsh days of early winter, 1760, was Fort St. Louis, where he hoped to spend the winter in the old quarters left by the French garrison many years ago. But all he found, he related in the diary found by his descendants, was the ruins of the Fort, which had been burned long ago. The location of the Fort on the Rock, de Ia Chappelle decided, was not good enough to ward off any possible attack by the British, if they approached from the east.

Here de Ia Chappelle set his men to work in December 1760 cutting trees, building a fort and huts, the fort commanding the river for a long way to the east. The name "Fort Ottawa" was burned over the doorway of the fort.

The militia men believed they had reached Louisiana and were thus safe from the British. They asked permission of de Ia Chappelle to stay in the fort, while he took his command to New Orleans, which he granted them in repayment of their services as guides from Detroit to Fort Ottawa.

Game was abundant, there was an ample supply of fish in the river and skins to make clothes from deer and buffalo. From his stock of supplies de Ia Chappelle rationed enough for the militia men to last through the winter. Meantime be prepared for the long trip down the river, barks and sledges were built to haul in daily supplies from the forests.

The voyage by water was to he resumed by his soldiers as soon as open water prevailed. They rested, repaired shoes and uniforms.

An Indian chief presented him a relic of LaSalle, a document, wherein the Indians declared an alliance with the King of France. So de Ia Chappelle added his own name to the roll under that of LaSalle to con-tinue the alliance of many years before.

When it seemed that de Ia Chappelle was getting matters nicely in hand at Fort Ottawa trouble brewed. December 20, 1760 M. de Clignana-court arrived at the fort as an envoy from M. de Beaujeau, former com-mander at Michlimackinaw, who also had shipped out for New Orleans with his troops to avoid turning the command over to the British red coats.

He was then wintering, the envoy told de la Chappelle, about 90 miles or 30 leagues west of Buffalo Rock, probably near the present Rock Island.

Death and discouragement had struck the camp, de Clignancourt told de Ia Chappelle. Could he spare supplies for Beajeau and his troops?

That was agreeable to de Ia Chappelle, but he went along with the convoy and supplies. Beaujeau looked over the goods from Fort Ottawa, seemed pleased. and de Ia Chappelle rested. But when he said he was going back to Fort Ottawa, Beaujeau raged and ranted, accused de Ia Chappelle of being a traitor to France and ordered him to take a message to the commander at Fort Chartres. If he did not go willingly, he "would be bound like a sausage as Beaujeau threatened and taken there against his will. So de Ia Chappelle went, burning as one might well do, at the ingratitude of Beaujeau, whose real motive was to take over Fort Ottawa and install his own troops in solid comfort for the winter.

The reception of de Ia Chappelle at Fort Chartres by the commander M. de Neyon de villiers, who even more ungrateful than that of Beaujeau. He demanded of de Ia Chappelle his service orders to go to New Orleans in the first place. It was explained that these were back at Fort Ottawa. Then de villiers stormed and ranted and accused his guest of being in league with the Spanish colonies and eventually, with the IBritish. He was ordered back to Rock Island, as sort of a messenger boy, but he deter-mined not to go that way, instead he made his way back to Fort Ottawa via horseback. The commander at Fort Chartres by then had cooled down enough to furnish him with that transportation.

Back at Fort Ottawa, de Ia Chappelle in January 1761, made known his intentions of leaving at once for New Orleans with his soldiers and of allowing the milita to keep the camp and what supplies that they needed.

New Orleans was reached, but the commander, M. de Kedlerec was a brother-in-law of de Villiers. Probably he already had word of what was taking place in distant Illinois from de Villiers. Luckless de la Chappelle on reaching New Orleans was put under military arrest. He demanded an inquest and was sent to France, where the inquest cleared him of all charges and ordered him restored to his old rank as a French army captain. He was made governor of the island of Martinique in the West Indies, where he died in 1703.

More than a cenutry after his trip from Canada through Illinois valley another de Ia Chappelle, also sailed from France with a member of the Peltier family, all glass makers. They settled at Ottawa, where the Peltiers first started a factory that turned out stained glass for church windows of exquisite beauty. From that business, they turned to the making of glass marbles, which produces millions of such articles per year in one of the few plants of its kind in the United States.

The de Ia Chappelle factory went into production of lamp chimneys, some of them of the unbreakable type through a secret process. The family was another branch of the de Ia Chappelles of which the soldier, who built Fort Ottawa was a member.

Jacques de Ia Chappelle of Chicago, a member of the Ottawa family, that made glassware says, that it is the tradition of the de Ia Chappelles of France, that Captain Passerat de Ia Chappelle played an important, but a secret part in the American revolution. It is the family story, that he was sent by the government of France to the colonies to investigate the character of a learler of the American Revolution~George Washington, before France cast her lot with the colonies against the British.

Now it was October of 1781, and once again de Ia Chappelle, now middle aged, could visualize a scene in his mind.

Again a long file of troops was drawn up, their real emotion hidden under a soldier's mask, but not all of it could be masked. There was a twitching in one line of the facial muscles to tell sadness. Opposite them was drawn up another file of troops, only their eyes sparkled in triumph and they stood a bit straighter, maybe, than the other dejected file. Once again a crisp order was harked. A flag fluttered down from a tall staff, again an order was barked, another flag was hoisted to the top of the pole, and sailors in the nearby harbor watched with glee. The triumphant troops marched off to their barracks to drink a toast to the day and the prisoners of war marched elsewhere in dejection. The cycle was completed now for de Ia Chappelle and he could drink a toast to the new nation of the United States of America, which hauled down the British colors all the way from the Atlantic coast to the M~ssissippi river valley, where he endured misery less than a quarter of a cenutry before. The cycle was completed~and the French, who had surrendered Canada had taken a hand in bringing down that same British flag as allies of a new and poten-tially great nation born of patroitism, hardship and warfare from 1775 to 1781.

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