Lieutenant Colonel Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry, CB (November 19, 1778 – February 27, 1829) was a Canadian military officer and statesman of the seigneurial class who served in various campaigns for the British Army. He won distinction for repelling the American advance on Montreal during the War of 1812. Early years Born at the manor house of Beauport (east of Quebec City) in Lower Canada on November 19, 1778 the son of Ignace-Michel-Louis-Antoine d'Irumberry de Salaberry. Charles was one of four sons in a family with a long tradition of military service. Generations of the family had served as officers of the Royal Army in France, and then in the New World. When the British acquired Canada in 1763 the family continued its military traditions in British service. Charles-Michel's father, Ignace de Salaberry, was Seigneur de Chambly et de Beaulac, and was also a British Army officer who had fought in the defence of Quebec during the American Revolutionary War, and later served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, and the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. Military career At the age of 14, Charles-Michel followed his father's footsteps into the 44th Regiment of the British Army. He soon transferred to the 60th Regiment and saw action with them in the West Indies. Shortly after landing in St. Domingue, his battalion was reduced to 200 men through the effects of yellow fever, and endured a march through the countryside to undertake the siege of Fort Matilda. de Salaberry was subsequently cited for bravery, maintaining his duties during the siege which killed or wounded all but three of the battalion's remaining 200 men. He was charged with the evacuation of the surviving men, despite the difference in age and rank. He later served admirably in the Netherlands, during the Walcheren Campaign. He earned his commission as Captain-Lieutenant in 1799 and was given a company command in 1803, continuing to serve in Europe and the West Indies. While stationed at Jamaica, de Salaberry was directly involved in a bitter duel, retold by Philippe-Joseph Aubert de Gaspé: The officers of the 60th Regiment, of which Charles-Michel de Salaberry was Lieutenant, were of different nationalities, English, Prussians, Swiss, Hanoverians, and two French-Canadians, Lieutenants de Salaberry and DesRivières. It was difficult to preserve harmony among them — the Germans especially being passionate, quarrelsome, and duellists. One morning, de Salaberry was sitting at