In 1666, the French built a fort to protect Canada from the Iroquois. The fort was dedicated to Saint Anne

Saint Anne

Saint Hanna of David's house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ according to Christian and Islamic tradition. English Anne is derived from Greek rendering of her Hebrew name Hannah...

. Fort Sainte Anne was the most vulnerable to attacks by the Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

, because it was the last of five forts stretching along the Richelieu River

Richelieu River

The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...

 going south. The other four were Fort Richelieu

Fort Richelieu

Fort Richelieu is a historic fort in the Canadian La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec. The fort is designated as a National Historic Site. Fort Richelieu was part of a series of five forts built along the Richelieu River. Fort Richelieu is at the mouth of the Richelieu...

, Fort Chambly

Fort Chambly

Fort Chambly is a historic fort in the Canadian La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec. The fort is designated as a National Historic Site. Fort Richelieu was part of a series of five forts built along the Richelieu River. Fort Richelieu is at the mouth of the Richelieu River....

, Fort Sainte Thérèse

Fort Sainte Thérèse

Fort Sainte Thérèse is the name given to three different forts built successively on one site, among a series of fortifications constructed during the 17th century by France along the Richelieu River, in the province of Quebec, in Montérégie....

 and Fort Saint-Jean

Fort Saint-Jean (Quebec)

Fort Saint-Jean is a fort in the Canadian La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality, Quebec located on the Richelieu River. The fort was first built in 1666 by soldiers of the Carignan-Salières Regiment and was part of a series of forts built along the Richelieu River...

.

Alexandre de Prouville

Alexandre de Prouville

Marquis Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy was a French aristocrat, statesman, and military leader. He was the seigneur of Tracy-le-Val and Tracy-le-Mont...

 de Tracy had the forts built by four companies of the Carignan-Salières Regiment

Carignan-Salières Regiment

The Carignan-Salières Regiment was a Piedmont French military unit formed by merging the Carignan Regiment and the Salières Regiment in 1659. The regiment began their existence in combat against the Ottoman Empire before being reorganized to consist of twenty-four companies before being sent to...

. The first three forts were built in 1665, and the other two in 1666. By the end of 1665, three of the five Iroquois Nations made peace in Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

. The Canadien Governor, Daniel de Courcelle, sent Tracy in the Fall of 1666 with 1,200 men, along with Hurons and Algonquins to attack the two Iroquois Nations resisting, the Mohawks and the Oneidas. The Mohawks ran away into the forest, and the following year, peace was made with the two Nations. The peace continued for seventeen years.