Robert de Clodoré
Robert le Frichot des Friches, sieur de Clodoré, served for many years in the king's armed forces.
[2] He was appointed by the newly formed French West India Company (Compagnie des Indes Occidentales).
[4] He left La Rochelle on 14 December 1664 with a fleet of four vessels: the 24-gun flagship Harmonie, the Saint-Sébastien, Mercier and the 16-gun frigate Suzanne.
[7] On 19 February 1665 Clodoré and Chambré, in the presence of Tracy, formally took possession of Martinique in the name of the West Indies Company.
A document from late 1665 or early 1666 was signed by the English governor Francis Willoughby, Robert de Clodoré and included the statement, "That the [1660] treaty ... concerning the Caribs will continue in force in Dominica so as not to take it over without the other's consent.
The French proved much better prepared for war, and with the energetic leadership of Clodoré and others such as Charles de Sales of St. Christophe they achieved a string of victories.
"[11] After Warner's capture a group of Carib warriors from Saint Vincent and Dominica offered to join the French in attack on the English Leeward Islands, and were received with hospitality in Martinique by Clodoré, who believed in their value as allies in the war.
At Guadeloupe the warriors were upset when the French did not attack an English ship that arrived to discuss an exchange of prisoners.
Their anger mounted after their raid on Antigua failed when they were spotted before making landfall, but Clodoré managed to calm them down with the aid of many presents and much alcohol.
[17] The two governors were on bad terms, and du Lyon strongly disagreed with Clodore's policy of using Caribs and black slaves as auxiliaries.
[21] After the French left the English militia leader Samuel Winthrop rejected the capitulation treaty because of subsequent outrages by the Caribs.
In Martinique he and La Barre agreed on joint action against the English, which became more urgent when word arrived that St. Christophe (St. Kitts) was being blockaded by Berry.
[24] The fleet left Martinique on 14 May 1667 with La Barre on the 38-gun Lis Couronnée, Clodoré on the 32-gun Justice and du Lyon on the 32-gun Concorde, another nine French warships and two fire ships.
The French line broke up in confusion, and after a long-range exchange of fire with the English La Barre's ship sailed off towards St. Kitts, forcing the Dutch to follow.
[9] After returning to Martinique, La Barre and Clodoré were arguing about the fiasco at Nevis when Harman's fleet arrived.
On 6 July 1667 English fireships burned several French warships, and the next day Harman bombarded the Saint Pierre fortifications.
Of an incident involving Le Febvre de La Barre he wrote, "two days before my departure he encountered one of my slaves, who was keeping my horse beside the door of the Assembly ... he set about striking him.
