LE MOYNE, Jean Baptiste, SIEUR' DE BLENYILLE., French administrator in America: b. Villemarie, Canada, 23 Feb. 1680; d. Paris, 1768. He was a son of Charles Le Moyne (q.v.). In 1729, upon the death of his brother, Charles, Baron de Longueuil (q.v.), he suc ceeded to the title; but he was known as De Bienville. In 1697 he served in the expedi tion of the Chevalier de Troyes against the English settlers in Hudson Bay. He after ward went with his brother, D'Iberville (see IBERVLLE), to France, and 24 Oct. 1698, sailed from Brest in the expedition led by D'Iberville to take possession of the mouth of the Mis sissippi. Bienville was appointed lieutenant of the king, explored the surrounding region, and in 1700 became commander of a fort on the river 44 miles above its mouth. He succeeded Sauvolle in the direction of the colony and assumed command of the camp of Biloxi, 22 Aug. 1701. In December he transferred the settlement to Mobile, which prospered through the arrival of recruits from France with sup plies (1703-04) and of 50 Canadians (1706).
In February 1708 he was ordered to France as a prisoner, but he was later reinstated in his position. The attempt to cultivate the soil by Indian labor having been unsuccessful, he sug gested to the king in 1708 the importation of negroes from the Antilles, to be exchanged for Indians at the rate of three Indians for two negroes. In 1713 Cadillac arrived as governor, and Bienville was commissioned lieutenant governor. Bienville led an expedition to the territory of the Natchez Indians in 1716, built a fort and concluded a treaty. In 1718 he be came governor of Louisiana, in the same year founded New Orleans, which was made the seat of government in 1723; in 1724 he went to France to answer charges preferred against him, but in 1733 returned as governor and holding the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After unsuccessful campaigns against the Chickasaws in 1736, 1739 and 1740 he sailed for France in 1743.