View source for French Marines in Canada, 1683–1715

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[[File:Franche de la Marine1.jpg|thumb|right|340px|The [[Compagnies Franches de la Marine]], were early French colonial marines serving in the [[Quebec]] region of [[Canada (New France)|New France]] portrayed by Canadian reenactors]]
The [[Troupes de la marine]] served in [[Canada (New France)|Canada]] during the period 1683–1715. The Marines were first sent to Canada in 1683 after an upsurge of Iroquois hostilities. The basic unit of the Marines in Canada was the company, with three or four officers, two sergeants, four corporals and lance-corporals, and a total complement of 33 to 52 officers and [[Enlisted rank|other ranks]]. The number of marines during the period peaked in 1688 with a total strength of 1,750 officers and other ranks. The other ranks were recruited in France, and were mostly volunteers, although Canada was not an attractive place to serve. Unskilled labourers dominated and almost a third of them came from the western parts of France. On the other hand, the officer corps was the subject of a gradual process of canadianization, with about a third of the officers serving in 1715 born in Canada.
==Background==
The [[Beaver Wars|war with the Iroquois]] forced the French to deploy a regular army regiment to Canada in 1665. The additional military manpower of the [[Carignan-Salières Regiment]] tipped the scale in favour of the French, and the [[Iroquois]] sued for peace in 1667. By 1671 all regular army soldiers were back in France, or settled as colonists. When the Iroquois resumed hostilities ten years later, the colony was once again unable to defend itself in spite of the foundation of a [[Canadian Militia|militia system]] in 1669. The minister of marine, also in charge of the French colonies, therefore began to deploy [[Troupes de la marine]] to Canada in 1683.<ref>Chartrand 1993, pp. 64–69, 72–73.</ref>
==Organization==
[[File:Compagnies franches de la marine Règlement du Roy 1693.jpg|thumb|The King's regulations for captains and other officers of the marines were issued in 1693.]]
The object of the first ''troupes de la marine'' sent to Canada in 1683 was to defeat the Iroquois, and then return to France.  [[Joseph-Antoine de La Barre|La Barre's]] failed expedition against the [[Senecas]] in 1684 changed this, and from the following year the ''troupes'' became a permanent standing force in the colony, the colonial regular troops.<ref>Russ 1971, pp. 45–46.</ref><ref>Chartrand 1993, p. 83.</ref>
===Table of organization===
The basic structure of the ''[[compagnies franches de la marine]]'', as the infantry of the ''troupes de la marine'' were called after 1690, remained unchanged between 1690 and 1761.<ref>Russ 1971, pp. 23–25.</ref> Through the initiative of governor [[Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville|Denonville]], the rank of second ensign was added to the complement in 1699, explicitly in order to recruit young Canadians of good families to the officer corps.<ref>Chartrand 1993, p. 84-85.</ref> Although the free companies per definition lacked a higher organization, a small staff existed above company level, containing a surgeon, a chaplain, a clerk of the muster, and a drum-major. In 1687 the rank of "commandant of the troops in Canada" was created, with a major as his chief of staff added to the organization in 1691.<ref>Chartrand 1993, p.108.</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
! align="left" width="50" | Years
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Captain</small>
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Lieutenant</small>
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Ensign</small>
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Second Ensign</small>
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Sergeants</small>
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Corporals</small>
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Lance-corporals</small>
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Drummer</small>
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Fusiliers</small>
! align="left" width="50" |<small>Total</small>
|-
|1683–1686 || 1 || 1 || 0 ||0|| 2 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 42 || 52
|-
| 1687–1698 || 1 || 1 || 1|| 0||2|| 3|| 3 || 1 || 41 || 53
|-
|1699–1715 ||1|| 1 || 1 ||1 || 2|| 3|| 3 ||0 || 22 ||33
|-
|colspan=11| Sources:<ref name="Cassell"/>
|-
|}
===Strength===
The original 150 marines of 1683 increased the next year to 500, and with the arrival of governor Denonville, bringing an additional 300 men, reached a strength of 800 marines in 1685. Two years later an additional 800 marines arrived from France. In 1688 the required strength was 1,750 other ranks, although due to losses the actual strength was 1,418. The 35 substrength companies were consolidated to 28, with 50 other ranks in each. A reduction from 50 to 30 men per company took place in 1699, reducing the required strength to 840 other ranks.<ref>Russ 1971, pp. 44–50.</ref><ref>Chartrand 1993, p. 84.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! align="left" width="100" | Years
! align="left" width="100" | Number of companies
! align="left" width="100" | Number of officers
! align="left" width="300" | Number of <br>non-commissioned officers, privates, and drummers
|-
|1683 || 3 ||6|| 150
|-
|1684 ||10|| 20||500
|-
|1685–1686 ||16||32||800
|-
|1687 ||32 || 96||1600
|-
|1688 ||35|| 105||1750
|-
|1689–1698 ||28|| 112||1400
|-
|1699–1715 ||28 ||112||840
|-
|colspan=4|Sources:<ref name="Cassell">Cassell 1987, Appendix B.</ref>
|}
The actual strength were always somewhat lower than the required strength. Officer's billets were always filled, but the actual number of private marines were almost always lower than the required strength. With the reduction of the number of companies from 1689, there were a small surplus of officers from the reduced companies, serving as extra officers.<ref>Chartrand 1993, p. 111.</ref>
===Recruitment===
Recruits had to be 20–30 years old, {{cvt|158|cm|ftin}} tall, and fit for service. Single men were preferred. Most of the recruits were volunteers, but since service in Canada was not attractive, sometimes deception or violence was used to induce young men into the Marines. Wishing to avoid such chicanery, the government removed the height requirement and gradually lowered the age requirement until it was set at 15 in 1706. Catholic [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] from Ireland and Scotland also became available for recruitment. When Canada urgently needed more marines, both [[deserter]]s and civilian criminals, who had not been subject to [[corporal punishment]], were released if they enlisted for military service in Canada. Sometimes prisoners were sentenced to serve in the Marines in Canada, something that hurt volunteer recruitment. From 1686, each newly raised company also included a veteran core of 14 non-commissioned officers and men from the Marine guards in French ports.<ref>Russ 1971, pp. 70–74, 76–77.</ref>
===Pay===
{| class="wikitable"
! align="left" width="400" | Rank
! align="left" width="150" | Monthly pay<br>''[[French livre|livre française]]''
! align="left" width="150" | Monthly bonus<br>''livre française''
|-
| Ship-of-the-line lieutenant, as Captain|| 83.4|| 50
|-
|Ship-of-the-line ensign, as Lieutenant||50 || 20
|-
|Ship-of-the-line ensign, as Ensign ||50 ||15
|-
|Sergeant ||22.10 ||0
|-
|Corporal||15 ||0
|-
|Lance-corporal||12||0
|-
|Fusilier || 9 ||0
|-
|colspan=3|Sources:<ref>Russ 1971, pp. 23–24. 93.</ref>
|}
Stoppages were made from the pay for the uniform and for the extra blanket needed in the Canadian climate. Further deductions were for the pay of the [[Drum major (military)|drum major]] and the [[surgeon]], and for keeping the [[muster-roll]] and maintaining the military hospital. Even the recruitment expenses were deducted. Sometimes the marines could work for the civilian population, or as officers servants, earning welcome additional income.<ref>Russ 1971, pp. 82, 93, 96–98.</ref>
===Quarters===
[[File:Ville-Marie dans l-isle de Montreal.jpg|thumb|Most marines were stationed in or around Montreal.]]
Most of the marines were stationed in and around [[Montreal]]. A [[barracks]] housing 100 marines were built but most of the troops were in wintertime billeted with the inhabitants. In [[Quebec]] and [[Trois-Rivières]] the barracks was big enough to house the marines stationed in those towns. In summer the marines lived in tents.<ref>Russ 1971, pp. 87–90, 95.</ref>
==Campaigns==
===Drill and duties===
The marines [[Military exercise|drilled]] with [[musket]]s twice a week, and practiced with [[hand grenades|grenades]] once a week. One marine from each company were selected for extended training in handling [[cannon]]s, [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s and grenades. When trained, these marines were replaced by another set of marines. Standing guard was a perpetual duty, winter or summer. When living in tents in summertime, the marines were doing road work or working on the colony's fortifications. Transportation of goods to the Western posts, and of fur back to Montreal, was also the task of the marines. Military [[patrol]]s on the large rivers and through the settled areas in search of hostile Indians were the most important military duty performed outside actual combat.<ref>Russ 1971, pp. 92, 95, 98–99.</ref>
===Major campaigns and engagements===
[[File:fort frontenac.jpg|thumb|[[Fort Frontenac]] was garrisoned by the Marines during the Denonville expedition.]]
* [[Joseph-Antoine de La Barre|La Barre's]] expedition against the [[Senecas]], 1684.
* [[Pierre de Troyes, Chevalier de Troyes|Troyes']] [[Hudson Bay expedition (1686)|Hudson Bay expedition]], 1686.
* [[Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville|Denonville's]] expedition against the [[Senecas]], 1687.
* [[Lachine massacre|Defence of Lachine]] against the [[Iroquois]], 1689.
* [[Nicolas d'Ailleboust de Manthet|Manthet's]] and [[Jacques le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène|Sainte-Hélène's]] [[Schenectady massacre|expedition against Schenectady]], 1690.
* [[Engagement]] on [[Lac des Chats]] with the Iroquois, 1690.
* [[Battle of Quebec (1690)|Defence of Quebec]] against the English, 1690.
* Engagement at [[Îles-Bouchard]] with the Iroquois, 1691.
* [[Battle of La Prairie|Defence of La Prairie]] against the English, 1691.
* Engagement at [[Chambly, Quebec|Chambly]] against the English, 1691.
* Engagement on [[Lake Saint Francis (Canada)|Lake Saint Francis]] with the Iroquois, 1692.
* Defense of [[Verchères|Fort Verchères]] against the Iroquois, 1692.
* Manthet's and [[Augustin le Gardeur de Courtemanche|Courtemanche's]] expedition against the [[Mohawks]], 1693.
* [[Louis de Buade de Frontenac|Frontenac's]] expedition against the [[Oneidas]] and the [[Onondagas]], 1696.
*[[Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville|Iberville's]] [[Siege of Pemaquid (1696)|expedition against Pemaquid]], 1696.
* Iberville's [[Avalon Peninsula Campaign|Avalon Peninsula campaign]], 1696–1697.
* The [[battle of Hudson's Bay]], 1697.
* [[Alexandre Leneuf de La Vallière de Beaubassin|Beaubassin's]] [[Northeast Coast Campaign (1703)|New England campaign]], 1703.
* [[Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville|Rouville's]] [[Raid on Deerfield|expedition against Deerfield]], 1704
* [[Daniel d'Auger de Subercase|Subercase's]] [[Siege of St. John's|expedition against Newfoundland]], 1705.
* [[Joseph de Monbeton de Brouillan de Saint-Ovide|Saint-Ovide's]] and [[Philippe Pastour de Costebelle|Costebelle's]] [[Battle of St. John's|expedition against Newfoundland]], 1708–1709.
* [[Claude de Ramezay|Ramezay's]] expedition against the English at [[Lake Champlain]], 1709.
Source:<ref>Dechêne 2008, Appendix A & B.</ref>
==Social history==
===Social origin===
The majority of marines in Canada had been unskilled labourers in civilian life. Yet, there were also skilled craftsmen among them, such as masons, carpenters, and tailors.<ref>Russ 1971, p. 72.</ref>
===Geographical origin===
{| class="wikitable"
! align="left" width="300" | Region
! align="left" width="200" | Marines with geographical origin registered in archival sources<br>1683–1715<br><small>N=1,508</small>
! align="left" width="200" | Marines marrying in Canada 1683–1715<br><small>N=667</small>
! align="left" width="200" | Captains 1683–1739<br><small>N=67</small>
|-
| [[Brittany]]  || 11% || 9% || 7.5%
|-
| [[Normandy]]  || 8% ||10% || 7.5%
|-
| Paris, [[Île-de-France]]  || 9%||7% ||28%
|-
| Loire: [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]], [[Maine (province)|Maine]], [[Orleanais]], [[Touraine]]  ||9%|| 8% || 9%
|-
| North: [[Artois]], [[Flanders]], [[Picardie]]  ||2% ||2%|| 1.5%
|-
| East: [[Alsace]], [[Bourgogne]], [[Bresse]], [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]], [[Franche-Comté]], [[Lorraine]], [[Lyonnais]]  ||5% ||4% || 7.5%
|-
| West: [[Poitou]], [[Aunis]], [[Saintonge (region)|Saintonge]], [[Angoumois]] || 28%|| 32% || 7.5%
|-
| Center: [[Limousin]], [[Marche]], [[Auvergne]], [[Berry]], [[Bourbonnais]], [[Nivernais]] || 6%
|| 9% ||8%
|-
| South-East: [[Languedoc]], [[Roussillon]], [[Dauphiné]], [[Provence]], [[Franche-Comté]], [[Comtat Venaissin]] ||4% || 4%|| 10.5%
|-
| South-West: [[Guyenne]], [[Gascony]], [[Béarn]], [[Rouergue]]  ||13% ||14% || 7.5%
|-
|Outside France || 2%|| 2% || 7.5%
|-
|Sources: || <ref>Sévigny 1989, p. 51.</ref> ||<ref>Sévigny 1989, p. 56.</ref> ||<ref>Lalancette 2015, p. 43.</ref>
|}
===Canadianization of the officer corps===
Several factors led to a gradual canadianization of the officer corps. Young Canadians of good family were from 1699 encouraged to become officers in the marines. Retired marine corps officers settling in Canada, also sent their sons into the corps as [[Officer Cadet|cadets]], although the formal rank of cadet was not introduced until 1731. A Canadian military elite emerged; already in 1690 a quarter of the officers were born in Canada, and in 1720 about half.<ref>Chartrand 1993, pp. 85–86.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! align="left" width="300" | Year
! align="left" width="300" | Percentage <br>Canadian-born captains
|-
| 1683–1690 || {{center|0}}
|-
| 1691–1693 || {{center|7}}
|-
| 1694–1699 || {{center|10}}
|-
| 1700–1701 ||{{center|14}}
|-
| 1702–1703|| {{center|21}}
|-
| 1704|| {{center|14}}
|-
| 1705|| {{center|10}}
|-
| 1706–1709 || {{center|14}}
|-
| 1710–1711 || {{center|29}}
|-
| 1712 || {{center|32}}
|-
| 1713–1714 || {{center|29}}
|-
| 1715 || {{center|32}}
|-
|colspan=2|Source:<ref>Lalancette 2015, Tableau C.</ref>
|}
===Integration and marriage ===
From 1683 to 1688, 35 marine companies of 50 soldiers each landed in the city of Quebec and were stationed in the three governments of [[Canada (New France)|Canada]]. Taking into account death and disability leave, at least 1,400 soldiers arrived into a New France which had no more than 11,000 inhabitants in 1685. Before 1715 a total of 3,000 to 3,500 marine recruits arrived in Canada. With the exception of 200 [[indentured servant]]s that arrived 1684 and 1685, the marines were the only external additions to the population of Canada during the period 1683–1715.<ref>Sevigny 1991, pp. 64, 66.</ref><ref name=Sev9510>Sevigny 1995, p. 10.</ref>
Integration of the large number of marines arriving was aided by several factors. Canada lacked [[barracks]] and the marines were – like their predecessors of the [[Carignan-Salières Regiment]] – [[billeted]] on the people of the local community, especially during the cold season. Brought about by utter necessity, this probably constituted the principal element in the rapid integration of the marines into the host society.<ref>Sevigny 1991, p. 69.</ref>
Another factor favorable for integration was the two privileges granted the marines by the [[Intendant of New France]], [[Jacques de Meulles]], in 1685.  One was the right for every marine to take work among the inhabitants of the country; the other authorized those who had a trade to practice it for 15 [[French sol|sous]] daily. The marines, who was paid 6 sous daily, but only had 3 sous left after stoppages, were happy to be able to work for 10-15 sous per day and food in addition, and the settlers and bourgeoisie were glad to be able to hire workers for less than was normally demanded. The captains of the marine companies were in their turn more than happy to give soldiers leave for work, as they then pocketed their military pay; an illegal but common practice.<ref>Sevigny 1991, pp. 67-68.</ref>
In 1686 the King confirmed, that any soldier who wished to marry and become a settler cultivating uncleared land was to be released from service and during a year thereafter be paid as if he still was serving. In 1686, [[Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville|Governor Denonville]] released 100 marines from service and the following year another 48. [[King William's War]] and [[Queen Anne's War]] made the authorities less likely to grant early discharges for marriage, but they did not totally cease.<ref>Sevigny 1991, pp. 64-65.</ref> A total of more than 700 marines married and settled in Canada.<ref name=Sev9510/>
==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}
===Cited literature===
* Cassel, Jay (1987). ''The troupes de la marine in Canada, 1683–1760.'' Thesis. University of Toronto.
* Chartrand, René (1993). ''Canadian Military Heritage. Vol. 1.'' Montreal: Art Global, Inc.
* Dechêne, Louise (2008). ''Le Peuple, l'État et la Guerre au Canada sous le Régime français.'' Montréal: Les Éditions du Boreal.
* Lalancette, Louis (2015). ''Les capitaines des troupes de la Marine de 1683 à 1739.'' Département d'histoire, Université de Montréal, Faculté des arts et des sciences. Mémoire du grade de maître ès arts.
* Russ, Christopher John (1971). ''Les troupes de la marine, 1683–1713.'' Thesis. Department of History. McGill University.
* Sévigny, André (1989). "Le soldat des troupes de la marine (1683–1715)." ''Les Cahiers des dix'' 44: 39–74.
*Sévigny, André. (1991). "«S'habituer dans le pays» : facteurs d'établissement du soldat en Nouvelle-France à la fin du grand siècle." ''Les Cahiers des dix'' 44: 61–86.
*Sévigny, André. (1995). "Ces militaires qui ont peuplé la Nouvelle-France (1683–1715)." ''Cap-aux-Diamants'' 43: 10–13.
{{DEFAULTSORT:French Marines in Canada, 1683-1715}}
[[Category:History of the French Navy|Marines in Canada, 1683-1715]]
[[Category:History of New France]]
[[Category:Military history of Canada]]
[[Category:1680s establishments in Canada]]
[[Category:1683 establishments in New France]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1683]]
[[Category:Marines]]
[[Category:Marines regiments of France|Canada, 1683-1715]]