Compagnies Franches de la Marine

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Compagnies Franches de la Marine

The Compagnies Franches de la Marine (previously named Troupes de la Marine ) were independent units of the navy in the colonies under the supervision of the French Ministry of the Navy, which was also responsible for overseas trade relations.

In New France they were the only regular soldiers from 1685 to 1755. Several battalions were sent to North America. The French naval departments were responsible for defending the fur trade and local civilians, who were sometimes attacked by Iroquois . Large army units under Montcalm replaced them in 1756. The companies were completely dissolved in 1760 after the fall of Montreal .

The men were recruited in France, but the officer corps became increasingly Canadian through the recruitment of officer's sons. All promotions were by merit; Buying jobs was forbidden. Locals born, raised by military fathers, used to hardships since childhood, accustomed to socializing with France's native allies, these officers made the Compagnies Franches de la Marine into the continent's best wilderness warriors, greater in fighting ability than any like the British and theirs Could set up colonies. His foremost victory was at the Battle of Monongahela , when 100 Troupes de la Marine and 600 Native American allies killed and wounded a thousand enemy soldiers while they themselves lost fewer than a hundred fighters.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sutherland, Stuart. "Troupes De La Marine", in The Canadian Encyclopedia (Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1988), Vol. 4, p. 2196.
  2. ^ Russ, Christopher J. Les Troupes De La Marine, 1683-1713., 1971. Print
  3. ↑ Chartrand, René (1984). The French Soldier in Colonial America. Bloomfield, Ont .: Museum Restoration Service.
  4. ↑ Eccles, WJ (1974). "The French forces in North America during the Seven Years' War." Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, vol. 3: xv-xxiii.
  5. ↑ Morton, Desmond (1985). A Military History of Canada. Edmonton: Hurtig, pp. 18-23.
  6. ↑ Stacey, CP (1974). "The British Forces in North America during the Seven Years' War." Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, vol. 3: xxiv-xxx.