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Introduction |
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France Sends the Military to
the Americas
Carignan-Salières Regiment
Soldiers of the Crown 1666-1670
The French and Iroquois Indian War (The Beaver Wars)
In protection of his Huron and Algonkian trading partners, Samuel de Champlain shot and killed two Iroquois chiefs in 1609 at Ticonderoga, near the lake that now bears his name. This incident helped touch off a long, bitter war between the French and the Iroquois Confederacy, comprised of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. The wars were of extreme brutality and are considered one of the bloodiest series of conflicts in the history of North America. Read more...
The Iroquois, like many of North America’s First Peoples, possessed a strong military organization and, through skilful use of ambush and knowledge of the terrain, nearly destroyed New France in the first half of the 1600s.
The pleas of the colonists of New France for assistance in their struggle with the Iroquois were answered in 1665 with the arrival of the first French regular troops in Canada, the Carignan-Salieres Regiment. Between June and September 1665, some 1200 soldiers and their officers arrived in Quebec, under the leadership of Lt. General Alexander de Prouville, Sieur de Tracy.
The Carignan-Salières Regiment was formed about 1658. It was comprised of about 20 companies of approximately 53 Officers and men each. In 1664, the Regiment was ordered by the King of France, Louis XIV, to proceed to La Rochelle, on the West coast of France, and then onwards to New France.
The company de La Fouille, commanded by Captain Jean-Maurice-Philippe de Vernon, Sieur de la Fouille, was well below strength when the orders arrived. As was the practice of the day, the Company recruited new soldiers from the towns and surrounding villages that it passed through.It may have been during the Regiment's march to La Rochelle, that Jean Laspron dit LaCharite heeded their call and joined the French military.
Once the Regiment reached la Rochelle they were garrisoned on the islands of Oléron and Ré where they were provisioned and trained for their upcoming task. On 17 May, 1665 the company de la Fouille boarded the ship, La Justice and seven days later set sail for ville de Québec. On 14 Sept., 1665 the La Justice docked at Québec. The ship carried four regiments: La Fouille, Laubia, Saint-Ours, and Naurois and was commanded by Captain Sieur Guillet. The ship accompanied the vessel: Le Saint-Sebastien in it's voyage to New France. As many as 100 men became sick with an infectious disease during the the voyage. They departed the ship on 14 October.
Launched almost immediately upon arrival to attack the Indians in the dead of winter, the regiment was almost destroyed. Within months though it had stabilized the French situation and ensured the survival of the colony. Following their service, many members of the Regiment stayed on in Canada. The Carignan-Salieres Regiment was the first regular military unit to serve in Canada. The series of forts established by the Regiment along the Richelieu River, along with the success of its second campaign into the land of the Mohawk Indians, led to a long period of peace for the colony, which permitted it to prosper. However, King Louis XIV's plan included the permanent settlement of many of the soldiers and officers in Canada. Over 450 of these troops remained in the colony, many of whom married the newly arrived King's Daughters.
Most persons of French Canadian descent can claim one or more of these brave soldiers as ancestors. In addition to the list of soldiers and officers on the official "roll" of the Regiment, there were many others who participated in the successful campaign against the Iroquois, including many militiamen who resided in the colony but whose names were not recorded for posterity.
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