Canadian Military History Gateway
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Glossary
Select a letter to browse an alphabetical listing of terms and definitions.
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Guerrilla
Non-traditional warfare usually practiced by irregular troops. The term originated during the 1808-1814 Peninsular War / Guerre d’Espagne, when the Spanish armies, defeated by Napolean's superior forces, took to the hills can continued fighting the French using "hit and run" tactics These fighters were nicknamed "Guerrilleros". Although not related, their tactics bore a lot of resemblance to those used by Indians and Canadians in the 17th and 18th centuries. Guerrilla warfare is often practiced by the powerless, the downtrodden, the helpless, and the unrepresented driven to defy an often despotic government authority.
Guide
Preceding troops that direct the course of those following. The first guides in Canada were the allied Indians who provided information to the French from the earliest days of the colony and for many years to come. In time, Canadian traders and voyageurs, who were at times active duty militiamen, were also outstanding guides for troops in the wilderness, providing information to the French, and later the British, military authorities.
In Europe, units of guides were light cavalry performing reconnaissance and escort duties, such as General Bonaparte’s Guides (later Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard). The "Compagnie des Guides" were a mounted militia in Montréal from 1812 to 1815. From 1862, the most elite volunteer cavalry unit in Montréal was the Royal Guides, which was also the Governor General’s Body Guard for Lower Canada until its disbandment in 1868. A Corps of Guides in the Canadian Volunteer Militia from 1903 to 1929, performed intelligence duties and is considered the predecessor to the Canadian Intelligence Corps formed in October 1942.
In Europe, units of guides were light cavalry performing reconnaissance and escort duties, such as General Bonaparte’s Guides (later Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard). The "Compagnie des Guides" were a mounted militia in Montréal from 1812 to 1815. From 1862, the most elite volunteer cavalry unit in Montréal was the Royal Guides, which was also the Governor General’s Body Guard for Lower Canada until its disbandment in 1868. A Corps of Guides in the Canadian Volunteer Militia from 1903 to 1929, performed intelligence duties and is considered the predecessor to the Canadian Intelligence Corps formed in October 1942.
Guidon
Cavalry flag or the flag of a high-ranking official. The term "Standard" may also be used for a cavalry flag. Governor de Montmagny had a guidon in 1641.
Gun
Generic term for cannon, it is also used for other pieces of artillery, such as a howitzer of mortar. Civilians use the term to describe portable weapons like a pistol or rifle, but in the military environment portable weapons are usually called by their specific names.
Gunner
Generic term for all artillerymen but, specifically, gunner is the basic rank in an artillery unit. In New France, the ‘King’s Gunner’ was an official responsible for the artillery in the colony. There was a gunnery school in Québec from 1698 that acted as an artillery unit, but the first official regular artillery unit raised in Canada was the company of Canonniers-Bombardiers at Louisbourg in 1743, followed by another in Québec in 1750. In the British colonies, and after 1760 in Canada, gunners were detached from the British Royal Artillery Regiment, although there were full-time provincial artillery units during the War of 1812 and the 1837-1838 Rebellions. In 1871, batteries A and B of the future Royal Canadian Artillery were established, the first regular troops in the nascent Canadian regular force.
