Canadian Military History Gateway

Subject > Armed Forces

Title: War and the Foundation of Canada - New France's Militarized Society

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Description: From 1650 to 1760, French settlements in Québec City, Montréal, and Trois-Rivières created a society organized for war. Under the order of Louis XIV, King of France, every man underwent mandatory military training. Supported by allies of the First Peoples and a small garrison of professional soldiers, the Canadien militia formed the backbone of the colony's military forces until the Seven Years' War (1756-1763).

Site: Canadian War Museum

Title: Nobles and Commoners

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Description: The French nobility wanted to forbid commoners positions as military officers. Louis XIV favoured competence above all else, but his successors gradually capitulated. The colonial forces were attractive to non-noble officers, since the nobility preferred to stay in France.

Site: National Defence

Title: The White Flag As A Battle Flag

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Description: With origins in the Wars of Religion of the early seventeenth century, an all white flag symbolized France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It was flown over military outposts and from ships' masts throughout the existence of the colony of New France.

Site: National Defence

Title: Recruitment

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Description: Most of the British army was recruited in Great Britain. By the mid-19th century, half of the men were English or Welsh, one third Irish and the remainder Scottish. Recruits were (in theory) volunteers signed up by a regimental recruiting party, and service was for life (until 1847).

Site: National Defence

Title: Soldier, régiment de Carignan-Salières

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Description: This French soldier wears the uniform of the régiment de Carignan-Salières, stationed in New France between 1665 and 1668. The uniform was brown with a gray lining that was visible in the upturned sleeves, forming a decorative facing. Buff-coloured and black ribbons decorated the hat and right shoulder, in accordance with the style of the time. The soldiers of the régiment de Carignan-Salières all wore swords and most were armed with muskets, although two hundred had lighter weapons known as fusils. Reconstruction by Francis Back.

Site: National Defence

Title: Guardsman, bodyguard of the Marquis de Tracy, 1665-1667

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Description: This man-at-arms is one of 17 personal bodyguards responsible for the Marquis de Tracy between 1665 and 1667 during his time as Governor General of New France. By specific decree of the King, de Tracy's guard wore tabards similar to those of the Musketeers of the Royal Guard. These were blue, lined with red and decorated with white crosses and trim. This is the costume made famous in the novel 'The Three Musketeers' by Alexandre Dumas. Reconstruction by Michel Pétard. (Canadian Department of National Defence)

Site: National Defence

Title: The Governor General's Guard

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Description: During the period when New France was a colony of the French crown, the Governor General was authorized to have a small group of bodyguards, just as was the case in the provinces of France. The men often wore the Governor General's personal livery as a uniform.

Site: National Defence

Title: Introduction to the Study of Military History for Canadian Students

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Description: This publication offers nine examples of Canadian campaigns chosen from different periods of history. It also includes a very brief history of the development of Canadian Army organization. The Principles of War, in the form adopted by the Canadian Chiefs of Staff, are printed as an appendix.

Requires Adobe Reader, download here

Site: National Defence

Title: Canada's First Warriors

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Description: A slide show presentation of Native American dress from the 16th to mid-18th century.

Site: National Defence

Title: Marriage and Colonization

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Description: Soldiers who finished there term of enlistment were often encouraged to marry and settle in New France, to increase the population of the colony. These men were an important source of new colonists, and were given land to start farms.

Site: National Defence

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										Soldiers, Warriors and Leaders
										Wars, Battles and Conflicts
										Armed Forces
										Strategy and Tactics
										Weapons, Equipment and Fortifications

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