Troupes de la marine

The Troupes de la Marine (Troops of the Marine), also known as independent companies of the navy and colonial regulars, were under the authority of the French Minister of Marine, who was also responsible for the French navy, overseas trade, and French colonies.

In the early seventeenth century, Cardinal Richelieu ordered the creation of the Troops de la Marine to serve aboard French naval vessels.

The Troupes de la Marine (Troops of the Marine), also known as independent companies of the navy and colonial regulars, were under the authority of the French Minister of Marine, who was also responsible for the French navy, overseas trade, and French colonies.

In the early seventeenth century, Cardinal Richelieu ordered the creation of the Troops de la Marine to serve aboard French naval vessels. About eighty companies of one hundred men each were formed. The Troupes de la Marine were dispatched by Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , popularly known as the Sun King , was King of France and of Navarre His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch.Louis began personally governing France after the death...

 in 1682 to replace French regulars in New France

New France

New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763...

, and were used to garrison other French colonies. They were the only regular soldiers in New France from 1682 to 1755, when several army battalions were dispatched to North America. The majority of the rank and file soldiers were recruited in France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...

, although the officers were increasingly Canadian-born. Indeed, service in the Troupes de la Marine was an important source of economic opportunity and prestige for New France's elite and there was usually a waiting list for commissions in Marine companies. Although the strength of the force varied widely over time, by the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War, also known as the War of the Conquest or referred as part of the larger conflict known as the Seven Years' War, was a war fought in North America between 1754 and 1763...

, there were some forty companies serving in the St. Lawrence Valley and the Pays d’en Haut, about twenty at Louisbourg

Fortress of Louisbourg

The Fortress of Louisbourg is a Canadian National Historic Site and the location of a partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia.-Early history:...

, and more in Louisiana

Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 and Acadia

Acadia

Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day New England, stretching as far south as Philadelphia...

. Large garrisons were maintained at Quebec

Quebec

Quebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...

, and New Orleans, with smaller forces guarding posts throughout France's vast territories in North America by the eighteenth century.

The companies were considered colonial regulars and were well trained in conventional warfare and very proficient as bush fighters (what today would be called guerrillas or irregulars). Along with the Canadian militia and France's Amerindian allies, the Troupes de la Marine were essential to the defence of New France in the late Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. With the arrival of large numbers of British regulars after 1755, the nature of warfare in North America shifted from irregular to conventional European warfare, with particular importance attached to sieges and fortifications. French army battalions were also dispatched to fight in North America after 1755.

During the Seven Years War, the Louisbourg garrison became British prisoners when the fortress fell, and after the conquest of 1760

Conquest of 1760

The Conquest is the term describing the acquisition of New France by Britain after the French and Indian War and its consequences....

, many settled permanently in the new territory, while others were reluctantly repatriated to France.