History Browser

The names of troops raised by the French Ministry of Marine often confuse people. There were separate units of Compagnies franches de la Marine to serve aboard warships. These troops had nothing to do with the Compagnies franches found in Canada.

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

The first police force in Canada was set up in New France, using the same model used in France itself. An institution dating back to the Middle Ages, the Marechaussee was made up of 'archers' (so-called because of the weapons carried by the originals) led by a 'provost'.

From the mid-17th century, and for the next two centuries, the winter dress and equipment of Canadian volunteers hardly changed and was much the same as fur traders and voyageurs.

Not to be confused with the archers of the Marechaussee, Navy archers were escorts, bodyguards and armed agents of the Intendant, the chief financial administrator of a French province or colony. They arrived in New France when the first Intendant was appointed in 1665.

Join a French soldier, Vadeboncoeur, and explore the history of Quebec's defense and fortifications. This journey into the past will have your students "defending Québec" during three different periods: 1645, 1690 and 1745.

France would sentence convicted criminals to be rowers on a fleet of oar-propelled warships called galleys. These ships had troops assigned to them both to serve as marines, and also to guard the prisoners in these floating prisons.

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.

This section is a collection artists' reconstructions of some of the uniforms of French, Canadian and British military units that served in present-day Canada during the period 1650-1755.

The French Ministry of the Navy maintained a small colonial army to protect French possessions in the West Indies and Guyana.