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.

Part of Quebec's defences is shown firing upon the invaders’ ships during October 1690. The upper town was protected by a good wall with intermittent batteries. There were more defensive works up towards the Chateau Saint-Louis near Cape Diamond. In the lower town, facing the harbour, there were two strong French shore batteries armed with heavy 18 and 24-pounder naval cannon. Inland, a line of earthworks punctuated with 11 redoubts enclosed the city from the western side. This 19th century print is inaccurate in some details (for instance, the Château Saint-Louis which only had one storey in 1690) but gives a good sense of the general action. (Library and Archives Canada, C-006022)

Help the ghost of Samuel de Champlain regain his memory of Canada`s national historic sites in an interactive game for younger children.

With its obvious strategic location, Signal Hill became the site of harbour defences from the 18th century through the Second World War. The last battle of the Seven Years' War in North America was fought here in 1762.

Sir William Phips (1650-1694) is shown on the deck of one of the ships hired on credit by the New England colonies to carry an army of Massachusetts militia to Quebec. It is probably when they arrived in October 1690 that Phips and his officers realized what a formidable natural fortress Quebec really was.

During the rest of the 1690s, the Iroquois and French traded raids. The Iroquois settlements suffered greatly, while the Amerindians felt they were being poorly supported by their English allies. Exhausted, the Iroquois signed a peace treaty with France in 1701.

The amount of artillery at Louisbourg led to the creation of an artillery company there in 1743. There was a school for artillery training at Quebec, which became the nucleus for a second company in 1750. Gunners wore distinctive uniforms and were considered elite soldiers.

French officers realized that the battlefield tactics of European warfare, dictated by the limited effectiveness of contemporary firearms, would not be enough to defend Canada against an attach by the British. There were not enough defenders to overcome an attack in this way.

Canadian militia preferred to use light hunting muskets of small calibre. The Canadians were noted for their accurate shooting. Militiamen were supposed to provide their own weapons, but the government was sometimes forced to issue weapons.

As an island state, Britain gave priority to its navy. The Admiralty (the appointed committee of admirals which made all strategic decisions) governed hundreds of ships worldwide. The Royal Navy used its bases in Canada to help control the Northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.