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Researching the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada
  Recherche sur la Forteresse-de-Louisbourg Lieu historique national du Canada

THE SOLDIERS OF ISLE ROYALE, 1720-1745

BY

ALLAN GREER

1976

Report H E 08

Fortress of Louisbourg

Return/retour

ENDNOTES

1. W.J. Eccles, "The Social, Economic, and Political Significance of the Military Establishment in New France," Canadian Historical Review, L11, (March, 1971), p. 5. About 1685, there were apparently 600 to 800 soldiers and 1500 to 2000 civilians in and around Montreal (Louise Dechêne, Habitants et Marchands de Montréal au XVIIe siècle (Paris and Montreal, 1974), p. 83), but this high concentration covered a region and not a town; moreover, it lasted for only a few years.
2. André Corvisier, L'Armée Française de la fin du XVIIe siècle au ministère de Choiseul; le Soldat. 2 vols. (Paris, 1964).

1. C.J. Russ, "Les Troupes de la Marine, 1683-1713" (M.A. thesis, McGill, 1971), p. 23.
2. J.S. McLennan, Louisbourg from its Foundation to its Fall, 1713-1758. 2nd ed. (Sydney, 1969), pp. 195, 244-45.
3. France. Archives Nationales. Archives des Colonies (hereafter cited as A.M., Colonies), C11B, Vol. 23, fol. 104v, Bigot to Minister,
19 Oct., 1741.
4. A.M., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 21, fol. 55v, de Forant to Minister, 2 Oct., 1739.
5. A.M., Colonies, A, Vol. 1, fol. 5, Ordonnance, 9 May 1723.
6. A.M., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 17, fol. lOv, St. Ovide and LeNormant to Minister, 22 Oct., 1735.
7. A.M., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 20, fols. 58-58v, de Bourville and LeNormant to Minister, 21 Oct., 1738.
8. A.M., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 26, fols. 236-38, Ordonnance, 20 June, 1743.
9. Prizes totalling 150 livres were awarded in 1744 with six or twelve livres going to each of the successful competitors. A.M., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 26, fol. 182v, Bordereau, 9 Nov., 1744.
10.A.M., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 1, fols. 209-10, de Ligondes to Council, 12 Jan., 1715.
11.A.M., Colonies, B, Vol. 39, fols. 287-295v, "Memoire du Roy", 26 June,1717. See R.J. Morgan, "A History of Block 16, Louisbourg: 1713-1768".
(typed manuscript, Louisbourg, 1975), p. 60, for the case of ensign Loppinot who, in 1741, had his eight-year-old son enrolled as a cadet.
12.A.M., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 7, fols. 204-09, St. Ovide to Minister, 21 Dec., 1725.
13. A.N., Colonies, D2 C, Vol. 47. St. Ovide, de Mézy, Sabatier, de Bourville to Minister, 1 Nov., 1726.
14. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 57, fols. 786-87, "Ordonnance pour l'Etablissement de deux cadets dans chacun des Compagnies des Troupes de lisle Royalle", 19 June, 1732.
15. A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G2, Vol. 184, fol. 376, "Noyade du soldat Louis Pancaud dit S. Louis ...", 25 July, 1737.
16. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 17, fols. 10-10v, St. Ovide and LeNormant to Minister, 22 Oct., 1735.
17. Here and elsewhere in this report, the word "men" denotes private soldiers ("fusiliers"), corporals, sergeants, drummers and cadets.
18. A.N., Colonies, D2C, Vol. 47, passim. (A few reviews for the 1730-1745 period can be found scattered through the C11B series.)
19. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vols. 11-25, passim., "Etat de la recette et consommation des vivres faittes dans les magasins du Roy a lisle Royalle ... subsistance des trouppes ..."
20. Lee Kennett, The French Armies in the Seven Years' War. (Durham, 1967), p. 81.
21. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 20, fols. 119-120, LeNormant to Minister 25 Oct., 1738.
22. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 21, fols. 59-59v, de Forant to Minister 14 Nov., 1739.
23. Ibid; A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 68, fol. 348v., Maurepas to de Forant and Bigot 26 May, 1739.
24. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 17, fols. 269v-271v, de Pensens to Minister, 18 Oct., 1735. It must be admitted that the high desertion rate at Port Toulouse and Isle St. Jean cannot be attributed entirely to low morale. The fact that desertion was easier from these posts than from Louisbourg was probably a more important factor.
 

1. France. Archives de la Guerre. Archives du Service Historique de l'Armée (hereafter cited as A.S.H.A.), Xi; capitulation, 15 Dec., 1719; ibid., Laffiland, "Memoire concernant le Regiment Suisse de Karrer ...," 18 May, 1749.
2. Ibid., capitulations of 15 Dec., 1719 and 9 June, 1721; France. Archives Nationales. Archives de la Marine (hereafter cited as AM), Al, art. 69, pièce 33, capitulation, 25 Sept., 1731; A.S.H.A., Xi, "Projet de Renouvellement de la Capitulation pour le Regiment Suisse de Karrer," 1741.
3. Marcel Giraud, Histoire de la Louisiane Française. tome III (Paris, 1966), pp. 278-79.
4. A.S.H.A., Xi, capitulation, 9 June 1721.
5. Ibid., "Extract de la Reveue," Sept., 1722.
6. A.N., Colonies, F2C, art. 3, fols. 168-70, Karrer to Council, 1 April, 1722.
7. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 45-1, fols. 50-51, Council to Karrer, 9 April, 1722.
8. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 7, fols. 14-19v, St. Ovide to Minister, 16 Nov., 1724.
9. Ibid., Vol. 6, fols. 217-21, St. Ovide to Minister, 12 Dec., 1723.
10. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 47, fol. 1272, Maurepas to St. Ovide, 26 June, 1724.
11. Ibid., Vol. 49-2, fols. 741-43v, "Ordonnance pour le reglement des Compagnies Suisses du Regiment de Karrer," 5 Feb., 1726.
12. Ibid., Vol. 72, fols. 431-31v, Maurepas to Duquesnel and Bigot, 17 May, 1741.
13. A.S.H.A., Xi, "Extrait de la Revue du Regiment Suisse de Karrer," 30 Sept., 1744.
14. France. Archives Maritimes. Port de Rochefort (hereafter cited as Port de Rochefort), IR, Vol. 47, fol. 12, "Détachement Suisse de Karrer ...," 16 Aug., 1745.
15. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 7, fols. 14-19v, St. Ovide to Minister, 16 Nov., 1724.
16. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 45-2, fols. 1138-41, Council to St. Ovide and de Mézy, 13 May, 1722.
17. AM, A1, art. 69, pièce33, capitulation, 25 Sept., 1731.
18. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 49-1, fols. 190v-92, Maurepas to Karrer, 16 April, 1726.
19. A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G2, Vol. 179, fols. 462-502, "Procedure Criminelle a 1'Encontre de Reintender Sergeant Suisse ...," 11 Sept. 20 Oct., 1727.
20. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 52-2, fols. 572-73, Maurepas to St. Ovide and de Mézy, 12 June, 1728.
21. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 24, fols. 163-64v, Bigot to Minister, 14 Nov., 1,742 .
22. Ibid.; A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 74, fols. 590-90v, Maurepas to Duquesnel, 15 June, 1742.
23. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 76-2, fol. 491v, Maurepas to Bigot, 27 June, 1743.
24. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 9, fol. 87v, St. Ovide to Minister, 16 Dec., 1727.
25. Ibid., Vol. 12, fols. 44-44v, St. Ovide to Minister, 25 Nov., 1731.
26. Ibid., fols. 267v-68, St. Ovide to Minister, 15 Nov., 1732.
27. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 56, fols. 327v-28, Maurepas to Karrer, 30 Dec., 1732.
28. A.N., Colonies, C11C, Vol. 9, fols. 98-99, Cailly, "Memoire à presenter a Monsieur de Karrer des difficultés qu'on me fait ...," 24 Oct., 1741.
29. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 23, fols. 82-83, Bigot to Minister, 18 Jan., 1741.
30. Ibid., fols. 60-63, Duquesnel to Minister, 19 Oct., 1741.
31. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 74, fols. 590-90v, Maurepas to Duquesnel, 15 June, 1742.
32. Ibid., Vol. 73, fols. 324-24v, Maurepas to Karrer, 15 Dec., 1741.
33. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 23, fols. 78-78v, Duquesnel to Minister, 23 Nov., 1741.
34. A.S.H.A., Xi. Capitulation, 15 Dec., 1719, article 8.
35. AM, A1, art. 69, pièce 33, capitulation, 25 Sept., 1731, article XI.
36. A.N., Colonies, F2C, art. 3, fols. 323-26v, Karrer to Minister, 29 June, 1722.
37. A.S.H.A., A3, art. 80, fols. 6-7, ? to Karrer, 8 June, 1739.
38. A.N., Colonies, F2 C, art. 3 fols. 323-26v, Karrer to Council 29 June, 1722.
39. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 7, fols. 267-71; de Mézy to Minister, 7 Dec., 1725; Port de Rochefort, IE, Vol. 108, fol. 118, Maurepas, 30 July, 1726.
40. Ibid., Vol. 23, fols. 82-83, Bigot to Minister, 18 Jan., 1741.
41. Ibid., Vols. 12-19, passim., "Extrait des registres de l'hopital Royal de Louisbourg ...," 1733-1738. (See Appendix F).
42. A.N., Colonies, C11C, Vol. 9, fols. 98-99, Cailly, "Memoire ," 24 Oct., 1741.
43. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 22, fols. 95-95v, Duquesnel to Minister, 1 Dec., 1740.
44. Ibid., Vol. 26, fols. 231-34, Duchambon and Bigot to Maurepas, 31 Dec., 1744.
45. A.N., Colonies, E, dossier 157, Court-martial of Abraham Dupaquier, 9 Dec., 1745.
46. Giraud, op. cit., tome III, p. 278.
47. A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G1, Vols. 406-07, Louisbourg parish registers. Many of these conversions took place in the Louisbourg hospital under the influence of the "Frères de la Charité." At least one of these cases was an obvious death-bed conversion.
48. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 67, fol. 36, Maurepas to P. Maurice Godefroy, 9 Apr., 1738.
49. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 7, fols. 39-45, de Mêzy to Minister, 15 Nov., 1724.

1. See Chapter Two for the little that is known about recruitment for the Karrer regiment.
2. See Appendix A for the number of recruits arriving in the colony each year. Recruitment within the colony was prohibited as detrimental to the fishery. When news reached Versailles that two engagés employed by a fisherman had enlisted at Louisbourg they were ordered discharged, but other cases may have gone unnoticed. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 57-2, fols. 761-61v, Maurepas to St. Ovide, 19 June, 1732.
3. Andre Corvisier, L'Armée Française de la fin du XVIIe siècle au ministère de Choiseul; le Soldat. Vol. I. (Paris, 1964), pp. 163-78.
4. Ibid., I, 355.
5. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 54-2, fol. 520, "Ordre du Roy au sr. de Gannes pour levée de Soldats," 7 March, 1730. D'Ailleboust was born in Canada and de Gannes in Acadia, therefore it is unlikely that either had any prior contact with the men they recruited.
6. Georges Girard, Racolage et Milice; Le service militaire en France à  la fin du régne de Louis XIV. (Paris, 1922), pp. 75-161; Corvisier, op. cit., I, 189-95.
7. Corvisier, op. cit., I, 190.
8. Ibid., I, 186. Early in the 18th century, Rochefort and the surrounding area was the most important centre of colonial recruiting but the authorities in Louisbourg preferred men from Paris. See, for example, A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 15, fols. 73-73v, St. Ovide and LeNormant to Minister, 24 Oct., 1734.
9. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 1, fols. 489-89v, Amariton, 21 Feb., 1716.
10. AM, A2, art. 24, pièce 40; Ordre du roi, 1 March, 1717; Port de Rochefort, IE, Vol. 106, fol. 31, Maurepas, 6 July, 1725.
11. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 64, fol. 287v, Maurepas to Beauharndis, 24 Dec., 1736.
12. Port de Rochefort, IE, Vol. 87, fols. 415-17, Council, 22 Apr., 1716.
13. Port de Rochefort, IE, Vol. 117, fols. 65-66, Maurepas, 29 July, 1732.
14. Of 56 recruits who left Paris in 1718, 24 deserted en route. A.N., Colonies, F2C, Vol. 1, fols. 174-75, Council to de la Gallissoniere, 9 July, 1718. Cf. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 58, fols. 167v-68, Maurepas to de la Croix, 13 July, 1733.
15. Port de Rochefort, Vol. 86, fols. 361-65, Pontchartrain, 4 Apr., 1715.
16. In 1732, for example, 13 men were sick when their ship sailed for Quebec. They were left at Rochefort than sent to join the Isle Royale garrison after they recovered. Port de Rochefort, IE, Vol. 116, fol. 404, Maurepas, 10 June, 1732.
17. Corvisier, op. cit., I, 328-29.
18. Ibid., I, 303.
19. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 18, fols. 48-48v, St. Ovide to Minister, 7 Nov., 1736; A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 69, fol. 68, Maurepas, 22 Feb., 1739. The only surviving muster roll comes from outside our period. It shows that, of the 1067 men serving in the Isle Royale companies in 1752, only 59 (5.57) were on six-year terms. The rest presumably had "engagements perpetuels." Archives du Séminaire de Québec, Fonds Surlaville, poly. 55, no. 8, "Signallement général des trouppes de l'Isle Royale,"[13 Mar., 1752.]
20. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 33, fols. 89-91v, de Raymond to Minister, 12 Oct., 1753.
21. A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G2, Vol. 182, fol. 215, "Conseil Superieur. Procedure criminelle ... a l'encontre du nommé Nicolas LeBegue dit Brulevillage et Thomas Berranger dit La Rosée soldats acusés de vol.," 3 Mar. - 2 June, 1733.
22. In 1749, after the colony had been returned to French control, it was claimed that half the soldiers in the reestablished garrison were deserters. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 28, fols. 60-61v, Desherbiers and Prévost to Minister, 27 Nov., 1749.
23. A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G2, Vol. 182, fols. 195-96, "Conseil Superieur. Procedure criminelle ...," 5 Mar., 1733.
24. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 17, fols. 296-315, Court-martial of Joseph Lagand dit Picard, accused of desertion, 24 Oct., 1736. Lagand's trials were only beginning at this point. His captain agreed to keep him on but sent him to France on a six-month leave to take treatment at the Rochefort hospital. Through administrative confusion and the hardheartedness of the Rochefort intendant, he was refused admission to the hospital. Confused and penniless, the young man began walking to Paris, selling articles of his uniform along the way to feed himself. After arriving in the capital he naturally turned again to the military for salvation but this time the first recruiter he encountered was from the Choiseul regiment. He served in that infantry regiment for a year, always in and out of the hospital, until one day he learned to his astonishment that he was being pursued as a deserter since he had not returned to Isle Royale in time. He was put in prison then carried in chains to Louisbourg where a compassionate court-martial acquitted him and ordered him to resume service in the d'Ailleboust company.
25. It was not unusual for 18th century "racoleurs" to trick men into signing an engagement for an infantry company by telling their victims they were joining the cavalry or some other elite branch. Girard, op. cit. 76-78.
26. Port de Rochefort, IE, Vol. 106, fols. 65-66, Maurepas, 20 July, 1725; A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 8, fols. 55-64v, St. Ovide to Minister, 20 Nov., 1726; A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 59-2, fol. 565v, Ordre du roi, 12 May, 1733.
27. Port de Rochefort, IE, Vol. 95, fols. 59-67, Conseil, 10 July, 1720; ibid., Vol. 101, fols. 617, 621-22, de Morville, 31 May, 1723.
28. Corvisier, op. cit., II, 720; Port de Rochefort, IE, Vol. 87, fols. 645-51, Council, 28 May, 1716; A.N., Colonies, F2C, Vol. 1, fols. 174-75, Council to de la Gallissonniere, 9 July, 1718.
29. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 60, fols. 28v-29, Maurepas to Duval, 6 Apr., 1734.
30. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 8, fols. 55-64v, St. Ovide to Minister, 20 Nov., 1726.
31. Corvisier, op. cit., II, 640-41.
32. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 14, fols. 74-74v, "Signalement de sept soldats de la compage. de M de Lavalliere qui ont deserté," [1735]; AM, C7, dossier 324, Congé absolu de Jean Baptiste Anri Tomasein dit Lagloire, 16 Oct., 1735.
33. "... Je nay jamais vu de si mauvais soldats ...," complained one newly arrived governor who was consequently chastised for judging his men by metropolitan standards of size and appearance. A.N.,Colonies, C11B, Vol. 21, fols. 53-53v, de Forant to Minister, 25 Sept., 1739; A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 70, fols. 389-89v, Maurepas to de Forant, 7 May, 1740.
34. This sample includes a disproportional number of criminals and deserters (12) who had a low signature rate. These are almost off-set by the eight sergeants, of whom six signed. Excluding these two groups one is left with 45 soldiers who married or appeared in court as witnesses. 18 of them (40%) signed.
35. Corvisier, op. cit., I, 533-42.
36. Ibid., 390, 394.
37. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 84-1, fol. 170v, Maurepas to Poitier, 21 Sept., 1746; A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 57-2, fol. 755v, Maurepas to St. Ovide, 19 June, 1732.

1. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 50-2, fols. 573-75v, Maurepas to St. Ovide and de Mézy, 10 June, 1727. The word "congé" is used here in place
of the more exact term, "congé absolu" (discharge). In another context, it could mean "congé limité" or "congé de semestre" (leave).
2. A.N., Colonies, D2 C, Vol. 47, "Liste des soldats congediés morts ou desertes ...," 1736.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid., List of discharged soldiers who request half-pay, 3 Dec., 1730.
5. Ibid., List of invalids, discharged, 20 Dec., 1732.
6. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 9, fols. 72-78v, St. Ovide to Minister, 21 Nov., 1727.
7. Ibid., Vol. 3, fols. 139v-40, Memoire du roi, 18 July, 1718.
8. A.N., Colonies, F3, Vol. 50, fols. 161-62v, Ordonnance, 26 June, 1725.
9. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 20, fols. 317-17v, "Troupe" [unsigned, undated mémoire] , [1738] .
10. C.J. Russ, op. cit., 106-108; Louise Dechêne, op. cit., 80-88.
11. See Chapter Three.
12. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 70, fols. 389-89v, Maurepas to de Forant, 7 May, 1740.
13. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 21, fols. 111-llv, Bigot to Minister, 4 Nov., 1739.
14. Ibid., Vol. 22, fols. 139-40v, Bigot to Minister, 18 Jan., 1740.
15. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 53, fol. 581, Maurepas to St. Ovide, 15 Mar., 1729.
16. Ibid., Vol. 65, fol. 12v, Maurepas to de Siougeat, 4 Feb., 1737.
17. Ibid., Vol. 74, fol. 563v, Maurepas to Bigot, 6 June, 1742.
18. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 21, fol. 55, de Forant to Minister, 2 Oct., 1739.
19. Ibid., Vol. 7, fol. 19, St. Ovide to Minister, 16 Nov., 1724; Cf., ibid., Vol. 20, fols. 317-17v, Memoire, [1738].
20. Ibid., Vol. 7, fols. 267-71, de Mêzy to Minister, 7 Dec., 1725.
21. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 53, fols. 583-87, St. Ovide and de Mézy to Minister, 22 May, 1729; ibid., Vol. 74, fol. 556, Maurepas to Duquesnel and Bigot, 1 June, 1742.
22. Ibid., Vol. 76, fols. 50-50v., "Ordonnance du Roy ," 30 Mar., 1743.
23. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 20, fols. 294-95, Duhaget to Minister, 3 Dec., 1739.
24. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 51, fol. 117, Maurepas to Beauharnois,  13 Jan., 1728.

1. Blaine Adams, "The Construction and Occupation of the Barracks of the Ring's Bastion." Typed Manuscript, Fortress of Louisbourg, 1971, p. 79.
2. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 49-2, fols. 713-16v, Maurepas to St. Ovide, 25 June, 1726.
3. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 7, fols. 12-12v, de Pensens, et. al. to St. Ovide, 28 Oct., 1724. .
4. Port de Rochefort, IE, Vol. 101, fols. 753-55, de Morville, 9 June, 1723.
5. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 5, fol. 380, St. Ovide to Council, 29 Nov., 1721.
6. Ibid., Vol. 12, fols. 251v-53, St. Ovide to Minister, 11 Nov., 1732.
7. Adams, loc. cit.
8. F.J. Thorpe, "The Politics of French Public Construction in the Islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 1695-1758." (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Ottawa, 1973), pp. 232-62.
9. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 7, fols. 156-56v, de Verville, "Etat des ouvriers, Employes pour les travaux au Port de Louisbourg et ailleurs pendant le mois de 7bre. 1724," n.d.
10. The sources shed little light on the organization and function of these gangs and only mention the "chefs d'atteliers" occasionally and incidentally. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 99, fols. 245-49, "Instructions pour le sr. franquet D.eur des fortiffications de la Nlle. france sur les ouvrages que le Roy veut être executées à lisle Royale," 12 May, 1754.
11. The engineer and contractor reported these "contestations tumultueuses" and "émeutes" without providing details. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 5, fols. 235-37, de Verville to Council, 19 June, 1720; ibid., Vol. 6, fols. 127-30, Isabeau to Council, 30 Nov., 1722.
12. Ibid., Vol. 7, fols. 142-50, de Verville, mémoire, [1724].
13. "... les travaux que l'on fait dans cette isle donnant l'occassion au soldat de gagner de l'argent l'aysance qu'elle leur [sic] procure le rend delicat et difficile." A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 52-2, fols. 574v-77, Maurepas to St. Ovide, 18 June, 1728. In 1719, the engineer estimated that a man could earn five livres per day and 465 livres in a season. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 4, fols. 66-68, de Verville to Council, 24 Jan., 1719.
14. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 5, fol. 136v, St. Ovide and de Mézy to Minister, 10 Nov., 1720.
15. Ibid., Vol. 1, fols. 73-76v, l'Hermitte to Council, 3 Nov., 1714; A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 88-1, fols. 175-75v, Maurepas to Guillet, 15 Oct., 1748.
16. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 12, fol. 252, St. Ovide to Minister, 11 Nov., 1732.
17. Ibid., Vol. 5, fols. 386-88v, St. Ovide to Minister, 30 Nov., 1721.
18. Ibid., Vol. 4 fols. 285-85v, Petition of de Rouville to the Comte de Toulouse, 1719.
19. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 44-2, fol. 569v, Council to St. Ovide, 1 July, 1721.
20. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 9, fols. 72-78v, St. Ovide to Minister, 21 Nov., 1727.
21. Ibid., Vol. 23, fols. 88-90v, Bigot to Minister, 15 Oct., 1741; ibid., Vol. 29, fols. 306-15, Franquet to Minister, 13 Oct., 1750.
22. See, for example, A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 68, fols. 347-48v, Maurepas to de Forant and Bigot, 26 May, 1739.
23. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 22, fol. 93v, Duquesnel to Minister, 1 Dec., 1740.
24. Russ, op. cit., pp. 181-83. In Canada, even this relatively mild form of exploitation aroused the indignation and opposition of the bishop and clergy. If Canadian officers were more restrained in this regard than were their Isle Royale counterparts, the difference can be explained partly in terms of the more complex public elite of the St. Lawrence colony which was not so completely dominated by the military. The greater ease with which Canadian soldiers could leave the service and the officers' consequent concern about morale may have been more important.
25. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 68, fols. 347-48v. Maurepas to de Forant and Bigot, 26 May, 1739.
26. Ibid., Vol. 74, fols. 592-92v, Maurepas to Duquesnel, 15 June, 1742.
27. Although Duquesnel claimed that he abolished the canteens in 1741 (A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 23, fols., 24-29, Duquesnel and Bigot to Minister, 20 Oct., 1741), subsequent correspondence shows that he did no more than limit their operations (Ibid., Vol. 24, fols. 52-52v, Duquesnel to Minister, 7 Oct., 1742.).
 

1. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 26, fols. 156-56v, Bigot to Minister, 16 Nov., 1744.
2. See, for example, ibid., Vol. 20, fols. 104v-05, de Bourville to Minister, 24 Dec., 1738.
3. Three years earlier, they had gone without vegetables for an extended period although their bread ration was reduced at the same time. Ibid., Vol. 24, fols. 87-89v, Bigot to Minister, 18 June, 1742.
4. A.S.H.A., Xi, "Deposition juridique recue par ordre de Monsieur de Karrer ... de Mrs. les officiers des detachements de la compagnie colonelle ... en garnison cy devant à Louisbourg ... à l'occasion de l'émeute à l'Isle Royale au mois de decembre 1744," 29 Aug., 1745 (hereafter cited as "Rasser deposition."). The French may also have participated; the document is not precise on this point.
5. Ibid.
6. A.N., Colonies, C7, 272, dossier Joseph Renard, transcript of the court-martial of Joseph Renard, 7 Dec., 1745 (hereafter cited as "Renard court-martial."); ibid., copy of the petition of a number of soldiers addressed to Duchambon, (22-23?] Dec., 1744 (hereafter cited as "soldiers' petition."). (Appendix K.)
7. Renard court-martial.
8. Ibid.
9. A.N., Colonies, E, 157, dossier Abraham Dupaquier, transcript of the court-martial of Abraham Dupaquier, 9 Dec., 1745 (hereafter cited as "Dupaquier court-martial.") (Appendix M.)
10. A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G1, Vol. 407, registre I, fol. 77.
11. soldiers' petition.
12. A.N., Colonies, E, 233, dossier Christophe Jout, transcript of the court-martial of Christophe Jout, 9 Dec., 1745 (hereafter cited as "Jout court-martial".)
13. Renard court-martial.
14. Dupaquier court-martial.
15. A.N., Colonies, E, 145, dossier Jean-Baptiste du Croix, transcript of the court-martial of Jean-Baptiste du Croix, 7 Dec., 1745 (hereafter cited as "du Croix court-martial".).
16. Rasser deposition.
17. Renard court-martial; Dupaquier court-martial. The testimony does not make it clear whether this was the same petition to Duchambon that was written several days earlier. Dupaquier testified that he wrote a note outlining grievances the morning of the demonstration. He may have been lying in order to be consistent with his story that there was no plot before 26 December. Since the specific complaints that Rasser recalled were not the same as those listed in the petition to Duchambon, it is quite possible that Dupaquier drew up a second petition shortly before the mutiny began.
18, Rasser deposition.
19. These are the same three complaints that Renard and Dupaquier later mentioned at their court-martials.
20. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 9, fols. 72-78v, St. Ovide to Minister, 21 Nov., 1727.
21. Renard court-martial.
22. Antony Steur seems to have been in this case when he passed the winter of 1739 at Spanish Bay hunting partridges for the benefit of Cailly, the Swiss commander. (A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G2, Vol. 185, fols. 379-424, trial of Jean Larue dit le Gascon, accused of murder 16 Mar. - 30 Apr., 1739.) For evidence of similar illicit practices in the French companies, see A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 11, fols. 61-68, de Mézy to Minister, 4 Dec., 1730.
23. George Juan de Ulloa and Antonio de Ulloa, A Voyage to South America. (trans. J. Hopkins) vol. II (London, 1806), p. 380.
24. A.N., Colonies, F3, Vol. 50, fol. 415, an account of the Canso expedition, n.s., n.d. [1744.]
25. G.A. Rawlyk, Yankees at Louisbourg. (Orono, Maine, 1967), pp. 3-5.
26. A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G2, Vol. 188, fols. 304-05, Requette à  M. Bigot de Marin Ralest et 25 autres volontaires, 8 Nov., 1744.
27. Ibid.
28. The King's Bastion and the barracks building formed an enclosed citadel usually referred to in French as the "fort." The "fortress," on the other hand, was the town together with the entire system of
fortifications.
29. Rasser deposition.
30. Jout court-martial.
31. Rasser deposition.
32. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 26, fols. 231-34, "Copie de la Lettre ecritte a Mr. le Comte de Maurepas par Mrs. Duchambon et Bigot a Louisbourg le 31e Xbre 1744," [31 Dec., 1744] (hereafter cited as "Duchambon's and Bigot's letter."). (Appendix L.)
33. Duchambon and Bigot reported that only the French sergeants and the 30 men of the elite artillery company (see Chapter One, section C) refused to join in the mutiny. Ibid.
34. Ibid.
35. Anon., Lettre d'un Habitant de Louisbourg (trans., ed., G.M. Wrong) (Toronto, 1897), p. 34.
36. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 8, fols. 21-27, St. Ovide and de Mézy to Minister, 1 Dec., 1726.
37. Ibid., Vol. 23, fols. 13-14v, Duquesnel and Bigot to Minister, 10 Oct., 1741.
38. de Ulloa, op. cit., p. 375.
39. soldiers' petition.
40. Anon., Mémoirepour Messire François Bigot, ci-devant Intendant de Justice, Police, Finance & Marine en Canada, Accusé: contre Monsieur le Procureur-Gênéral du Roi en la Commission, Accusateur. vol. I
(Paris, 1763), pp. 7-9.
41. Ibid., A.N., Colonies, E, 32, dossier François Bigot, "Extrait d'une lettre," n.s., n.d. [1755].
42. A.N., Colonies, C11C, Vol. 12, fol. 167, "Bordereaux de la recette et dépense faitte à  l'Isle Royalle pendant l'année [1744]," 2 Apr., 1746. (To give a point of reference, Bigot's annual salary was 4800 livres.)
43. Price-setting of this sort was a common feature of 18th century insurrections especially bread riots, in England and France. (See, George Rudé, The Crowd in History; a Study of Popular Disturbances in France and England (New York, 1964), especially pp. 19-32; E.P. Thompason, "The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century," Past and Present, no. 50 (Feb., 1971), 76-136). Only one account of the mutiny (Duchambon's and Bigot's letter) reports any manifestation of this type of behavior. The other documents mention vague threats to sack the town but they give no evidence of hostility on the part of the soldiers directed specifically against the merchants.
44. Duchambon's and Bigot's letter.
45. Ibid.; A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 27, fols. 7-9v, Bigot to Maurepas, 27 Apr., 1745.
46. A.N., Colonies, E, 32, dossier François Bigot, "Extrait d'une lettre," [1755]; Anon., Mémoire pour Messire François Bigot ... vol. I, pp. 7-9.
47. Rawlyk, op. cit., p. 74.
48. Anon., Mémoire pour Messire François Bigot ...; p. 8.
49. Ibid., p. 9.
50. Ibid.; A.N., Colonies, C11C, Duchambon to Minister, 23 Sept., 1745. Two Swiss deserted and one French soldier was executed for treason during the siege but this is not a sign of excessive disaffection by 18th century standards.
51. A.N., Colonies, F3, Vol. 50, fol. 378v, Bigot, "Sur la prise de Louisbourg," 1 Aug., 1745.
52. One list of casualties reported a total of 50 deaths on the French side but this includes civilians as well as soldiers. A.N., Colonies, F3, Vol. 50, fol. 407, n.d., n.s.
53. A.N., Colonies, D2C, Vol. 48, "Liste des Soldats des Troupes servant ci devant a L'Isle Royale désertés à  Rochefort." n.d., n.s.; A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 84-2, fol. 289, Maurepas to de Serigny. 10 Feb., 1746.
54. Duchambon's and Bigot's letter; A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 82-2, fol. 377, Maurepas to Karrer, 14 Sept., 1745.
55. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 82-2, fol. 369, Maurepas to de Barrailh, 20 Aug., 1745; ibid., fol. 377, Maurepas to Karrer, 14 Sept., 1745. In fact, news of the mutiny could not have reached New England in time to effect the plan to attack Louisbourg. Reports in the summer and fall of 1744 of low morale in garrison however did encourage the New Englanders to attempt the invasion. Rawlyk, op. cit., pp. 27-57.
56. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 82-2, fol. 403, Maurepas to de Barrailh, 23 Nov., 1745.
57. A.N., Colonies, C11C, Vol. 9, fols. 118-21, Bigot to Maurepas, 11 Dec., 1745.
58. Collection de Manuscrits contenant lettres, mémoires, et autres documents historiques relatifs à la Nouvelle-France vol. III (Quebec, 1884), p. 271, Bigot to Minister, 2 Dec., 1745.
59. A.N., Colonies, B, Vol. 82-2, fol. 412, Maurepas to Karrer, 10 Dec., 1745; ibid., fol. 415, Minister to de Barrailh, 15 Dec., 1745.
60. du Croix court-martial.
61. Jout court-martial.
62. A.N., Colonies, D2C, Vol. 53, "Isle Royale. Rolle général des Troupes françoises commencé en 1739," n.d., n.s. (See Appendix N); AM, Port de Rochefort, IE, 141, Maurepas to Ricouart, 18 Jan., 1746.

1. Guy Frégault, François Bigot, Administrateur français (Ottawa, 1948), p. 207; Rawlyk, op. cit., pp. 71-72; Robert J. Morgan and Terrence D. MacLean, "Social Structure and Life in Louisbourg," Canada, an Historical Magazine, I (June, 1974), p. 66.
2. Rawlyk, op. cit., p. 71.
3. Corvisier, op. cit., II, pp. 834-36.
4. Quoted in W.J. Eccles, "The Social, Economic, and Political Significance of the Military Establishment in New France," CHR, LII (Mar., 1971), p. 6.,
5. Morgan and MacLean, loc. cit. Cf., Frégault, loc. cit.
6. Albert Babesu, La Vie Militaire sous l'Ancien Régime. Vol. I, Les Soldats (Paris, 1889), pp. 85-88.
7. B. Adams, op. cit., pp. 56-57.
8. The figures for Isle Royale were derived from the ration lists (See Chapter One.) They do not include soldiers who may have been discharged because they were sick and died subsequently. However, the French statistics, which are for the Vivarais-Infanterie regiment in the 1716-1748 period, are likely subject to the same sort of distortion.
9. Only one man from the ranks, Jean Loppinot, received a commission in the colony's Compagnies Franches before 1745. (A.N., Colonies, D2C, Vol. 47, "Isle Royalle - Officiers de guerre," 8 May, 1730.) Loppinot was an exceptional case, having come with many of the original officers of the Isle Royale garrison from Acadia where his family was politically prominent. (R.J. Morgan, "A History of Block 16, Louisbourg: 1713-1768" (typed manuscript, Fortress of Louisbourg, 1975), p. 59.)
10. Between 1721 and 1742, there were 43 reported deserters, both French and Swiss. Most of these fled from Port Toulouse and Isle St. Jean, closer to the mainland than Louisbourg and about half of them were caught or were known to have perished. Some desertions may not have been recorded. A common abuse in the regular French army consisted of reporting desertions as though they were deaths but the low rate of reported deaths at Isle Royale suggests that this form of deception was not prevalent.
11. Corvisier, op. cit., p. 94; W.J. Eccles, Frontenac, the Courtier Governor (Toronto, 1968), p. 220.
12. See, for example, A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G2, Vol. 197, dossier 134, pièce 10, testimony of Antoine Lemoine dit St. Amand.
13. T.H. Wintringham, Mutiny; Being a Survey of Mutinies from Spartacus to Invergordon (London, n.d.).
14. W.J. Eccles, Frontenac, the Courtier Governor (Toronto, 1968), pp. 215-18; Russ, op. cit., pp. 95-98.
15. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 6, fols. 127-30, Isabeau to Minister, 30 Nov., 1722; ibid., fols 217-21, St. Ovide to Minister, 12 Dec., 1723.
16. A.N., Colonies, Outremer, G2, Vol. 182, fols. 148-357, "Conseil Superieur. Procedure criminelle ... a l'encontre du nommé Nicolas leBegue dt. Brulevillage, et Thomas Berranger dt. La Rosée soldats acusés de vol.," 3 Mar. - 2 June, 1733.
17. Ibid., Vol. 179, fols. 462-502, "Conseil Superieur-Procedure Criminelle a l'Encontre de Reintender Sergent Suisse et deux autres Complices accuses de vol. [sic]," 11 Sept. - 20 Oct., 1727.
18. Babeau, op. cit., p. 235.
19. Ibid., p. 240.
20. Morgan and MacLean, op. cit., p. 65.
21. Renard court-martial.
22. Corvisier, op. cit., p. 883.
23. A.N., Colonies, C11B, Vol. 28, fols. 44v-46, Desherbiers and Prévost to Minister, 21 Oct., 1749.
24. Ibid., Vol. 29, fols. 313v-14, Franquet to Minister, 13 Oct., 1750

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