FORTRESS SECURITY AND MILITARY JUSTICE AT LOUISBOURG, 1720-45

BY

MARGARET FORTIER

1980

Report H E 14

Fortress of Louisbourg

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PUNISHMENTS

According to the Encyclopédie of Diderot and D'Alembert, military punishments had once been very severe, but "this severity has gradually reduced".[1] By 20th century standards those punishments imposed in the mid-18th century still seem extremely harsh, yet they were not inflicted out of a sense of cruelty, but rather in the belief that such penalties were absolutely necessary in order to maintain discipline within the ranks. Deterrence by example was the primary motive behind all corporal punishment. It was for this reason that comrades of the accused were usually made to carry out the sentence before the assembled garrison. Both this witnessing of the punishment by the troops and the display of an executed soldier's corpse were to permit the victim's comrades to "learn from his example" and thus avoid the same fate. [2]

While the penalties were rigorous, excessive bloodshed was frowned upon. For this reason the ordinances provided that whenever more than two deserters were to be executed at one time, the men should draw lots; the unhappy loser being executed as sentenced, while the "winners" were sent to serve on the galleys for life. [3] Such a situation occurred in Louisbourg in 1736 when three men who had deserted in June were captured and tried for their crime. One was executed, two went to the galleys. [4]

Executions and lesser corporal punishments in the military were generally carded out by soldiers, except when the sentence was hanging. For this the services of an executioner were required. If none was available, the accused would be shot by a firing squad of his fellow soldiers and his dead body placed on the gallows for exhibition. The only other occasion on which the executioner was required was when the condemned man was to have his hand cut off prior to his execution, a circumstance which arose when a soldier struck or physically threatened an officer. [5]

Between 1720 and 1745 at least eight soldiers were executed for the crime of desertion at Louisbourg, while three were sent to the galleys for life - two for desertion, one for threatening his sergeant with a gun in the guardhouse. All those executed seen to have been shot. There is no way of determining to what degree punishments were imposed for less serious crimes, but there is mention of soldiers being put in the dungeon
with their legs in irons, being made to pass "par les baguettes," and being made to mount the wooden horse. [6]

Passer par les armes - this was one of the most common sentences imposed on soldiers convicted of desertion or other capital offenses. It was, in reality, death by firing squad. Once the Conseil de Guerre had reached its decision with regard to punishment, the order would be given for the drummers to sound La Générale to assemble the troops to witness the execution. When the troops had gathered, the drums would beat Le Ban after which the major, with his hat off, would warn in a loud voice: "De par le Roy, défense sous peine de la vie de crier grace." The sentence would then be read at the head of the troops. The sergeant of the convicted man's company would blindfold his eyes while six or eight soldiers removed the bayonets from their guns. On the major's command, those soldiers standing to the victim's right would fire at his head, those to his left, at his heart. All the troops would file past the corpse before returning to their quarters. [7]

Casser la tête - according to Willcox' dictionary of French military terms, this expression meant "to shoot a soldier," and it does seem to have been used interchangeably with "passer par les armes" by the French at Lpuisbourg.[8] How the expression originated is not known, but it does not refer to breaking the head of a man with the butt ends of muskets as is sometimes supposed.

Hanging - soldiers were sentenced to be hanged only if the services of an executioner were available. In such cases the troops would be assembled by La Générale and the sentence would be read. As the soldier to be hanged was brought before the assembled garrison, the drums would sound Aux Champs. The sergeant of the man's company would arm him "from head to foot; he holds the butt of the musket in his right hand and says: Finding you unworthy of bearing arms, we degrade you therefrom ...." The sergeant would then take the soldier's musket from him from behind and require him to pass his accoutrements to him with his feet. This done, the sergeant would retire and the executioner would proceed with his job. [9]

Galleys - after the death penalty, the most dreaded sentence a soldier could receive was perpetual servitude on the French galleys in the Mediterranean, a sentence which carded "civil death" and the confiscation of all the man's possessions. Those condemned to the galleys were branded with the letters GAL so that they might be recognized as "previous offenders" should they escape. Any man who mutilated himself in order to be physically unable to serve on the galleys was to be put to death. A limited term on the galleys did not carry the same "civil death" or confiscation of property, but it is not clear if those receiving such a sentence were also branded. [10]

Banishment - like a life sentence to the galleys, banishment from France meant "civil death" and loss of property. [11] It is not certain under what circumstances such a sentence was imposed. Several people, military and civilian, were banished from Ile Royale for civil offenses, but there was no indication if they were also forbidden to go to France or if they would suffer the loss of any possessions other than those in the colony. However, one soldier, Pierre Cournoyer, whose offence was not specified in the correspondence, was banished from Ile Royale to the Windward islands and told that he could not, under any circumstances, return to France. If he attempted to return, the authorities warned, his original sentence, presumably death, would be carried out. It is likely that Cournoyer came from an influential family who had been able to have his sentence commuted. [12]

Passer par les baguettes - since it did not ordinarily result in death this punishment could be imposed without recourse by a Conseil de Guerre. Depending on the severity of the soldier's offence, the penalty could be inflicted once or on several succeeding days. It was not thought necessary to call out all the troops to witness this punishment; it was sufficient to have a detachment of men there to report back to their comrades. [13]

To carry out the punishment a corporal "de corvée" and two soldiers of the guilty man's company were commanded beforehand to to "couper les baguettes," which they carried to the corps de garde or guérite nearest the place where the punishment was to be meted out. The victim was then led to the spot by a sergeant and four soldiers. Each soldier in the two lines through which the man was to pass either picked up a "baguette" or removed the sling from his gun, which might be used instead. [14] When the soldier to be punished arrived at the end of the double line, he would strip to the waist. The extremities of the lines would be closed by the soldiers who had escorted him there. While he passed between the lines the drummers, standing behind the escorts at either end of the lines, would beat La Charge. When, instead of a soldier, this penalty was administered to a fille de mauvaise vie, the drums would beat Les Marionettes. [15]

Cheval de Bois - for minor offences a soldier might be given the uncomfortable penalty of sitting for a period of time each day for a month on a device which resembled a wooden horse. According to the Encyclopédie, this device sometimes had a carving of a horse's head attached. The cheval de bois was constructed of two planks which were joined in such a way as to form a point in the middle atop two tressles of sufficient height to prevent the "rider's" feet from reaching the ground. On some occasions, guns would be hung from the man's legs, the extra weight making the experience even more painful. The soldier, punished in this way, was exposed to public view and ridicule. To assure maximum exposure as a public spectacle, the soldier so sentenced would mount the wooden horse each day at the hour the guard was mounted; 4 P.M. in summer and 3 P.M. in winter. 16 The cheval de bois in Louisbourg was probably located somewhere near the guardhouse of the Place D'Armes.

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