Cliquez ici pour la version française

 The Carignan-Salières Regiment

When King Louis XIV ascended to the French throne in 1661, the colony of New France in the Saint Lawrence Valley was facing harsh challenges. Its roughly 3,000 inhabitants faced constant threats to their economy and safety from the Iroquois, due to their chronic underpopulation. Louis XIV wanted to protect France’s economic interests in the fur trade and to defend the struggling outpost, ensuring not only its survival but also its growth. At this period in time, “Iroquois” referred to the indigenous Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy: the Mohawks (Agniers in French), Onedas (Onneiouts in French), Onondagas, Senecas and Cayugas. From the French colonists’ perspective, however, only the Mohawks were deemed enemies as the other Nations hadn’t participated in any recent attacks. [Today, the Mohawk nation is called Kanien'kehá:ka, meaning “People of the Flint.”]

To increase the colony’s population, some 700 women nicknamed the Filles du roi (the “King’s Daughters”) were sent to New France starting in 1663. Then, during the summer and fall of 1665, about 1,200 to1,300 soldiers and 80 officers from the Carignan-Salières Regiment arrived at Québec City tasked with protecting the inhabitants and eliminating the Iroquois threat to the south. The regiment included 20 companies that sailed from France and an additional four that sailed from the West Indies with 62-year-old Lieutenant General Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy. The enlisted men were all volunteers who were recruited by captains into a specific company, rather than into the regiment itself. The captains had to ensure the soldiers were paid, clothed and fed. Economic hardship in France at the time meant that there was no shortage of volunteers looking for better opportunities.  

 List of ships arriving at Québec

• Le Vieux Siméon arrived on 19 Jun 1665 carrying the Chambly, Froment, La Tour and Petit companies

• Le Brézé arrived on 30 Jun 1665 carrying the La Durantaye, Berthier, La Brisardière and Monteil companies

• L'Aigle d'Or arrived on 18 Aug 1665 carrying the Grandfontaine, La Fredière, La Motte and Salières companies

• La Paix arrived on 19 Aug 1665 carrying the La Colonelle, Contrecœur, Maximy and Sorel companies

• Le Jardin de Hollande arrived on 12 Sep 1665 carrying supplies for the regiment

• Le Saint-Sébastien arrived on 12 Sep 1665 carrying the Rougemont, Boisbriand, Des Portes and Varenne companies

• La Justice arrived on 14 Sep 1665 carrying the La Fouille, Laubia, Saint-Ours and Naurois companies

Military Forts

The first task of the Carignan-Salières Regiment was to build forts at strategic locations along the Richelieu River, which was used by the Mohawks to attack the French colonists. Forts Saint-Louis, Sainte-Thérèse and Richelieu were rapidly constructed. Today, both Fort St-Louis (renamed Fort-Chambly) and Fort St-Jean are classified as National Historic Sites of Canada, though none of the original fortifications remain.    

The soldiers also constructed the very first road in Canada, the chemin de Chambly, linking the settlements of Longueuil and Chambly. This road (what we would call a trail or footpath today) allowed soldiers to avoid a long detour via canoe from Montréal to Sorel on the St. Lawrence River, then from Sorel to Chambly on the Richelieu River.  

Uniforms and Weapons

Soldiers of the Carignan-Salières Regiment had a mix of French and indigenous clothing and accessories. Their weaponry consisted of a sword for hand-to-hand combat, a flintlock musket to shoot over long distances, a pistol for short distances, a bayonet, an axe (for both combat and construction) and a horn or pouch to carry gunpowder. The soldier’s main uniform was brown with gray lining and black ribbons decorating a trimmed felt hat and the right shoulder. He wore black and brown leather boots and carried a clay pipe for tobacco. In colder weather, soldiers wore mukluks and moccasins, and fur hats, coats and leggings.

Failed Peace Talks and a Disastrous First Expedition

At the end of 1665, General Tracy attempted to negotiate a peace treaty with the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Foreseeing a battle with the French that couldn’t be won, four of the Nations agreed to the peace. The Mohawks, however, didn’t come to the meeting at all and Tracy wouldn’t sign a treaty without the agreement of all Iroquois Nations. He gave up on the negotiations and authorized governor Daniel de Rémy de Courcelle to launch an attack on the Mohawks.    

In early 1666, Courcelle and his men attempted to attack Mohawk villages to the south of Québec, along with “friendly Indians” and Canadian volunteers happy for a chance at revenge. This expedition was a complete failure, with snowstorms preventing the soldiers from even finding the villages. Most of these newly arrived men had never experienced the hardships of Canadian winter and were now having to contend with snow that was a metre-deep, likely without snowshoes. Courcelle lost dozens of ill-prepared men to the cold and inhospitable climate, and to skirmishes with the Mohawks at Schenectady. Learning from this disaster, the regiment reverted to a previous and sound tradition of not launching military campaigns in the middle of winter.

By late spring, peace talks were back on the table. The Seneca Nation was the first to sign a treaty of mutual friendship with France at Québec City. The Oneidas followed suit in July. By September, however, it was clear that the Mohawks weren’t going to participate yet again, and another attack was planned.  

This second expedition took place in the fall of 1666. General Tracy led about 1,300 soldiers and volunteers himself. However, the Mohawks realized they were greatly outnumbered and fled without a fight. The regiment burned down seven Mohawk villages along with their cornfields and food supply. Tracy proclaimed that the territory now belonged to the King of France. 

A Fragile Peace

A few months later, peace talks resumed at Québec, this time with the Mohawks present. On July 10, 1667, peace was declared between the French and Five Nations of the Iroquois—one that would last for 18 years.   

Once the fragile peace was established, the Carignan-Salières soldiers had the choice to return to France or remain in the new colony at the end of their service. Authorities offered the soldiers incentives to stay, such as land grants along the St. Lawrence River or marriages to the Filles du roi.

Of the 1,200 to 1,300 soldiers that arrived in New France, roughly 350 men died, about 350 returned to France in 1668 and at least 446 decided to stay, with an additional 100 soldiers remaining in the army of the colony. The main reason for settling was likely economic in nature—the chance to have a small plot of land to farm close and a home, something that would be practically impossible for soldiers belonging to the lower class in France. The men knew they could also earn extra income in the winter by doubling as a coureur des bois.   

The Carignan-Salières Regiment sent six companies back to New France in 1670 as reinforcements: five were sent to Québec and one to Acadia. Disbanded a year later, these soldiers were encouraged to remain. In 1676, the regiment was renamed the “Régiment de Soissons,” marking the official end of the Carignan-Salières Regiment.  

Romanticizing the past?

Historians and authors from the early 20th century, notably the Roman-Catholic priest and Québec nationalist Lionel Groulx, tended to confer a legendary status on the Carignan-Salières Regiment. They implied that the soldiers were motivated by religion and that those who remained in New France wanted to live a simple and spiritual life.

In his 1991 book The Good Regiment, author Jack Verney attempts to provide a truer picture of the Carignan-Salières Regiment:

“As for the men who served in the ranks, it is hoped that they too will […] emerge from the haze, not as knights in shining armour perhaps, but as real infantrymen—a few of them saints, a few of them sinners, but most of them ordinary foot soldiers, who coped with peril, privation, and incompetence as stoically as their kind has been doing since time immemorial.”     

As for religious motivations, records show that Huguenot soldiers converted to Catholicism, and non-confirmed Catholics were brought back into the fold of the church. However, they didn’t have any choice in this, and Verney argues there is no evidence to show that they led particularly pious lives afterwards.  

The regiment’s major contribution was the increase in the colony’s population—not necessarily in a direct sense, by marrying and having families themselves, but by bringing about peace with the Iroquois, which allowed for unions and families to flourish. During their presence in New France, the population doubled to well over 6,000.

Finding Your Carignan-Salières Ancestor

Was your ancestor a soldier of the Carignan-Salières Regiment? Most French Canadians with ancient French origins (prior to 1700) will find at least one soldier among their ancestors (a more likely number is between 50 and 100). The Fichier Origine has a searchable database you can access here, along with an alphabetical list of all the soldiers.  

Click here to view the original documents showing the list of soldiers who remained in New France in 1668.

To see a thorough research guide into the regiment, consult the Guide thématique des sources manuscrites aux Archives nationales du Canada ayant trait au Régiment de Carignan-Salières (in French only) by the National Archives of Canada.

Enjoying our articles and resources? Consider showing your support by making a donation. Every contribution, no matter how small, helps us pay for website hosting and allows us to create more content relating to French-Canadian genealogy and history. Thank you! Merci!

Sources and further reading:

• DuLong, John P. 1997. “Carignan-Salières Regiment Lineage, 1636-1816”, chart published online, http://habitant.org/cschart.htm.

• Fichier Origine. “Le régiment de Carignan-Salières". Website and database of soldiers, https://www.fichierorigine.com/soldat-regiment.  

• Lacoursière, Jacques. 2002. Une histoire du Québec. Sillery : les éditions du Septentrion.

• Quillivic, Bernard. “Histoire du Régiment de Carignan-Salière des origines à 1671". http://www.migrations.fr/histoireduregiment.htm.

• Verney, Jack. 1991. The Good Regiment:The Carignan-Salières Regiment in Canada, 1665-1668. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.