I am discovering a lot about the settlements in New France or what is now Québec. I will share my findings in the following article. One of my husband’s earliest ancestors in Canada was part of the Carignan-Saliéres Regiment and his wife: a “Filles du Roi¨

 

            Since 1641, New France lived under the constant threat of the Iroquois. During the reception of Bishop Laval in Versailles, Louis XIV promised to help New France militarily.

 

            One particular regiment of the royal army had taken part in all the wars of the monarchy for more than twenty years and was covered with glory in fighting the Turks. It was the Carignan Regiment.

 

            The Carignan Regiment was raised in 1642 by Thomas Francis of Savoy, Prince of Carignan. According to the dictionary of Jean Cournoyer (Little; John), Carignan was the French form of Carignano, a city in the province of Turin in Italy.

 

             In 1665 the king granted important aid in the defence of the colony and sent thirteen hundred soldiers from the Regiment de Carignan-Salières to quell the Iroquois. On 18 June 1665, the first contingent of the Regiment of Carignan- Salières landed at Quebec. It includes twenty companies consisting of a captain, a lieutenant, an ensign, two sergeants, three corporals, five ansepassades and forty soldiers. The regiment was one of the first French regiments to wear a uniform. This army was under the command of Lieutenant-General Alexander Prouville Tracy, and is mobilized in Quebec with the title of " Viceroy ". 

 

              In 1664, twelve companies left port with six hundred soldiers under the order of Monsieur de Tracy. They left for the Antilles, Guyane, Martinique, Guadeloupe. Another group left for Québec the following year to join the Régiment de Carignan.

 

           The regiment crossed France from east to west at the beginning of 1665 to be on the Atlantic coast. It was composed of twenty companies but none had its required fifty men. Others were to be recruited in the region and thus many soldiers of this regiment are Aunisiens and from Saintonge.

 

            The 1000 men gathered would board ships in La Rochelle between April 19 and May 24 on five vessels. A review of the troops was made in the streets of the city. Imagine the commotion one thousand men and five ships would have made in the city at that time. Over three hundred of these men would become pioneers in New France and one of these men was my husband's ancestor. The Crossing was from La Rochelle to Québec.    

 

            Once landed, military volunteers would constitute nearly eighty per cent of the settlers arriving in New France in the seventeenth century. Having left their country, they would carry in their heart the ultimate image of their homeland, the towers of Saint-Nicolas, Chaine and Lanterne.

 

            The eighteenth century saw pioneers from a larger number of ports, including Rochefor, Bordeaux, Rouen and Nantes who joined La Rochelle as a starting point for emigration. Rochefort, founded in 1664, quickly became the point of departure of the military.

          

            Soon France would abandon her children, and leave New France with no support. 

 

            The officers of the regiment would take on the responsibility to introduce people to the military tactics as the erection of forts at strategic locations was needed. Thus a chain of fortifications built to block the invasion route of the Iroquois along the Richelieu River: Sorel, Chambly, Contrecoeur, Vercheres, and so forth.

 

            The Régiment de Carignan-Salières would defeat the Iroquois and the Dutch of Schenectady, New York. By 1666, the army had defeated the Iroquois, peace was restored in the region. The ensuing Treaty recognized the sovereignty of the King of France and ensured the colony sixteen years of peaceful development. Once this mission was accomplished, the king wanted a part of the workforce to remain in New France to help build the colony. He provided soldiers to establish this and granted them land on the banks of the St-Lawrence so they could farm.

 

            Louis XIV awarded his officers and soldiers food for a year and bonuses according to their rank (one hundred pounds for soldiers and a slightly higher amount for officers ). More than four hundred of these soldiers were willing to stay, most being single and marriageable. The massive arrival of the king's daughters, "filles du roi" between 1663 and 1673, would restore the delicate demographic balance to the colony. These young people would help the colonize the French settlement. They would form an important part of the French Canadians' ancestry.

 

         When a soldier entered the French army, he was assigned a nickname, according to his appearance, his business, his origin or his character. That is why we find soldiers with names like Berthiaume dit Legros, Boissonneau dit Saintonge, and of course the soldiers Sanspeur, Sanschagrin and Lavictoire. One such soldier François Guire chose La Rose as his name, and his brother Sicaire opted for Laprairie. In our line, some remained Boissonneau others became St-Onge.

 

            The arrival of the Carignan Regiment ended the Iroquois threat, and the population of Quebec grew from four thousand to sixty-three hundred.

 

The List of Soldiers in the Régiment of Carignan-Saliéres Maximy division were:

 

Belle-Isle

Bidet, Jacques (de Russel), aussi *DesRoussels

Boissard, Alexandre (Le Prince de Conty),

Boissonneau, Nicolas-Vincent ou *Vincent (Saint-Onge ou Xaintonge), (refers to his origine in France Saint-Onge or Xaintonge.

Bordeleau, Antoine (Dampierre),

Bussière, Jacques (La Verdure),

*Dompierre, Charles, (St-Martin), aussi Dampierre

Dampierre, Charles (Saint-Martin), aussi Dompierre

Dumont, Julien (La Fleur), (pas selon Jetté)

Dupuy de Lisloye, Ens. Paul

Gourdon, Jean-Baptiste (La Chasse),

Guérand, Martin (Gratte Lard),

Gugnot (Le Tambour),

Inaid, Paul (Le Provencal*aussi Inard

*Inard, Paul (Le Provençal), aussi Inaid

Julien ...

La France

La Meslée  

La Rhétorique

Lauget, Jean (Matta),

Leblan, Antoine (Jolicoeur),

Le Blanc

Le Merle, René

Ranbeau, Mathurin (Bourjoly), *ou Renaud

*Renaud, Mathurin (Boisjoli) aussi Renou, ou Ranbeau

Ronoset, Pierre (Beaucourt), ou Rousset

*Rousset, Pierre (Beaucourt) ou Ronoset

Vignault, Paul (Laverdure), (ou Pierre Vignault?)

Vignault, Pierre (ou Paul (Laverdure)

Vignault, Paul (Laverdure), (same as Pierre Vignault?)

Vignault, Pierre (same as Paul (Laverdure)

 

ABRAHAM Maximy Captain

 

         Never establishing himself in Canada, Captain Abraham Maximy was the son of Pierre- Michel Maximy. His father served under the King of France. 

 

         Abraham Maximy had a career in the army, just like his father. He was taught in the regiment of Savoy before succeeding his father as captain of that same regiment. By 1655 Abraham's father was still captain of his company and at this time he asked the King for recognition titles of Nobility.

 

         When Abraham and his company arrived in Québec they were sent to Trois-Rivières where they were confined for the rest of the year.

 

         Abraham participated in the expedition of M. Courcelles against the Mohawks in January 1666. Thereafter, the company was restricted to Sainte-Famille, Île d' Orléans.

 

         Maximy returned to France in the autumn of 1668.

 

         He was re-assigned to the Mesnil company in 1669 and due to battle wounds, he was appointed Captain Coy Misériac of the regiment of Piedmont in 1671.

 

         The company bearing his name “Maximy” continued to exist for at least until 1671.

 

Vincent-Nicolas Boissonneau dit Saintonge

 

         Vincent-Nicolas Boissonneau was born around 1637, son of Jean Boissonneau and Jeanne Cochin, in Saint -Seurin- d'Uzet near Mortagne -sur- Gironde, diocese of Saintes in Saintonge (Charente Maritime).

 

         Deciding to stay in New France after fighting as a soldier he married  “fille du Roi”, (ward of the King) Anne Colin, on October 18th 1669 in Sainte-Famille,  Île d' Orléans. She was the daughter of Nicolas Colin and Isabelle Calende, of the parish of Sainte -Croix de Sens in Champagne (according to Landry and Drouin) or Burgundy (according to Langlois ). 

 

         Anne brought goods estimated at 200 pounds and a royal donation of 50 pounds.

 

         Living in the parish of St-Jean, Île d'Orléans, disaster struck on August 3rd 1678.  A house fire befell them in which three of their children died.

 

 

         In the 1681 census, Vincent is said to have three cattle and five arpents of land. Vincent Nicolas died and was buried on the family farm in St Jean, Ile d'Orléans September 14th 1715 at almost 80 years of age. Anne followed four years later, on July 28th 1719 in Saint- Jean, Île d'Orléans