The Carignan-Salières Regiment
Responding to the urgent pleas of the Governor and Intendant of New France for military protection from the Iroquois, Louis XIV sent 20 Companies from the Carignan-Salières Regiment to New France. The officers and soldiers arrived in New France during the summer of 1665. In addition, four Companies arrived with Lieutenant General Alexandre de Prouville, sieur de Tracy, from the Caribbean. Tracy commanded all of the troops in North America. Tracy’s mission was to exterminate the Iroquois. The combined forces remained on official duty in New France for three years. More than 285 officers or soldiers elected to remain in New France. Most French Canadians have at least one ancestor who was a member of the Carignan Salières Regiment.
Resources on the FCHSM website: See the History of New France Page on our website to download Part 4 of the 17th Century Timeline which covers the period of July 1663 through 1668. The entries in the timeline cover the arrival of all of the Companies, the forts they built in New France, and the military expeditions that they participated in.
Book Recommendations:
Jack Verney, The Good Regiment – The Carignan-Salières Regiment in Canada 1665-1668 (Montréal and Kingston, McGill-Queen’s University Press: 1991). English text.
Marcel Fournier and Michel Langlois Le régiment de Carignan-Salières – Les premières troupes françaises de la Nouvelle-France 1665-1668 (Montréal: Éditions Histoire Québec Collection Féderation Histoire Québec). French text.
Online Resources:
Lists of soldiers and officers in the Carignan Regiment: Although a number of authors and organizations have published lists of soldiers and officers in the Regiment, the lists do not agree on all the members of the Regiment. The reason for the disagreements is the fact that an official list for the soldiers and officers who came to New France no longer exists. Although we do have a list of the soldiers and officers who elected to remain in New France after the rest of the Regiment returned to New France, the vast majority of the soldiers and officers are only listed by a dit name and many of the dit names were used by other men in New France. Positive identification of some of the soldiers as a member of the Regiment was made because their membership in the Regiment was mentioned in their marriage contract, in the parish register for their marriage, or in another official record. Click on the link above for images of this list.
Genealogy of the French in North America: Denis Beauregard's list of soldiers is divided into two groups, the members of the Carignan-Salières Regiment and a separate list of the soldiers in the Companies that accompanied Tracy. The list includes the name of his spouse(s), and a notes column which includes the name of the Company and their rank.
Francis Beck’s Illustration of two soldiers and an officer of the Carignan Salières Regiment. The soldiers on the right and left carry muskets; the powder flasks known as the “Twelve Apostles” hang from their shoulder belts. The officer in the center carries a half-pike and wears a white sash signifying that he is an officer. Courtesy of Canadian Military History Gateway: http://www.cmhg.gc.ca/cmh-pmc/page-51-eng.aspx
