Troupes de la Marine
It was under the denomination of Compagnie ordinaire de la mer, originally intended to form the garrisons of the ships of the King.
It was in 1674 that Jean-Baptiste Colbert decided to make permanent colonial troops and give them the name of Compagnies Franches de la Marine.
In France, the first specific troupe was created in 1622 by Cardinal Richelieu, under the designation of « Compagnie Ordinaire de la Marine ».
The entrance into the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59) in 1635 required the mise en place of foot squadrons formed of soldiers.
In July 1636 was formed three new regiments, « du Havre », « des Îles » at Brouage and « des Galères » à Marseille, to mount the guard at the three ports and board respectively on board the Squadron of Normandy, the squadron of Guyenne and the Galleys armies; in 1640, these three regiments were assigned to the army and were dissolved at the end of the war.
[9] marquis de Louvois, which came in notice of concurrence to his attributions, made of sort to transfer these units to the ministère de la Guerre since 1671,[10] with their mise en place destined in route to join the army engaged in the Franco-Dutch War ( they became later the 60th Infantry Regiment (French: 60e Régiment d'Infanterie) and the 61st Infantry Regiment (French: 61e Régiment d'Infanterie)).
The first Marine units were the Compagnies Ordinaires de la Mer (Ordinary Sea Companies), created by Cardinal Richelieu in his capacity of Grand Master of Navigation.
In 1689, the ordinance of 15 April signed by count de Ponchchartrain regularized two companies of bombardiers ( a first one was detached from the army of Toulon since 1682 ).
The Nine Years' War requiring necessary to have soldiers at disposition, Pontchartain received from the King, the ordinance of 16 December, 1690 creating 80 infantry companies, designated as Compagnies Franches de la Marine, despite the opinion of Louvois.
Consequently, all the companies of "La Marine" were cancelled by the ordinance dated 5 November 1761, with the embarked service to be handled by the French Army.
The ordinance date 10 December 1762 mandated for the garrison of vessels (French: Vaisseaux), the guard of ports and colonies, 23 line regiments, to receive the soldiers of the previous Compagnies Franches.
For instance, for the Compagnies Franches de la Marine, a couple of them charged at the Battle of Camaret in June 1694; others disembarked during the Siege of Barcelona (1697) for form a « Bataillon des Vaisseaux » (Vessel battalion);[22] during the Battle of Málaga (1704), the companies endured the loss of 150 officers and 1500 soldiers; 4000 soldiers of marines participated to the Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar.
The troupes de la Marine were sent by Louis XIV in 1682 to replace the regular troops in New France, and were accordingly used to mount the garrisons in the various French colonies.
Service in the troupes de la Marine was an important source of economic opportunity, and a prestige for the elite of Nouvelle-France.
While the force of the troupes varied from one period to another, during the Seven Years' War, there were forty companies in the valley of Saint-Laurent and at the Pays d'en Haut; twenty at the Fortress of Louisbourg,[27] in addition to Louisiana and Acadia.
Significant garrisons were held at Quebec, Montreal, and New Orleans, with small forces guarding the forts and posts across the vast territory of the North America during the 18th century.
In concert with the Canadian militias and the allied guerrilla units, the troupes de la marine were essentially in charge of mounting the defensive in Nouvelle-France during the 17th and 18th century.
