Friday, the 11th of September marks the launch of a phenomenal collaborative work :
Combattre pour la France en Amérique : les soldats de la guerre de Sept Ans en Nouvelle-France 1755-1760
(Fighting for France in America : the soldiers of the Seven Years War in New France, 1755-1760)
Known as le Projet Montcalm for the three years of painstaking research on both sides of the Atlantic, this tome has 624 pages of the details of every French soldier who fought for France in North America during the Seven Years War. At that time, Nouvelle-France included not only eastern Canada but Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, and much more.
picture : wikipedia.com
Research on the more than 15,600 men -- officers and soldiers, recruits and volunteers -- was conducted in the Chateau de Vincennes, the Overseas Archives at Aix, the archives of Brest, Rochefort and Québec, the National Archives in London (for soldiers taken prisoner or exchanged), and the Huntingdon Library in San Mateo (where pertinent collections of correspondence are held). Both French and Canadian genealogists were involved. The book includes:
- a historical summary of the Seven Years War
- pictures in both black and white and colour
- a summary of regiment movements from 1755 to 1761
- statistical tables
- 7,300 biographical entries on soldiers and officers
- a chapter on the naval involvement in the war
Nationalities of the men are not only French but German, Swiss and Belgian. Cities of departure include: Bordeaux, Brest, Dunkerque, La Rochelle, Port-Louis, Rochefort, Saint-Martin. Regiments include: Artois, Béam, Berry, Bourgogne, Cambis, Guyenne, and many more. Below is a sample entry.
It says about Jean-Baptiste Campenon: "Soldier in the regiment of Guyenne, unknown company, 1759. He was born the 11th of August, 1733, in St.-Bris-le-Vineux, Yonne, son of Edmé Campenon and Françoise-Thérèse Quatremère. He was hospitalized at the Hôtel-Dieu in Montréal the 25th of January, 1760. He was in the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris on the 2nd of April, 1761. He died in Paris (at Invalides) the 24th of March, 1788. Notes: He left from Bordeaux for Canada where he arrived in 1759 on the ship l'Aimable-Manon. He was crippled in the right knee when a bomb exploded near him during the seige of Québec in 1759. He returned to France in October, 1760."
That is a tidy sum of information, with which one could take the research in France back a generation or two. Without question, if you have reason to believe that one of your ancestors was among these soldiers, you want access to this book. It does not, however, come cheap, so you may want to press your library to buy it.
To order in North America, contact:
La Société généalogique canadienne-française
Montréal H1W 2Z5
telephone: (514) 527 1010
fax: (514) 527 0265
price of the book, with postage: $78.50
To order in France and Europe:
Les Éditions Archives et Culture
26 bis, rue Paul-Barruel
telephone: (33) 01 48 28 59 29
price of the book, with postage : €58.00
Alternatively, you can download the order form below and send a cheque.
©2009 Anne Morddel