Compagnies Franches de la Marine

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The Compagnies Franches de la Marine was the main organization for the defence of New France from 1683 to 1755. The Naval Department of France had been using its own troops to defend French colonies since 1674. The Department began administering New France in 1683, and used the Compagnies to defend the Fur Trade and the local civilians. They were superseded by the arrival of large units of the army under Montcalm in 1756. The Compagnies ceased to exist in Canada after the fall of Montreal in 1760.

In 1992 the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve revived the Compagnies as a historical re-enactment unit and has toured the country every summer since.

[edit] References

• http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/navres/cfm-band/cfm-band_e.asp