Montreal, 1535-1914. Vol. 1. Under the French Régime, 1535-1760

by William H. Atherton

MARQUIS PIERRE DE RIGAUD DE VAUDREUIL—CAVAGNAL

The meeting was at the Château de Vaudreuil, the almost permanent residence of the governor since the outbreak of the war and his military headquarters during the years of 1756-1760, although Quebec still continued to be the capital of government and the religious Vatican of Canada till 1759. Montreal was thus a focus of activity, of military and social splendour, such as it had never been before. Château Vaudreuil was the centre of much official life and formality. Staff officers, officers, soldiers and redskins, brilliant extremes in their picturesque costumes, were to be seen hurrying to and fro, the Esplanade and quay fronting the château presenting a busy and ever changing coloured throng. Then there was the constant arrival of fresh convoys, and the military movements of the soldiers through the streets to the sound of fife and drum. All this gave Montreal an unaccustomed animation and brilliancy. With Montcalm's advent there would soon arrive his own fashionable entourage, his household staff and his military staff from France, to add still greater éclat. Soon, too, the regiments of La Sarre and Royal-Roussillon would come to invade the town's resources and to add to its gayety, its love adventures and its scandal, before they were sent out to various danger points to offset the perilous war preparations now being made by the English.

Already the Béarn regiment had been sent to Niagara; those of La Reine and Languedoc were at Carillon; Guyenne was on the road to Fort Frontenac, whither shortly La Sarre would join them. The destination of Royal-Roussillon regiment was not so quickly made known. The La Sarre regiment left Quebec in two divisions on June 5th and 6th and arrived at Montreal by water on June 13th and 16th. The Royal-Roussillon made the journey by land, the first division leaving Quebec on June 10th and the second on June 11th, reaching Montreal after eight or nine days' march. Relative to the water journey, an officer of La Sarre thus describes the arrival at Montreal: "We arrived at Montreal, where M. le Général awaited us, to dispose of his army. Montreal is a very large town and very exposed to conflagrations, its houses being all built of wood. The 'ton français' prevails; the vocation for marriage is in favour, and there are very pretty girls who entertain us. We have already had five of our officers married. 'On y est orgueilleux quoique pauvre, et il n'y a que le particulier qui y régit des postes en état de suffire au train qu'ils menent.'"

The meeting of the governor general with his commander in chief may be thus described: Montcalm was a thorough Frenchman, and Vaudreuil a native Canadian. Born in Quebec on November 22, 1698, Vaudreuil had served most of his time in this colony save when he exercised the functions of governor in Louisiana from 1743 to 1745. He was the embodiment of that préjugé colonial, which existed against officials from the mother country; while Montcalm stood for a corresponding préjugé métropolitain. This antipathy was the fruitful seed of much discord, and increased the agonies of the death struggle of the French régime. Therefore, although Vaudreuil received Montcalm with affability, it was not unmixed with jealousy. Before the arrival of Montcalm, Vaudreuil had protested to the minister of war, that there was no need of a general officer from France at the head of the Canadian battalions, which preferred to fight under one of their own commanders, who understood the mode of warfare suitable in this country, while those from France were disdainful of the Canadian troops. This was the prevalent opinion shared by the greater part of the Canadian officers. Indeed, it was the ordinary conflict between colonial susceptibility and European haughtiness, not unknown even today.

The interview, however, seems to have left a good impression on both sides. In the letter of Vaudreuil, written to d'Argenson, the minister of war, on June 8th, and that of Montcalm to de Machault, minister of marine, both express mutual admiration of one another. At the same time, writing more freely to d'Argenson, his patron, Montcalm says, "M. de Vaudreuil pays particular respect to the savages, loves the Canadians, knows the country, has good sense, but is tame and a little weak, and I get on well with him."

Vaudreuil's natural weakness for the Canadians, due to his birth and education, was enhanced by his marriage with Fleury de la Gorgendière, a Canadian, the widow of François de Verrier, an officer of the marine troops, by whom she had a son and daughter. Madame de Vaudreuil had no children by the second marriage, but she had many relatives in the colony and maintained the reputation of being exceedingly jealous of their advancement.

What was Montcalm's position? His commission, signed by Louis XV, at Versailles, on March 17, 1756, places him in all things under "Our Governor General in New France," and the instructions of his majesty to Montcalm are still more precise. He was to be the executive officer, with power of representation. "In a word," says his majesty, "it will be the duty of the governor general to rule and arrange everything for the military operations. The Sieur de Montcalm will be held to execute the orders given him. He will, however, be able to make suitable representations in accordance with the projects entrusted to his execution. But if the governor general believes he has reason sufficient, not to defer to them, and to persist in his dispositions, the Sieur de Montcalm will conform without difficulty or delay." This definition of duties, while it clipped somewhat the wings of the initiative of the ambitious maréchal de camp, nevertheless had the merit of clearness.

Let us now see the threefold composition of the forces in the little Canadian army, over which Vaudreuil and Montcalm are to have control—the land troops, the marine and the militia forces. The militia or yeomanry forces were composed of all the male population from fifteen to sixty years of age. This was, as we know, the oldest part of the service. Every parish and district had been organized in companies with capitaines de la côte, chosen from the most substantial men of the district, who would muster their men when required for war purposes. Their dress and equipment was similar to the regular soldiers and when in service they were fed at the king's expense, but received no pay, although they had a right for remuneration when called upon for corvées, for convoys and transports. In 1756 the Canadian militia numbered as high as 14,000 men, but, except at the end of the war, when the final crisis approached, there were never more than 4,000 in active service at once, since the necessity of having to attend to their crops made frequent returns to their parishes imperative. Canada had reason to be proud of her sturdy and brave yeoman militia.

The second military arm was the marine service or the marine troops. Not that they served on the sea or inland waters, but they were so denominated because they were under the jurisdiction of the minister of marine affairs. This service had been in Canada for over fifty years and constituted a permanent standing force, having charge of the garrisons and posts, and were employed for the defence of the frontier and the maintenance of order in the colony. Most of the officers were Canadian by birth; some came from France and became settled colonists here. Many of the prominent explorers and military leaders had held commissions in this force. In 1756 these troops formed thirty companies of sixty-five men, making a total of 1,950 men.