Slide Sets

These slides represent six of over one hundred manuscript maps of the Cartes Marines collection located at The Newberry Library. The maps and views of the Cartes Marines show the results of expansion during the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Arranged geographically, the maps in the atlas begin with Africa and proceed along the coasts of India and China, across to the Strait of Magellan, and up the east coast of the Americas. Concentrating on three French fortified towns of the St. Lawrence region (Quebec, Montreal, and Louisbourg), I have selected maps that will provide a visual introduction to major fortifications, urban layout, architecture, and geographic position. Furthermore, the written text describes the political and economic importance of each settlement in New France and outlines a brief history of the town’s fortifications. All of the maps in the Cartes Marines were done in watercolor on heavy paper, are typical French maps of the period, and a few contain the cartographer’s name and date. In addition, The Newberry Library’s Ayer collection contains numerous manuscript memoirs of French colonial activity in North America. Altogether, the maps and written documents form an excellent collection for the study of the French regime in Canada.

Seen from the outside, New France must have resembled a military camp. The governor-general was normally a professional soldier, and two of his most important duties were to defend the colonial frontier and command the colony’s troops. The regional governors, located at Montreal and Trois Rivières, and their assistants, were also soldiers, and their military staff acted as a council. A captain of militia in every parish represented the governor and the intendant, and the entire male population was divided into companies of militia. The censuses of the eighteenth century were made in order to replenish this militia. Trading posts, while serving as economic centers of the fur trade, also functioned as defense posts. The regular garrison included Troupes de la Marine numbering some 2,600 with 112 officers during the Seven Years War. To these were added a varying number of French regiments numbering several thousand troops. The Franco-Canadian army assembled at Quebec in the summer of 1759 numbered between 12,000 and 15,000 men. Soldiers, sailors, and militiamen played a large part in the commercial life of Canada and all of New France.

The primary “industry” of these colonies, as W.J. Eccles has shown, was war (“The Social, Economic and Political Significance of the Military Establishment in New France,” Canadian Historical Review (1975).). In fact, the military defense of New France rested upon a whole network of fortifications, which included three fortified towns and several forts. The three fortified towns, Quebec, Montreal, and Louisbourg, met different fates. The first, in spite of repeated sieges and changes in society, kept its citadel and its ramparts. The second, which never underwent a siege, was demolished to create space for urban expansion. The third was completely razed after its capture.

Quebec, founded in 1608 by Samuel Champlain, was perched atop a promontory and commanded the entrance to a narrowing in the St. Lawrence River. By 1663, the physical characteristics of the capital of New France were already well defined. The French regime established an urban pattern that was to remain unchanged.

Between the river and the Cape at the foot of the cliff lay the Lower Town, containing three-quarters of the shops and warehouses, as well as the homes of the chief merchants—all of stone and the best-built in the colony. There were several significant structures: the new warehouse built by the Communauté des Habitants, the church of Notre Dame des Victoires (L), and La Batterie Royale at the west end of Rue St. Pierre (F). The Upper Town was reached by a steep winding road, the Côte de la Montagne. On the sharp cliffs of Cape Diamond (A) stood the Governor’s residence, Fort St. Louis (C), its cannon pointed outwards. To the right rose the spires of the stone churches, the cathedral (H), the chapels of the Jesuits (N), and Bishop’s residence (I). To the left, the great wings of a windmills dominated the wheat fields near the chapel of the Recollects (O).

Around the center of Upper Town were scattered the convents and gardens of the Ursulines, the Hôtel Dieu, and a few wooden and stone houses along what is now Rue Saint-Louis. By the late seventeenth century, after several tragic fires, most of the houses in the town were of stone, two or three stories, with cedar shingle, clapboard, or slate roofs. The distinguishing feature of these homes was their excellent proportions—the correct balance of shuttered windows, and doors piercing the thick walls. A visitor accustomed to the life at court or to the private Paris dwellings of the aristocracy would have regarded these homes as being very modest. But, in fact, the standard of life at Quebec compared quite favorably with that of a provincial capital in France. One needs to be aware of this fact since most governors, newly arrived in the colony, remarked that no one in the colony was rich.

Quebec was, of course, both a seaport and the administrative center of New France. During the summer months, some twenty to thirty ships from France and the West Indies might be anchored in the bay at one time. As many as fifty of all sizes would visit the port in a year. Then the narrow, twisting streets of Lower Town swarmed with sailors, the taverns were filled, and members of the oldest profession plied their trade. Occasionally the indendant would have them rounded up and expelled from town, causing protests to be scrawled on the town walls, but they always returned.

Quebec had the benefits of natural defenses because most of the town was situated on the heights of Cape Diamond. Since the construction of the first fort in the days of Champlain (1620), an attempt had been made to render its position more secure by setting up batteries at the weaker points, especially Batterie Royalle at the Pointe-des-Roches, which was strengthened by Governor Frontenac in 1691 (I), and Batterie du Château (G). Cannons were also placed on the east side near the Redoute St. Roche (E) and Dauphine (F)—the direction from which the enemy was expected to attack. Nevertheless, Quebec was still not enclosed on the west side in 1685.

At the end of the seventeenth century, regular fortification in the style of Vauban was undertaken. In 1720, at the suggestion of the engineer Chaussegros de Lery, a new plan was adopted, but it was not completely carried out until about 1749. Sieur de Lery’s plan saw the addition of a rampart on the west side, which gave strong protection to the town from north to south. It was built with bastions, curtain walls, and gates, and was supported by redoubts. This map of 1715 seems to have been drawn to show existing and proposed fortifications and it differs slightly from the plan of Chaussegros de Lery.

Quebec city survived sieges during the Seven Years War and later in 1775 and 1776 during the American Revolution. Between 1820 and 1832, it underwent a renovation of its system of defense. Then, at the end of the nineteenth century, some of its military gates were demolished and others remodeled, which altered the appearance of the French regime fortifications. The remodeled walls exist in “old town” Quebec to this day. Located near the northwest wall is an information museum devoted to the history of the town’s fortifications.

The site of Montreal was called Hochelaga by the Huron Indians when Jacques Cartier visited it in 1535-1536 on his second voyage to the New World. More than 1,000 Amerindians welcomed him on the slope of a mountain that he named Mont-Real or Mont-Royal (see left side of drawing). It was not until May 6, 1642, that Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, founded today’s Montreal. He constructed a chapel, a hospital, and other structures, protecting the settlement against Indian attack with a stockade. He named the aggregate Ville-Marie. The community was granted its first civic charter by Louis XIV in 1644, and Maisonneuve became its first governor. The Hôtel-Dieu was founded in 1645 by Jeanne Mance and almost immediately a society of priests, Les Messieurs de Saint-Sulpice, took charge of the local administration and education for boys.

The major development of Montreal began during the first half of the eighteenth century. Land grants were made, and farming developed outside the original fortifications. Pierre de Charlevoix, a Jesuit who spent the winter of 1720-21 in Montreal, considered the town to have a pleasing appearance, being well-situated and well-laid out (Charlevoix, Histoire et description générale de la Nouvell-France). Charlevoix mentioned that the Paris Church (D) and the Sulpician Seminary (C) formed the nucleus of the town. He also noted the addition of a kind of suburb, beyond a little stream which flowed from the northwest near the Hôpital Charon (A). Religious institutions dominated the Montreal skyline. In addition to those belonging to the Sulpicians (C and D), Charlevoix visited the new Jesuit church (E), large and well-built; the convent of the Recollects (B), generous in size to accommodate its numerous community; and the Chapelle de Bonsecour (F), used by merchants and sailors. In fact, the whole settlement was starting to develop in an astonishing fashion. Whereas in 1710, the population was only 3,490, by 1740, it soared to 7,710. Growing pains were unavoidable.

Montreal, unlike Quebec, did not have the advantage of natural defenses. In 1684, the Governor of Montreal, Louis Hector de Calliere, took action to construct new walls and defenses for the town. Montreal looked particularly exposed, since the old fortifications of Maisonneuve had long since crumbled away through neglect and indifference. Great stakes of cedar were firmly implanted in the ground to form a palisade fifteen feet high, equipped with watchtowers, platform, and gates. Thus the upper town was enclosed on all sides. The effectiveness of such a wall was questionable in the face of heavy musket fire. That it would serve to deflect Indian arrows was more likely.

Such was the background for Montreal’s program of stone fortifications, on which work began in 1722. The inhabitants had not only watched de Calliere’s old wooden palisades fall into ruins, but often assisted nature in the process. A report of 1717 showed half the stakes to be rotten. Openings had been cut through the wall to suit the convenience of those who lived in the neighborhood. Although royal authorization came through in 1716, progress was slow. The king advanced 300, 000 livres to meet expenses. Even the, there were so many contrary opinions and difficulties in securing title to the land that Chaussegros de Lery, the engineer in charge, must have been discouraged long before the start (note: this particular plan of Montreal was completed by Chaussegros de Lery on October 20, 1724). The walls of his design were of rough stone, eighteen feet high, four feet thick at the base and three at the top. Their foundations were deep, but the stone thus dug out served to line the embankment. Thirteen bastions were spaced out along the four sides of the enclosure, while five gates gave access to the town. Carefully locate the following gates on the map of de Lery: St. Laurens, St. Martin, du Port, de la Chine, des Recolets. In the end the work was never finished, and the fortifications, though formidable in appearance, proved to be of little value. Montreal fell to the British without resistance in September 1760.

As to Montreal itself, Chaussegros de Lery, unlike Charlevoix, considered it to be overlarge and badly planned. In his opinion, too much space was reserved for gardens. Three times as many streets might easily fit into the existing area. Unfortunately, none of the eighteenth-century fortifications remain.

Louisbourg was established by the French in 1713, following their loss of Acadia and Newfoundland to the British by the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht. Even in the beginning, the harbor was full of ships. Close to both rich fishing banks and lucrative trade lanes, Louisbourg soon became one of the busiest ports in the New World. In 1717, it was selected to become the administrative center for the colony of Ile Royale which also included Prince Edward Island. Though Ile Royale formed part of the larger colony of New France, because of its isolation from Quebec, it was largely administered as a separate colony. The local royal officials, the governor, and commissaire-ordonnateur, corresponded directly with the minister of marine rather than through the governor-general and indendant at Quebec.

Louisbourg’s primacy within the colony of Ile Royale stemmed from a combination of geographic and economic factors. The harbor was large and well-shaped. The narrow opening made it defendable as well as a safe haven from storms. It was close to both the offshore cod banks and the transatlantic trade routes. The fishery, by itself, generated enormous economic wealth. The annual value of the cod catch, exported through Louisbourg, ranged between 2.5 to 3.5 million livres for the period 1718 to 1741. Building upon the massive exports of cod, as well as the excellent location along the North Atlantic, Louisbourg prospered as a major trading and transportation center. Within a decade after its inception, over one hundred ships a year entered the port of Louisbourg to unload their goods and take on return cargoes of cod and other commodities. Consequently, a flourishing merchant community developed in the town.

Though this plan shows no private dwellings, it does indicate the carefully laid-out block structure within the walls of Louisbourg. The plan is crossed by lines showing the range of every gun in the fortification. Once the decision was taken to transform the settlement into a major fortified town and naval base, large amounts of royal funds were expended on Louisbourg annually. In the process, it was given a system of bastioned fortifications and detached batteries that ranked among the most elaborate in America. Louisbourg eventually contained huge public buildings like the King’s Bastion barracks, Hôpital du Roi, and the King’s storehouse, as well as North America’s second lighthouse and a careening wharf. The cost for these public works was four to five million livres for the fortificatioins and about 16 million livres on other public expenditures. The fortress was designed according to classical rules, with a moat, a rampart with protected gates, and bastions, the most important being the bastion du Roi. In addition, it was also a complete town, with the Château Saint-Louis the convent and school of the Sisters of the Congregation, the hospital of the Brothers of Charity, a market, stores, and straight, well-made streets.

By 1737, Louisbourg’s permanent civilian population had increased to 1,463. Within five years there were nearly 2,000 permanent civilian residents in the town and suburbs, along with 700 soldiers who formed the garrison.

This fortress, which was believed to be impregnable, was captured twice by the English. It was first captured in 1745, and then after being restored to France in 1748, it was again invaded in 1758. It later served as a naval base for the invasion of 1759. During the year 1760, the English totally demolished the fort and transported the stones to Halifax. Fortunately, the Canadian government has expended much money and energy over the last three decades in the reconstruction of the eighteenth-century town known as the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Park. Many interesting studies have been recently published on the fortress garrison, aspects of family life, the role of the church, and Louisbourg’s merchants and their international trading links.

1. Veue de la Ville Québec, Capital de Canada, Nouvelle France (Cartes Marines No. 106, c. 1720)
2. Plan de la Ville de Kebec (Cartes Marines No. 105, 1715)
3. Veue de la Ville du Montréal en Canada (Cartes Marines No. 106, c. 1720)
4. Plan de la Ville du Montréal en Canada, Nouvelle France (Cartes Marines lacks number, 1724)
5. Veue de Port de Louisbourg dans L’Isle Royalle (Cartes Marines No. 95, c. 1715)
6. Plan du Havre ou Port de Louisbourg (Cartes Marines No. 94, 1716)

Charbonneau, André; Desloges, Yvon; Lafrance, Marc. Quebec the Fortified City: From the 17th to the 19th Century. Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1982.

de Charlevoix, Pierre. Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France, avec le Journal historique d’un voyage fait par ordre du Roi dans l’Amérique septentrionale. 6 vols. Paris: Didot, 1744.

Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 3, 1969 ed., S.v. “Chaussegros de Lery,” by F.J. Thorpe.

Eccles, W.J. “The Social Economic and Political Significance of the Military Establishment in New France,” Canadian Historical Review (1975), pp.1-21.

Johnston, A.J.B. The Summer of 1744: A Portrait of Life in Eighteenth-Century Louisbourg. Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1983.

McLennan, J.S. Louisbourg Portraits: Life in an Eighteenth-Century Garrison Town. Toronto: Macmillan, 1982.

Picard, François. La Batterie Royale de la fin du XVIIe siècle. Collection Civilisation du Québec, no. 23. Québec: Ministere des Affaires Culturelles, 1978.

Smith, Clara A. The Newberry Library: List of Manuscript Maps in the Edward E. Ayer Collection. Chicago: The Newberry Library, 1927.

Trudel, Marcel. Atlas de la Nouvelle France. Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval, 1968.