2eme Battalion, Régiment de Guyenne

The Régiment de Guyenne was typical of the regular line battalions that made up the backbone of the French army in Nouvelle France for the bulk of the French and Indian War.

Raised in 1674, and distinguished during the Wars  of the Polish and Austrian Successions, the Régiment de Guyenne began the Seven Years War serving on the French coast to protect the ports of Normandy and Brittany from British raids. Indeed, the regiment’s 1er Battalion spent the whole war in this role, taking part in the successful defence of Cherbourg in August 1758. For the 2eme Battalion, however, the war would prove to be rather more eventful as, during the summer of 1755, they were shipped out to Nouvelle France.

After initial garrison duty at Fort Frontenac, the battalion fought in most of the major actions of the war, including the victories at Fort William Henry and Fort Carillon, and the defeat at Quebec. They remained with the field army until the final surrender at Montreal, whereupon the bulk of the survivors returned to Europe and were incorporated into the regiment’s 1er – now only – battalion. However, thirty volunteers ended up in the West Indies as part of the provisional Picquets de Saint-Domingue. In 1762, as part of Choiseul’s reform of the French military, the Régiment de Guyenne was disbanded and its men incorporated into the Régiment Dauphin.