History Browser

The peoples of the Pacific coast were formidable fighters during the 18th and 19th centuries. Their warriors used bows and javelins, carried clubs and bone-bladed daggers, and could wear wooden armour. They preferred a mass assault, but treachery during 'friendly' meetings were not rare.

This Norman (or Viking) axe man holds a Danish style battle axe. Vikings were also called ‘Norman’ — men of the north — by the Dark Ages French. A large group of Vikings occupied and settled on the north-western coast of France in what became Normandy. This is the region from which many of the French settlers to New France came in the 17th century. It is also where the Canadian Army landed on D-Day on 6 June 1944. Print after Viollet-Leduc from the Bayeux tapestry.

These French soldiers wear a style of clothing common through much of Western Europe in the early seventeenth century. Note the musket rest carried by the man at left, and the pike carried by the man in the background. Mid-19th century engraving after a drawing by Alfred de Marbot.

Pikemen’s armour and pikes were sent to Quebec during the 1620s. The armour appears to have been worn by some soldiers until the later 1630s although it seems the pikes were hardly ever used. In Europe, pikemen were still seen in battlefields, albeit in decreasing numbers, right until the end of the 17th century. In America, pikes or halberds might have been used by a few ceremonial guards and sergeants but were not otherwise carried.

Tactical developments during WW1 had a significant impact on how wars would be fought, and the kinds of equipment and weapons that would be used. Engineers became a combat arm in their own right increasing the mobility of troops through enemy obstacles and demolitions.

At this time, the Compagnies franches de la Marine de l'Acadie et de Plaisance wore slightly different uniforms from the Compagnies franches de la Marine du Canada. This sergeant wears the red cuffs and stockings particular to his rank, and a blue coat and waistcoat instead of the grey-white coat and blue waistcoat worn by the common soldiers. Another distinction is the silver lace on a sergeant's hat. Finally, this man carries a halbard, the distinctive weapon of sergeants in European armies. Reconstruction by Francis Back. (Parks Canada)

After 1732, officers in Canada officially adopted uniforms. Before that time, their dress was subject only to fashion and the wishes of their commanding officer. This man's gorget (a small piece of throat armour worn when on duty) and half-pike mark him out as an officer. Reconstruction by Michel Pétard. (Parks Canada)

These Amerindian warriors show some of the variations of appearance to be seen in the first half of the 18th century. Despite their adoption of many European weapons and articles of clothing, the first nations preserved a resolutely Amerindian look by integrating all this with their tattoos and body paint. The central figure is a chief. Reconstruction by David Rickman. (Canadian Department of National Defence)

Canadian militia preferred to use light hunting muskets of small calibre. The Canadians were noted for their accurate shooting. Militiamen were supposed to provide their own weapons, but the government was sometimes forced to issue weapons.

Three types of costumes common to all Amerindian tribes are shown. Reconstruction by David Rickman. (Canadian Department of National Defence)