page_title: Fort Carillon
section_title: Les troupes de terre
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Carillon / Garrison at Fort Carillon / Les troupes de terre
caption_attribution_description: English: French Regiment Flags
context_page_description: Fort Carillon, the precursor of Fort Ticonderoga, was constructed by Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada, to protect Lake Champlain from a British invasion. Situated on the lake some 15 miles south of Fort Saint Frédéric, it was built to prevent an attack on Canada and slow the advance of the enemy long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
  Assigned to remedy Fort Saint Frédéric's inability to resist a constant British threat to the south, French King's Engineer Michel Chartier de Lotbinière began construction of Fort Carillon where Lake George, at that time called Lac Saint Sacrement, joins Lake Champlain by the La Chute river. Construction began in October 1755.
context_section_description: The troupes de la terre were composed of professional soldiers of the French Army, sent from France to America, who were disciplined and well trained. At Fort Carillon in 1758, these troops were made up of the second battalions of seven regiments sent from different regions of France.  The regiments represented in the garrison were those of La Reine (345 soldiers), Guyenne (470 soldiers), Berry (450 soldiers), Béarn (410 soldiers), La Sarre (460 soldiers), Royal Roussillon (480 soldiers), and Languedoc (426 soldiers). The Berry regiment also had a second battalion, but their numbers were not known. The requisite white uniform of the French regular infantry is likely to have been similarly modified for all the battalions. The uniform of the Régiment de Guyenne and Régiment Berry was a bit like the Régiment de la Reine: a white-grey coat with red reversed sleeves with three ornate buttons, red vest, white-grey pants, and black shoes with metallic buckles. However, contrary to La Reine, the tricorn hat was black felt with a gold medallion. The uniforms of the other regiments had blue vests and blue cuffs, except for Régiment de La Sarre which had red vests and blue cuffs. The French musket was of a smaller caliber than the British musket.
caption: Regiment flags at Fort Carillon
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