Fathers who Fought in the French & Indian War

I recently purchased  Combattre pour la France en Amérique  published by Le Projet Montcalm.

This is an amazing book because it helps to identify the common French foot soldiers who participated in the conflict for North America in North America.  Apparently, common soldiers in the British lineup were identified but, in comparison, the common French soldiers were overlooked and under reported.
I also want to give acknowledgement to Larry Roux and his research which he freely shares on White Coats.  His information is boundless and I am very thankful to him.

According to this text reference, the Wills Family and Mylott Families have several ancestors who were soldiers from France who came to Quebec to fight in the Seven Years War (called the French & Indian War by the English).  After the conflict ended, these men did not return to France. They married women who were born in Quebec.  I haven't been able to verify the same in the Rivet family - yet...but stay reading this blog because I will post if and when I find them.

The men were:

• Pierre-Nicolas-Côme-Damien Millot dit Champagne, the progenitor of the Millot - Mylott clan.  He was born on the 27th of September 1737 in Villiers-le Sec, Haute Marne, France and  enlisted in the Regiment Guyenne, Campagnie Pressac in 1759, late in the course of the conflict.  His parents were Jean Millot and Marie Richez. he remained in Quebec and several years after the end of the war, in 1766, he married Marie Josephte  Guyon in Vercheres. 

A soldier of the Regiment Guyenne

• In the same regiment, Jean Jacques Dubord dit St Chaumont, an ancestor in the Wills-Beauvais line, fought but was not so lucky.  Arriving in 1756,  he was hospitalized in Montréal in 1759 but survived long enough to marry in 1760 in Chambly.  It was short lived - he died the following year in Chambly perhaps from wounds or smallpox which ravaged the troops during the conflict.  His widow,  Marie Lacoste dit Languedoc,  remarried.

Colors of the Regiment de Guyenne

• Martin Delmas dit Delmas, another Wills-Beauvais ancestor and soldier in the Guyenne Regiment, enlisted on April 17, 1753 in the Company Cornier.  He probably saw quite a bit of action and he too was hospitalized in Montréal in December 1755. He did not return to France but remained in Québec marrying  Marguerite Circé dit St Michel in August 1764 in St Denis sur Richelieu.  He died in the same place when he was 67 years old.
• Finally, Joseph Xavier Beauvais dit St. Joseph, a Wills-Beauvais ancestor, was born in Champagnole, France in 1730 and enlisted in the Regiment de Languedoc.  He married during the conflict to Josephte Desnoyers at Chambly and died in 1804.

Soldier in the Regiment de Languedoc

These forefathers participated in what Winston Churchill called the "First World War". It seems many of their descendants, our fathers, uncles and cousins, were soldiers in many wars and I hope to profile each and everyone in this blog.  This is just a beginning.....