Le Grande Recrue de 1653

In 1651, the need to defend the newly created town of Montreal (Ville-Marie) from the attacking Iroquois became apparent. M. Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve went to France to enlist one hundred men to protect the perimeter of the town and, two years later, he returned with these brave men.

The men came from Picardie, Champagne, Ile-de-France, Normandie, Anjou and Maine (especially LaFleche) area. In the spring of 1653, approximately 150 men signed contracts before notaries with the Company of Montreal. For various reasons, less than 105 arrived in Ville-Marie. The original departure from Nantes (Loire-Atlantique Department, Pays-de-la-Loire Region) was scheduled for the spring of 1653 but, after multiple delays, the vessel 'Saint-Nicolas-de-Nantes' set sail for New France on June 20th under the command of Captain Pierre le Besson.

The 'Saint-Nicolas-de-Nantes' was apparently in very poor shape and constantly took on water. Despite the best efforts of the crew and enlistees, it became necessary to sail back to Nantes after 350 miles at sea. Interestly, Mr. de Maisonneuve, realizing that many of the enlistees might desire to stay in France after their recent 'adventure', put his soldiers on an island from which they could not escape! On July 20th, the replacement ship set sail for the New World.

On September 22, 1653, the ship landed at Quebec after 64 days aboard ship. When they arrived, Governor de Lauzon refused to let them have the necessary boats to complete their journey to Ville-Marie as they were sorely needed to defend Quebec. The group finally arrived at Ville-Marie on November 16th.

Below are the enlistees.


Pierre Anselin
Jacques Andru
Jehan Auger dit Baron
Maurice Averty dit Leger
Francois Avisse
Jacques Balue
Valerie de Barbousson
Bardet
Pierre Bareau dit Logogue
Yves Bastard
Urbain Baudreau dit Graveline
Antoine Baudry dit L'Epinette
Beaudoin
Pierre Beauvais
Rene Bellenger
Charles Jean Beliot
Paul Benoit dit Nivernois
Rene Besnard dit Bourjoli
Gilles Biards
Louis Biteau dit St. Laurent
Francois Blanchard dit Belleville
Jacques Boivin dit Panse
Rene Bondu
Rene Bondy
Jean Bonneau
Estienne Bouchard
Augustin Boullay
Jacques Boutelou
Michel Bouvier
Pierre Bouze
Jacques Brassier
Urbain Brossard
Rene Cadet
Jean Cadieu
Guillaume Chartier dit Robert
Louis Chartier
Jean Chaudronnier
Pierre Chauvin dit le Grand Pierre
Jean Chesneau
Louis Chevalier
Antoine Chevasset
Nicolas Cornier
Rene Coubart
Mathurin Coudret
Francois Coudreux
Francois Crusson dit Pilote
Honore Danny dit Tourangeau
Pierre Darondeau
Julien Daubigeon
Jean Davoust
Jean Deniau
Marin Deniau dit Destaillis
Pierre Desautels dit Lapointe
Zacharie Desorson
Simon Despres dit Berri
Jesse Dessommes
Louis Doguet (Danguet)
Jehan Dolbeau
Rene Doussin
Fiacre Ducharme dit Lafontaine
Nicolas Duval
Jacques Fleury
Louis Fontaine dit le petit Louis
Etienne Foucault
Francois Foucault
Jean Fresnot
Gilles Fricquet
Pierre Frogeau
Jean Fruitier
Christophe Gaillard dit le Prieur
Simon Galbrun (Galbout)
Francois Gallois
Jean Gasteau
Guillaume Gendron dit la Rolandiere
Jehan Gervaise
Noel Gillet (Gilles)
Pierre Godin dit Chatillon
Louis Gregoire
Louis Guertin dit le Sabotier
Pierre Guesery (Guesary, Dezery)
Jean Guyet (Guyot)
Pierre Hardy
Pierre Hardy
Francois Herisse
Rene Houray dit Grandmont
Hubay
Francois Hudin
Toussaint Hunault dit Deschamps
Andre Hurtebise
Marin Hurtebise
Marin Jannot dit LaChapelle
Urbain Jette
Mathurin Jouanneau
Nicolas Jousselin
Mathurin Jousset dit Laloire
Etienne Lairt (Lert)
Mathurin Langevin dit LaCroix
Louis La Soudraye
Gilles Lauzon
Jean Lecomte
Michel Lecomte
Pierre Lefebvre dit LaPierre
Jean LeMercher dit LaRoche
Joachim LePallier
Simon LeRoy
Michel Louvard dit DesJardins
Olivier Martin dit Lamontagne
Pierre Martin dit LaRiviere
Nicolas Millet dit Le Beauceron
Jacques Millot (or Milhaut)
Guy Motain (or Motais)
Pierre Moulieres
Jacques Mousseau dit LaViolet
Jacques Nail
Francois Nocher
Jean Olivier dit Le Petit Breton
Pierre Papin
Hugues Picard dit LaFortune
Jean Pichard
Francois Piron dit LaVallee
Pierre Piron
Jean Prestrot dit LaViolette
Pierre Raguideau dit St. Germain
Bertrand Rennes dit Pachane
Etienne Robin dit DesForges
Claude Robutel de St. Andre
Rene Rodailler
Christophe Roger
Francois Roinay
Jean Tavernier dit LaForet
Michel Theodore dit Gilles
Sylvestre Vacher dit St. Julien
Jean Vallets (or Vallays)
Jean Valiquet dit LaVerdure

Source
Source (name spelled Gaudin instead of Godin)