November 1st The four battalions destined to pass the winter in the government of Montreal have gone into their quarters. M. the Chevalier de Levis received orders from M. the Marquis de Vaudreuil [Governor of New France] and M. de Montcalm [Levis' brother in law and the commander in chief of the French army in Canada until his death in 1759] to reduce again the rations of the soldiers of the garrison of Montreal to a half livre [ French pound equal to roughly 1.1 English pounds] of bread, three quarters of beef, a quarter of cod and a quarter of peas with a half livre of bread paid in silver to begin as of the 1st of November; that of Quebec had been reduced by the same rate, which reduction had been executed without difficulty. M. the Chevalier de Levis spoke in person to the soldiers of Beam [one of the regular regiments sent to Canada from France. These were referred to as the troupes de terre.] and represented to them the indispensable necessity of submitting to this reduction of the provisions. Consequently, the regiment of Beam received their provisions at 9:00 in the morning in good grace without evincing the least dissatisfaction.

The troops of the Marine* who were to take them at the same hour refused to receive them or to submit to this reduction, and withdrew from where the distribution was being made. Their officers could not contain them. M. the Chevalier de Levis was not informed of the refusal of the provisions that the troops of the Marine had made until noon by Major M. Duplessis of Montreal who dined with him that day.

* Here he refers to les compagnies franche de la marine. These were troops recruited by the department of the navy in France and sent to the various colonies. They consisted of independent companies and were commanded by officers born in the colonies and were under the jurisdiction of the navy. One wonders why Levis had not spoken to the marines in the same way that he had already addressed the regiment of Bearn. Perhaps he felt that inasmuch as they were departmentally not under his formal command, that it was up to someone else to speak to them about the rationing.

M. the Chevalier de Levis told M. Duplessis that it was of great consequence and absolute necessity to force the soldiers to take the provisions. M. Duplessis told him that he had scolded the officers who were at the distribution and that he had ordered that the troops of the Marine were to be with the officers in the court of the Intendancy at two in the afternoon to be inspected there by the commissioner, and that he would tell the soldiers to take their provisions just as the troupes de terre had done.

After dinner, M. Duplessis left to go to the Intendancy. M. the Chevalier de Levis told him that if the soldiers of the Marine persisted in refusing provisions, he had warned him and that he would go there at once to force them to accept them.

An hour after M. Duplessis had departed from M. the Chevalier de Levis, he [Duplessis] sent him the sergeant major of the Marines to beseech him to go to the Intendancy, because the soldiers of the Marine persisted in their mutiny and in the refusal of the provisions.

M. the Chevalier de Levis went there at once with some officers of the troupes de terre who had dined with him; upon arriving, he found the soldiers of the Marine in a mob in the court and without order holding forth on evil subjects; he imposed silence on them and had them stand to arms, represented to them the necessity of submitting to the reduction of provisions, told them that the troupes de terre had submitted without difficulty, that it was necessary that they do the same, and that he would hang at once the first one who should hesitate in taking provisions. Consequently, he ordered the first company to take them; this they did, as did the rest of the troops of the Marine without further murmurs. They even apologized to M. the Chevalier de Levis, saying that Messieurs the officers had not explained to them very well the reasons for the reduction, and that henceforth they would be submissive to all the wishes of their superior. M. the Chevalier de Levis assured them also that he would guarantee that they would come to no harm, but that he would punish all the mutinous without mercy if they did it again.

He takes here a "carrot and stick approach."

M. the Chevalier de Levis told M. Duplessis, in the presence of all the soldiers of the Marine, that the refusal of the provisions had come only by the fault that Messieurs the officers had made in not explaining the intentions of Monsieur the General and that it was a case for forgiving the soldiers their refusal in accepting their provisions because they did not know the basis on which the reduction had been made.

After the inspection had been made and the provisions had been taken, the soldiers of the colony were sent into their quarters, to which they returned without a whimper, with satisfaction and praising M. the Chevalier de Levis. It was necessary, despite the unfavorable season, to go search at Carillon for two hundred quarts of flour, the town being entirely wanting.

M. the Marquis de Vaudreuil arrived in Montreal from Quebec November 10.

The 20th

At 8:00 in the evening, M. de Malartie [Malartic] major of Beam came to warn M. the Chevalier de Levis that several sergeants had come to the realization, as had M. de Alquier, commander of this regiment, that the soldiers of the Marine and some inhabitants were stirring up the soldiers of regiment of Warn to revolt and into refusing the provisions and that notes were being passed about.

M. the Chevalier de Levis ordered M. de Malartie to send some sergeants and some of the more influential soldiers into the field to try to apprehend the soldiers of the Marine or inhabitants who would be bearers of the notes or would hold forth on subjects that could lead to sedition; he ordered him at the same time to be at the distribution the following day with the captain and the lieutenant that customarily commanded, and that, if he himself saw that the soldiers were making the least difficulty in taking their provisions, that he send a sergeant immediately to inform him, and that he would go in a moment to the place of the distribution to restore order there.

M. the Chevalier de Levis asked M. Dalquier to bring him four grenadiers so that he could tell them his intentions.

M. the Chevalier de Levis told the four grenadiers that he was aware that the soldiers of the Marine and even the inhabitants had solicited the regiment of Beam into sedition and into refusing to take provisions: that he was persuaded that the soldiers of Beam knew their duties too well to listen to such a subject and that they would apprehend those that espoused them, and that it was in any event up to the troupes de terre to set a good example: that the King had sent them to defend this colony not only through arms, but further to endure all the miseries that the occasions would demand; that it was necessary to regard ourselves as in a besieged town deprived of all succor; that they not forget that it was up to the grenadiers to set an example, to be most obedient and to keep good counsel; that if a mutiny should happen, he would blame the grenadiers of Bearn; [This is definitely an added incentive] that it was upon them that he would make fall the first example; that he advised them of it, that it was up to them to conduct themselves in a way that he would not have any reproach to make against them in this respect; that moreover he would guarantee that they would come to no harm; and that he would render them all the services for which he was responsible. The grenadiers assured him that they would behave well and that he would not have any reproaches to make against them.

M. the Chevalier de Levis related to M. the Marquis de Vaudreuil all that had passed and the arrangements that he had taken so that no disorder would occur among the troupes de terre. M. de Vaudreuil approved them and told him that he was going to take the same arrangements for those of the Marine.

The 21st, the troupes de terre were ordered to the distribution where the grenadiers spoke to good purpose, and everything went well. After the distribution was completed, M. de Malartie went to M. the Chevalier de Levis who gave an account to M. the Marquis de Vaudreuil, where he found all the officers of the troops of the Marine assembled there. At eleven, the soldiers of this body went to the distribution, which was concluded in the same good order.

Horsemeat and Mutiny in Canada 1757: An Excerpt From Levis' Journal

Introduction
November, 1757
December, 1757
January, 1758

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