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Late in 1754, Britain dispatched two battalions of regulars, under the command of MajorGeneral Edward Braddock, to North America. When news of the British plans reached Paris, six battalions of French line infantry were ordered to proceed to New France to counter the British move. The battalions were from the regiments of Artois, Bourgogne, Bearn, Guyenne, La Reine, and Languedoc. The French troops sailed for Canada early in May 1755, accompanied by their commander, Baron Dieskau, and the Marquis de Vaudreujl, who was to replace the ailing Duquesne as Governor of New France. During the voyage, eight companies of regulars were lost when the vessels Alcide and Lys were captured by the British and four companies of both the Languedoc and La Reine battalions were taken prisoner. The Artois and Bourgogne regiments disembarked at the fortress of Louisbourg, and the remaining four battalions proceeded to Quebec. A full-strength French regular battalion of the period numbered thirty-one officers and 525 soldiers, divided into one grenadier and twelve fusilier companies. As the four companies lost to the Royal Navy were not replaced until late 1757, the regiment de Languedoc began its service in Canada badly under strength. The Marquis de Montcalm arrived early in the summer of 1756 to replace the unfortunate Dieskau. Under the leadership of this able commander the regiment de Languedoc took part in the capture of Fort William Henry in 1757, and in the successful defence of Ticonderoga in 1758. When Montcalm drew up his army on the Plains of Abraham to face Wolfe's regulars on 13 September 1759, the Languedoc battalion stood third from the right in the French line of battle. The regiment also formed part of the French force that returned to Quebec in the spring of 1760 to defeat the British at the Battle of Sainte-Foy. The arrival of the British fleet broke the siege of Quebec, and Levis withdrew his troops to Montreal to carry on the unequal struggle. On September 8, the French capitulated; six days later, the Languedoc battalion embarked for France.
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