Glories to Useless Heroism

‘These are the facts and notes taken by a soldier on campaign, written daily, sometimes in a tent, sometimes in a canoe, today in the presence of the enemy, tomorrow in conference with a tribe of savages.' This succinct description is taken from the original French Edition of the journal of Comte Maurès de Malartic. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the daily life of a French soldier. Malartic, major of the Régiment de Béarn, sailed to the North American colony of New France in 1755 as France responded to British forces sent out to Virginia in the same year. As war escalated, he remained in the colony for the next six years and was present at all the major engagements in what came to be known as the French and Indian War, or Seven Years War. For an account of the French in North America many historians have relied until now on the English translations of Bougainville, another French soldier who later found fame as an explorer of the Pacific Ocean.