Gardes de la Marine
Encyclopedia
In France, under the Ancien Régime, the Gardes de la Marine (Guards of the Navy), or Gardes-Marine were young gentlemen picked and maintained by the king in his harbours to learn the navy service, and to train to be officers. They were organized in companies, divided up between the harbors of Brest
, Toulon
, and Rochefort
. All naval officers were drawn from these companies, which were the equivalent of the current naval school.
The king paid schoolmasters to instruct them in everything they needed to know to be good officers - there were masters in mathematics, drawing, writing, fortification, naval architecture
and construction,dance, hydrography, fencing etc.
They sailed on the king's ships, on which they served as soldiers, and acted in all roles on board. Undergoing further training at sea, they honed the skills they had learned ashore. Their orders, in cooperation with the captain of the vessel, included four hours intended for their different exercises. The first hour was in piloting and hydrography, the second for musketry and military manoeuvres, the third for cannon exercise, the fourth one for training in steering a ship, if time allowed, supervised by the captain or second in command, done by each of the gardes in turn.
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, and Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
. All naval officers were drawn from these companies, which were the equivalent of the current naval school.
The king paid schoolmasters to instruct them in everything they needed to know to be good officers - there were masters in mathematics, drawing, writing, fortification, naval architecture
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
and construction,dance, hydrography, fencing etc.
They sailed on the king's ships, on which they served as soldiers, and acted in all roles on board. Undergoing further training at sea, they honed the skills they had learned ashore. Their orders, in cooperation with the captain of the vessel, included four hours intended for their different exercises. The first hour was in piloting and hydrography, the second for musketry and military manoeuvres, the third for cannon exercise, the fourth one for training in steering a ship, if time allowed, supervised by the captain or second in command, done by each of the gardes in turn.
Source
- Dictionnaire encyclopédique de la noblesse de France, by Nicolas Viton de Saint-Allais, Paris, 1816.