During the first half of the eighteenth century, there was no set uniform prescribed for officers of the Compagnies franches. The officers' uniforms were basically finer versions of those provided for the soldiers. Since each officer supplied his own, the quality of the cloth and tailoring depended on how much he could afford. Besides the spontoon, an officer was recognized by the gorget which he wore at his neck. This silver or gold piece had evolved from the item of armour which in earlier times had been worn to protect the throat (gorge). Officers usually wore wigs, but did not powder them as did other men of the upper class.
These men were often second or third generation officers in the colony, their fathers or grandfathers having arrived from Newfoundland or Acadia with the original garrison, or shortly thereafter. Because of their social class they felt entitled and obliged to maintain certain privileges and a genteel way of life. As nearly everything had to be brought from France, it was very expensive to maintain the material quality of daily life enjoyed by men of similar status in Europe. In order to supplement their military pay, some officers dabbled in commercial ventures, with mixed results.
The cost of a soldier's uniform was deducted directly from his pay, but there were inevitably other goods which the men sought in order to make life in Louisbourg more tolerable. Officers were required by the military regulations of the day to provide such goods. The cost of the items, which included alcoholic beverages, was deducted from the soldiers' military pay. Since this pay was small, it was often insufficient to compensate an officer for his outlay. Charges that officers forced the men to turn over their construction pay were made but never substantiated. Though soldiers bought a good deal from their officers, they were rarely without enough money to visit one of the local cabarets or supplement garrison rations with another meal.
