The 'Milice de la Sainte-Famille de Jésus, Marie et Joseph' existed between 1663 and 1666 to provide additional protection to the colonists who were constantly being attacked by the Iroquois. Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, first Governor of Montréal, raised this group to provide relief to the militia forces in Montréal, Trois-Rivières and Québec. They had been on almost constant duty and had been accompanying the farmers to the fields during the day, regularly patrolling the St. Lawrence River, and standing guard at their posts on the walls of the settlements every night. The existing militia unit in Montréal simply did not have sufficient men to continue to perform all the required duties. Montréal, situated close to the main Iroquois invasion route on the Richelieu River, was far more vulnerable to raids than Trois-Rivières and Québec. The 'Soldats de la Milice de la Sainte-Famille de Jésus, Marie et Joseph' consisted of 20 squads of 7 men each. Their job was to provide additional guards for workers in the fields and relieve the Montreal militia for nightly guard duty on the walls of the town. Following the arrival of the Carignan Regiment in 1665, Governor de Maisonneuve disbanded the 'Soldats de la Sainte-Famille de Jésus, Marie et Joseph'. During the three years of the existence of the 'Milice de la Sainte-Famille", the unit lost only eight men to Iroquois war parties.