Editing Queen Anne's War (section)

==Technology and organization==
The colonial military technology used in North America was not as developed as in Europe. Only a few colonial settlements had stone fortifications at the start of the war, such as [[St. Augustine, Florida]], [[Boston]], [[Quebec City]], and [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador]], although Port Royal's fortifications were completed early in the war.<ref>Shurtleff, p. 492<!--Boston-->; MacVicar, p. 45<!--Port Royal-->; Arnade, p. 32<!--St. Augustine-->; Prowse, pp. 211<!--Plaisance-->, 223<!--St. John's--></ref> Some villages and settlements were protected by wooden [[palisade]]s, but many had little more than fortified wooden houses with [[Embrasure|gun ports]] through which defenders could fire, and overhanging second floors from which they might fire down on attackers trying to break in below.<ref>Leckie, p. 231</ref>

Europeans and colonists were typically armed with smooth-bore muskets that had a maximum range of about {{convert|100|yd|m}} but were inaccurate at ranges beyond half that distance. Some colonists also carried pikes, while Indigenous warriors either carried arms supplied by the colonists or were armed with weapons such as primitive [[Tomahawk (axe)|tomahawks]] and bows. A small number of colonists had training in the operation of cannon and other types of artillery, which were the only effective weapons for attacking significant stone or wooden defenses.<ref name=Pec26>Peckham, p. 26</ref>
[[File:PortRoyalAcadia1702.jpg|thumb|left|Stone fortifications of [[Port-Royal (Acadia)|Port Royal]], [[Acadia]], 1702. Few settlements had stone fortification at the start of the war.]]

English colonists were generally organized into militia companies, and their colonies had no regular military presence<ref name=Pec26/> beyond a small number in some of the communities of Newfoundland.<ref name=Prowse223>Prowse, p. 223</ref> The French colonists were also organized into militias, but they also had a standing defense force called the ''[[troupes de la marine]]''. This force consisted of some experienced officers and was manned by recruits sent over from France, numbering between 500 and 1,200. They were spread throughout the territories of New France, with concentrations in the major population centers.<ref>Peckham, p. 27</ref> Spanish Florida was defended by a few hundred regular troops; Spanish policy was to pacify the Indigenous peoples in their territory and not to provide them with weapons. Florida held an estimated 8,000 Indigenous peoples before the war, but this was reduced to 200 after English colonist raids made early in the war.<ref>Wright, p. 65</ref>