Garrison, what for?

[Gilgalad]

I'm an old hand at Civ but new to Colonization.

What exactly is the garrison box in the settlement screen for? Do military units left here defend the settlement against attack? Any other function?

I can't find anything about this in the manual or the civolepedia.

Thanks.

 

[dalgo]

The garrison is like a waiting room for the colony. When you send colonists to a colony they wait in the garrison until you assign work for them in the colony. When you want to take colonists out of a colony you send them to the garrison first and then on the overland map you can send them to their destination. If you have soldiers or cannons in the garrison they will defend your colony against attack.