Louis XV's Army (3): Foreign Infantry and Artillery PDF
Preview Louis XV's Army (3): Foreign Infantry and Artillery
~ MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES 304 MILITARY (3) LOUIS XV's ARMY FOR I FANTRY FirstpUblished'"GroatBritainIn1997by0sPf0£y.adivision01ReedConsum8l' Author's Note Booksumlhld.MichelinHOuse.81FulhamRoad.LondOnSoN36R8and Auckland.Melbourne.SingaporeandToronlO. ThISthIrdvOlumeinasenesorI,vedevotedtotheorganosation.unilonm;lfl(l weajlOns01LouisXV'sarmy.lhelargllSlmilitary10«>8In18thcenlurywesl""n oCopynghl1997ReedInte<nallOMl800ksUd Europe.examinesthalaf1laandoolourfuJestablishment01mercenary'foreign' Infantry.AnotherI~rtanlsegmentot\heFreocharmywasilsartillery.which Allnghl$rese<Ved.Apartlramany,airdealing'orthepu1pOSeorprivalestudy, • sawcollSOdetablelechnlcalch8l'l!l"duringLouisXV'sf8Illl'l.$j)eclatnotehas research,crkiClSrT\orteYoGw,aspermilleclund",,1heCopyright.Designsand beeng.ven10metropolitandetachmer'ltssetVlng0IIer'SeaS.asIheywerenearly PatentsAc••1988,nopart01thISpublicationmaybereproduee<l.sloredIna alwayspiIIedagainStBrillshorcolonialAmerlcanIorces. 'etneva!syslem,or1tansrnil1edinanyfOImorbyanyme;lllS,eleCtronIC.elec· InC81,cnenucal.mec:hanocal.optICal.photOCOPYing.recordingorolhelW'lSe. ThefourthvolumeWIllcoverthe~hltroopsIncludinghus.s8Isandlegions.and Withoutthepoorperm,S$lOflot\hecopyngtltowner.Enquiriesshouldbe aWllliarycorpssuchasengineers.staffofficersandlocalmiHtias.Thefinal ad<J(nse<!10thePUblishers. vOlumewllie-"'lminethecolonialtroopsandmilibasinNewFrance,thewest Indies.Alncaandhndia.aswaUasmannesandothernavaltroops~in OS~ France.IIlustraledbyawealth01conlemPQ(aryiII....trllllons.portrailsand 2ndFloor,Unrl6.SpringGasdeos,TIOWOf1/1Streel.VaUXhall.LondonSEll!>EH colourplaIn,IIIShopedthiscollectionofvOlu..mesWIllrermtilemOSIcomplete accountontheorganisationandmalerlaJC<JIIUte01LouisXV'sarmypub/ishllcl ISBN185532623X loracentuty. FilmsellnGrealBrrtain Themeasuresuse<!.n'AncIenReg,ms'Francaweresllghllyo/lterenlfromthose PnnledthrOughWorldPrJntLtd••HongKong usedonBritainandliscolonies,anImport<lnlfactor.especiallywhendeeling w~hartill"",.TheFrench12·1nct1lootwas12.789British(orImperial)inches. EMC)(:ShllfQnvanoerMeIWS ThustheFrencll12·onchmorl8rwascommonlylabelleda13·lncIlmo<1atby DeSign:AlanHamp tileBritiSh. forMile<InformalionaboutOspreyMllilaryPubllshM1gpleaseW1'lte10: ThemetneequivalentsoftheOldFrenchmeaswesara: OspreyMarkemg,MichelinHouse.81FuillamRoad.LondonSW3BRB 1FrenChInch.27.07mm, IFrenchfoot(12inches)=324.8641M'l, 1Frenchraisa(6'eat)=1949.164mm. I Frenctlpound• 489.49(IImperialpound=453.6g). Itonneau=489.4kg(1imperialIanhundredwefghl• 500,8kg) Publisher's Note Rea<leJsmaywishtostudythis1~leinconjunctionwilhtheIOIIOWIng0_ put>licalJOnS: MAA296LouisXV'sArmy(JJCavalryandDragoons 302 MAA LouisXV'sArmy(2)FrMChInfantry m MAA285King~'$Amty1740-83 MAA289KingGeo.rve'sAmty1740-93(21 MAA292KlIlgGeotge~Anny1740-83131 MAA236FredancklheGrear'$ArmymCsva/ry MAA240FredMicJ<theGrear'sArmy(2)Irrfatrtry MAA248Fre<ie<idrtheGreat'sArmy(31SpeciaJisr MAA271 TheAustrianArmy1740·80(J)cavalry MAA276n~Avslr1011'lArmyIT4()·80(2)Infanlry MAA280TneAvs!fll/ilArmy1740-$0(3)SpeciaJisr MAA203LOUJs.XIV'sArmy Artist's Note ReaoelsmayC8Jll10nolelIIattheoriginalpainlingsfromwtllcl>lheCOlOur platesInIhisbookwerepreparedareavailablelOtprivalesale.Allreproduction copyrighlwh_erisretainedbythePubisher.Allenquiriesshouldbe addresse<l10' M.EugeneI.eliepvre,33rue8oileau.92120Montrouge,France ThePublishersregret!NIttheycanenlerinlonocorrespondenceupon tn.smatle<. RENECHARTRAND,wasbornIn MontrealandeducatedIn Caneda,theUnitedStatesand theBahames.Aseniorcurator withCanada'sNationalHistoric Sitesfornearlythreadecades, heI.nowafreelancewriterand historicalconsultantforcinema andhistoricsiterestorations. Hehaswrittennumerous articlesandbooksIncluding almost20Ospreytitlesandthe firsttwovolumesofCanedlan MllitlJryHerlfsge.Alsoastudent ofwines,hecurrentlylivesIn Hull,Quebec,withhiswifeand twosons. EUO~NELELI~PVREhasbeen paintingmilitarysubjectsfor overfiftyyears.In1950he wasmedetheOfficialPainter totheFrenchArmyandheIs alsoafellowoftheCompany ofMilitaryHistorians.An acknowledgedexperton 18th centurymilitarysubjects,heIs marriedandlivesInParis. LOUIS XV's ARMY (3) FOREIGN INFANTRY AND ARTILLERY INTRODUCTION BELOWMarshalMauricedeSaxe. By long-standing tradition, as well as by sh er numbers, the Certainlythemostdistinguished importance offoreign regiments in the French army was consid ofthe'foreign'soldiersinthe erable. Since the Middle Ages, the rulers of France had called serviceofFranceandoneofthe upon mercenaries from various neighbouring nations to form units greatcaptainsof18thcentury which were often among the finest in the army. Indeed, this u-adition is warfare,theGerman-bornde SaxebroughtLouisXVthe still very much alive today in the form of the French Foreign Legion, greatestvictoriesofthereign: arguably one of the world's finest fighting units. Marshal Maurice de Fontenoyand Law1eld. Partof Saxe, himselfa foreigner, defined rather strikingly the value offoreign hisgeniuslayinhisdeepunder troops in 1748: 'AGerman' [orother foreign soldierin French pay], he standingofthestrengthsand wrote, 'countsfor three men: hesaves one in the kingdom, he takesone weaknessesoftheFrench soldier:bravetoexcess,but awayfrom ourenemies and he serves us'. liabletobeunstableinbattle.He Foreign regiments were meant to compensate for some of the per skilfullyexploitedthesefeatures ceived weaknesses of French-born soldier who sometimes lacked byvigorousopeningattacks, steadinessandmanoeuvred indifferently,altllough theywereexceedingly shrewdlyfollowed bylessening bravewhen charging.Bycontrast, the Swissand G rmanswere renowned theintensityofthefighting, whilemaintainingthetactical for theirsteadinessunder heavyfire and for their precision drill . pressureontheenemywith The foreign infantry regiments numbered about 20,000 men constantmanoeuvres.(Print between 1716 and 1733; around 34,000 during the Polish War of aftera1748portraitbyQuentin Succession of 1734-1735; some 22,600 until 1741-1748, when tlleir delaTour) establishmentjumped to 58,000; it went down to about 31,000 until the SevenYears' War, when itwentup to 48,000andwas reduced by 20,000 men atwar's end. SWISS TROOPS OF THE ROYAL GUARD The Swiss, renowned for their bravery and fidelity throughout Europe, had been part oftlle French royal guard for centuries by the time Louis XV became king. Apart from the nominally Scotti h, but actually French, company of the Garde du Corps, the Swiss units were the only truly foreign units in the guard. Cent-Suisses The Cent-Suisses ('hundred-Swiss') palace guards originated in 1480,when King Louis XI first retained a company of Swiss soldier for hi personal guard. The company served for over tllree centuries a guards of the French royal family. TheirW1iformwasSwisscostume 'afteranantique manner' which, in time, became itsfull ceremonialdress. Itconsistedofa 16thcentury- tyle la hedjacketand baggy breeche ,both being red on the rightside and blueon the leftside,and almo tcoveredwith the royal liverylacecolours ofred andwhite;white tockingswith redandwhitegarter,whiteglove with red,whiteandbluefringesandshoebows.Astiffwhiteembroidered collarwas worn around the neck. The cap was blackvelvetwith a white plume.Theywerearmedwith 'ahalberd madein theshapeofa partisan, upon which is the king's arms in gold', and gold-hilted straightswords, according to Zur-Lauben's 1751 HistoireMilitaire des Suisses. For ordinary duties, they wore a blue coatwith red velvet cuffs, red lining, gold buttons and crimson ribbons on the right shoulder; a blue waistcoat with gold buttons, edged with gold lace, and further orna mented with the king' 'grand' livery lace; blue breeches and stocking; agold-laced tricorne; awhite bandoleer coveredwith 'grand' liverylace and edged with red, white and blue fringes. In 1759 the uniform changed to a blue coat with red cuffs and red lining, gold-laced but tonholes and broad gold lace edging; a red waistcoat, breeches and stocking, and a gold-laced tricorne. By the late 1730s, a campaign dress had also been added, consisting Guardsmanofthe'Cent-Suisses' ofa bearskin grenadiercap, a blue coatwith red cuffs, redwaistcoatand (Hundred-Swiss),c.1750,wearing breeche , and gold lace on the coat and waistcoat. Arms consisted of the 'antique'ceremonial dress. muskets with bayonets. On campaign, the Cent-Suisses erved with the (AnneS.K.Brown Military Collection, Brown University) gr nadier ofthe Swiss Guards. Officers of the Cent-Sui ses did not have the Swi style 'antique' ceremonialW1iform, butwore scarlet coats, wai tcoats, breeches and stockings, with gold buttons and gold lace. Drummer appear only to have added a drum belt covered with livery lace (and apparently gold lace at the centre) for the ceremonial order ofdress. Other W1iforms would have been trimmed with livery lace.Thedrumswerebluewith the royalarmsand other devices in gold. Gardes-Suisses The Swi Guards originated in the 16th century, but only became part ofthe royal guard in 1616. By the 18th century there were 12 companie of 200 men each in wartime; the war service of this regimentwasfrequent and always outstanding. The uniform was a red coat with blue lining and cuffs; a blue waistcoat, breeches and stockings' white metal buttons,white pointedlace on the coat and wai tcoat, and ilver lace on the hat.The lacewas etin threes, in the ame style a tlle Gardes-Fran~aises. Gaiters came into u e during the 1730, and the blue linings were turned back during the 1740s. From 1763, the blue cuffs,lapelsand collarwereedgedwithwhite lace, and linings, waistcoats and breeches were 4 white. The bastion-shaped buttonhole lace was white from 1767. Accoutrements were buff, edged with white leather until 1763, when they became white. The cartridge box was of reddi h brown Rus ian leather, tamped with the royal arms which were high lighted bya ilverwa h. ergeants of the Gardes-Sui e had the ame uniform a the men, but their lace wa 'ilver, and they had additional silver lace edging the cuff and pocket flaps. They also had silver-laced belts and were armed with halberds and silver-hilted sword. Drummers of the Swiss Guards wore thesameking'sliverylacedescribed (seeMAA302Louis,>,,'V'sArmy (2) French Infantry) for the French Guard, but with blue wai tcoat, breechesand toekings,silver-laced hats.Theirdrumswere bluewith the king' arm painted in gold. The trabans, peculiar to Swiss units, ranked asnon-eommi ionedofficersandwore the colonel'slivery,which, in the wi Guard, was the king's livery. They are hown in 1721 with livery lace on the coat and red waistcoat, but this may not have been alway foUowed to the letter. They were armed with a halberd. The officer had red coatswith red (notblue) cuffs and lining, silver buttons, wide lace on the seams; blue waistcoatwith silver buttons and lace; blue breeches and blue, later white, stocking and gaiter. Red coats with blue cuffs and lining with silver lace and buttons, could al 0 be worn a an undress. The hats were laced with silver and had white plume. Swis officer had a silvergorget. Theywere armed with a ilver hilted word and a spontoon. Garde Suisse de Monsieur, Garde Suisse du Comte d'Artois Loui XV authori ed personal Swiss palace guards for each of his two grand on , Monsieur Ie Comte de Provence and the Comte d'Artois. The Garde Suisse de Monsieurwas raised in April 1771, consisting of47 Powderhorn marked'Cent officer and men, and wore a red coatwith blue collar, lapels, cuffs and Suisses'withbrassfurnishings, lining, a blue wai tcoat, red breeche and tockings, gold and silver c.1730.Thistypeofpowder horn, holdingaboutapoundof mixedlaceandsilver buttons, asilver-laced hatwith white plumes, and a blackpowder,wasthestandard modelusedbyinfantry.(Musee del'Armee, Paris) Guardsmenofthe 'Cent-Suisses' in 1760.Atleft,theceremonial dress;atcentre,theordinary dutydress;atright, campaign dress.(RoyalLibrary,Madrid) white and gold bandoleer. The Garde Suisse du Comte d'Artois were raised from November 1773, and wore a green coatwith crimson collar, lapels, cuffs, lining, a crimson waistcoat, breeches and stockings, silver andgold mixed lace, silverbuttons, asilver-laced hatwithawhite plume, and a white and gold bandoleer. Arms consisted ofswords and muskets. Both units were disbanded in 1792. FOREIGN LINE INFANTRY ORGANISATION The Swissformed the largestcontingentand probably the most reliable body of foreign troops in the line infantry. A French saying stated: 'pas d'argent, pas de Suisses' - no money, no Swi . It echoed popular grumblingatthe high costofforeign soldiers,butasfaras theSwisswere concerned, itwas misplaced, as their payremained the same from 1672 to 1763. Considered among the finest and bravest troops in the army, they were especially steady in battle, but often suffered heavy losses. Thus, when a French courtier remarked that the gold paid to the Swiss would pave a wide road from Paris to Basle, a Swiss colonel replied TrabanoftheSwissGuards, that the blood of Swiss soldiers would fill an equally wide canal from c.1724,wearingthecolonel's Ba Ie to Paris. livery(inthiscasetheking's). Swiss regimentswere raised according to 'capitulations', agreements (AnneS.K.BrownMilitary Collection,BrownUniversity) between the French Crown and Swiss cantons or officers. Swiss line infantry regiments were usually the most numerous of the foreign troops in the French army. By 1740, the ten Swiss regiments numbered 12,550 officers and men. ine battalion were added during the Austrian War of Succe sion, which raised number to 20,000. Following peace in 1748, the Swiss e tablishment went down to 14,000, butwas up again to over18,200bytheend ofthe Seven Years' War, and down to 12,300from 1763. Swiss regiments consisted of large com panies of175 officers and men until 1748, and of 120 until 1763. Regiments had eight companies until 1743, when four companieswere added. A feature peculiar to Swiss units was the inclusion of about four trabans armed witll halberds in each company. Trabans were a remnant ofmedieval practices which allowed tlle company captain an e cort ofmen. Although not included in the official establishment, except in the Swiss Guards, tlley could be seen dressed in the colonel's livery. Before 1763, Swiss line reg iments had no grenadiers on the official establishment but, especially after the Seven Years' War, a few senior men in each company were identified assuch and given bearskin caps. There were only five German regiments during the firstdecadesofLouis XV'sreignwith a total establishment of3,760 men in 1740. During the War of Austrian Succession, however, the numbers were doubled to 7,040 by 1743, with more German regiments rai ed by recruiting mostly in the Rhineland and the Palatinate. They were joined by French-speaking Walloon units from Belgium and otherregimentsfrom Lorraine and Barrois. By 1748, there were 14 regiments totalling some 26,270 men. This was reduced to 9,520 men in 12 regiments by 1750; raised to 16 regiments with 19,040 men by 1758; numbers went down to ten regiments with 18,360 men by 1762; and after the Seven Years' War, eight regi ments with a peacetime strength of9,272. These German Walloon, Lorraine and Barrois units all had the same organisation, each havingbattalions ofeightcompanie .Eachcompanyhad40 men in peacetime, and 80 to 85 in wartime. Grenadiers did not form a di tinct company, but were a six man squad in each company. The establishment of Italian regiments, rela tively numerou in previous reigns, was very moderate under Loui XV. By then, most recruits were actually French or Corsican. There was only one regiment, Royal-Italien, until 1739 when Royal-Corse was rai ed, consisting ofbattalions of ColourbeareroftheSwiss 12 companies of50 men each in peacetime, and 90 in war. Guards,c.1724.Thecolourshad From 1715therewereafewIrish regiments totallingonlyabout3,000 quarterswithwavyflames, officers and men in five regiments by 1740. But their numbers shot up typicalforSwissregiments,with to nearly7,000duringtheAu trianWarofSucce ionwith theformation thewhitecrossofFrance.The ofanother Irish regiment, Lally's, and by the addition ofthree Scottish flameswereblue,yellowand red.Theofficer'sdresscoatwas regiments. umberswere reduced tosome 5,200 by1750, up to 6,300 in completelyscarlet,lacedwith 1757,and down to 2,930in 1763.Thecomposition ofthe companiesand silver.(AnneS.K. BrownMilitary battalions of the Irish and Scottish regiments was the same as tlle Collection,BrownUniversity) 'French' regiments, with the addition ofdi tinct grenadier companies. Scottish regiments also had pipers. Officers and men in the Swiss and German units offoreign infantry were often Protestants, butonlyCatholicscouldenli tin Italian,Scotsor Irish regiments. Protestant mini tel' were attached to regiments that required them. At first glance, the foreign regiments appeared to have been recruited along strict national lines, but this was not actually the case. Therewere exemptions for some nationalitie and the language poken and understood in the unit was a prime con ideration. For example, men from Alsace and Lorraine could choose to enlistin either French, German or Swi s units. From 1696, Swi s recruiters could also enlist Germans, Poles, Danes and Swede in their regiment, although Germans were distrusted because oftheir tendency to desert. The German regiments were not defined by nationality a such, but ratherbythe languageofcommand u edin the unit.Alsatians, although technically French subjects, usually understood both German and French, andwere eagerlysoughtbyboth German andSwi recruiter as they had an excellent reputation as dependable soldier. German- speaking recruits from Austria or further east were also enlisted. In reality, as one observer noted with some irony in 1763, one third ofthe men in German regimentscame from Alsace and Lorraine, a thirdwere Frenchmen using false identities, and another third were all sorts of foreigners whose dailydesertionswere almost routine. Otherunits were actually francophones recruited in the nominally foreign areas, such as Walloons from the then Austrian Flanders, or men from Lorraine and Barrois. Irish units had originally been raised from refugees in France in the late 17th century, butas yearswentby, recruiting became more difficult in spite ofthe fact thatsoldiers' sons oftenjoined the regiments. In the first halfofthe 18th century, there was some discreet recruiting in the southern Irish counties ofClare, Kerry and Connaught, and men were smuggled away to France. This was carried out with tentative British approval in the 1720s and 1730s. During wartime, English deserters claiming to be Roman Catholics could also be incorporated in the Irish regiments. From 1745,recruitingin Ireland becamefarmore difficultas Britain was now totallyopposed to the practice. So, as the years went by, increasing numbers of Frenchmen enlisted in units which gradually became Irish in name only. Scottish regiments were raised from Jacobite Scots in France and thosewho laterescapedto FranceafterCullodenin 1746.Therewasalso some quiet recruiting among Catholics in the Scottish Highlands, but FARLEFT FusilieroftheSwiss Guards,c.1724.(AnneS.K. BrownMilitaryCollection, Brown University) . LEFT Backviewofafusilierof theSwissGuards,c.1724.(Anne S.K. Brown MilitaryCollection, BrownUniversity) this was frowned upon by the British. There were enough Scotti h officer, but as the year pa sed, providing new Scots recruits wa an even greater challenge than for Irish units, so these regiments had also lost much oftheir national character by the end of1762, when the last were disbanded. Manyforeign regiments were disbanded or amalgamated at the end of the Seven Years' War, but the army still maintained a sizeable con tingent. The reformsmadein the armyreached theforeign regimentsin a series of regulations issued during 1763. The organisation was streamlined to two battalion of eight companie each; companie of Swiss regiments were pared down to 66 officers and men, the other nationalities to 58 officers and men. Uniforms were now furnished by the government, and captains were no longer expected to run the interioreconomyofcompanies. In addition to the officialforeign regiments, therewere thousands of other foreigners in French pay serving in the light troops and in the colonial troops which will be covered in volumes 4and 5. DrummeroftheSwissGuards, c.1724.Hewearstheblue-Iined UNIFORMS redcoatoftheking'sliverywith thegrandliverylace.(AnneS.K. What has already been described for the French line infantry uniforms BrownMilitaryCollection, Brown University) in the previous volume remains largely true for foreign infantry regi ments. (See MAA302.) The 1729, 1736, 1747, 1762and 1767orders,for instance, also applied to foreign regiments. The coat colour, however, wasredforSwi sand Irish regiments, blueformostGermanandScottish units and grey-white or blue for the others. The cut was generally the sameas theFrenchinfantry, butsomedetailsweredifferent: some units had lapels much earlier than French infantry regiments, for example, and many had laced buttonholes. Therankdistinctionsofofficer offoreign infantrywere thesame as in the French infantry. Theywere towear the sameuniform as the men, butmade ofbetter materials, with gold orsilver buttons and lace. However, some portraits show that deviation were more common with foreign officers. Until the 1750s Swiss and German officers favoured a row of buttons on both sides of the coat front, for example. In some case, the but tonholesofSwissofficershad blue twistcordwhenonred. Regiments that had laced buttonholes on the men' coats would have the same feature on the officers' uniform. The waistcoatwaslacedwithgoldorsilver, sometimeswith richly embroidered buttonholes. Hatscould also be een with white plumes edging the brim. On duty, the Swiss officers wore ilvered gorgets; those of German units were ofpolished steel and those ofother nationalitieswere gilded like the French infantry. Foreignofficers' spontoonsweregenerallyas in the French regiments, although Germans tended to have the wide bladed spontoon typical oftheir nation. Sergeants, corporals and anspessades (lance corporals) generally had the same rank distinctions as the French infantry but there could be exceptions on details. A Royal-Barroi clothing bill of 1759 mention black lace edging the white cuffs of the corporals and anspessades.
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