Catholic Irish Brigade (1794–1798)
The Catholic Irish Brigade was a unit in the British Army during the French Revolutionary Wars, largely drafted from the formerly-hostile French Irish Brigade by a series of rare changes in British and French policy.
Context
The success of the Irish Brigade in
The Irish Brigade regiments lost their distinctive uniforms and were renamed and renumbered in 1791, and some of their officers were also executed, such as
Establishment
When the
Pitt invited several Irish Brigade officers to
Other officers, such as Henry Dillon, had no previous affiliation with France, but were cousins of, or descended from, officers of the formerly-French Irish Brigade.
Saint-Domingue / Haiti
In 1792 some regiments from the Irish Brigade were posted to
As well as Haiti, other units of the Catholic Irish Brigade were established in 1795 and posted to safer but more tedious and unglamorous garrison duties in places such as Nova Scotia.
Summary
While the Brigade only lasted for 4 years, with a maximum strength of 4,500 men, it demonstrated Pitt's understanding that many Irish Catholics would support his war against the French republican state. Losses from disease, difficulties in recruitment, competition from other formations and the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 all ended Pitt's experiment.[3]
It can be contrasted with the Napoleonic Irish Legion that served France from 1803 to 1815.
Bibliography
- McDonnell, Ciarán (April 2016). "A 'Fair Chance'? The Catholic Irish Brigade in the British Service, 1793–1798". War in History. 23 (2): 155–168. S2CID 155436332. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
References
- ^ NFB (4 November 2015). "Ireland's Wars: The End Of The French Irish Brigade".
- ^ Nini Rodgers. "The Irish in the Caribbean 1641-1837: An Overview". Society of Irish Latin American Studies.
- ^ fournationshistory (2 May 2016). "'Loyalty and Zeal': the Catholic Irish Brigade in the British service, 1793-98".