Irish Legion
Irish Legion 3rd Foreign Regiment (Irish) | |
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Bois-le-Duc, Bouches-du-Rhin | |
Engagements |
The Irish Legion (
Establishment
The first officers included members of the
The Legion was established on 31 August 1803[1] in Morlaix, France.[2] Bernard MacSheehy was assigned to form the regiment. He was an Adjutant-General in Napoleon's army.[3]
The purpose of the Legion was to align the Irish hearts to the French cause in the imminent invasion of Ireland.
Formation and colours
The Legion was eventually expanded from a battalion to a regiment and there was greater demand for more soldiers.[1] These made a varied group; some were former United Irishmen who were taken prisoner in 1798-99 and then freed during the peace that followed the Treaty of Amiens (1802–03), some had been impressed into the Royal Navy and deserted, and some were German or Polish.[1] While the Legion was stationed at the Fortress of Mainz in 1806, they were joined by 1,500 Poles[2] and many Irishmen who were sent in 1799 to serve the King of Prussia,[4] Its headquarters was at 's-Hertogenbosch, known to the French as Bois-le-Duc, in what was then the Kingdom of Holland.[citation needed]
The Irish Legion had its own flag,[5] and in December 1805 received an eagle.[2] The Legion was the only group of foreign soldiers in the French military to whom Napoleon ever gave an eagle.[3] Wearing a green uniform,[2][6] its maximum size was about 2,000 men.[citation needed]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/R%C3%A9giments_%C3%A9trangers%2C_arm%C3%A9e_napol%C3%A9onienne%2C_1810.jpg/220px-R%C3%A9giments_%C3%A9trangers%2C_arm%C3%A9e_napol%C3%A9onienne%2C_1810.jpg)
The regiment was greatly assisted from 1807 by Napoleon's war minister
Actions
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/L%C3%A9gion_Irlandaise_-_Empire_Francais._Badge_of_the_Irish._%2835605028755%29.jpg/220px-L%C3%A9gion_Irlandaise_-_Empire_Francais._Badge_of_the_Irish._%2835605028755%29.jpg)
In 1808 the Second Battalion fought in the Peninsular War, helping to subdue Madrid during the Dos de Mayo Uprising.
In the middle of January 1810 the 3rd Battalion was posted to Spain. In June 1810 an Army of Portugal was formed under
In September 1810, at the Battle of Bussaco, elite companies of the Irish Legion engaged an Irish regiment in the British army, the 88th Foot (Connaught Rangers). William Grattan's Adventure of the Connaught Rangers details an engagement between the two units among the rocks above Bussaco. The Connaughts led an epic bayonet charge against the French troops there and after the action, Grattan explains, he came across the French 4th regiment and the Irish Brigade (meaning, of course, the Irish Regiment) on the rocks there, mentioning that several of the latter were wounded but there were no Irishmen among them (denoting that the wounded men from the Irish Regiment were all foreigners).
Napoleon had decreed on 28 October 1810 that the Irish Regiment should be reduced to two battalions, whereby the 2nd and 3rd Battalions would become the 2nd Battalion. The reformed 2nd Battalion saw hard service as part of the rearguard on the retreat from Lisbon. By the time it arrived back in Spain, the unit had nineteen officers and 254 men present with the colours, and another 128 men absent from sickness or other reasons.
Solignac's Division took the field once more in the spring of 1811 for the relief of Almeida; at this time the battalion strength was 390 officers and men. Between 3 and 5 May, heavy fighting took place at Fuentes de Oñoro and on the slopes in the vicinity. On the first day, Solignac's Division was held in reserve behind the centre-right of Massena's line and the Irish remained idle all day. On the 5th they were the general reserve to the flanking attack made on the British right wing and again were not engaged.
In early December 1811, the orders arrived in Spain for the return to France of the officers and non-commissioned officers of the Irish Battalion. The non-Irish privates were to be incorporated into the Prussian Regiment serving with the Army of Portugal. It was not until 11 April 1812 that they arrived at the regimental depot at Bois-le-Duc (s’Hertogenbosch) in The Netherlands.
The First Battalion saw its first action at the Battle of Flushing in the Walcheren Campaign of 1809, suffering many casualties from malaria.[1]
Early in 1813 the Irish Regiment was ordered to merge the three existing battalions into two full-strength war battalions. Command of the 1st Battalion went to Chef de Bataillon John Tennent’s Corps on the extreme allied right.
On 26 May they fought with distinction at the Battle of Hanau under the direct command of the emperor. The Irish were rewarded by being given the honour of posting guard at the town of Lignitz (Legnica) for Napoleon until the Imperial Guard arrived and relieved them.[citation needed]
On 16 August, at the end of the brief armistice, Puthod's Division, including Vacherau's Brigade (The Irish Regiment, 134th & 143rd Regiments), were assembled at Goldberg in Silesia. On the eighteenth Blucher’s cavalry made contact with Puthod. The regiment formed squares to repel a cavalry attack: the squares held fast, and after a number of attempts to break them, the enemy backed off and brought forward artillery. They were then easy targets for cannon fire, losing 400 men before retiring in good order.[note 3]
Following
The Irish Regiment no longer existed as a fighting unit. Twenty-three officers out of 47 and 94 non-commissioned officers and soldiers returned from the campaign of 1813. Out of approximately 2,000 men who had marched to join the Grand Army eight months earlier, only 117 were left. The survivors managed to save their eagle and retired to Bois-le-Duc.[citation needed]
In the ensuing Napoleonic retreat the regiment took part in the Siege of Antwerp 1814 and retired to Lille, where it remained until Napoleon's abdication in April 1814.[8]
In 1805-15 eleven of the regiment's officers were awarded the
Disbandment
The regiment divided in loyalty during the "
Notes
- ^ The regimental depot and depot battalion are not included in this figure, as they are not combat units.
- ^ On his commission papers his name was spelt as ‘Tenant’. In France, unaccustomed with the name, they used about all the different possibilities of the spelling: Tennant, Tennent, Tenent, Tenant
- ^ The Irish Regiment lost three hundred men killed or wounded. Two officers were killed and ten wounded.
- ^ Lieutenant James Perry had been adjutant major to the 2nd Battalion at the siege of Astorga in 1810.The Irish were given the honour of leading the assault and he was wounded carrying a ladder to the breach; he was awarded the Legion of Honour.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Medlen, Virginia (2007), Napoleon's Irish Legion: La Legion Irlandaise 1803 - 1815, The Napoleonic Historical Society, archived from the original on 20 January 2010, retrieved 13 October 2009
- ^ a b c d e f g Forde, Frank, Napoleon's Irish Legion (PDF), Napoleonic Association, archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2010, retrieved 13 October 2009
- ^ a b Mitchel, John (1869), The History of Ireland, vol. 2, Glasgow: Cameron & Ferguson, p. 265
- ^ McCracken & ORuairc, Stephen (2022). United Irishmen (1 ed.). Ireland: Springfarm Publishing.
- ^ Of "Irish Green", as it was described, of silk, fringed with gold cord, inscribed on one side in letters on gold: "Napoléon, Empereur des Français, à la Legion Irlandaise," and bearing on the other a golden harp, uncrowned, and the words "L’Indépendance d’Irlande."
- ^ http://legionirlandaise.forumactif.ca/forum Archived 2014-05-08 at the Wayback Machine Légion Irlandaise
- ^ McGarry, Stephen (2013), Irish Brigades Abroad, The History Press, Dublin
- ^ limerick to antwerp Irish brigades abroad 1690-1815/
- ^ "Memoirs of Miles Byrne". 1907.
- ^ Notes on Blackwell
Further reading
- Byrne, Miles (1863). Memoirs of Miles Byrne Vol. 2
- Charrié, Pierre. Drapeaux & Etendards de la Révolution et de l’Empire
- Gallaher, John G. (1993). Napoleon’s Irish Legion. ISBN 978-0809318254
- McGarry, Stephen (2013). Irish Brigades Abroad