Swiss mercenaries
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The Swiss mercenaries (
Ascendancy
During the
The warriors of the Swiss cantons had gradually developed a reputation throughout Europe as skilled soldiers,
The Swiss mercenaries, with their head-down attack in huge columns with the long pike, refusal to take prisoners, and consistent record of victory, were greatly feared and admired—for instance, the Italian diplomat and political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli addressed their system of combat at length in the twelfth chapter of his literary masterpiece, The Prince (1513–1532). Although often referred to as "pikemen", the Swiss mercenary units also contained halberdiers as well until several decades into the 16th century, as well as a small number of skirmishers armed with bows, crossbows, or early firearms to precede the rapid advance of the attack column.
The young men who went off to fight, and sometimes die, in foreign service had several incentives—limited economic options in the still largely rural cantons; adventure; pride in the reputation of the Swiss as soldiers; and finally what military historian
Landsknechts and the Italian Wars
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Until roughly 1490, the Swiss had a virtual monopoly on pike-armed mercenary service. However, after that date, the Swiss mercenaries were increasingly supplanted by imitators, chiefly the Landsknechts. Landsknechts were Germans (at first largely from Swabia) and became proficient at Swiss tactics, even surpassing them with their usage of the Zweihänder to crush opposing pike formations.[citation needed] This produced a force that filled the ranks of European armies with mercenary regiments for decades. After 1515 the Swiss pledged themselves to neutrality, other than regarding Swiss soldiers serving in the ranks of the Royal French army. The Landsknecht, however, would continue to serve any paymaster, even, at times, enemies of the Holy Roman Emperor (and Landsknechts at times even fought each other on the battlefield). The Landsknecht often assumed the multi-coloured and striped clothing of the Swiss.
The Swiss were not flattered by the imitation, and the two bodies of mercenaries immediately became bitter rivals over employment and on the battlefield, where they were often opposed during the major European conflict of the early sixteenth century, the Great Italian Wars. Although the Swiss generally had a significant edge in a simple "push of pike", the resulting combat was nonetheless quite savage, and known to Italian onlookers as "bad war". Period artists such as Hans Holbein attest to the fact that two such huge pike columns crashing into each other could result in a maelstrom of battle, with very many dead and wounded on both sides.
Despite the competition from the Landsknechts, and imitation by other armies (most notably the Spanish, which adopted pike-handling as one element of its tercios), the Swiss fighting reputation reached its zenith between 1480 and 1525, and indeed the Battle of Novara, fought by Swiss mercenaries, is seen by some as the perfect Swiss battle. Even the close defeat at the terrible Battle of Marignano in 1515, the "Battle of Giants", was seen as an achievement of sorts for Swiss arms due to the ferocity of the fighting and the good order of their withdrawal.
Nonetheless, the repulse at Marignano presaged the decline of the Swiss form of pike warfare—eventually, the two-century run of Swiss victories ended in 1522 with disaster at the Battle of Bicocca when combined Spanish tercios and Landsknecht forces decisively defeated them using superior tactics, fortifications, artillery, and new technology (i.e. handguns). At Bicocca, the Swiss mercenaries, serving the French king, attempted repeatedly to storm an impregnable defensive position without artillery or missile support, only to be mown down by small-arms and artillery fire. Never before had the Swiss suffered such heavy losses while being unable to inflict much damage upon their foe.
Organization and tactics
The early contingents of Swiss mercenary pikemen organized themselves rather differently than the cantonal forces. In the cantonal forces, their armies were usually divided into the Vorhut (vanguard), Gewalthut (center) and Nachhut (rearguard), generally of different sizes. In mercenary contingents, although they could conceivably draw up in three similar columns if their force was of sufficient size, more often they simply drew up in one or two huge columns which deployed side by side, forming the center of the army in which they served. Likewise, their tactics were not very similar to those used by the Swiss cantons in their brilliant tactical victories of the Burgundian Wars and Swabian War, in which they relied on maneuver at least as much as the brute force of the attack columns. In mercenary service they became much less likely to resort to outmaneuvering the enemy and relied more on a straightforward steamroller assault of the phalanx formation.
Such deep pike columns could crush lesser infantry in close combat and were invulnerable to the effects of a cavalry charge, but they were vulnerable to firearms if they could be immobilized (as seen in the Battle of Marignano). The Swiss mercenaries did deploy bows, crossbows, handguns and artillery of their own, however these always remained very subsidiary to the pike and halberd square. Despite the proven armour-penetration capability of firearms, they were also very inaccurate, slow-loading, and susceptible to damp conditions, and did not fit well with the fast-paced attack tactics used by the Swiss mercenary pike forces (the Spanish invention of the armor piercing arquebus leading to the later tercios formation changed the optimal war tactics).
The Swiss remained primarily pikemen throughout the sixteenth century, but after that period they adopted similar infantry formations and tactics to other units in the armies in which they served. Accordingly, they began to deviate from their previously unique tactics, and they took a normal place in the battle line amongst the other infantry units.
End of military ascendancy
In the end, as proven at Marignano and Bicocca, the mass pike attack columns of the Swiss mercenaries proved to be too vulnerable to gunpowder weapons as firearms technology advanced, especially
Other stratagems could also take the Swiss pikemen at a disadvantage. For instance, the Spanish
After the Battle of Pavia
Despite the end of their supremacy c. 1522, the Swiss pike-armed mercenaries continued to be amongst the most capable close order infantry in Europe throughout the remainder of the sixteenth century. This was demonstrated by their battlefield performances in the service of the French monarchy during the
Service in the French army
Swiss soldiers continued to serve as valued mercenaries with a number of European armies from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, in spite of extensive changes in tactics, drill and weapons. The most consistent and largest-scale employer of these troops was the French army, where the Swiss formed an elite part of the infantry. The
The Swiss mercenaries were recruited according to contracts (capitulations) between the French Monarchy and Swiss cantons or individual noble families. By 1740 more than 12,000 Swiss soldiers were in French service. During the remainder of the eighteenth century, Swiss numbers varied according to need, reaching a peak of 20,000 during the Austrian War of Succession and falling to 12,300 after 1763.[4] In addition to the direct military value of employing Swiss in French service, a political purpose was achieved through the extension of French diplomatic and commercial influence over the neighbouring cantons.[5]
The Swiss soldier was paid at a higher level than his French counterpart but was subject to a harsher disciplinary code, administered by his own officers.[6] The basis of recruitment varied according to regiment – in some units recruits were drawn exclusively from the Swiss inhabitants of specific cantons while in others German or French volunteers were accepted to make up shortfalls in the number of available Swiss. During the latter part of the 18th century, increasing reliance was placed on recruiting from the "children of the regiment" – the sons of Swiss soldiers who had married French women and stayed in France after their term of service had ended. The effect was to partially break down barriers between the Swiss and the French population amongst whom they were garrisoned. On the eve of the French Revolution the log-book of one Swiss regiment expressed concern that Franco-Swiss recruits were becoming prone to desertion as general discontent spread.[7] French-speaking Swiss soldiers were generally to prove more susceptible to revolutionary propaganda than their German-speaking colleagues.[8]
At the outbreak of the French Revolution the Swiss troops were, as at least nominal foreigners, still considered more reliable than their French counterparts in a time of civil unrest. In April 1791 the nominal strength of the Swiss line regiments in French service was 11,429 men with a further 2,330 in the Swiss Guards.[9] Swiss regiments made up a significant proportion of the royal troops summoned to Paris by Louis XVI in early July 1789. A detachment of Swiss grenadiers from the Salis-Samade Regiment was sent to reinforce the garrison of the Bastille prison shortly before it was besieged by the mob.[10] The Swiss and other royal troops were subsequently withdrawn to their frontier garrisons. Over the next years The Ernest Regiment in particular faced a series of clashes with local citizens, culminating in a two-day battle with Marseilles' militia in 1791.[11] This indication of growing popular resentment against the Swiss caused the Canton of Berne to recall the disarmed regiment. Another Swiss regiment, the Chateauvieux, played a major part in the Nancy affair (mutiny) of 1790[12] and 23 of its soldiers were executed, after trial by their own Swiss officers.[13] The Swiss Guard however remained loyal and was massacred on 10 August 1792, when the mob attacked the Tuileries Palace, although Louis XVI had already left the building. The eleven Swiss regiments of line infantry were disbanded under a decree passed by the French Assembly on 20 August 1792. Over three thousand Swiss soldiers transferred individually to French units and continued in service.[14] However, many of the rank and file returned to Switzerland, where measures had to be taken to provide them with relief and reintegration into the rural society from which most had been drawn.
Following the occupation of Switzerland by French revolutionary forces in 1798, a project to raise six
During the first Bourbon restoration of 1814–15, the grenadier companies of the by now under-strength four Swiss regiments undertook ceremonial guard duties in Paris. Upon Napoleon's return from Elba in 1815 the serving Swiss units were recalled to Switzerland on the grounds that a new contract signed with the government of Louis XVIII had now been rendered void. However, one composite regiment of Napoleon's Swiss veterans fought at Wavre during the Hundred Days.[17] Upon the second restoration of the monarchy in 1815 two regiments of Swiss infantry were recruited as part of the Royal Guard, while a further four served as line troops. All six Swiss units were disbanded in 1830 following the final overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy.
Service in the Spanish Army
Another major employer of Swiss mercenaries from the later 16th century on was
The Swiss units saw active service against Portugal, against rebellions in Catalonia, in the
Their final role in Spanish service was against the French in the Peninsular War, in which the five Swiss regiments (Ruttiman, Yann, Reding, Schwaler and Courten) [19] mostly stayed loyal to their Spanish employers. At the Battle of Bailén, the Swiss regiments pressed into French service defected back to the Spanish Army under Reding. The year 1823 finally saw the end of Swiss mercenary service with the Spanish army.
The Swiss fighting in the ranks of the Spanish army generally followed its organization, tactics and dress. The Swiss regiments were however distinguished by their blue coats, in contrast to the white uniforms of the Spanish line infantry.[20]
Service in the Dutch Army
The Dutch employed many Swiss units at various dates during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Swiss regiments were employed by both the Dutch Republic and the Dutch East India Company for service in the Cape Colony and the East Indies. In 1772, the Regiment Fourgeoud was sent to Surinam to serve against the Marrons in the Surinam jungle. A narrative of this campaign written by John Gabriel Stedman, was later published. In 1781, the Regiment De Meuron was hired for Dutch service and in 1784 the Regiment Waldner. De Meurons' regiment was captured by the British in Ceylon, than taken into British service and sent to Canada, where it fought in the War of 1812.
With the abdication of the
Service in the British Army
In 1781,
The Regiment de Watteville was a Swiss regiment founded by Louis de Watteville and recruited from regiments that served between 1799 and 1801 in the Austrian army but in British pay. The Swiss soldiers were then transferred to British service. They fought in the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), mainly around the Mediterranean. They were based in Malta and then in Egypt from 1801 to 1803, fighting in Sicily and Naples. The regiment fought in the Battle of Maida in Italy in July 1806. Kept up to strength by Spanish and Portuguese recruits from 1811 to 1813, De Watteville's Regiment was involved in the Peninsular War in Spain, defending Cádiz during the Siege of Cádiz. The regiment sailed to Canada in 1813 to fight in the War of 1812. It saw service at Fort Erie and Oswego, before being disbanded in 1816.[25]
Capitulations and treaties
During the period of formalization of the employment of Swiss mercenaries in organized bodies from the late 16th century on, customary capitulations existed between employing powers and the Swiss cantons or noble families assembling and supplying these troops. Such contracts would generally cover specific details such as the numbers, quality, pay rates and equipment of recruits. Provisions were commonly made that Swiss soldiers would only serve under officers of their own nationality, would be subject to Swiss laws, would carry their own flags and would not be employed in campaigns that would bring them into conflict with Swiss in the service of another country.[26]
It has been claimed that such contracts might also contain a commitment that Swiss units would be returned if the confederation came under attack.[27] However, surviving capitulations from the 16th and 17th centuries are not known to contain provisions to this effect.
With the passing of the amendment to the Swiss Constitution of 1874 banning the recruitment of Swiss citizens by foreign states, such contractual relations ceased. Military alliances had already been banned under the Swiss constitution of 1848, though troops still served abroad when obliged by treaties. One such example were the Swiss regiments serving under
Modern times
Since 1859, only one Swiss mercenary unit has been permitted, the Vatican's
Swiss citizens also served in the German
The plot of George Bernard Shaw's comedy Arms and the Man (and of the operetta The Chocolate Soldier based on it) is focused on a fictional Swiss mercenary serving in the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War; there is, however, no evidence of actual such mercenaries in that war.
Notable Swiss mercenaries
See also
- Military history of the Old Swiss Confederacy
- Beresinalied
- Mal du Suisse, a feeling of intense homesickness common with Swiss mercenaries
- Swiss Army
References
- ^ ISBN 9781315063034.
- ^ "A Fekete Sereg előadás".
- Morison, Samuel Eliot, Samuel De Champlain, Father of New France, 1972, p. 44.
- ISBN 1-85532-623-X
- ISBN 9780813938332.
- ISBN 1-84176-660-7.
- ^ Professor Jacques Godechot, p.242 "The Taking of the Bastille", Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1970
- ISBN 978-2-35250-235-7.
- ISBN 1-84176-660-7.
- ISBN 1-84176-660-7.
- ISBN 978-0-8139-3833-2
- ISBN 978-0-8139-3833-2
- ISBN 1-84176-660-7
- ISBN 978-0-8139-3833-2
- ISBN 978-1-84908-678-3
- ISBN 0-88254-421-7
- ISBN 978-1-84908-678-3
- ISBN 978-1-911512-65-3.
- ISBN 1-85532-763-5
- ISBN 0-85045-243-0.
- ^ An old Dutch saying is: "Geen geld, geen Zwitsers", from the French "point d'argent, point de Suisse"; it translates to: "No money, no Swiss [mercenaries]", meaning that you need money in order to wage war.
- ISBN 978 1 84908 846 6
- ^ "Les Suisses dans l'Armée Néerlandaise dus XVIe au XXe sciècle" Number of officers and men in the various regiments (peacetime establishment): Regiment "Zwitsersche Guardes", 800 men; Regiment "De Stuerler", 1,800 men; Regiment "De May", 1,800; Regiment "Schmidt-Grünegg", 1,800; Regiment "Hirzel", 1,800; Regiment "De Stockar", 1,800.
- ^ Rinaldo D. D'Ami, page 30 "World Uniforms in Colour – Volume 1: The European Nations", SBN 85059 031 0
- ^ Major R. M. Barnes, page 84 "Military Uniforms of Britain & the Empire", Sphere Books London, 1972
- ^ Page 619 "Cambridge Modern History, Volume 1: The Renaissance"
- ^ McPhee, John (1983-10-31). "La Place de la Concorde Suisse-I". The New Yorker. p. 50. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-521-14382-0
- Swissinfo. Published 7 January 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
Books
- Ede-Borrett, Stephen, Swiss Regiments in the Service of France 1798-1815: Uniforms, Organization, Campaigns, Helion 2019
- Führer, H. R., and Eyer, R. P. (eds.), Schweizer in "Fremden Diensten", 2006. In German.
- Lienert, Meinrad, Schweizer Sagen und Heldengeschichten, 1915. In German.
- Miller, Douglas, The Swiss at War, 1979.
- Oman, Sir Charles, A History of the Art of War in the Sixteenth Century, 1937.
- Oman, Sir Charles, A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages, rev. ed. 1960.
- Richards, John, Landsknecht Soldier 1486–1550, 2002.
- Schaufelberger, Walter, Der Alte Schweizer und Sein Krieg: Studien Zur Kriegführung Vornehmlich im 15. Jahrhundert, 1987 (in German).
- Singer, P. W. "Corporate Warriors" 2003.
- Taylor, Frederick Lewis, The Art of War in Italy, 1494–1529, 1921.
- Wood, James B., The King's Army: Warfare, Soldiers and Society during the Wars of Religion in France, 1562–76, 1996.
Online
- Fremde Dienste/Service étranger in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
Films
- Schweizer im Spanischen Bürgerkrieg (The Swiss in the Spanish Civil War), Director Richard Dindo, 1974 (English-language release 1982). In Swiss German with English sub-titles.
External links
- 500 Jahre Schlacht bei Hard, 1999?, on the SFwV SSGA website. (in German)
- Ancient Tactics Tested: Swiss Pike and Ancient Phalanx.
- 1499–1999, 1999, 500th anniversary of the Swabian War. (in German)