The Chasseurs Britanniques was a battalion-sized corps of foreign volunteers, who fought for Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. The regiment was formed from the remnants of the Prince of Condé

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé

Louis Joseph de Bourbon was Prince of Condé from 1740 to his death. A member of the House of Bourbon, he held the prestigious rank of Prince du Sang.-Biography:...

's Army after it was disbanded in 1800. The regiment entered British service in 1800 and continued to fight for Great Britain until 1814, when it was disbanded after Napoleon's first abdication and exile to Elba.

Origin of the Chasseurs Britanniques

With the start of the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, French Royalist forces were raised to fight the French Revolutionary Armies. Mostly, these were made up of emigres returning to fight for the deposed monarch. Three small armies were formed. One of these, raised by the Prince of Conde

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé

Louis Joseph de Bourbon was Prince of Condé from 1740 to his death. A member of the House of Bourbon, he held the prestigious rank of Prince du Sang.-Biography:...

, operated on the Upper Rhine. Initially operating with the Austrians, the Army of Conde served under Russia before entering British service.

In British service

Initially, the Chasseurs were composed of French emigres. As the Napoleonic wars continued, the ranks of the Chasseurs were replenished mainly from deserters from the French Army. In British service, the Chasseurs Britanniques earned a reputation for fighting well in battle. However, they had an equal reputation for desertion, so much so that they could not be trusted to act as picquets when in camp. In 1813 alone, the Chasseurs had 224 deserters from a total strength of approximately 1,740 men. Within three years of joining Wellington's army, nearly half of the Chasseurs had deserted.

After being accepted into British service, the royalists' first chance in battle as the Chasseurs Britanniques came in 1801 during the Egyptian Campaign. Under the command of Colonel John Ramsey, they took part in the Siege of Alexandria. Following the Egyptian campaign, the Chasseurs were withdrawn, first to Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 and then to the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

.

In 1803, while on the Isle of Wight, the Chasseurs Britanniques were brought back up to war-strength with another influx of emigres. From there, the Chasseurs were sent to Naples, before being withdrawn to Sicily with the rest of the British forces in 1806. The Chasseurs were assigned to Major General John Stuart's

John Stuart, Count of Maida

Sir John Stuart, Count of Maida GCB , was a British Lieutenant-General during the Napoleonic Wars.Stuart was born in Georgia, the son of Colonel John Stuart, superintendent of Indian affairs in the southern district, and a prominent loyalist in the War of Independence...

 expedition to Italy in 1806. Although they were not present at the Battle of Maida

Battle of Maida

The Battle of Maida on 4 July 1806 saw a British expeditionary force fight a First French Empire division outside the town of Maida in Calabria, Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. John Stuart led 5,200 British troops to victory over about 6,000 French soldiers under Jean Reynier, inflicting...

, the Chasseurs took part in the capture of Reggio on 9 July 1806, where they were able to entice 300 French prisoners to join their ranks.

In 1810, the Chasseurs Britanniques received orders to join Wellington's army in the Peninsula. Arriving in Lisbon in January 1811, the Chasseurs joined Wellington's command in March. They served in the 1st Brigade of the Seventh Division. As part of Wellington's Army, they saw action in many of the major engagements of Peninsular campaign from 1811 to 1814, including the battles of Fuentes de Onoro

Battle of Fuentes de Onoro

In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro , the British-Portuguese Army under Viscount Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.-Background:...

, Ciudad Rodrigo

Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo

In the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, the Duke of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army seized the city from its French garrison under Brigadier General Baron Barrié on January 20, 1812 after a siege that started on January 7...

, Salamanca

Battle of Salamanca

The Battle of Salamanca saw Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish armies under the Duke of Wellington defeat Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces among the hills around Arapiles south of Salamanca, Spain on July 22, 1812 during the Peninsular War....

 and Vitoria

Battle of Vitoria

At the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...

, as well as the fighting in the Pyrenees

Battle of the Pyrenees

The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult from the Pyrénées region on Emperor Napoleon’s order, in the hope of relieving French garrisons under siege at Pamplona and San Sebastián...

.

The Chasseur's final major battle was Orthez

Battle of Orthez

The Battle of Orthez saw the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington defeat a French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France near the end of the Peninsular War.-Preliminaries:...

. They were then assigned to escort the Duke of Angoulême

Charles X of France

Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

 to Bordeaux, where they discovered that the city had turned Royalist and welcomed the Duke and his escort.

While most of the Chasseurs served as line infantry under Wellington, a detachment of the Chasseurs Britanniques received orders to report to the ship of the line HMS Ramillies

HMS Ramillies (1785)

HMS Ramillies was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 July 1785 at Rotherhithe.In 1801, she was part of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's reserve squadron at the Battle of Copenhagen, and so did not take an active part in the battle.In August 1812, Sir Thomas Masterman...

. The detachment was present aboard ship for the Battle of Fort McHenry, but does not appear to have been part of the landing which culminated in the Burning of Washington

Burning of Washington

The Burning of Washington was an armed conflict during the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America. On August 24, 1814, led by General Robert Ross, a British force occupied Washington, D.C. and set fire to many public buildings following...

.

With the end of hostilities after Napoleon's first abdication and exile to Elba, the Chasseurs Britanniques were withdrawn from France and brought back to Great Britain. The corps was disbanded on 5 October 1814.

Uniform and traditions

The Chasseurs Britanniques were originally uniformed in green coats with yellow facings, with grey trousers. Their equipment was all Russian in pattern as, prior to entering British service, the battalion had been in Russian service. The Chasseurs continued to wear this uniform until they were stationed on the Isle of Wight. There, the uniform was brought in line with the rest of the British Army. The green and yellow coats were replaced by red coats with white facings, and white trousers. Officers' uniforms included silver lace, while the other ranks had blue and white piping. The uniform was topped off with a black shako with a plume. Grenadier companies wore white plumes, while the light companies had a green plume. The officers wore bicorne hats. As with many light infantry battalions, the Chasseurs had no colours.