Irish Legion
Encyclopedia
The Irish Legion was a French battalion established in 1803 for a future invasion of Ireland
. It was later expanded to a Regiment and won distinction in the Walcheren Expedition and the Peninsular War
. It was disbanded in 1815.
on condition of exile, and who had sailed for France in June 1802. The treaty broke down in May 1803 with the start of the War of the Third Coalition. As a part of Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom in 1803-05, the Irish Legion was to provide the indigenous core for a much larger invasion force of 20,000, known as the Corps d'Irlande.
The Legion was established on August 31, 1803, in Morlaix
, France. Bernard MacSheehy was assigned to form the regiment; he was an Adjutant-General in Napoleon's army.
The purpose of the Legion was to align the Irish hearts to the French cause in the imminent invasion of Ireland. General Pierre Augereau had been ordained to lead the invasion, and wanted Irishmen to serve in his army. However, the Battle of Cape Finisterre
and the Battle of Trafalgar
in 1805 made a safe sea crossing uncertain at best, and Napoleon was forced to abandon his plans for Ireland. He shifted his focus towards Austria and Eastern Europe and launched the Austerlitz campaign
in late 1805. The legion remained on the French coast on garrison duty.
to a regiment
, and there was greater demand for more soldiers. These made a varied group; some came from Ireland, some had been pressed
into the Royal Navy
and escaped, and some were German or Polish. While the Legion was stationed at Mainz
in 1806, they were joined by 1,500 Poles. Its headquarters was at 's-Hertogenbosch, known to the French as Bois-le-Duc, in what was then the Kingdom of Holland
.
The Irish Legion had its own flag, and in December 1805 received an eagle
. The Legion was the only group of foreign soldiers in the French military to whom Napoleon ever gave an eagle. Wearing a green uniform, its maximum size was about 2,000 men.
The regiment was greatly assisted from 1807 by Napoleon's war minister Henri Clarke
, who was of Irish descent. In August 1811 the Legion was renamed the 3e Regiment Etranger (3rd Foreign Regiment).
, helping to subdue Madrid
during the Dos de Mayo Uprising
and winning distinction at the Siege of Astorga
, leading the charge that took the city. During the battle, Captain John Allen's company's drummer boy continued to beat the charge after having lost both legs, for which he was given the French Legion of Honor
. In June 1810 it was reassigned to Masséna
's Army of Portugal and served in the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro
in 1811.
The First Battalion saw its first action at the Battle of Flushing
in the Walcheren Campaign
of 1809, suffering many casualties from malaria
.
The Legion / regiment was a part of General Puthod
's 17th division in the German campaign
of 1813. At Lowenberg the regiment formed squares to repel a cavalry attack and were then easy targets for cannon fire, losing 400 men. In a skirmish near and during the Battle of Kulm
, Puthod's men were caught by the enemy with their back to the river Bóbr
in flood, but held position until the ammunition ran out, and then tried to swim to safety. The regiment suffered heavy casualties from the subsequent bayonet assault, from drownings and from pursuit by roaming Cossack
patrols, losing about 1,500 men. The survivors managed to save their eagle and retired to Bois-le-Duc.
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.
In 1805-15 eleven of the regiment's officers were awarded the Legion d'honneur
, including the colonel, William Lawless, and James Blackwell.
", and was officially disbanded by King Louis XVIII
on 28 September 1815. Its flags were burned and its eagle destroyed.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. It was later expanded to a Regiment and won distinction in the Walcheren Expedition and the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. It was disbanded in 1815.
Establishment
The first officers included former state prisoners taken during the 1798 rebellion who were freed during the short peace effected by the Treaty of AmiensTreaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
on condition of exile, and who had sailed for France in June 1802. The treaty broke down in May 1803 with the start of the War of the Third Coalition. As a part of Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom in 1803-05, the Irish Legion was to provide the indigenous core for a much larger invasion force of 20,000, known as the Corps d'Irlande.
The Legion was established on August 31, 1803, in Morlaix
Morlaix
Morlaix is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Leisure and tourism:...
, France. Bernard MacSheehy was assigned to form the regiment; he was an Adjutant-General in Napoleon's army.
The purpose of the Legion was to align the Irish hearts to the French cause in the imminent invasion of Ireland. General Pierre Augereau had been ordained to lead the invasion, and wanted Irishmen to serve in his army. However, the Battle of Cape Finisterre
Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)
In the Battle of Cape Finisterre off Galicia, Spain, the British fleet under Admiral Robert Calder fought an indecisive naval battle against the Combined Franco-Spanish fleet which was returning from the West Indies...
and the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
in 1805 made a safe sea crossing uncertain at best, and Napoleon was forced to abandon his plans for Ireland. He shifted his focus towards Austria and Eastern Europe and launched the Austerlitz campaign
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
in late 1805. The legion remained on the French coast on garrison duty.
Formation and Colors
The Legion was eventually expanded from a battalionBattalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
to a regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
, and there was greater demand for more soldiers. These made a varied group; some came from Ireland, some had been pressed
Impressment
Impressment, colloquially, "the Press", was the act of taking men into a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to...
into the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and escaped, and some were German or Polish. While the Legion was stationed at Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
in 1806, they were joined by 1,500 Poles. Its headquarters was at 's-Hertogenbosch, known to the French as Bois-le-Duc, in what was then the Kingdom of Holland
Kingdom of Holland
The Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country...
.
The Irish Legion had its own flag, and in December 1805 received an eagle
French Imperial Eagle
French Imperial Eagle refers to the figure of an eagle on a staff carried into battle as a standard by the Grande Armée of Napoleon I during the Napoleonic Wars....
. The Legion was the only group of foreign soldiers in the French military to whom Napoleon ever gave an eagle. Wearing a green uniform, its maximum size was about 2,000 men.
The regiment was greatly assisted from 1807 by Napoleon's war minister Henri Clarke
Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke
Henri-Jacques-Guillaume Clarke, 1st Count of Hunebourg, 1st Duke of Feltre , born in Landrecies, was a Marshal of France and French politician of Irish descent.Clarke entered the French army in 1782...
, who was of Irish descent. In August 1811 the Legion was renamed the 3e Regiment Etranger (3rd Foreign Regiment).
Actions
In 1808 the Second Battalion fought in the Peninsular WarPeninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, helping to subdue Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
during the Dos de Mayo Uprising
Dos de Mayo Uprising
On the second of May , 1808, the people of Madrid rebelled against the occupation of the city by French troops, provoking a brutal repression by the French Imperial forces and triggering the Peninsular War.-Background:...
and winning distinction at the Siege of Astorga
Siege of Astorga
The Siege of Astorga was an attempt by French forces to capture Astorga, Spain in a campaign of the Peninsular War. Astorga was located on the flank of the French invasion of Spain and Portugal, and was meant to be used as a headquarters during the campaign. For several weeks no attack took...
, leading the charge that took the city. During the battle, Captain John Allen's company's drummer boy continued to beat the charge after having lost both legs, for which he was given the French Legion of Honor
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
. In June 1810 it was reassigned to Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
's Army of Portugal and served in the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro
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:...
in 1811.
The First Battalion saw its first action at the Battle of Flushing
Battle of Flushing
The Battle of Flushing was a naval battle of the Eighty Years' War, fought on April 17, 1573 near the city of Flushing, Netherlands. The Spanish fleet was led by Sancho d'Avila, the Dutch fleet by Lieven Keersmaker....
in the Walcheren Campaign
Walcheren Campaign
The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Around 40,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains...
of 1809, suffering many casualties from malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
.
The Legion / regiment was a part of General Puthod
Jacques-Pierre-Louis Puthod
Jacques-Pierre-Louis-Marie-Joseph Puthod, Viscount, was a French soldier of the French Revolutionary Wars who rose to the rank of General and who subsequently took part to the Napoleonic Wars, rising to the top military rank of General of Division.- Revolutionary Wars :Puthod enlisted as a...
's 17th division in the German campaign
German campaign (Napoleonic Wars)
The German Campaign was the campaign which ended the War of the Sixth Coalition, itself part of the Napoleonic Wars. It took place in Germany during Napoleon's retreat from Russia...
of 1813. At Lowenberg the regiment formed squares to repel a cavalry attack and were then easy targets for cannon fire, losing 400 men. In a skirmish near and during the Battle of Kulm
Battle of Kulm
The Battle of Kulm was a battle near the town Kulm and the village Přestanov in northern Bohemia. It was fought on 29–30 August 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition...
, Puthod's men were caught by the enemy with their back to the river Bóbr
Bóbr
Bóbr is a river which runs through the north of the Czech Republic and the southwest of Poland, a left tributary of the Oder River, with a length of and a basin area of .The Bóbr originates in the Rýchory mountains in the southeast of the Karkonosze range, where the source is...
in flood, but held position until the ammunition ran out, and then tried to swim to safety. The regiment suffered heavy casualties from the subsequent bayonet assault, from drownings and from pursuit by roaming Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
patrols, losing about 1,500 men. The survivors managed to save their eagle and retired to Bois-le-Duc.
In the ensuing Napoleonic retreat the regiment took part in the Siege of Antwerp (1814) and retired to Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, where it remained until Napoleon's abdication
Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814)
The Treaty of Fontainebleau was an agreement established in Fontainebleau on 11 April 1814 between Napoleon Bonaparte and representatives from Austria, Hungary and Bohemia , as well as Russia and Prussia. The treaty was signed at Paris on 11 April by the plenipotentiaries of both sides, and...
in April 1814.
In 1805-15 eleven of the regiment's officers were awarded the Legion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
, including the colonel, William Lawless, and James Blackwell.
Disbandment
The regiment divided in loyalty during the "Hundred DaysHundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
", and was officially disbanded by King Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
on 28 September 1815. Its flags were burned and its eagle destroyed.