Table Of Content~ MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES 304
MILITARY
(3)
LOUIS XV's ARMY
FOR I FANTRY
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I Frenctlpound• 489.49(IImperialpound=453.6g).
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Publisher's Note
Rea<leJsmaywishtostudythis1~leinconjunctionwilhtheIOIIOWIng0_
put>licalJOnS:
MAA296LouisXV'sArmy(JJCavalryandDragoons
302
MAA LouisXV'sArmy(2)FrMChInfantry
m
MAA285King~'$Amty1740-83
MAA289KingGeo.rve'sAmty1740-93(21
MAA292KlIlgGeotge~Anny1740-83131
MAA236FredancklheGrear'$ArmymCsva/ry
MAA240FredMicJ<theGrear'sArmy(2)Irrfatrtry
MAA248Fre<ie<idrtheGreat'sArmy(31SpeciaJisr
MAA271 TheAustrianArmy1740·80(J)cavalry
MAA276n~Avslr1011'lArmyIT4()·80(2)Infanlry
MAA280TneAvs!fll/ilArmy1740-$0(3)SpeciaJisr
MAA203LOUJs.XIV'sArmy
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M.EugeneI.eliepvre,33rue8oileau.92120Montrouge,France
ThePublishersregret!NIttheycanenlerinlonocorrespondenceupon
tn.smatle<.
RENECHARTRAND,wasbornIn
MontrealandeducatedIn
Caneda,theUnitedStatesand
theBahames.Aseniorcurator
withCanada'sNationalHistoric
Sitesfornearlythreadecades,
heI.nowafreelancewriterand
historicalconsultantforcinema
andhistoricsiterestorations.
Hehaswrittennumerous
articlesandbooksIncluding
almost20Ospreytitlesandthe
firsttwovolumesofCanedlan
MllitlJryHerlfsge.Alsoastudent
ofwines,hecurrentlylivesIn
Hull,Quebec,withhiswifeand
twosons.
EUO~NELELI~PVREhasbeen
paintingmilitarysubjectsfor
overfiftyyears.In1950he
wasmedetheOfficialPainter
totheFrenchArmyandheIs
alsoafellowoftheCompany
ofMilitaryHistorians.An
acknowledgedexperton 18th
centurymilitarysubjects,heIs
marriedandlivesInParis.
LOUIS XV's ARMY (3)
FOREIGN INFANTRY AND ARTILLERY
INTRODUCTION
BELOWMarshalMauricedeSaxe. By long-standing tradition, as well as by sh er numbers, the
Certainlythemostdistinguished importance offoreign regiments in the French army was consid
ofthe'foreign'soldiersinthe erable. Since the Middle Ages, the rulers of France had called
serviceofFranceandoneofthe
upon mercenaries from various neighbouring nations to form units
greatcaptainsof18thcentury
which were often among the finest in the army. Indeed, this u-adition is
warfare,theGerman-bornde
SaxebroughtLouisXVthe still very much alive today in the form of the French Foreign Legion,
greatestvictoriesofthereign: arguably one of the world's finest fighting units. Marshal Maurice de
Fontenoyand Law1eld. Partof Saxe, himselfa foreigner, defined rather strikingly the value offoreign
hisgeniuslayinhisdeepunder
troops in 1748: 'AGerman' [orother foreign soldierin French pay], he
standingofthestrengthsand
wrote, 'countsfor three men: hesaves one in the kingdom, he takesone
weaknessesoftheFrench
soldier:bravetoexcess,but awayfrom ourenemies and he serves us'.
liabletobeunstableinbattle.He Foreign regiments were meant to compensate for some of the per
skilfullyexploitedthesefeatures ceived weaknesses of French-born soldier who sometimes lacked
byvigorousopeningattacks,
steadinessandmanoeuvred indifferently,altllough theywereexceedingly
shrewdlyfollowed bylessening
bravewhen charging.Bycontrast, the Swissand G rmanswere renowned
theintensityofthefighting,
whilemaintainingthetactical for theirsteadinessunder heavyfire and for their precision drill .
pressureontheenemywith The foreign infantry regiments numbered about 20,000 men
constantmanoeuvres.(Print between 1716 and 1733; around 34,000 during the Polish War of
aftera1748portraitbyQuentin
Succession of 1734-1735; some 22,600 until 1741-1748, when tlleir
delaTour)
establishmentjumped to 58,000; it went down to about 31,000
until the SevenYears' War, when itwentup to 48,000andwas
reduced by 20,000 men atwar's end.
SWISS TROOPS OF THE
ROYAL GUARD
The Swiss, renowned for their bravery and fidelity
throughout Europe, had been part oftlle French
royal guard for centuries by the time Louis XV
became king. Apart from the nominally Scotti h,
but actually French, company of the Garde du
Corps, the Swiss units were the only truly foreign
units in the guard.
Cent-Suisses
The Cent-Suisses ('hundred-Swiss') palace guards
originated in 1480,when King Louis XI first retained a
company of Swiss soldier for hi personal guard. The
company served for over tllree centuries a guards of the
French royal family.
TheirW1iformwasSwisscostume 'afteranantique manner' which, in
time, became itsfull ceremonialdress. Itconsistedofa 16thcentury- tyle
la hedjacketand baggy breeche ,both being red on the rightside and
blueon the leftside,and almo tcoveredwith the royal liverylacecolours
ofred andwhite;white tockingswith redandwhitegarter,whiteglove
with red,whiteandbluefringesandshoebows.Astiffwhiteembroidered
collarwas worn around the neck. The cap was blackvelvetwith a white
plume.Theywerearmedwith 'ahalberd madein theshapeofa partisan,
upon which is the king's arms in gold', and gold-hilted straightswords,
according to Zur-Lauben's 1751 HistoireMilitaire des Suisses.
For ordinary duties, they wore a blue coatwith red velvet cuffs, red
lining, gold buttons and crimson ribbons on the right shoulder; a blue
waistcoat with gold buttons, edged with gold lace, and further orna
mented with the king' 'grand' livery lace; blue breeches and stocking;
agold-laced tricorne; awhite bandoleer coveredwith 'grand' liverylace
and edged with red, white and blue fringes. In 1759 the uniform
changed to a blue coat with red cuffs and red lining, gold-laced but
tonholes and broad gold lace edging; a red waistcoat, breeches and
stocking, and a gold-laced tricorne.
By the late 1730s, a campaign dress had also been added, consisting
Guardsmanofthe'Cent-Suisses' ofa bearskin grenadiercap, a blue coatwith red cuffs, redwaistcoatand
(Hundred-Swiss),c.1750,wearing
breeche , and gold lace on the coat and waistcoat. Arms consisted of
the 'antique'ceremonial dress.
muskets with bayonets. On campaign, the Cent-Suisses erved with the
(AnneS.K.Brown Military
Collection, Brown University) gr nadier ofthe Swiss Guards.
Officers of the Cent-Sui ses did not have the
Swi style 'antique' ceremonialW1iform, butwore
scarlet coats, wai tcoats, breeches and stockings,
with gold buttons and gold lace. Drummer
appear only to have added a drum belt covered
with livery lace (and apparently gold lace at the
centre) for the ceremonial order ofdress. Other
W1iforms would have been trimmed with livery
lace.Thedrumswerebluewith the royalarmsand
other devices in gold.
Gardes-Suisses
The Swi Guards originated in the 16th century,
but only became part ofthe royal guard in 1616.
By the 18th century there were 12 companie of
200 men each in wartime; the war service of this
regimentwasfrequent and always outstanding.
The uniform was a red coat with blue lining
and cuffs; a blue waistcoat, breeches and
stockings' white metal buttons,white pointedlace
on the coat and wai tcoat, and ilver lace on the
hat.The lacewas etin threes, in the ame style a
tlle Gardes-Fran~aises. Gaiters came into u e
during the 1730, and the blue linings were
turned back during the 1740s. From 1763, the
blue cuffs,lapelsand collarwereedgedwithwhite
lace, and linings, waistcoats and breeches were
4 white. The bastion-shaped buttonhole lace was
white from 1767. Accoutrements were buff, edged with white leather
until 1763, when they became white. The cartridge box was of reddi h
brown Rus ian leather, tamped with the royal arms which were high
lighted bya ilverwa h.
ergeants of the Gardes-Sui e had the ame uniform a the men,
but their lace wa 'ilver, and they had additional silver lace edging the
cuff and pocket flaps. They also had silver-laced belts and were armed
with halberds and silver-hilted sword. Drummers of the Swiss Guards
wore thesameking'sliverylacedescribed (seeMAA302Louis,>,,'V'sArmy
(2) French Infantry) for the French Guard, but with blue wai tcoat,
breechesand toekings,silver-laced hats.Theirdrumswere bluewith the
king' arm painted in gold. The trabans, peculiar to Swiss units, ranked
asnon-eommi ionedofficersandwore the colonel'slivery,which, in the
wi Guard, was the king's livery. They are hown in 1721 with livery
lace on the coat and red waistcoat, but this may not have been alway
foUowed to the letter. They were armed with a halberd.
The officer had red coatswith red (notblue) cuffs and lining, silver
buttons, wide lace on the seams; blue waistcoatwith silver buttons and
lace; blue breeches and blue, later white, stocking and gaiter. Red
coats with blue cuffs and lining with silver lace and buttons, could al 0
be worn a an undress. The hats were laced with silver and had white
plume. Swis officer had a silvergorget. Theywere armed with a ilver
hilted word and a spontoon.
Garde Suisse de Monsieur,
Garde Suisse du Comte d'Artois
Loui XV authori ed personal Swiss palace guards for each of his two
grand on , Monsieur Ie Comte de Provence and the Comte d'Artois.
The Garde Suisse de Monsieurwas raised in April 1771, consisting of47 Powderhorn marked'Cent
officer and men, and wore a red coatwith blue collar, lapels, cuffs and Suisses'withbrassfurnishings,
lining, a blue wai tcoat, red breeche and tockings, gold and silver c.1730.Thistypeofpowder
horn, holdingaboutapoundof
mixedlaceandsilver buttons, asilver-laced hatwith white plumes, and a
blackpowder,wasthestandard
modelusedbyinfantry.(Musee
del'Armee, Paris)
Guardsmenofthe 'Cent-Suisses'
in 1760.Atleft,theceremonial
dress;atcentre,theordinary
dutydress;atright, campaign
dress.(RoyalLibrary,Madrid)
white and gold bandoleer. The Garde Suisse du Comte d'Artois were
raised from November 1773, and wore a green coatwith crimson collar,
lapels, cuffs, lining, a crimson waistcoat, breeches and stockings, silver
andgold mixed lace, silverbuttons, asilver-laced hatwithawhite plume,
and a white and gold bandoleer. Arms consisted ofswords and muskets.
Both units were disbanded in 1792.
FOREIGN LINE INFANTRY
ORGANISATION
The Swissformed the largestcontingentand probably the most reliable
body of foreign troops in the line infantry. A French saying stated:
'pas d'argent, pas de Suisses' - no money, no Swi . It echoed popular
grumblingatthe high costofforeign soldiers,butasfaras theSwisswere
concerned, itwas misplaced, as their payremained the same from 1672
to 1763. Considered among the finest and bravest troops in the army,
they were especially steady in battle, but often suffered heavy losses.
Thus, when a French courtier remarked that the gold paid to the Swiss
would pave a wide road from Paris to Basle, a Swiss colonel replied
TrabanoftheSwissGuards, that the blood of Swiss soldiers would fill an equally wide canal from
c.1724,wearingthecolonel's
Ba Ie to Paris.
livery(inthiscasetheking's).
Swiss regimentswere raised according to 'capitulations', agreements
(AnneS.K.BrownMilitary
Collection,BrownUniversity) between the French Crown and Swiss cantons or officers. Swiss line
infantry regiments were usually the most
numerous of the foreign troops in the French
army. By 1740, the ten Swiss regiments numbered
12,550 officers and men. ine battalion were
added during the Austrian War of Succe sion,
which raised number to 20,000. Following peace
in 1748, the Swiss e tablishment went down to
14,000, butwas up again to over18,200bytheend
ofthe Seven Years' War, and down to 12,300from
1763. Swiss regiments consisted of large com
panies of175 officers and men until 1748, and of
120 until 1763. Regiments had eight companies
until 1743, when four companieswere added.
A feature peculiar to Swiss units was the
inclusion of about four trabans armed witll
halberds in each company. Trabans were a
remnant ofmedieval practices which allowed tlle
company captain an e cort ofmen. Although not
included in the official establishment, except in
the Swiss Guards, tlley could be seen dressed in
the colonel's livery. Before 1763, Swiss line reg
iments had no grenadiers on the official
establishment but, especially after the Seven
Years' War, a few senior men in each company
were identified assuch and given bearskin caps.
There were only five German regiments
during the firstdecadesofLouis XV'sreignwith a
total establishment of3,760 men in 1740. During
the War of Austrian Succession, however, the
numbers were doubled to 7,040 by 1743, with
more German regiments rai ed by recruiting
mostly in the Rhineland and the Palatinate. They
were joined by French-speaking Walloon units
from Belgium and otherregimentsfrom Lorraine
and Barrois. By 1748, there were 14 regiments
totalling some 26,270 men. This was reduced to
9,520 men in 12 regiments by 1750; raised to 16
regiments with 19,040 men by 1758; numbers
went down to ten regiments with 18,360 men by
1762; and after the Seven Years' War, eight regi
ments with a peacetime strength of9,272. These
German Walloon, Lorraine and Barrois units all
had the same organisation, each havingbattalions
ofeightcompanie .Eachcompanyhad40 men in
peacetime, and 80 to 85 in wartime. Grenadiers
did not form a di tinct company, but were a six
man squad in each company.
The establishment of Italian regiments, rela
tively numerou in previous reigns, was very
moderate under Loui XV. By then, most recruits
were actually French or Corsican. There was only
one regiment, Royal-Italien, until 1739 when
Royal-Corse was rai ed, consisting ofbattalions of
ColourbeareroftheSwiss 12 companies of50 men each in peacetime, and 90 in war.
Guards,c.1724.Thecolourshad From 1715therewereafewIrish regiments totallingonlyabout3,000
quarterswithwavyflames, officers and men in five regiments by 1740. But their numbers shot up
typicalforSwissregiments,with
to nearly7,000duringtheAu trianWarofSucce ionwith theformation
thewhitecrossofFrance.The
ofanother Irish regiment, Lally's, and by the addition ofthree Scottish
flameswereblue,yellowand
red.Theofficer'sdresscoatwas regiments. umberswere reduced tosome 5,200 by1750, up to 6,300 in
completelyscarlet,lacedwith 1757,and down to 2,930in 1763.Thecomposition ofthe companiesand
silver.(AnneS.K. BrownMilitary battalions of the Irish and Scottish regiments was the same as tlle
Collection,BrownUniversity)
'French' regiments, with the addition ofdi tinct grenadier companies.
Scottish regiments also had pipers.
Officers and men in the Swiss and German units offoreign infantry
were often Protestants, butonlyCatholicscouldenli tin Italian,Scotsor
Irish regiments. Protestant mini tel' were attached to regiments that
required them.
At first glance, the foreign regiments appeared to have been
recruited along strict national lines, but this was not actually the case.
Therewere exemptions for some nationalitie and the language poken
and understood in the unit was a prime con ideration. For example,
men from Alsace and Lorraine could choose to enlistin either French,
German or Swi s units. From 1696, Swi s recruiters could also enlist
Germans, Poles, Danes and Swede in their regiment, although
Germans were distrusted because oftheir tendency to desert.
The German regiments were not defined by nationality a such, but
ratherbythe languageofcommand u edin the unit.Alsatians, although
technically French subjects, usually understood both German and
French, andwere eagerlysoughtbyboth German andSwi recruiter as
they had an excellent reputation as dependable soldier. German-
speaking recruits from Austria or further east were also enlisted. In
reality, as one observer noted with some irony in 1763, one third ofthe
men in German regimentscame from Alsace and Lorraine, a thirdwere
Frenchmen using false identities, and another third were all sorts of
foreigners whose dailydesertionswere almost routine. Otherunits were
actually francophones recruited in the nominally foreign areas, such
as Walloons from the then Austrian Flanders, or men from Lorraine
and Barrois.
Irish units had originally been raised from refugees in France in the
late 17th century, butas yearswentby, recruiting became more difficult
in spite ofthe fact thatsoldiers' sons oftenjoined the regiments. In the
first halfofthe 18th century, there was some discreet recruiting in the
southern Irish counties ofClare, Kerry and Connaught, and men were
smuggled away to France. This was carried out with tentative British
approval in the 1720s and 1730s. During wartime, English deserters
claiming to be Roman Catholics could also be incorporated in the Irish
regiments. From 1745,recruitingin Ireland becamefarmore difficultas
Britain was now totallyopposed to the practice. So, as the years went by,
increasing numbers of Frenchmen enlisted in units which gradually
became Irish in name only.
Scottish regiments were raised from Jacobite Scots in France and
thosewho laterescapedto FranceafterCullodenin 1746.Therewasalso
some quiet recruiting among Catholics in the Scottish Highlands, but
FARLEFT FusilieroftheSwiss
Guards,c.1724.(AnneS.K.
BrownMilitaryCollection, Brown
University) .
LEFT Backviewofafusilierof
theSwissGuards,c.1724.(Anne
S.K. Brown MilitaryCollection,
BrownUniversity)
this was frowned upon by the British. There were enough Scotti h
officer, but as the year pa sed, providing new Scots recruits wa an
even greater challenge than for Irish units, so these regiments had also
lost much oftheir national character by the end of1762, when the last
were disbanded.
Manyforeign regiments were disbanded or amalgamated at the end
of the Seven Years' War, but the army still maintained a sizeable con
tingent. The reformsmadein the armyreached theforeign regimentsin
a series of regulations issued during 1763. The organisation was
streamlined to two battalion of eight companie each; companie of
Swiss regiments were pared down to 66 officers and men, the other
nationalities to 58 officers and men. Uniforms were now furnished by
the government, and captains were no longer expected to run the
interioreconomyofcompanies.
In addition to the officialforeign regiments, therewere thousands of
other foreigners in French pay serving in the light troops and in the
colonial troops which will be covered in volumes 4and 5.
DrummeroftheSwissGuards,
c.1724.Hewearstheblue-Iined UNIFORMS
redcoatoftheking'sliverywith
thegrandliverylace.(AnneS.K.
What has already been described for the French line infantry uniforms
BrownMilitaryCollection, Brown
University) in the previous volume remains largely true for foreign infantry regi
ments. (See MAA302.) The 1729, 1736, 1747, 1762and 1767orders,for
instance, also applied to foreign regiments. The coat colour, however,
wasredforSwi sand Irish regiments, blueformostGermanandScottish
units and grey-white or blue for the others. The cut was generally the
sameas theFrenchinfantry, butsomedetailsweredifferent: some units
had lapels much earlier than French infantry regiments, for
example, and many had laced buttonholes.
Therankdistinctionsofofficer offoreign infantrywere thesame
as in the French infantry. Theywere towear the sameuniform as the
men, butmade ofbetter materials, with gold orsilver buttons and
lace. However, some portraits show that deviation were more
common with foreign officers. Until the 1750s Swiss and
German officers favoured a row of buttons on both sides
of the coat front, for example. In some case, the but
tonholesofSwissofficershad blue twistcordwhenonred.
Regiments that had laced buttonholes on the men' coats
would have the same feature on the officers' uniform. The
waistcoatwaslacedwithgoldorsilver, sometimeswith richly
embroidered buttonholes. Hatscould also be een with white
plumes edging the brim.
On duty, the Swiss officers wore ilvered gorgets; those of German
units were ofpolished steel and those ofother nationalitieswere gilded
like the French infantry. Foreignofficers' spontoonsweregenerallyas in
the French regiments, although Germans tended to have the wide
bladed spontoon typical oftheir nation.
Sergeants, corporals and anspessades (lance corporals) generally had
the same rank distinctions as the French infantry but there could be
exceptions on details. A Royal-Barroi clothing bill of 1759 mention
black lace edging the white cuffs of the corporals and anspessades.
