Wikipedia

Swiss mercenaries: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m cleanup
Expanded
Line 60:
Other stratagems could also take the Swiss pikemen at a disadvantage. For instance, the Spanish ''[[rodeleros]]'', also known as sword-and-buckler men, armed with steel rodelas and ''[[side-sword|espadas]]'' and often wearing a helmet and a breastplate, were much better armed and armored for man-to-man close quarters combat. Accordingly, they could defeat the Swiss pike square by dashing under their unwieldy pikes and stabbing them. However, this tactic operated in support of allied pike squares and thus required the opposing pike square to be fully engaged in the chaos of the [[push of pike]]. Swiss pike columns that retained good formation were often able to beat back Spanish ''rodeleros'' with impunity, such as in the [[Battle of Seminara]], in which the Swiss pike were heavily outnumbered.
 
== After the Battle of Pavia ==
Despite the end of their supremacy {{Circa|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 [[French Wars of Religion]], in particular at the [[Battle of Dreux]], where a block of Swiss pikemen held the [[Huguenot]] army until the Catholic cavalry were able to counterattack.
 
=== Service inby thecountry French army ===
 
=== France ===
[[File:Gardes Suisses Marbot.jpg|thumb|Soldier and officer of the [[Swiss Guards]] in French service in 1757]]
{{See also|Cent-Suisses}}{{See also|List of Royal French foreign regiments}}
Line 77 ⟶ 78:
 
[[File:Regiments Suisses GA.jpg|thumb|left|Swiss soldiers during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]]]
Following the occupation[[French invasion of Switzerland by French revolutionary forces]] in 1798, a project to raise six [[demi-brigade]]s of Swiss infantry for French service was initiated. However, recruitment proved difficult and by May 1799 only a quarter of the intended establishment of 18,000 had been raised.<ref>D. Greentree & D. Campbell, pages 6–7 "Napoleon's Swiss Troops", {{ISBN|978-1-84908-678-3}}</ref> [[Napoleon]] authorized the recruitment of a Swiss infantry regiment for French service in July 1805. A further three infantry regiments were created in October 1807, each including an artillery company. He specified that this newly raised Swiss Corps should comprise only citizens of Switzerland without "mingling in deserters or other foreigners".<ref>Philip Haythornthwaite, page 127 "Uniforms of the Retreat from Moscow 1812", {{ISBN|0-88254-421-7}}</ref> The Swiss regiments fought well both in Spain (where they clashed at the [[Battle of Bailén]] with Swiss troops in the Spanish Army) and in Russia. During the [[retreat from Moscow]] Swiss losses amounted to 80% of their original numbers. The Swiss were allowed to keep the distinctive red coats which had distinguished them prior to 1792, with different [[facings]] identifying each regiment.
 
[[File:Prise du Louvre, le 29 juillet 1830, massacre des gardes suisses.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of a Swiss regiment in French service during the [[July Revolution|Revolution of 1830]].]]
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 [[Battle of Wavre|Wavre]] during the [[Hundred Days]].<ref>D. Greentree & D. Campbell, page 41 "Napoleon's Swiss Troops ", {{ISBN|978-1-84908-678-3}}</ref> 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 in the [[July Revolution]], where about a hundred Swiss soldiers were killed in action.
 
=== Service in the Spanish ArmySpain ===
[[File:Regimiento Suizo de Reding nº 3.jpg|thumb|left|Historical reenactment of the Spanish Army's [[3rd Swiss Regiment Reding]] in Spanish service]]
Another major employer of Swiss mercenaries from the later 16th century on was [[Spain]]. After the [[Protestant Reformation]], Switzerland was split along religious lines between [[Protestant]] and [[Catholic]] cantons. Swiss mercenaries from the Catholic cantons were thereafter increasingly likely to be hired for service in the armies of the [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish Habsburg]] superpower in the laterlate 16th century. The first regularly embodied Swiss regiment in the Spanish armyArmy was that of Walter Roll of [[Canton of Uri|Uri]] (a Catholic canton), formed in 1574, for service in the [[SpanishEighty NetherlandsYears' War]],.<ref andname=Bolzern>{{HDS|3372|Spain|author=Rudolf Bolzern|date=4 July 2013}}</ref> byBy the middle of the 17th century, there[[Philip wereIII of Spain|Philip III]] and his successor [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]] had signed capitulations for a dozen Swiss regiments.<ref fightingname=Bolzern/> forThese thewere Spanishdeployed army. Fromin the latter[[Portuguese partRestoration ofWar]], the 17th[[Reapers' centuryWar]], theseand couldthe be[[Nine foundYears' servingWar]] in Spainthe itselflatter orhalf inof itsthe overseas possessionscentury.<ref name=Bolzern/>
 
Swiss soldiers in Spanish service saw action in Italy during the [[War of the Quadruple Alliance]] in 1718, in North Africa during the [[Spanish conquest of Oran (1732)|expedition to Oran and Mers el-Kebir]] in 1732, and in [[Sicily]] and [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]] during the [[War of the Polish Succession]] in 1734–1735.<ref name=Bolzern/> In the [[War of the Austrian Succession]], 30,000 Swiss mercenaries from five regiments fought for the Spanish Crown in [[Lombardy]], [[Savoy]] and the [[County of Nice]].<ref name=Bolzern/> During the second half of the 18th century, Spain employed four Swiss regiments which took part in all of its campaigns, including the [[Spanish invasion of Portugal (1762)|invasion of Portugal]] in 1762, the [[Invasion of Algiers (1775)|invasion of Algiers]] in 1775 and the [[Spain in the American Revolutionary War|American Revolutionary War]].<ref name=Bolzern/>
The Swiss units saw active service against Portugal, against rebellions in Catalonia, in the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], [[War of the Polish Succession]], [[War of the Austrian Succession]] (in the fighting in Italy), and against Britain in the [[Spain in the American Revolutionary War|American Revolutionary War]]. By the 1790s there were about 13,000 men making up the Swiss contingents in a total Spanish army of 137,000. The practice of recruiting directly from the Catholic cantons was however disrupted by the outbreak of the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. Recruiting agents substituted Germans, Austrians and Italians and in some regiments the genuine Swiss element dwindled to 100 or less.<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Esdaile|page=69|title=Godoy's Army|year=2017|publisher=Helion Limited |isbn=978-1-911512-65-3}}</ref>
 
[[File:Infanteria Suiza. Granaderos Betschart. (Año 1789) (NYPL b14896507-87671).tiff|thumb|Swiss grenadier of the Betschart Regiment in Spanish service, 1794]]
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'') <ref>Rene Chartrand, page 20, "Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars 1793–1808", {{ISBN|1-85532-763-5}}</ref> mostly stayed loyal to their Spanish employers. At the [[Battle of Bailén]], the Swiss regiments pressed into French service defected back to the [[3rd Swiss Regiment Reding|Spanish Army]] under [[Theodor von Reding|Reding]]. The year 1823 finally saw the end of Swiss mercenary service with the Spanish army.
 
By the 1790s there were about 13,000 men making up the Swiss contingents in a total Spanish Army of 137,000. The practice of recruiting directly from the Catholic cantons was however disrupted by the outbreak of the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. Recruiting agents substituted Germans, Austrians and Italians and in some regiments the genuine Swiss element dwindled to 100 or less.<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Esdaile|page=69|title=Godoy's Army|year=2017|publisher=Helion Limited |isbn=978-1-911512-65-3}}</ref> Spain's Swiss units served against the French in the [[War of the Pyrenees]], and one Swiss regiment (Betschart) formed part of the Allied army at the [[Siege of Toulon]] in 1793.<ref name=Bolzern/><ref>{{HDS|42307|Franz Thade Betschart|author=Franz Auf der Maur|date=23 June 2004}}</ref> Their final role in Spanish service was against the French in the [[Peninsular War]], in which the five Swiss regiments (Rüttimann, Jann, Reding, Schwaller and Courten)<ref>Rene Chartrand, page 20, "Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars 1793–1808", {{ISBN|1-85532-763-5}}</ref> mostly stayed loyal to their Spanish employers. At the [[Battle of Bailén]] in 1808, the Swiss regiments pressed into French service defected back to the [[3rd Swiss Regiment Reding]] under [[Theodor von Reding]].
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.<ref>{{cite book|first=Otto von|last=Pivka|page=22|title=Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars|date=15 June 1975|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=0-85045-243-0}}</ref>▼
 
▲The Swiss regiments suffered heavy losses in the following years of the Peninsular War, numbering only a few hundred men by 1812.<ref name=Bolzern/> They were finally disbanded in 1823 during the ''[[Trienio liberal]]''.<ref>{{HDS|8608|Foreign service|author=Philippe Henry, Philipp Krauer|date=31 October 2023}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|first=Otto von|last=Pivka|page=22|title=Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars|date=15 June 1975|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=0-85045-243-0}}</ref>
=== Service in the Dutch Army ===
The Dutch employed many Swiss units at various dates during the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref>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.</ref> In the early 18th century there were four regiments, and a ceremonial company of "Cent Suisses". They were mostly employed as garrison troops in peacetime, although the Republic sent Swiss regiments to Scotland in 1715 and 1745; in 1745, three battalions of the Swiss Hirtzel Regiment formed part of the Dutch contingent sent to serve in England as allies at the time of the [[Jacobite rising of 1745|Jacobite rising]] in Scotland that year.<ref>Stuart Reid, pages 22–23 "Cumberland's Culloden Army 1745–46, {{ISBN|978 1 84908 846 6}}</ref> With the threat of a French invasion in 1748, four additional regiments were taken into service, but that year, the [[War of Austrian Succession]] ended and three of these additional regiments were retired from service. In 1749 a regiment of "Zwitsersche Guardes" (''Swiss Guards'') was raised, the recruits coming from the ranks of the existing Swiss infantry regiments; in 1787, these six regiments numbered a total of 9,600 men.<ref>"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.</ref>▼
 
=== Netherlands ===
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|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]].
[[File:Handmann, Steiger.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Colonel Viktor Steiger (1727–1822), a Swiss officer in Dutch service, by [[Jakob Emanuel Handmann]] (1767)]]
The Dutch employed many Swiss units at various dates during the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref>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.</ref> After initial attempts by the [[Dutch Republic]] to raise Swiss regiments during the [[Franco-Dutch War]] were unsuccessful, the [[revocation of the Edict of Nantes]] in 1685 by [[Louis XIV of France]] prompted a feeling of common threat among Protestants.<ref name=MaissenMarthaler>{{HDS|3364|Netherlands|author=Thomas Maissen, Kathrin Marthaler|date=12 October 2011}}</ref> In March 1693, the Dutch envoy to [[Zürich]], Petrus Valkenier, concluded a private capitulation with Swiss mercenary Hercules [[Capol]], a Protestant who had left French service in 1685, raising a regiment of 1,600 men from the [[Grisons]] for Dutch service.<ref>{{HDS|23378|Hercules Capol|author=Martin Bundi|date=24 July 2003}}</ref> [[Canton of Zürich|Zürich]] authorized the recruitment of 800 men the same year.<ref name=MaissenMarthaler/> In 1696, the Protestant cantons of [[Canton of Bern|Bern]] and [[Canton of Schaffhausen|Schaffhausen]], as well as the [[Republic of Geneva]] and the [[Principality of Neuchâtel]] (both Protestant [[Swiss Associates|associate states of Switzerland]]), entered into similar accords with the Netherlands.<ref name=MaissenMarthaler/>
 
▲TheIn Dutch1700, employed many11,200 Swiss unitssoldiers atserved various dates duringin the 17th[[Dutch andStates 18th centuriesArmy]].<ref name=MaissenMarthaler/>An old DutchAt sayingthe is:[[Battle "Geenof geld,Malplaquet]] geenin Zwitsers"1709, fromduring the French[[War "pointof d'argentthe Spanish Succession]], pointsix deSwiss Suisse";regiments itin translatesDutch to:pay "No money(Chambrier, noSchmid Swissvon [mercenaries]"Grüneck, meaningHirzel, thatMay, youStürler needand moneyMestral) infought ordera toFrench wagearmy war.</ref>which Inincluded the early 18th centurySwiss there were fourinfantry regiments, and aLouis ceremonialXIV's company[[Swiss of "Cent Suisses"Guards]].<ref>{{HDS|8913|Battle Theyof wereMalplaquet|author=Hervé mostlyde employedWeck|author=25 asAugust garrison troops in2008}}</ref> peacetime, although theThe Republic sent Swiss regiments to Scotland in 1715 and 1745; in 1745, three battalions of the Swiss HirtzelHirzel Regiment formed part of the Dutch contingent sent to serve in England as allies at the time of the [[Jacobite rising of 1745|Jacobite rising]] in Scotland that year.<ref>Stuart Reid, pages 22–23 "Cumberland's Culloden Army 1745–46, {{ISBN|978 1 84908 846 6}}</ref> With the threat of a French invasion in 1748, fourthe Netherlands concluded a capitulation with all Protestant cantons (except [[Canton of Basel|Basel]]) in addition to [[Canton of Glarus|Glarus]], [[Appenzell Ausserrhoden]], [[Canton of St. Gallen|St. Gallen]] and Neuchâtel.<ref name=MaissenMarthaler/> The capitulation of 1748 increased to 20,400 the number of Swiss mercenaries in Dutch service, and additional regiments were taken into service, but that year, the [[War of Austrian Succession]] ended and three of these additional regiments were retired from service.<ref name=MaissenMarthaler/> In 1749 a regiment of "ZwitserscheSwiss Guardes"Guards (''SwissZwitsersche GuardsGuardes'') was raised, the recruits coming from the ranks of the existing Swiss infantry regiments; in 1787, these six regiments numbered a total of 9,600 men.<ref>"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.</ref>
 
Swiss regiments were employed by both the Dutch Republic and the [[Dutch East India Company]] for service in the [[Cape Colony]] and the [[Dutch East Indies]].<ref name=MaissenMarthaler/> In 1772, the Regiment Fourgeoud was sent to [[Surinam (Dutch colony)|Surinam]] to serve against the [[maroons]] in the Surinam jungle. A narrative of this campaign written by [[John Gabriel Stedman]], was later published. In 1781, the [[Regiment de Meuron|Meuron Regiment]] was hired for service in the Dutch colonies.<ref name=MaissenMarthaler/> With the abdication of the [[stadhouder]] in 1795 and the formingestablishment of the [[Batavian Republic]], the six Swiss regiments were disbanded in 1796.<ref name=MaissenMarthaler/> After the return of the [[Prince of Orange]] in 1813, four regiments of Swiss infantry, numbered 29 to 32 in the line, were raised, of which the 32nd Regiment served as a guard regiment performing guard duties at the [[Royal Palace inof [[Amsterdam]] after 1815;. however,These these regimentsunits were also disbanded in 1829.<ref>Rinaldo D. D'Ami, page 30 "World Uniforms in Colour – Volume 1: The European Nations", SBN 85059 031 0</ref>
 
=== Service in the Neapolitan ArmyNaples ===
[[File:Schweizer Truppen Neapel 4.jpg|thumb|Sergeant and captain of the 3rd Swiss Regiment of the [[Neapolitan Army]], 1845–1859]]
The permanent employment of Swiss mercenaries by the [[Kingdom of Naples]] began with the transfer of the Neapolitan crown to the [[Spanish Bourbons]].<ref name=HDS>{{HDS|6634|Naples|author=Marianne Bauer|date=26 April 2011}}</ref> In 1731, [[Philip V of Spain]] put two of his most experienced Swiss units (the Nideröst and Bessler regiments) at the disposal of his son Charles, Duke of Parma (the future [[Charles III of Spain]]).<ref name=HDS/> After the Bourbon takeover of Naples in 1734, Charles raised two new Swiss regiments under the ownership of the [[Tschudi]] family of [[Canton of Glarus|Glarus]].<ref name=HDS/> The Bessler Regiment was replaced by a regiment belonging to the Jauch family, from [[Canton of Uri|Uri]].<ref name=HDS/> Three of the regiments were stationed in the city of [[Naples]] and the surrounding area, with a fourth garrisoned in [[Sicily]].<ref name=HDS/> The Swiss regiments in Neapolitan service, totaling between 6,000 and 7,000 men, remained active until 1789.<ref name=HDS/> After their dismissal, several Swiss soldiers joined other foreign regiments and went on to fight the [[French Revolutionary Army]].<ref name=HDS/> Others followed King [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies|Ferdinand IV]] into exile in 1799, following his overthrow by the [[Parthenopean Republic]], and again from 1806 to 1815 during [[Kingdom of Naples (Napoleonic)|Napoleonic rule in Naples]].<ref name=HDS/>
 
After his restoration in 1815, Ferdinand, now monarch of the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]], negotiated with the [[Swiss Federal Diet]] and concluded treaties in 1824 with the cantons of [[Canton of Lucerne|Lucerne]], Uri, [[Unterwalden]] and [[Appenzell Innerrhoden]], and in 1825 with [[Canton of Solothurn|Solothurn]] and [[Canton of Fribourg|Fribourg]], for the formation of two Swiss regiments.<ref name=HDS/> A third regiment were raised in 1826, through a treaty with [[Valais]], [[Grisons]] and Schwyz, and fourth by [[Canton of Bern|Bern]] in 1829.<ref name=HDS/> These [[Capitulation (treaty)|capitulations]], concluded for a period of thirty years, offered commercial advantages.<ref name=HDS/> The Swiss regiments went through unrest under the reign of [[Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies|Ferdinand II]], with frequent changes of garrison.<ref name=HDS/> During the [[Revolutions of 1848|Revolutions of 1848–1849]], Swiss mercenaries were deployed in two campaigns against the revolutionary [[Roman Republic (1849–1850)|Roman Republic]] and took part in the suppression of the [[Sicilian revolution of 1848|Sicilian Revolution]].<ref name=HDS/> Their behaviour on this occasion was criticized within Switzerland, which led the [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]] in 1851 to ban all recruitment for foreign service and to demand the removal of the [[Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland|cantonal]] and [[Coat of arms of Switzerland|national]] coats of arms from regimental flags.<ref name=HDS/> After Ferdinand II's death in 1859, the Swiss regiments in the Two Sicilies were officially disbanded.<ref name=HDS/>
 
=== Service in the British ArmyBritain ===
[[File:Regiment suisse de Meuron.png|thumb|Flag of the regiment de Meuron]]
In 1781, [[Charles-Daniel de Meuron]], a former colonel of the French Swiss Guard, founded his own mercenary regiment under the name [[Regiment de Meuron]], first serving the Dutch East India Company, and from 1796, the [[British East India Company]]. Under British service, they fought in the [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War|Mysore campaign]] of 1799, the [[Mediterranean campaign of 1798|Mediterranean]] and [[Peninsular War|Peninsula campaigns]]. After being stationed in Britain the regiment was posted to Canada, where it served in the [[War of 1812]]. It was finally disbanded in 1816.
Line 127 ⟶ 131:
 
== Notable Swiss mercenaries ==
* [[Louis-Auguste-Augustin d'Affry]]
* [[Karl Josef von Bachmann]]
* [[Pierre Victor, baron de Besenval de Brünstatt]]
* [[Henry Bouquet]]
* [[Jean Victor Constant de Rebecque]]
* [[Samuel Frisching (II)|Samuel Frisching]]
* [[Wilhelm Frölich]]
* [[Urs Graf]]
* [[FranzFrederick Adam KarrerHaldimand]]
* [[Ludwig Pfyffer]]
* [[Theodor von Reding]]
 
== See also ==
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_mercenaries"