Walloon Guards

Walloon Guards
Guardia Valona
Walloon Guards ; Guardia Valona
	Military coat of arms of Philip V
Active	1703–1820
Country	Spanish Netherlands (until 1713); Austrian Netherlands (1713–1795); France (1795–1815); United Kingdom of the Netherlands (from 1815)
Allegiance	Spanish Empire
Branch	Spanish Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Royal Guard
Engagements	War of the Polish Succession ; War of the Austrian Succession ; Motín de Esquilache ; Spanish War of Independence
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Ramón María Narváez

Last updated September 29, 2022

The Walloon Guards (Gardes Wallonnes; in Spanish, Guardias Valonas)^[1] were an infantry corps recruited for the Spanish Army in the region now known as Belgium, mainly from Catholic Wallonia. As foreign troops without direct ties amongst the Spanish population, the Walloons were often tasked with the maintenance of public order, eventually being incorporated as a regiment of the Spanish Royal Guard.

History

Origins

The Walloon Guards were first raised in 1704,^[2] at a time when the Low Countries were under the Spanish Crown as the Spanish Netherlands. "Walloons" was the Germanic (walha) name for their romanized neighbors. Initially Walloon line infantry regiments were formed by the Flemish, the Brabantians and Walloons to the number of 4,000 men and were recruited among the strongest and tallest men available, to spearhead assaults or to cover retreats.

Establishment

The decision to raise a regiment of Walloon Guards was taken on 17 October 1702 by Philip V of Spain and the new unit arrived in Spain in December the following year. They were linked with the Spanish Guards (Gardes Espagnoles) raised shortly before. Both regiments had the same organisation, disciplinary regulations and uniforms of dark blue, red and silver.^[3] The model for both were the French Guards (Gardes Françaises) of the French Maison du Roi, a detachment of whom were sent to Spain in 1703 to act as instructors.^[4]

Recruitment

After the independence of the United Netherlands in 1648 and the cession of the Spanish Netherlands to Austria at the Treaty of Utrecht in 1714, Walloons continued to serve in the Spanish army together with foreign soldiers from Switzerland, Ireland, and Italy. The Walloon Guards remained a primarily Walloon unit, although the Austrian authorities attempted to discourage recruitment in the former Spanish Netherlands. Most officers of the Regiment came from long established Spanish families of Walloon origin. In Similarly, some rank and file members of the regiment remained in Spain when their period of service was over, took Spanish wives and encouraged their sons to enlist in the various Walloon units of the Spanish Army. Until about 1808 the upper ranks of the Walloon Guards had to provide evidence of their aristocratic lineage and private incomes.^[5]

Late 18th century

In March 1766, the Walloon Guard was amongst the troops defending Charles III of Spain during the Esquilache Riots, and shots fired by a detachment of the regiment killed a woman, intensifying the crowd's anger. Demands made by the rioters to the king included the disbanding of the Walloon Guards, several of whom were killed during the disturbances.^[6]

The Walloon Guards played a significant role in the extended Great Siege of Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783. By this date shortfalls in recruiting from the Netherlands were being made up by drawing on Irish and German sources.^[7]

Until the Austrian Netherlands were overrun and annexed by the First French Republic in 1794, the region continued to supply 400 to 500 recruits per year to the Walloon Guards through a recruitment office in Liège. The three Walloon line infantry regiments, Brabante, Flandes and Bruselas, were dissolved and redistributed to other regiments between 1791 and 1792.^[8]

Peninsular War

Part of the Walloon Guards were stationed in Madrid at the time of the French occupation in October 1808. These were incorporated into the French Army, which already included a significant number of Belgian and Dutch units. Four battalions of Walloon Guards garrisoned in Barcelona and Aragon continued in Spanish service, seeing much action against the French. With recruitment from the Southern Netherlands effectively ceasing, the Walloon Guards were reduced in numbers to two battalions by January 1812, in spite of drawing on Spanish volunteers as replacements.^[9]

Post-Restoration

With the restoration of the Spanish Bourbon monarchy in 1814 the Royal Guard was reassembled, but continuing recruitment difficulties meant that the Walloon Guards had become a mainly Spanish unit. On 1 June 1818 the Walloon Guards were accordingly renamed as the Second Regiment of Royal Guards of Infantry, losing their traditional distinctions.^[10] In 1824 a new Guardia Real was raised drawing entirely on Spanish conscripts or volunteers from the regular army.^[11]

Related Research Articles

Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat with swords and firearms from horseback. While their use goes back to the late 16th century, dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the 17th and early 18th centuries; they provided greater mobility than regular infantry but were far less expensive than cavalry.

Swiss Guards are Swiss soldiers who have served as guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century.

The Swiss mercenaries were a powerful infantry force constituted by professional soldiers originary from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among the military forces of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Late Middle Ages into the Renaissance. Their service as mercenaries was at its peak during the Renaissance, when their proven battlefield capabilities made them sought-after mercenary troops. There followed a period of decline, as technological and organizational advances counteracted the Swiss' advantages. Switzerland's military isolationism largely put an end to organized mercenary activity; the principal remnant of the practice is the Pontifical Swiss Guard at the Vatican.

The National Guard is a French military, gendarmerie, and police reserve force, active in its current form since 2016 but originally founded in 1789 during the French Revolution.

A carabinier is in principle a soldier armed with a carbine. A carbiniere is a carabiniere musket or rifle and were commonplace by the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The word is derived from the identical French word carabinier.

The Flight of the Wild Geese was the departure of an Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on 3 October 1691, following the end of the Williamite War in Ireland. More broadly, the term Wild Geese is used in Irish history to refer to Irish soldiers who left to serve in continental European armies in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

A royal guard is a group of military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as the emperor or empress, king or queen, or prince or princess. They often are an elite unit of the regular armed forces, or are designated as such, and may maintain special rights or privileges.

The Russian Imperial Guard, officially known as the Leib Guard were military units serving as personal guards of the Emperor of Russia. Peter the Great founded the first such units following the Prussian practice in 1683, to replace the politically motivated Streltsy. The Imperial Guard subsequently increased in size and diversity to become an elite corps of all branches within the Imperial Army rather than Household troops in direct attendance on the Tsar. Numerous links were however maintained with the Imperial family and the bulk of the regiments of the Imperial Guard were stationed in and around Saint Petersburg in peacetime. The Imperial Guard was disbanded in 1917 following the Russian Revolution.

The French Guards were an elite infantry regiment of the French Royal Army. They formed a constituent part of the Maison militaire du roi de France under the Ancien Régime.

The Women's March on Versailles, also known as the October March, the October Days or simply the March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution. The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were nearly rioting over the high price of bread. The unrest quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. The market women and their allies ultimately grew into a mob of thousands. Encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched on the Palace of Versailles. The crowd besieged the palace and, in a dramatic and violent confrontation, they successfully pressed their demands upon King Louis XVI. The next day, the crowd forced the king, his family, and most of the French Assembly to return with them to Paris.

The Life Guards was the senior formation of the King of France's Household Cavalry within the Maison militaire du roi de France.

The Brunswick Ducal Field-Corps, commonly known as the Black Brunswickers in English and the Schwarze Schar or Schwarze Legion in German, were a military unit in the Napoleonic Wars. The corps was raised from volunteers by German-born Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1771–1815). The Duke was a harsh opponent of Napoleon Bonaparte's occupation of his native Germany. Formed in 1809 when war broke out between the First French Empire and the Austrian Empire, the corps initially comprised a mixed force, around 2,300 strong, of infantry, cavalry and later supporting artillery.

The Royal Guard is an independent regiment of the Spanish Armed Forces that is dedicated to the protection of the King of Spain and members of the Spanish Royal Family. It currently has a strength of 1,500 troops. While the guard does participate in parades and other ceremonial events, it is a fully functional combat unit. Its members are recruited from the ranks of all three branches of the Spanish Armed Forces and receive the same combat training as regular soldiers.

The Scottish Guards was a bodyguard unit founded in 1418 by the Valois Charles VII of France, to be personal bodyguards to the French monarchy. They were assimilated into the Maison du Roi and later formed the first company of the Garde du Corps du Roi.

The Lion Monument, or the Lion of Lucerne, is a rock relief in Lucerne, Switzerland, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. It is one of the most famous monuments in Switzerland, visited annually by about 1.4 million tourists. In 2006, it was placed under Swiss monument protection.

The St. Petersburg River Yacht Club, also known as St. Petersburg Central River Yacht Club or simply Central River Yacht Club, is a sailing club in Saint Petersburg. It is located on Petrovsky Island, off Peter's Passage, between the mouths of Malaya Neva and Malaya Nevka rivers. The Naval Yacht Club is close by.

The Constitutional Guard was a French royal guard formation which lasted a few months in 1792 as part of the Maison du Roi, being superseded by the National Guard. It existed in the period of the constitutional monarchy during the French Revolution.

Philip Mansel is a historian of courts and cities, and the author of a number of books about the history of France and the Ottoman Empire. He was born in London in 1951 and educated at Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford, and obtained a doctorate at University College London in 1978. He has lived in Paris, Istanbul and Beirut and now lives in London.

The Cent-gardes Squadron,, also called Cent Gardes à Cheval, was an elite cavalry squadron of the Second French Empire primarily responsible for protecting the person of the Emperor Napoleon III, as well as providing security within the Tuileries Palace. It also provided an escort for the emblems of the Imperial Guard and their award ceremony with flag and standard bearers.

References

↑ von Pivka, Otto. Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars. p. 20. ISBN 0-85045-2430.
↑ Chartrand, Rene. Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars (1) 1793-1808. p. 13. ISBN 1-85532-763-5.
↑ von Pivka, Otto. Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars. p. 20. ISBN 0-85045-2430.
↑ Mansel, Philip (1984). Pillars of Monarchy: an Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards, 1400-1984 (1st. ed.). London: Quartet Books. p. 18. ISBN 0-7043-2424-5.
↑ Mansel, Philip (1984). Pillars of Monarchy: an Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards, 1400-1984 (1st. ed.). London: Quartet Books. pp. 75–76. ISBN 0-7043-2424-5.
↑ Hughes, Robert (2004). Goya (1st. ed.). London: Vintage. p. 50. ISBN 0 099 45368 1.
↑ Adkins, Roy and Lesley. Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-4087-0867-5.
↑ Diccionario Enciclopédico Hispano-Americano, de 1892.
↑ Chartrand, Rene. Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars (3) 1812-1815. p. 6. ISBN 1-85532-764-3.
↑ Mansel, Philip (1984). Pillars of Monarchy: an Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards, 1400-1984 (1st. ed.). London: Quartet Books. p. 50. ISBN 0-7043-2424-5.
↑ Mansel, Philip (1984). Pillars of Monarchy: an Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards, 1400-1984 (1st. ed.). London: Quartet Books. p. 50. ISBN 0-7043-2424-5.

This article incorporates material from the es:Diccionario Enciclopédico Hispano-Americano registered in 1892, nowadays in public domain

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] von Pivka, Otto. Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars. p. 20. ISBN 0-85045-2430.

[2] Chartrand, Rene. Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars (1) 1793-1808. p. 13. ISBN 1-85532-763-5.

[3] von Pivka, Otto. Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars. p. 20. ISBN 0-85045-2430.

[4] Mansel, Philip (1984). Pillars of Monarchy: an Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards, 1400-1984 (1st. ed.). London: Quartet Books. p. 18. ISBN 0-7043-2424-5.

[5] Mansel, Philip (1984). Pillars of Monarchy: an Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards, 1400-1984 (1st. ed.). London: Quartet Books. pp. 75–76. ISBN 0-7043-2424-5.

[6] Hughes, Robert (2004). Goya (1st. ed.). London: Vintage. p. 50. ISBN 0 099 45368 1.

[7] Adkins, Roy and Lesley. Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-4087-0867-5.

[8] Diccionario Enciclopédico Hispano-Americano, de 1892.

[9] Chartrand, Rene. Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars (3) 1812-1815. p. 6. ISBN 1-85532-764-3.

[10] Mansel, Philip (1984). Pillars of Monarchy: an Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards, 1400-1984 (1st. ed.). London: Quartet Books. p. 50. ISBN 0-7043-2424-5.

[11] Mansel, Philip (1984). Pillars of Monarchy: an Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards, 1400-1984 (1st. ed.). London: Quartet Books. p. 50. ISBN 0-7043-2424-5.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]