It's always interesting to hear about the history Irish regiments. Would love to hear about Irish regiments in the British army and how they were rated in battle.
Connaught Rangers were considered one of the best units of the British army. Given in the mid Victorian period 40% of the army was Irish, it's inevitable Irish units would be among the best the Isles had to offer
The difficulty here is that many Regiments were Irish even when they have English County titles. One example was the Durham Regiment in 1809 where 37 out of 39 sergeants were Irish. (Interestingly sergeants we’re paid more if they spoke Irish) About a third of all ranks were Irish. Many of the officers were likewise Irish. The Irish proved themselves to be first rate soldiers.
Love the look and history of the Irish Regiment, to the point that even though my French are largely based around II Corps at Wagram, I have two battalions in the que of Irish for "what if!" Games. Great looking Regiment that really breaks up the blue tide of French on the board.
Two things: The French had an Irish brigade from 1692 to 1792. These were refugees from the war between James II and William of Orange. Another reason that 1745 was a pivotal year was the battle of Fontenoy where the the French Irish brigade played a key role in the French victory. Some elements of that brigade also played a role in the 1745 and fought at Culloden in April 1746.
Initially I thought how on earth could you spin this out for an hour never mind 2 videos but I have to say you cracked it, great content and very enjoyable. Thanks 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Agreed. This series on the Irish Legion is excellent. I came late to the channel, but the benefit of that is I get all three parts immediately. Very nice.
At least the Irish were 'unshackled' fighting overseas. Slightly off topic, but a Welsh acquaintance post-Falklands/Malvinas war, was telling me that native Welsh were not allowed to rise above NCO level in the British Army, only English Officers allowed. So, the Welsh speakers would converse in their own language, passing comment on the incompetence of their senior officers! Cymru Am Byth!🐉
Not true. During this era class decided status. Rural Welsh-speakers were almost inevitably not of the middle or upper classes and it was this that made entry into the officer corps almost impossible.
I would be interested to hear more stories of the overseas Irish soldier diaspora and their descendant's such as Napoleons '100 Days' aide de camp Clarke, Hennessey of the Cognac, General (and later Field Marshal) Nicholas Taaffe who served at the Siege of Vienna and Marshall MacMahon of Franco Prussian War and Paris Commune fame (even Charles De Gaulle has some Irish ancestry). Then there are the Irish in the Americas. Admiral Brown 'Father of the Argentine navy'. John Barry 'Father of the US navy'. Captain Myles Keough who died at the Battle of the Little Big Horn (Battle of the Greasy Grass to the Native Americans) and John Riley of the Irish Foreign Legion of Patricios who fought for Mexico in the Mexican American war. Then there are the forgotten invisible Irish like Major general William Johnson, an Irish Catholic, who converted to Protestantism to pursue a career denied to him as a Catholic. He served with Wolfe at Quebec and is seen in the famous painting 'The Death of General Wolfe' by Benjamin West, in a green jacket. I may be wrong but I don't think another people have fought in so many foreign conflicts, sometimes on opposite sides. But the fact that Irish Americans are the main recipients of the Medal of Honour and that per head of population the Irish have the most VC's says something. N.B. Then after writing this wish list I saw your channels name: Napoleonic wargaming.
Thats recent phenomenon. Throughout history it was called Gaelic, ask your grandparents. They started calling it Irish to differentiate from Scottish Gaelic. Also because Gaelic people in Ireland are called Irish. Gaelic culture, Gaelic people, GAELIC language
Excellent video I am really interested in the foreign regiments of napoleons grande armee. I would enjoy to see a series being done on these, such as the vistula legion, legion du nord or regiment joseph napoleon
Awesome video. So informative and interesting. I also appreciate your enthusiastic attitude, as ive noticed whenever Ireland/irish people is sometimes used as a punching bag, and people think they can get away with the odd disparagment. So thanks!
There was an Irish regiment in the royal French army, it was disolved during the revolution as it was seen as loyal to the crown. The Irish who arrived in France after 1798 were republicans, and so seen by the french as politically reliable.
Several Irish regiments. There were a few hundred present at Culloden in 1746, drawn from at least three different regiments. During the French Revolution, two commanders of Irish descent named Dillon were killed - they were relatives. Theobald Dillon was killed by his own troops in 1792 as they suspected him of royalism and ordering an unauthorised retreat, while Arthur Dillon was guillotined in 1794.
YES please Tim. I'm slowly putting together a "what if" scenario as in, what if Napoleon had been sent to Ireland to support the 1798 rebellion instead of haring off to Egypt to waste a lot of men & resources to no gain, except getting him out of the hair of the Directory. If this fictional rebellion succeeds, I'll be building up a force to threaten the invasion of England and then of course I'll have to do so. So I'm anxious to learn all I can about uniforms & such from the uprising & the dastardly British gear too (no offense Tim but check out the term "Pitch Capping") especially the French support and supply, inadequate as it was. Thanks so much for this video on the Irish Legion, the first Napoleonic unit I ever put together. Now I know I can justify 2 additional battalions. So happy to hear there's another episode to come and that your back in the saddle.
Thanks for the kind words! Checked out pitch capping, that sounds ery unpleasant indeed! I think I'd rather be sold to the King of Prussia as a meat shield!
Oh buddy, this is my territory. I grew up in Wexford, where most of the fighting during the rebellion took place. I could tell you anything you want to know!
this is super interesting stuff, thank you. it does seem a good bit of the units history is related to pr, but that just adds to the really compelling subject. it kinda also reminds me of some of napoleons polish projects. the nation and cultural aspects of regiments is fascinating. anyways always like your layed back and informative stuff.
Another great video. 👍 Some pronunciation tips (not perfect, but close enough): Vendee - VAWNday Irlandais(e) - EERlawnday/EERlawndezz Legion - LAYyzhong Augereau - OHzhayrOH Voltigeur - VOHLteeZHURR Berthier - BAYRtyay ("zh" is like the "s" in "treasure", "leisure", etc.
The elite companies (grenadier, voltigeur and carabinier companies) were made of such veterans. Each war battalion had one grenadier company (carabinier in light infantry).
The British loved their Irish soldiers. Irish people were poor, English rule, landlords kept them that way. But their diet, though simple, was nutitious. Potatoes and Buttermilk, was the staple. With this diet they grew big and strong. My family on my G'fathers side were British army men. His g'father was in the 8th Hussars and took part in the charge of the light brigade in Balaclava. His horse was shot from under him and he walked back through the valley carrying his saddle and other equipment. My G'father went into Guinness Brewery as a messenger to start his working life. When WW1 broke out Guinnesses asked for volunteers from the workers. My G'father volunteered. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe he went into the Royal Horse Artillery of Army Service Corp. He did survive the war, went back to Guinnesses, their jobs guaranteed, and joined the fire brigade, He eventually commanded on of the barges that brought the barrels of Guinness up the Liffey to the boats. My G'mother (his wife) was born in the artillery barracks, Woolwich, London. He father was, by all accounts, an absolute madman. Shot in the behind in one of Victoria's wars. Was a sergeant while stationed in Gibraltar, while being on guard duty there he was found to be drunk and disorderly, he was busted back to private. My dad broke tradition. When WW2 broke out he joined the Irish Army. All on my mother's side of the family were Irish Republicans.
Truly terrific ! Can't wait to watch & listen again. What a movie this would make "THE WILD GEESE" or "LAWLESS". If I were a multi-millionaire I''d be shopping around for a leading man & a script writer. Maybe Tim Richardson ?
Hello Sage!, coming from a (possible) relation of Lawless, I would love to see his story told, my family has fought for Ireland for hundreds of years and I'm proud of it!
You're really making it hard for me to focus on my (very slowly growing) british :p And yes, I'd love a companion video to this, dealing with the Irish regiments of the british army (and not just because I will have some of those on the table)
@@NapoleonicWargaming They're on the order of battle ;) (Just need to finish second brigade first). But they're also not the Irish you're talking about in this video, and I very much have wargamers ADHD
What a pity that the best of Irish warriors were lost in service to foreign potentates. As Patrick Sarsfield is reported to have said, in his last words uttered as he lay dying at the Battle of Landen "Oh, that this were for Ireland"!
We have a great history for foreign fighters even for Britain in India Africa and Sri Lanka where both us and British took extreme losses and kept going. Majority of the Irish fighting for British then were born in Ireland from western parts where the actual Irish were.
I was so excited that it would be a video about the croats, but they where irish. But it is a great video still, and their regiment is so cool. (sorry for bad grammar)
Great video! Hope you're doing a little better. As always, I know its in the backlog, but I just gotta comment once again about your take on expanding both sides of the waterloo box set so that two people can play fairly. My friends and I, as well as many other who want to get others into the hobby would really appreciate it ;)
They had Carabiner Company when set up. Got the Voltigeur company in 1807. See Napoleons mercenaries by G Dempsey for good run down on their history. There is an officers gorget in the Dublin Irish Army museum, which belonged to one of my ancestors who was killed at Flushing. They were not an elite unit from a war gaming point of view, just a normal but attractively uniformed regiment. Cheers
I've seen pictures of that gorget. And yes, from a mission or capability pov, the Irish Legion would not be classed as elite; however, from an élan or ésprit de corps pov, I think their combat record in Spain and the Netherlands attests to them having been a "cut above" many other units. They were solid soldiers.
Did they? I've read the original orders for the foundation of the legion and they are to wear green in there. That said, many a slip between cup and lip! Do you have a source for the red? I'll put it in part 2!
@@NapoleonicWargaming if you check out the book by F. Glenn Thompson called, The uniforms of 1798 _1803 it has colour plates of the red uniform with green facings which was purposed to be issued for the planned invasion of Ireland, excellent video by the way really enjoyed it and looking forward to part two
There was the "Brigade Irlandaise" in the 18th century, and yes, they wore red coats with various facings, black, yellow, etc. This unit formally ceased to be in 1792 (it was a Royalist/Bourbon unit), and sadly, two of its leading officers died as a result of the "Revolutionary fervor," one being shot by soldiers, and one being put to the guillotine. I'm not as familiar with the 19th century Irish units in French service (hence, coming to this video series), but it seems that the red coat had disappeared.
An interesting regiment, I've thought of painting up these. I'm looking forward to the next update. FYI the word Catholic means universal, it doesn't only all to the church of rome but any faith that is made up from people from different country's and skin colour ect. Therefore the Islamic, Jewish and protestant faiths are in fact Catholic. Your videos are inspiring, keep them coming as you can. 👍👏
Since the new testament was wrote in Greek, the word Catholic means universal, as I said it's a mix of different people and can be applied to any faith made up of different people. I am a Protestant which means I trust and accept God's Word as my guide above what any person says. The church I atend is Catholic ie it is universal. Again I'm looking forward to seeing more videos from yourself.
The Irish Legion split during the Hundred Days, with some supporting Napoleon and others Louis XVIII. For this reason, Louis XVIII disbanded it after his return in 1815.
Amazing that you could mention 1745 without reference to the charge of the Wild Geese at Fontenoy and the Coldstream Guard "retiring" from the field....
It was one of the best foreign legions France ever had even napoleon marched with it The Irish legion was used in Waterloo against Connacht rangers a Irish unit in the British army backed by a british cavalry regiment
In wargaming terms, I am trying to 'get a handle' on their classification for gaming: Are they classed as a Regt. of Lt Inf? They count as Veterans, but would they be also classed as Elite?
They are light infantry, though by this time, that didn't mean much difference from line. I wouldn't class them as elite, though you certainly could. I'd be tempted to gibe them a special rule 'God save Ireland' which gives them a bonus against British units, perhaps ferocious charge...
Do you know if the second battalion in Spain had a fanion, as per standard french line infantry, whilst the first battalion's eagle was being smuggled around the low countries?
@@NapoleonicWargamingmost had eagles but napoleon didn’t hand out any to anyone but the Irish legion. As for the flag it was rare but did happen usually it was a French flag then a smaller flag of the original country. Irish only had one and that was Irish. I have seen old newspaper articles here In ireland showing napoleon with Irish soldiers say come fight for Ireland across the top
@@NapoleonicWargaming .....or at least of some Irish descent. Spain had, I think, three "Irish" regiments at the time, Irlanda, Ultonia and Hibernia, but, apart from a few third or fourth generation officers of Irish descent, they were pretty indistinguishable from other Spanish regiments. The same was true of several French Bourbon "Irish" regiments before the Revolution.
I do, but I don't really use it. If you really want to support the channel in an ongoing manner you can 'join' on TH-cam. Don't worry if not though, it's just great you're here!
Lots of irish fought in foreign army's when they fled ireland and the english invasions, some went to Europe some went to the Americas ,and fought against the English, including the second World war some irish fought in the german army.GOD SAVE IRELAND AND ITS EVENTUAL UNITY.
Many of them also fought for the British. Massive proportion of the British navy was made up of irishmen. Doesn't mean they liked the British of course either 😅 just needed somewhere to go and food to eat and loved a brawl.
@@Admiralofthedeeps I agree my own grandad fought in the queen's irish grenadier guards in the first war,when he came home to Ireland he got caught up in the rebellion,and was a ira sympathiser,got a small war pension and had a crippled hand injury from combat.My other grandad was in the Austro-Hungarian army,fighting the Italians, brits, in the great war,on the opposite side,
@@victorknezevich7281many families faced the same divisions, one of my grand uncles fought for the British in Flanders and was killed by a snipers bullet, the other joined IRA forces in Mayo and died on hunger strike, at the time many families sent some sons to the army in the hopes of home rule, while others joined the IRA in case the British didn't honour their promise to allow home rule, we all know how that turned out.
@@victorknezevich7281we even had a ww1 Irish unit with the Germans and in the 1800 fought for Prussia. We are also the first to use a submarine while invading Canada. Irish took the sub from Ireland brought it to the yanks they turned it down and said it was shit so they invaded Canada with the fenian brotherhood
@@NapoleonicWargaming You underplay it. Over its whole existence the regiment had 100 officers who could claim to be Irish. Most of these were of Irish decent. Men such as Byrne and Lawless were the exceptions. Between 1803 and 1806 only 35 men who joined were listed as Irish. If fact Poles usually made up the greatest percentage of the men. Gratton of the 88th mentions that in an engagement with the Irish regiment none of the wounded or prisoners were Irish. Any discussion of the Irish Regiment needs to be clear that as an attempt to raise a distinct Irish unit it failed. It is certainly not to be compared with the Irish regiments of Fontenoy where many of the rank and file were Irish.
@@ijm1963 he did t say that until Bussaco though...don't spoil it! ;) Yeah, I probably could have emphasised it more, I will be sure to include it in part 2 as well.
@@ijm1963Irish legion had 2000 Irish. Many came from Tipperary and was one of the only foreign legions to get the eagle Spanish civil war thousands of Irish left Ireland to fight so much our government made a law against irish involvement in foreign wars. Many Irish fought for France and thousands were born here.
@@user-ze8yy8jg1f Although it’s over thirty years ago I have been through the rolls of the regiment in preparation for a talk for officers of the Irish army. I am afraid I saw no evidence of your 2000 Irishmen. In fact it caused me to rethink my whole approach to this bit of history.
It's always interesting to hear about the history Irish regiments. Would love to hear about Irish regiments in the British army and how they were rated in battle.
Connaught Rangers were considered one of the best units of the British army. Given in the mid Victorian period 40% of the army was Irish, it's inevitable Irish units would be among the best the Isles had to offer
The difficulty here is that many Regiments were Irish even when they have English County titles. One example was the Durham Regiment in 1809 where 37 out of 39 sergeants were Irish. (Interestingly sergeants we’re paid more if they spoke Irish) About a third of all ranks were Irish. Many of the officers were likewise Irish. The Irish proved themselves to be first rate soldiers.
Wellington said in private tat te British conservative had no idea how much of their military superiority was dependent on te Catholic Irish
Love the look and history of the Irish Regiment, to the point that even though my French are largely based around II Corps at Wagram, I have two battalions in the que of Irish for "what if!" Games. Great looking Regiment that really breaks up the blue tide of French on the board.
Two things: The French had an Irish brigade from 1692 to 1792. These were refugees from the war between James II and William of Orange. Another reason that 1745 was a pivotal year was the battle of Fontenoy where the the French Irish brigade played a key role in the French victory. Some elements of that brigade also played a role in the 1745 and fought at Culloden in April 1746.
Initially I thought how on earth could you spin this out for an hour never mind 2 videos but I have to say you cracked it, great content and very enjoyable. Thanks 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Agreed. This series on the Irish Legion is excellent. I came late to the channel, but the benefit of that is I get all three parts immediately. Very nice.
At least the Irish were 'unshackled' fighting overseas. Slightly off topic, but a Welsh acquaintance post-Falklands/Malvinas war, was telling me that native Welsh were not allowed to rise above NCO level in the British Army, only English Officers allowed. So, the Welsh speakers would converse in their own language, passing comment on the incompetence of their senior officers! Cymru Am Byth!🐉
Not true. During this era class decided status. Rural Welsh-speakers were almost inevitably not of the middle or upper classes and it was this that made entry into the officer corps almost impossible.
Some of my Irish ancestor's were officer's in the French and English army before and during this time.
Great video, Tim! Can’t wait for part two!
I would be interested to hear more stories of the overseas Irish soldier diaspora and their descendant's such as Napoleons '100 Days' aide de camp Clarke, Hennessey of the Cognac, General (and later Field Marshal) Nicholas Taaffe who served at the Siege of Vienna and Marshall MacMahon of Franco Prussian War and Paris Commune fame (even Charles De Gaulle has some Irish ancestry). Then there are the Irish in the Americas. Admiral Brown 'Father of the Argentine navy'. John Barry 'Father of the US navy'. Captain Myles Keough who died at the Battle of the Little Big Horn (Battle of the Greasy Grass to the Native Americans) and John Riley of the Irish Foreign Legion of Patricios who fought for Mexico in the Mexican American war. Then there are the forgotten invisible Irish like Major general William Johnson, an Irish Catholic, who converted to Protestantism to pursue a career denied to him as a Catholic. He served with Wolfe at Quebec and is seen in the famous painting 'The Death of General Wolfe' by Benjamin West, in a green jacket. I may be wrong but I don't think another people have fought in so many foreign conflicts, sometimes on opposite sides. But the fact that Irish Americans are the main recipients of the Medal of Honour and that per head of population the Irish have the most VC's says something.
N.B. Then after writing this wish list I saw your channels name: Napoleonic wargaming.
Tim came back from holiday with a vengeance! Great ep!
Great vid as always! I always find it funny how foreigners call Irish, Gaelic no-one calls it that over here!
Thats recent phenomenon. Throughout history it was called Gaelic, ask your grandparents. They started calling it Irish to differentiate from Scottish Gaelic. Also because Gaelic people in Ireland are called Irish. Gaelic culture, Gaelic people, GAELIC language
Excellent video
I am really interested in the foreign regiments of napoleons grande armee.
I would enjoy to see a series being done on these, such as the vistula legion, legion du nord or regiment joseph napoleon
Awesome video. So informative and interesting. I also appreciate your enthusiastic attitude, as ive noticed whenever Ireland/irish people is sometimes used as a punching bag, and people think they can get away with the odd disparagment. So thanks!
I truly enjoy your videos. I think they are informative and entertaining. Well done you.
There was an Irish regiment in the royal French army, it was disolved during the revolution as it was seen as loyal to the crown. The Irish who arrived in France after 1798 were republicans, and so seen by the french as politically reliable.
Several Irish regiments. There were a few hundred present at Culloden in 1746, drawn from at least three different regiments. During the French Revolution, two commanders of Irish descent named Dillon were killed - they were relatives. Theobald Dillon was killed by his own troops in 1792 as they suspected him of royalism and ordering an unauthorised retreat, while Arthur Dillon was guillotined in 1794.
YES please Tim. I'm slowly putting together a "what if" scenario as in, what if Napoleon had been sent to Ireland to support the 1798 rebellion instead of haring off to Egypt to waste a lot of men & resources to no gain, except getting him out of the hair of the Directory. If this fictional rebellion succeeds, I'll be building up a force to threaten the invasion of England and then of course I'll have to do so. So I'm anxious to learn all I can about uniforms & such from the uprising & the dastardly British gear too (no offense Tim but check out the term "Pitch Capping") especially the French support and supply, inadequate as it was. Thanks so much for this video on the Irish Legion, the first Napoleonic unit I ever put together. Now I know I can justify 2 additional battalions. So happy to hear there's another episode to come and that your back in the saddle.
Thanks for the kind words! Checked out pitch capping, that sounds ery unpleasant indeed! I think I'd rather be sold to the King of Prussia as a meat shield!
@@NapoleonicWargaming 😂
Oh buddy, this is my territory. I grew up in Wexford, where most of the fighting during the rebellion took place. I could tell you anything you want to know!
really enjoyed part one looking forward to part two
this is super interesting stuff, thank you. it does seem a good bit of the units history is related to pr, but that just adds to the really compelling subject. it kinda also reminds me of some of napoleons polish projects. the nation and cultural aspects of regiments is fascinating.
anyways always like your layed back and informative stuff.
Thanks dude!
Another great video. 👍
Some pronunciation tips (not perfect, but close enough):
Vendee - VAWNday
Irlandais(e) - EERlawnday/EERlawndezz
Legion - LAYyzhong
Augereau - OHzhayrOH
Voltigeur - VOHLteeZHURR
Berthier - BAYRtyay
("zh" is like the "s" in "treasure", "leisure", etc.
I really enjoyed this Tim,I'm buying some warlord french to paint as Irish
The elite companies (grenadier, voltigeur and carabinier companies) were made of such veterans. Each war battalion had one grenadier company (carabinier in light infantry).
Fantastic stuff , facinating , your best yet ,makes me what to paint them up in 28mm.
The British loved their Irish soldiers. Irish people were poor, English rule, landlords kept them that way. But their diet, though simple, was nutitious. Potatoes and Buttermilk, was the staple. With this diet they grew big and strong. My family on my G'fathers side were British army men. His g'father was in the 8th Hussars and took part in the charge of the light brigade in Balaclava. His horse was shot from under him and he walked back through the valley carrying his saddle and other equipment. My G'father went into Guinness Brewery as a messenger to start his working life. When WW1 broke out Guinnesses asked for volunteers from the workers. My G'father volunteered. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe he went into the Royal Horse Artillery of Army Service Corp. He did survive the war, went back to Guinnesses, their jobs guaranteed, and joined the fire brigade, He eventually commanded on of the barges that brought the barrels of Guinness up the Liffey to the boats. My G'mother (his wife) was born in the artillery barracks, Woolwich, London. He father was, by all accounts, an absolute madman. Shot in the behind in one of Victoria's wars. Was a sergeant while stationed in Gibraltar, while being on guard duty there he was found to be drunk and disorderly, he was busted back to private. My dad broke tradition. When WW2 broke out he joined the Irish Army. All on my mother's side of the family were Irish Republicans.
I alway like the Irish Regiments in many different army in different time periods!!!!
Truly terrific ! Can't wait to watch & listen again. What a movie this would make "THE WILD GEESE" or "LAWLESS". If I were a multi-millionaire I''d be shopping around for a leading man & a script writer. Maybe Tim Richardson ?
Hello Sage!, coming from a (possible) relation of Lawless, I would love to see his story told, my family has fought for Ireland for hundreds of years and I'm proud of it!
You're really making it hard for me to focus on my (very slowly growing) british :p
And yes, I'd love a companion video to this, dealing with the Irish regiments of the british army (and not just because I will have some of those on the table)
You can kill 2 birds with 1 stone by painting the Connaught Rangers!
@@NapoleonicWargaming They're on the order of battle ;) (Just need to finish second brigade first). But they're also not the Irish you're talking about in this video, and I very much have wargamers ADHD
What a pity that the best of Irish warriors were lost in service to foreign potentates. As Patrick Sarsfield is reported to have said, in his last words uttered as he lay dying at the Battle of Landen "Oh, that this were for Ireland"!
The “Fishguard Fiasco” is interesting when read in conjunction with any proposed Napoleonic/Revolutionary invasion of the British Isles.
We have a great history for foreign fighters even for Britain in India Africa and Sri Lanka where both us and British took extreme losses and kept going. Majority of the Irish fighting for British then were born in Ireland from western parts where the actual Irish were.
I was so excited that it would be a video about the croats, but they where irish. But it is a great video still, and their regiment is so cool. (sorry for bad grammar)
That's fine! I'll look into the Croats, they're a cool 2 (?) Regiments as well
@@NapoleonicWargaming thanks
Great video! Hope you're doing a little better.
As always, I know its in the backlog, but I just gotta comment once again about your take on expanding both sides of the waterloo box set so that two people can play fairly. My friends and I, as well as many other who want to get others into the hobby would really appreciate it ;)
That's hopefully this Sundays video!
@@NapoleonicWargaming would love to see that! Tysm!
Excellent stuff!
They had Carabiner Company when set up. Got the Voltigeur company in 1807. See Napoleons mercenaries by G Dempsey for good run down on their history. There is an officers gorget in the Dublin Irish Army museum, which belonged to one of my ancestors who was killed at Flushing. They were not an elite unit from a war gaming point of view, just a normal but attractively uniformed regiment. Cheers
I've seen pictures of that gorget.
And yes, from a mission or capability pov, the Irish Legion would not be classed as elite; however, from an élan or ésprit de corps pov, I think their combat record in Spain and the Netherlands attests to them having been a "cut above" many other units. They were solid soldiers.
Please do a video on Irish regiments in the British Army please.
Now I want some Irish.
The probably 19th century illustration of Irish troops in the 18th century gives them green uniforms, but in fact at the time they wore red.
Did they? I've read the original orders for the foundation of the legion and they are to wear green in there. That said, many a slip between cup and lip! Do you have a source for the red? I'll put it in part 2!
@@NapoleonicWargaming if you check out the book by F. Glenn Thompson called, The uniforms of 1798 _1803 it has colour plates of the red uniform with green facings which was purposed to be issued for the planned invasion of Ireland, excellent video by the way really enjoyed it and looking forward to part two
There was the "Brigade Irlandaise" in the 18th century, and yes, they wore red coats with various facings, black, yellow, etc.
This unit formally ceased to be in 1792 (it was a Royalist/Bourbon unit), and sadly, two of its leading officers died as a result of the "Revolutionary fervor," one being shot by soldiers, and one being put to the guillotine.
I'm not as familiar with the 19th century Irish units in French service (hence, coming to this video series), but it seems that the red coat had disappeared.
Looking forward to part 2
An interesting regiment, I've thought of painting up these. I'm looking forward to the next update. FYI the word Catholic means universal, it doesn't only all to the church of rome but any faith that is made up from people from different country's and skin colour ect. Therefore the Islamic, Jewish and protestant faiths are in fact Catholic. Your videos are inspiring, keep them coming as you can. 👍👏
Hmmm, I'm a member of the church of Rome. I'm not sure we consider those faiths Catholic... :P
Thanks for the kind words too!
Since the new testament was wrote in Greek, the word Catholic means universal, as I said it's a mix of different people and can be applied to any faith made up of different people. I am a Protestant which means I trust and accept God's Word as my guide above what any person says. The church I atend is Catholic ie it is universal. Again I'm looking forward to seeing more videos from yourself.
Dean swift was the famed writer Jonathan Swift, by the way!
The Irish Legion split during the Hundred Days, with some supporting Napoleon and others Louis XVIII. For this reason, Louis XVIII disbanded it after his return in 1815.
This is only part 1! we'll get to that when we get to that ;)
Amazing that you could mention 1745 without reference to the charge of the Wild Geese at Fontenoy and the Coldstream Guard "retiring" from the field....
It's not an 18th century warfare channel I'm afraid 😉
Remember Limerick and Saxon perfidy. ;)
Great stuff... Im just painting up a set of miniatures for this unit! Serendipity.
I had heard that this regiment was really crap. As a descendant of Irish Republican bent I stand happily re-educated. Excellent work.
Well, they were pretty at Astorga! We'll see how they get on in 1813 in part 2!
It was one of the best foreign legions France ever had even napoleon marched with it
The Irish legion was used in Waterloo against Connacht rangers a Irish unit in the British army backed by a british cavalry regiment
In wargaming terms, I am trying to 'get a handle' on their classification for gaming:
Are they classed as a Regt. of Lt Inf?
They count as Veterans, but would they be also classed as Elite?
They are light infantry, though by this time, that didn't mean much difference from line. I wouldn't class them as elite, though you certainly could. I'd be tempted to gibe them a special rule 'God save Ireland' which gives them a bonus against British units, perhaps ferocious charge...
Do you know if the second battalion in Spain had a fanion, as per standard french line infantry, whilst the first battalion's eagle was being smuggled around the low countries?
I think in the pre 1812 period every battalion had an eagle and a proper flag. I'm certainly no expert though!
@@NapoleonicWargamingmost had eagles but napoleon didn’t hand out any to anyone but the Irish legion.
As for the flag it was rare but did happen usually it was a French flag then a smaller flag of the original country.
Irish only had one and that was Irish.
I have seen old newspaper articles here In ireland showing napoleon with Irish soldiers say come fight for Ireland across the top
🇨🇵🇨🇵🇨🇵
So, more a general foreign legion than an Irish unit?
@@markaxworthy2508 by the end, although the officer cadre were very much Irish
@@NapoleonicWargaming .....or at least of some Irish descent. Spain had, I think, three "Irish" regiments at the time, Irlanda, Ultonia and Hibernia, but, apart from a few third or fourth generation officers of Irish descent, they were pretty indistinguishable from other Spanish regiments. The same was true of several French Bourbon "Irish" regiments before the Revolution.
@@markaxworthy2508 many of them were properly Irish. You'll find out when you've finished the series ;)
@@NapoleonicWargaming I'll wait, then.
Gaeilge not gaelic
At one point 8% of Bavarian officers were Irish
Sir do you have a Patreon?
I do, but I don't really use it. If you really want to support the channel in an ongoing manner you can 'join' on TH-cam.
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Lots of irish fought in foreign army's when they fled ireland and the english invasions, some went to Europe some went to the Americas ,and fought against the English, including the second World war some irish fought in the german army.GOD SAVE IRELAND AND ITS EVENTUAL UNITY.
Many of them also fought for the British. Massive proportion of the British navy was made up of irishmen. Doesn't mean they liked the British of course either 😅 just needed somewhere to go and food to eat and loved a brawl.
@@Admiralofthedeeps I agree my own grandad fought in the queen's irish grenadier guards in the first war,when he came home to Ireland he got caught up in the rebellion,and was a ira sympathiser,got a small war pension and had a crippled hand injury from combat.My other grandad was in the Austro-Hungarian army,fighting the Italians, brits, in the great war,on the opposite side,
@@victorknezevich7281many families faced the same divisions, one of my grand uncles fought for the British in Flanders and was killed by a snipers bullet, the other joined IRA forces in Mayo and died on hunger strike, at the time many families sent some sons to the army in the hopes of home rule, while others joined the IRA in case the British didn't honour their promise to allow home rule, we all know how that turned out.
@@Admiralofthedeeps thanks for your story respect
@@victorknezevich7281we even had a ww1 Irish unit with the Germans and in the 1800 fought for Prussia.
We are also the first to use a submarine while invading Canada. Irish took the sub from Ireland brought it to the yanks they turned it down and said it was shit so they invaded Canada with the fenian brotherhood
Vive les républicains irlandais !!!!!!!
You need to read the Irish Regiment's by R.G Harris
The Tudors did not invade started with the Norman's Henry 8th went at request
I'm not getting into any of that! 🤣
Slainte
Erin go bragh!
@@LibertysetsquareJack Ta mo chara
Most of the Regiment were not in fact Irish.
As I say in the programme 😉
@@NapoleonicWargaming You underplay it. Over its whole existence the regiment had 100 officers who could claim to be Irish. Most of these were of Irish decent. Men such as Byrne and Lawless were the exceptions. Between 1803 and 1806 only 35 men who joined were listed as Irish. If fact Poles usually made up the greatest percentage of the men. Gratton of the 88th mentions that in an engagement with the Irish regiment none of the wounded or prisoners were Irish. Any discussion of the Irish Regiment needs to be clear that as an attempt to raise a distinct Irish unit it failed. It is certainly not to be compared with the Irish regiments of Fontenoy where many of the rank and file were Irish.
@@ijm1963 he did t say that until Bussaco though...don't spoil it! ;)
Yeah, I probably could have emphasised it more, I will be sure to include it in part 2 as well.
@@ijm1963Irish legion had 2000 Irish. Many came from Tipperary and was one of the only foreign legions to get the eagle
Spanish civil war thousands of Irish left Ireland to fight so much our government made a law against irish involvement in foreign wars.
Many Irish fought for France and thousands were born here.
@@user-ze8yy8jg1f Although it’s over thirty years ago I have been through the rolls of the regiment in preparation for a talk for officers of the Irish army. I am afraid I saw no evidence of your 2000 Irishmen. In fact it caused me to rethink my whole approach to this bit of history.
Flinches as gaeilge. That's some bad Irish language skills
Well, if you'd won the Battle of the Boyne they might be better ;)