Osprey Men-at-Arms 328 : Emigre and Foreign Troops in British Service (1) 1792-1803

Up to the end of the 18th century the British Army did not have a sizeable contingent of foreign soldiers within its establishment. the greatest number served in the 60th [Royal American] Regiment of Foot, which traditionally had a high proportion of Swiss and German personnel, and thus acted as a sort of unofficial foreign corps. The British military establishment held deep-seated prejudices about the reliability of foreign troops, who should, it was felt, be kept at arm's length in far-off garrisons. Furthermore, the laws which prevented Roman Catholics from holding commissioned rank in the Army also excluded many foreign officers. The tremendous upheavals created by the French Revolution changed all that. Following the Revolution in 1789, members of the aristocracy were increasingly persecuted, and many of them fled abroad. Dispossessed and homeless, they numbered about one per cent of the total French population by 1793. These exiles became known collectively as 'émigrés', and despite initial confusions and indecision, many of them were taken into British service. These 'soldiers in exile' were amongst France's bitterest enemies. The forces raised by these émigrés fought primarily alongside the British Army on battlefields from Holland to the West Indies. René Chartrand examines the organisation, uniforms and insignia of the Émigré troops in British service from 1793 to 1802, accompanied by plenty of illustrations including eight full page colour plates by Patrice Courcelle.

Contents

• Britain's Foreign Army
• Regiments and Corps 1793-1802
• Uniforms
• Cavalry
• Line Infantry
• Light Infantry
• Specialists and Auxiliary Forces
• Weapons
• Select Bibliography