FRANCE 1705 THE (MODENESE) RANGONI REGIMENT

 THE HISTORY OF THE REGIMENT

The Régiment de Rangoni, also recorded in French documents as Rangony, was a short-lived Italian infantry regiment in French royal service during the War of the Spanish Succession. Despite its brief existence, the unit is particularly significant because it represents that part of the Modenese military establishment which was incorporated into the Bourbon military system during the French occupation of the Duchy. Louis Susane records the regiment in the following terms: “RANGONI, italien. — Formé 15 septembre 1705 par N. Rangoni, avec des milices du Modenais. Licencié 9 octobre 1706.”

The regiment was therefore officially “formed”— not newly “raised”, meaning putting together troops already forming a previous military unit, i.e. the Militia Modena Regiment, — on 15 September 1705 by a member of the Rangoni family, using – as said - militia drawn from the Modenese territories, and was disbanded on 9 October 1706. Susane identifies its commander only as “N. Rangoni”; an earlier document, however, provides important evidence concerning the origins of the regiment. In a letter sent by the Marquis d’Esclainvilliers to Chamillart from the camp at Soncino on 2 July 1705, more than two months before the regiment’s official formation, it was reported that: “Tous les officiers qui composent le régiment des milices dans ce pays sont les domestiques de Mr de Rangony.”

Thus, all the officers of the militia regiment then existing in the Modenese territory were described as members of the household or personal following of Monsieur de Rangony. Some of these officers had previously been removed from their posts because their loyalty to the French authorities was considered doubtful, as it will be the entire regiment in the following months.

The Rangoni mentioned in this correspondence appears to have been Marquis Taddeo Rangoni, head of the Modenese Consulta and, more importantly, military commander of the city of Modena under the arrangements imposed during the French occupation. The family already possessed established connections with the Bourbon courts. Taddeo’s brother, Marquis Ludovico Rangoni, had been sent by the Duke of Modena to Spain in 1702 to announce the birth of the Duke’s daughter. Having failed to find Philip V, who was then campaigning in Italy, Ludovico continued his journey to Paris and visited the court of Louis XIV. On that occasion, the French king presented him with a jewel of exceptionally great value. This episode demonstrates the position enjoyed by the Rangoni family and its direct access to the French royal court.

The French commission of 15 September 1705 therefore appears to have transformed the existing Modenese militia regiment—or selected elements of it—into a regular infantry regiment formally serving Louis XIV. The new formation presumably retained its local recruitment and at least part of its existing officer cadre, drawn from the dependants of the Rangoni family, while becoming part of the military organisation of the Bourbon occupation. It should consequently be regarded as a Modenese regiment in French royal service, rather than as an ordinary Este unit merely placed temporarily under French command.

Its origins and circumstances point towards its employment primarily as a territorial auxiliary formation, particularly within the city of Modena and in those parts of the Duchy effectively controlled by the French. Its probable duties included garrisoning towns and military posts, guarding gates, magazines and other installations, maintaining public order, protecting communications and possibly escorting convoys, supplies and collected contributions. By undertaking these essentially static duties, the Rangoni regiment would also have released regular French infantry for service with the field army.

Significantly, the regiment was disbanded on 9 October 1706, only a month after the Imperial victory at Turin and before the recovery of the city of Modena by the Allied and Este forces on 20 November. The timing strongly suggests that its “dissolution” was connected with the collapse of the French strategic position in northern Italy and, possibly, with a deterioration in the reliability of its locally recruited soldiers that in fact were (almost all) imprisoned. The disappearance of the regiment as an organised formation did not, however, end the military and political problem represented by its former members. They reappear in fact the conditions negotiated for the surrender of the Citadel of Modena on 6 February 1707. In its response to Article 1, the Allied command excluded from the general safe conduct to Mantua:“tous ceux du régiment de Rangony, qui ont pris parti” This wording suggests that some former members of the regiment had individually re-enlisted or continued to serve in the French ranks after the unit had been disbanded. Article 2 also referred to:“les soldats prisonniers du régiment de Rangony, depuis la réforme du régiment” This second clause is particularly revealing. It establishes that soldiers of the former Rangoni regiment had been held prisoner following the unit’s disbandment. Since the prisoners were apparently within the power of the French garrison and their release formed part of the proposed conditions of capitulation, the passage strongly suggests a serious breakdown in discipline or loyalty.

France 1705  - The Rangoni Regiment

The chronology makes it plausible that, after learning of the French defeat at Turin, a substantial part of the locally recruited regiment refused to continue serving the Bourbon authorities. The French may consequently have dissolved the formation, retained a small number of soldiers willing to remain in their service and imprisoned those who resisted. Although the capitulation does not expressly describe a formal collective mutiny, the combination of the regiment’s sudden dissolution, the continued service of certain former members and the imprisonment of others provides substantial evidence of an internal rupture.

Uniforms (Privates, Officers, Drmmers) and Colours in the future booklet.