THE SPANISH ARMY 1701 - 1707: INFANTRY

It was no easy task to piece together all the scattered yet limited information concerning the Spanish Army — composed of a relatively small number of Spaniards,  Italians from the Duchy of Milan, Neapolitans, Sicilians, Swiss, Walloons and Germans — whose units fought and succeeded one another across the Italian peninsula between 1701 and 1707.

The sheer variety of uniforms is truly remarkable, as can be seen from the partial overview shown below. 

Thus we find white uniforms, off-white uniforms tending towards grey, blue, red and dark grey coats, with facings in an extraordinary variety of colours. Some combinations are virtually identical, while others appear to be unique.

I must admit that the work has been quite complex. For the moment, I have completed my research on the infantry, although I have not yet prepared all the individual regiments. The drummers are still missing, as are the flags and the officers, together with many of the grenadier uniforms that I still need to develop.

I originally thought the task would be much simpler, but I was wrong. What has impressed me most is the fact that there seems to be no single book dealing systematically with this army and this period, which I find rather remarkable.

I am therefore trying, in my own way, to fill this gap: gathering and cross-checking scattered information, contacting libraries for further material, and buying books which, more or less directly, deal with this subject.

KINGDOM OF SPAIN 1701 - 1707: HOW RESEARCHES ON A TOPIC EVOLVES: THE WALLOON REGIMENTS IN ITALY

 The first attempt is not always the right one; in this case, I owe my readers an apology. I carried out further research, expanded the range of sources, and cross-checked the available evidence, eventually arriving at this reconstruction of the uniforms.

I had already suspected that the Fallais Regiment might have had grey facings, largely because the sources made no specific mention of a contrasting facing colour. I then came across a representation of the regiment, and this confirmed that the facings were indeed grey.

So here is the complete revised plate, with my apologies once again.

This is the evolution in 4 steps of my researches:

The Walloon Regiments in Italy - Last  & Final Version

Copyright Michele SAVASTA FIORE

The Walloon Regiments in Italy - Third version
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The Walloon Regiments in Italy - Second version
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The Walloon Regiments in Italy - First version
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KINGDOM OF SPAIN - WALLOON REGIMENT BOURNONVILLE 1701 - 1707 (Sample for future booklet)

This is an example of my future (?) booklet. It will be about the Spanish Army, probably, Infantry, split by Vice-Kingdoms, and insiede that of Milan, split by nationalies. Let's start with one example,

KINGDOM OF SPAIN  WALLOON REGIMENT 

BOURNONVILLE 1702 - 1707

This regiment had been raised in 1702 .

It was recruited in Hainaut Particular attention seems to have been paid to the physical appearance and stature of the soldiers. 

The regiment was distinguished by an unusually rich and expensive uniform. The coat was white and made of fine English cloth imported from London. The cravat was of Brussels lace, while the waistcoat and cuffs were yellow.

Taken together, these details suggest that Bournonville was far from being an ordinary Walloon infantry regiment. Its recruitment, the exceptional stature required of its grenadiers, the quality of the cloth and lace, the extensive use of gold and silver, and the elaborate personal equipment all point to a unit whose appearance was deliberately intended to reflect the prestige of the Bournonville family and of its colonel-proprietor.

Coronela
Copyright Michele SAVASTA FIORE

THE WALLOON REGIMENTS IN ITALY UNDER FELIPE V 1701 - 1707

As part of my continuing research into the uniforms of all the Spanish regiments that served in Italy between 1701 and 1707, I am pleased to present this table devoted to the Walloon regiments — that is, units recruited in the territories of present-day Belgium — which served the cause of Philip V of Spain. 

The uniforms of the two regiments with the Grenadiers:

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THE SWISS REGIMENTS UNDER FELIPE V's SERVICE IN ITALY - 1701 - 1707

 

These were three regiments that served the cause of Philip V. One of them had already been raised under Charles II of Habsburg — the Capuol Regiment, later Albertini — while the other two were raised directly under contracts concluded with Philip V. This can also be seen in the considerable strength of the regiments themselves.

They were extensively employed during the campaigns in Lombardy and Piedmont. Two of them took part in the Siege of Turin, which is an important point, and all suffered very heavy losses, in some cases amounting to as much as two-thirds of their effective strength.

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Reconstructing their uniforms required a certain familiarity with the available sources, although the evidence for them is in fact quite well attested and sufficiently clear. It is also important to note that the Amrhyn Regiment was the first to receive a blue coat only at the end of 1706 — that is, once the Italian campaign had effectively come to an end.

ORGANIZATION

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THE SPANISH DRAGON REGIMENTS IN ITALY 1701 - 1707

This plate represents the first systematic attempt to assign an uniform to every dragoon regiment operating in the Italian territories, whether in the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples or the Viceroyalty of Sicily.

Some units presented no particular difficulty, while others proved remarkably challenging. Without going into excessive detail here, the regiments that produced the most interesting results, from several different points of view, were the Amarillos (“Yellows”) Dragoon Regiment, better known as Caylus, although between 1701 and 1703 it was associated with Monroy:

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The later Monroy Regiment, raised by the former colonel of the Amarillos after his transfer to Sicily; and the Bozelli, or Bosely, Regiment, whose apparent presence in both the French and Spanish armies understandably caused considerable confusion.

Briefly, among all these units, the ones that actually saw significant battlefield service were the Caylus/Amarillos Regiment, which took part in the siege of Turin; the Bozelli Regiment, which, although usually regarded as French in 1706, fought at the Battle of Turin as part of the French army around Lucento:

Copyright Michele L. SAVASTA FIORE

                        

 and the Monroy Regiment. Bozelli was in fact a regiment raised in Lombardy directly on behalf of King Philip V of Spain, but incorporated into the French army until 1707, when it formally passed into Spanish service.

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The Monroy Regiment proved particularly difficult. For a long time it seemed impossible to find any reliable information about its uniform. I had assumed that it wore green, in accordance with the royal regulations of 1702, which already required newly raised dragoon regiments to adopt green coats, but the facing colour remained unknown.

Eventually, however, I found the decisive clue in a contract preserved in the Archivo General de Simancas. It states that the regiment was:

“vestido de paño verde con vueltas amarillas a costa del Coronel Duque de Monroy”

— dressed in green cloth with yellow facings, at the expense of Colonel Duke de Monroy —

and that it was formed in twelve companies.

Official Uniform
Copyright Michele L. SAVASTA FIORE

 Uniform with tricorne
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This also confirms an intuition I had previously had, but which until now remained unsupported. The Duke de Monroy, former commander of the prestigious Dragones Amarillos — the “Yellow Dragoons” — appears deliberately to have retained yellow as the distinguishing colour of his new regiment, thereby recalling his former command.

It is a small but fascinating story, long forgotten, which can now be brought back to light.

But what an effort it took to get there.

 

1744 BATTLE OF MADONNA DELL'OLMO - THE NEW MAP

 Yesterday I went to Chiusa Pesio to see Military Road No. 104, built in 1940 by some 300 men under my grandfather’s command, in preparation for a possible invasion of France from southern Piedmont—an invasion that, in the end, never took place.

On the way, I passed through Cuneo, near Madonna dell’Olmo, and it reminded me of a map I had made some time ago. So I decided to go back to it and improve it.

Stepping away for once from the War of the Spanish Succession and moving instead into the War of the Austrian Succession, here is the result.

Copyright Michele Savasta Fiore