
The Army of the Duke
of Savoy
at the battle of Orbassano (la Marsaglia) October
1693
by Gian Carlo Boeri
with the collaboration of Roberto Vela and Robert
Hall
At the beginning of June in the year 1690
the duke Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy entered the Allied camp
[League of Augsburg] against the French signing a
treaty with the king of Spain, who was to send an army from
the bordering state of Milan to join the troops of the Duke
in order to act against the French and conquer Casale and
Pinerolo (two towns held by the French in Piedmont and
Monferrat), while other subsidiary troops were to be
received from the Austrian Empire with which a similar
treaty was also subsequently signed.
A French army constantly in Piedmont
throughout the war was lead by Nicolas Catinat, a very
experienced and valued General.
The campaign of the year 1693 in Piedmont
started with the shelling of the town of Pinerolo by the
Allies and their seizure of the fort of Santa Brigida near
the town, but on the 4th of October the French,
who had received reinforcements from the armies operating in
Catalonia and on the Rhine, beat the Allied army in a field
battle at Marsaglia near the village of Orbassano, called by
the French La Marsaille (the name of a small abbey nearby),
capturing many flags and about 30 artillery pieces. The
stroke was severe and the Allies, who had lost about 8,000
men among wounded and dead, had to retire to their
strongholds to reorganise. The French did not waste time and
set many villages in the area on fire, at the same time they
were not able to pursue their enemies further because of the
weakness of their supply lines and also of the losses
incurred by them in tha battle. This fact allowed the Allies
to rebuild their forces.
The following information on the army of
Savoy has been taken from the booklet: "The Army of the
Duke of Savoy 1688-1713".
Organization
In 1693 the Duke of Savoy's army included
"ordinance" (regular) troops and militia units.
The regular troops were composed of
:
the line infantry
:
national regiments of one
battalion (that in the course of the war were sometimes
increased to the strength of two or even three
battalions);
foreign free companies and
regiments;
militia units.
the cavalry:
the bodyguards (4 mounted troops of a
company each of Guardie del Corpo),
line cavalry (two regiments),
and
3 regiments of dragoons.
- the artillery (single men or small
units, that became companies, later in 1696 banded in a
battalion)
National
infantry
Until the year 1663 Piedmontese infantry
regiments generally carried the name of the Colonel who was
the proprietor of the unit. Since 1664 new regiments were
created that were no longer owned by particular individuals
but were instead the Duke's and carried the name of a town
or a province.
In 1693 the national infantry was
organised into the 11 regiments of the Guardie (foot
Guards of the Duke), Savoia, Monferrato,
Aosta, Piemonte, Nizza, Croce
Bianca (= White Cross; so called for the officers were
all to be knights of the Order of Malta), Saluzzo,
Chablais (also often spelled Chablaix),
Mondovì and Fucilieri.
During the war the national infantry
regiments had generally a strength of one battalion 16
companies strong, each of about 40 private soldiers
including corporals and drummers, 2 Sergeants and 3 company
officers (captain, lieutenant and ensign). The regimental
staff was composed of the colonel, lieutenant-colonel,
major, an aide-major, a quartermaster, a drum-major, a
sutler. The Guards and some of the other regiments formed
second and sometimes third battalions. Each regiment had a
company of grenadiers.
The foreign
infantry
Given the limited population of
Piedmont-Savoy in case of war when there was a need of
additional strength as was the custom of the time, mercenary
troops (Swiss or German) were taken into the Duke's service.
The foreign regiments of the ducal army were all infantry
formations, named after the commanding officer, and a good
number of them was composed of Protestant soldiers in
contrast to the Catholic Piedmontese. These troops were
often paid for by the British crown or by the Dutch
government.
In the first years of the war most of the
foreign regiments were recruited in the German states. In
1691 the Duke took into his service two foreign infantry
regiments, one named Corneaud, from Brandenburg, and
one named Montbrun, made of French protestants. In
the following years more foreign regiments were brought into
his service by the duke: those of Steinaud and the
regiment of Foot Guards of the Elector (Bavarian) and
the three Protestant regiments of Schomberg
(Galloway after 1693), Miremont and
Montauban.
Auxiliary troops (from the Allies of the
moment) also sided with the Piedmontese army; these troops
(Imperial or Milanese-Spanish army) stayed under the command
of their own generals, even if the overall command was given
to the duke of Savoy.
Cavalry and
Dragoons
In 1685 the existing mounted units with
guards duties for the duke and the dowager duchess were
organised into four companies of Guardie del Corpo
(Body Guards), this although a guard and ceremonial unit was
also meant to be present on the field : the Guards were
always in the front line, as was the Duke
himself.
Since July 1692 the ducal line cavalry
consisted of the two cavalry regiments (Piemonte
reale and Savoia Cavalleria) and the three
Dragoons regiments of Sua Altezza Reale (formed in
1683, and also popularly named the Reds),
Genevois (created in 1689 and called the
Greens) and Piemonte (created in 1690 and
called the Yellows). Each regiment had 6 companies of
about 50 men each. Utilising French Huguenot emigrees in
1691 the dragoon regiment of Balthazar was
formed (the cost of which the British court sustained and
which in 1696 passed into Dutch pay).
Savoy's Troops
at the battle of la Marsaglia
Infantry: Guardie, Saluzzo,
Monferrato, Croce bianca, Chablais, Mondovì; de
Loche, Corneaud, Steinau, Foot Guards of Bavaria
Cavalry and Dragoons: Guardie del
Corpo, Piemonte Reale, Savoia Cavalleria, Dragoli di S.A.R.,
Dragoni Piemonte, Dragoni Genevois
Uniforms
Infantry
The infantry soldier was dressed with a
coat (juste-au-corp), lined with half-wool,
much the same style as that of the French army - for many
years, also when at war with France, cloth and tailors were
generally French - knee-breeches and stockings, shoes, 2
white linen shirts, a neckcloth (red or white) and a black
felt hat.
All belts were natural leather. The
cartridge boxes were of brown leather, sometimes blackened.
Sword and bayonet scabbard were generally brown leather.
Since 1685 soldiers had been equipped with bayonets, but
kept also an infantry sword with brass hilt. Pikes in the
line infantry were discarded before the turn of the
century.
Grenadiers wore a woollen cap; probably
towards the end of the 1690's the cap was surrounded by fur;
they were armed with a sabre, a bayonet, two pistols and a
musket. Officers of grenadier companies in garrison carried
a spontoon, but in the field they had to carry
muskets.
The privates of the regiment of the
Guards wore a blue coat with red cuffs, red breeches
and stockings; the hat was bordered in silver lace.
Sergeants were dressed with cloth of a finer quality, and
had scarlet cuffs and silver lace instead of white
cotton.
Drum major, drummers and fifers of all
national regiments, the Guards included, were dressed in a
red coat with blue cuffs and lining, blue breeches and
stockings (in some regiments they wore breeches and
stockings as the privates of their unit). The drum belt was
covered with a blue or red cloth with white or silver lacing
and trimming (a sort of "snake" as it was called) in the
middle. The same lace was on the coat at the seams, the
cuffs, pocket flaps. Drums were generally made of wood and
painted in blue or red with the Duke's or the regiment's
arms and small white crosses scattered at regular intervals
on the drum (Savoy's arms).
All the other national regiments were
dressed in light grey (white-grey) cloth, with the colours
of the cuffs, linings etc. according to table 1.
The buttons were white metal for the
regiments of Guardie, Croce bianca, Saluzzo and brass for
the regiments of Savoia and Monferrato.
Sergeants were generally dressed as the
soldiers with cloth of a finer quality; sometimes their vest
could be the colour of the cuffs when the men wore it or
grey-white. Corporals were distinguished by a lace hanging
from the right shoulder.Sergeants were also distinguished by
the use of the halberd (called "Sergentina").
Officers wore a blue sash (the ducal
colour) around the waist or sometimes across the
breast.
The Bavarian regiment of Steinau
(later de Prè or de Prez) was dressed
in blue with red cuffs, vest and stockings; buttons were
white metal for the ranks and golden for officers. Officers
and sergeants, as well as drummers, were dressed with
reversed colours, i.e. red dress with blue facings. The neck
tie of the soldiers was red.
The Brandenburger regiments of
Corneaud was dressed in a blue coat with facings and
linings probably red (more details can be drawn from the
work of A. Kühn, see references).
The protestants' regiments and free
companies were generally dressed in grey-white with cuffs,
lining, breeches and stockings of the same
colour.
The troops of Artillery at the beginning
of the war were not considered military personnel and could
dress as they wished; after 1696 they were instead equipped
with an all-blue dress with facings, lining and breeches of
the same colour, with brass buttons and red
stockings.
Table 1 Line infantry
Regiment
|
cuffs
|
breeches
|
stocking
|
coat
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guardie
|
red
|
blue
|
red
|
blue coat
|
Savoia
|
blue
|
grey
|
blue
|
grey coat
|
Monferrato
|
blue
|
blue
|
red
|
grey coat
|
Mondovì
|
???
|
???
|
???
|
grey coat
|
Croce bianca
|
red
|
grey
|
red
|
grey coat
|
Saluzzo
|
red
|
grey
|
red
|
grey coat
|
Chablais
|
red
|
red
|
red
|
grey coat
|
Fucilieri
|
red
|
grey
|
red
|
grey coat
|
|
|
|
|
|
??? but probably red
|
|
|
Colours
The Colonel's colour of national
regiments was blue with a white cross in the centre, while
battalion colours were crimson red with a white central
cross. Often in one corner they carried the regiment's arms.
The colours of the older regiments were more elaborate,
often having borders and flames of various colours and
designs in the centre of the flag. The colonel's colour of
the Guards regiment carried the Duke's arms held by two
golden lions; the Guards' battalion colours had in the four
corners the duke's initials in gold; some had white flames
in the corners, others had in the right upper or lower
corner the regiment's arms.
The protestant regiments paid by the
British government carried colours with British insignia
upon them, while the other foreign regiments (from Bavaria
and from Brandenburg) kept their own insignia.
Cavalry and
Dragoons
The dress of cavalry consisted also of a
woollen cloth coat, trousers and a hat bordered with lace,
black riding boots (shoes off-duty) and stockings. Cavalry
on campaign used a buffalo leather jacket above the coat (a
reminder of the early days of the previous century - called
in Piedmont, as in France, buffle) which they
wore on campaign for protection against sword cuts and at
the same time to protect uniform dress. Leather breeches
were also worn on campaign.
The Guardie del Corpo were dressed
completely in scarlet-red with silver lace around button
holes and pocket flaps and around the hat and carried a blue
shoulder belt laced silver. Black riding boots were worn.
They wore red cloaks laced silver. Since 1685 they were
ordered to wear the buffalo coat on campaign, as did the
ordinary cavalry. They were armed with a broadsword, a
carbine and two pistols each. Their guidons were blue with
golden and silver embroideries and golden
fringes.
The line regiments of Piemonte Reale and
Savoia Cavalleria were dressed in white-grey with red
(Piemonte Reale) or blue (Savoia cavalleria)
facings.
The dragoons were dressed similarly to
cavalry, but wore leather gaiters instead of boots when
mounted, and usually the soldiers wore a woollen cap
(probably red or the coat's colour) instead of the
hat.
Of the Dragoons regiments H.R.H.'s
(Dragoni di Sua Altezza Reale = His Royal Highness)
regiment, known also as the "Reds", was dressed in the
colours of the Duke's livery, that is a red coat with blue
facings. Their guidons were crimson red with the regimental
arms in the middle.
When it was formed the Genevois regiment
was dressed in green with red facings and brass buttons, and
was also known as the "Greens". After some years it was
dressed in red with green facings and vest, keeping the
nickname. The guidons were crimson with Savoy's arms and the
Duke's initials.
The regiment of Dragoons of Piemonte
initially wore yellow coats (and hence the popular name of
the "Yellows") with black cuffs, red trousers and brass
buttons. The cloaks were red. In 1691 a new colonel was
appointed to the regiment and he changed the dress to a red
coat with grey-white cuffs and lining and [probably]
red trousers, even though the regiment continued to carry
its nickname "the Yellows".
We don't know the colours of the dress of
Balthasar's Dragoons, but we know that the pistol holsters
were blue, thus either the coat or the facings were blue; in
1696 it joined Dutch service as the Aubussargues regiment
(the change of Colonel occurred in 1694).
As in the infantry all belts were natural
leather; gloves were also a buff colour. Cavalry saddle
cloths and pistol holsters were generally in the facing
colours, bordered with white or yellow lace (blue for
Guardie del Corpo with golden lace). In the corners there
were generally the duke's initials or the arms of the
regiment.
References
a) Bibliography
I.R. Archivio di Guerra Austro
Ungarico "Le Campagne del Principe Eugenio di Savoia" 20
volumes (Italian Edition) Torino 1889
GianCarlo Boeri, Roberto Vela "Stendardi della
cavalleria ducale sabauda dal 1671 al 1714" in Armi Antiche
1997 Accademia S. Marciano Torino 2000
Nicola Brancaccio "L'Esercito del Vecchio Piemonte
dal 1540 al 1861" Roma 1923
C. A. Gerbaix de Sonnaz "Bandiere,
Stendardi e Vessilli di Casa Savoia dai Conti di Moriana ai
Re d'Italia 1200 - 1861" Torino 1911
Guido Amoretti "Il Ducato di Savoia dal 1559 al 1713"
Torino 1988
Geoffrey Symcox "Victor Amadeus II. Absolutism in the
Savoyard State 1675-1730" London 1983
Accademia di S. Marciano "La guerra della Lega di
Augusta fino alla battaglia di Orbassano" in Armi Antiche
1992 Torino 199
Enrico Ricchiardi "Le prime uniformi e stendardi
dell'Esercito ducale sabaudo 1671-1713" in Armi Antiche
1988-1989
E. Grimaldi "Un secolo di uniformi per i dragoni di
Piemonte (1690-1798)" in Armi Antiche 1963
J. Belaubre "Les Triomphes de Louis XIV" Paris
1971
August Kühn Materialen zum Spanischen
Erbfolgekrieg:
Teil 10 "Heeresrüstung des
Herzogs Victor Amadeus II von Savoyen-Piemont"
Teil 6 "Maximilian Emanuel, Kurfürst von Bayern
..."
Teil 20 "Kurbrandenburg-Preussen ..."
b) Original
sources
Archivio Segreto Vaticano
Collection of "Avvisi" 1681 to 1714 (mostly
manuscripts)
Archivio Segreto Vaticano Nunziatura di Savoia 1681
to 1714
Archivio di Stato di Torino Sez. III & IV,
Ufficio Generale del Soldo - Ordini Generali Misti
Archivio di Stato di Torino Sez. I & II, Materie
Militari - Ufficio Generale del Soldo.
Archivio di Stato di Torino Sez. I & II, Materie
Militari - Imprese militari.
Archivio di Stato di Torino Sez. III Camerale
Piemonte Art. 315 - 320
Archivio di Stato di Torino Sez. III Patenti
Controllo Finanze
Service Historique Armée de Terre
Vincennes Series A1
Bibliothéque Nationale Paris Les Triomphes de
Louis XIV
or further information: The booklet
"The Army of the Duke of Savoy 1688-1713" including 13
black/white and 11 colour plates is available
from:
by Gian Carlo Boeri
& Roberto Vela & Robert Hall
|