Regiment of Infantry of Provincial Ordinance
AOSTE
1713 - 1796
The 24 September 1713 King Victor Amadeus
II decides to raise new regiments of conscripts. The units
are raised in april 1714, about them there is the new
Regiment Aoste. It takes its soldiers from the Aosta Valley
and the Cit and Coutry of Ivrea. It has a total strenght of
six companies in a single battalion. Two compagnies are from
Aosta, four from Ivrea.
Service during the Polish
Succession War
During this war Aoste, in 1733,
has 10 companies of 90 men each. 8 companies are ready for
active service, 2 are in reserve. Then it has 10 companies
of 70 men for active service and 2 in reserve. In 1735 the
regiment has again 2 companies. During the War of Polish
Successioone Aoste has principally garrison
duties..
Service during the Austrian
Succession War
At the beginning of the war Aoste
has a total strenght of 9 companies ready to fight and one
company in reserve. In 1742 Aoste is transferred to
the Po Plain. In may is in Plaisance, while in august is in
garrison in the City of Pavia. The 1743 is a year of
garrison duties for Aoste. The follow year the
combined french-spanish offensive is mounting in the west.
The Battalion of Aoste is one of the 14 batallions
lined up the entrenched camp of the Harbour of Villefranche.
The 26 april 1744 Aoste is compelled to surrend at
the Collet de Villefranche. Only after a year the Regimet is
again operative. During the first half of the year 1745 the
men of Aoste are in the south of Piedmont, expecially
in the Country of Bene Viagenna. At the beginning of
september it is transferred in the Palcefort of Alessandria,
then inside the little Palcefort of Valenza over the Po
river. In september 1745 Maillebois wins the piedmontese
Army at Bassignana. After this sad defeat the battalion of
Aoste defends again the walls of the forteress (14 &endash;
30 october 1745). The defence is quite active, and the
Governor, Marquise de Balbiano, makes many sorties. The 30
october, under heav fog, Balbiano and his men evacuate the
City. In 1746 the battalion is again in east Piemont, in
Alessandria, then on the hills of Acqui Terme, in the Hight
Monferrat. The Regiment fights in the west; the 5 october it
is at the conquest of Nice, while the 23 october it is one
of the units that made Fort San Paolo surrender. In November
it fights at the offensive in Provence. The Aoste is
one of the battalions immediately aviable duing the
spanish-french summer offensive in 1747 on the ligurian
front. The Regiment is still in the entrenched line on the
Roya Valley at the end of the war.
Commanders of Regiment Fusiliers
under Charles Emmanuel
III
Giuseppe Antonio
Riccardi
|
24- 4- 1732
|
Paul Syessel Baron de la Serre
|
15- 4- 1739
|
Giovanni Bonaventura
Sesto
|
22- 1 -1742
|
Giuseppe Massetti Conte di
Frinco
|
05- 4- 1747
|
Paolo Novarina Compte de San
Sebastiano
|
27- 9- 1758
|
Alexander Ricci Comte
d'Andon
|
05- 4 - 1766
|
Uniforms
1730-1750: Grey-white coat, red
lining, cuffs, waistcoat, breeches. White gaiters for
fusilier, black for grenadiers. Six tinned buttons in ranks
of two on each side of the coat, three on the cuffs.
Vertical pockets. Tricorne with dark blue cockade on the
left brim and white hem for fusiliers, bearskin cap for
grenadiers.
1750-1773 (only principal
differences from the previous issue): Dark blue coat with
red lapels and collar. Red lining, cuffs, waistcoat,
breeches. Tricorne with a white and red pompon on the right
brim. Bearskin cap with red tail, white hem; white and red
pompon.
Colours
Colonel's
Colour: Blue with black eagle in the
centre decorated with the Savoy's cross and overhanged by
royal crown.
Regimental Colour:
White cross over red. Coat of arms of
Aoste in the first quarter.
Jean Cerino Badone
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