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