Karrer Regiment
Régiment suisse de Karrer 1719-1752 de Hallwyl 1752-1763 | |
---|---|
Active | 1719-1763 |
Country | Old Swiss Confederacy |
Allegiance | Kingdom of France |
Branch | Marines |
Type | Colonial infantry |
Role | Garrison infantry |
Size | Five companies |
Part of | Royal French Navy |
Depot and garrisons | Rochefort, Martinique, Saint-Domingue, Louisbourg, Québec, Louisiana |
Motto(s) | Fidelitati & honore, Terra & Mare |
Engagements | War of the Austrian Succession Seven Years' War |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Franz Adam Karrer 1719 1736 Franz Josef von Hallwyl 1752 |
Insignia | |
Company colour of Régiment de Hallwyl |
The Régiment de Karrer (Karrer's Regiment/Karrer Regiment) was a Swiss foreign regiment in French colonial service 1719–1763.
Overview[]
The regiment de Karrer was raised in 1719 by Franz Adam Karrer, a Swiss officer in French service, for the French army. Two years later it was transferred to the French Navy for service in the colonies. succeeded his father as colonel-proprietor in 1736. At his death in 1752, Franz Josef von Hallwyl became the last colonel-proprietor. The officers of the regiment were Swiss; the men were recruited in Switzerland and Germany.[1]
Organization[]
Originally the regiment contained three companies: the colonel's company constituted the depot in Rochefort; the second company was stationed on Martinique; the third company on Saint-Domingue. Detachment from the colonel's company was sent to the Louisbourg fortress in Acadia; 50 men in 1722, 100 men in 1724; 150 men from 1741 until the fortress' surrender in 1745. Soldiers from de Karrer was at the heart of the mutiny at Louisbourg in 1744. A small detachment of 30 men served at Québec 1747–1749. A fourth company was raised in 1731, and became stationed in Louisiana until 1764. A fifth company was raised in 1752 and sent to Saint-Domingue. The regiment was disbanded in 1763.[2]
Legal status and privileges[]
The officers and men of the regiment did not owe personal allegiance to the King of France; only to the colonel-proprietor, who also signed the officers' commissions. The colonel-proprietor had entered a capitulation with the King, through the secretary of state for the navy, in which he put the regiment, its officers and men, into French service. It was the colonel-proprietor that had promised collective fidelity for himself and his regiment to the King. The capitulation was a legal contract, renewable every ten years, where the terms of both parties were carefully stipulated. As a foreign regiment, the regiment enjoyed a number of privileges. Liberty of conscience was guaranteed, which meant that protestants could be recruited; protestant officers and men were not obliged to participate in catholic ceremonies. The regiment had its own legal jurisdiction, and its members could only be tried by its own court-martial, even when being accused of crimes against civilians.[3] The privileges of the regiment often triggered conflicts with local military and civilian authorities.[4] The mutiny of 1744 was an expression of the foreign soldiers will to defend their special status from infringements.[5]
Uniforms[]
The regiment wore red coats with blue lapels with white buttonholes, blue cuffs, lining, waistcoats, breeches, and hose (white from 1739), and white buttons. The drummers wore the colonel-proprietors' livery, not the king's, and the drums were decorated with the colonel's coat of arms.[2]
Regimentals 1734.
Regimentals 1740.
References[]
- ^ B. A. Balcom, "Notes on the Karrer Detachement at Louisbourg", The Huissier, July 4, 2004.
- ^ a b René Chartrand, The French Soldier in Colonial America (Bloomfield, Ont.: Museum Restoration Service, 1984).
- ^ Margaret Fortier, "Karrer Regiment", The Ile Royale Garrison 1713-1745 (Fortress of Louisborg: Report H E 15).
- ^ Eric Krause, Carol Corbin & William O'Shea, Aspects of Louisbourg: Essays on the History of an Eighteenth Century French Community in North America (Sydney: The University College of Cape Breton University Press, 1995), p. 71.
- ^ History of Nova Scotia, Book 1, Part 4, Chapter 2 Retrieved 2017-02-10.
See also[]
- Military units and formations established in 1719
- Military units and formations disestablished in 1763
- Infantry regiments of the Ancien Régime