Irish in Europe

IRCHSS-funded project, completed by Sarah Frank with Colonel Gilbert Bodinier under the direction of Dr Nathalie Genet-Rouffiac (Service historique de la défense, Vincennes) and Dr Thomas O’Connor (NUI Maynooth)

Colm Ó Conaill’s database on the Irish Regiments in France (1715-1791), currently accessible in the VRE, was based regimental troop inspections and deals with the rank and file. The time frame adopted covers the period for which detailed troop inspections, or contrôles de troupes are available. A French royal decree of 2 July 1716 introduced a system of troop records to the French army. French regimental chiefs were henceforth required to keep precise registers of all their sergeants, corporals and ordinary soldiers.
From 1763 officer records were compiled by regiment, whereas previously this information had been gathered according to rank. This material was examined and the results entered in a manuscript dtatabase by Colonel Gilbert Bodinier, who directed the Vincennes reading room for many years. In 2009 the IRCHSS-funded Irish in Europe Project at NUI Maynooth employed Sarah Frank (TCD) to work with Colonel Bodinier to prepare this data for ingestion into the Irish in Europe VRE. The first part of this project, the transfer of data from index cards to Excel format, is now complete and over 5000 individual officer records have been captured. This will be uploaded into the VRE shortly. The following text, by Sarah Frank, provides an overview of the sources from which the data were drawn.

Archival references in Vincennes

The Irish officers can be identified via the series ‘Yb’. The oldest volumes date from the early years of the eighteenth century. Officers who came to France from 1691 and who either left or died in the following years are not on these registers. The references of the different files can be found in the Inventaire des Archives Modernes (1954). The information in the first registers (Yb78 to Yb81 for the infantry and Yb96 to Yb100 for the cavalry) is quite sparse. One merely finds the officer’s name and rank, and in general neither first names nor enlistment dates are recorded. Thus it is almost impossible to differentiate from brothers or relatives who had the same rank. From 1715 the records are more precise. They give the dates for each promotion of rank. The officers are organized by seniority within each rank.

Officers from the period 1715 to 1763 are found within Yb117 to Yb126. Yb117 refers to officers of all ranks; Yb119 to Yb122 contains the capitaines, and Yb123 to Yb126 the lieutenants, enseignes and sous-lieutenants. Cavalry officers are found in Yb127 to Yb132. Yb127 refers to officers of all ranks, Yb128 has the mestres de camp, lieutenants-colonels, majors and capitaines. Yb130 has the capitaines, Yb131 the lieutenants, and Yb132 the lieutenants réformés and the cornettes.

Many volumes complement the above and concern both the infantry and cavalry: Yb108 to 110; Yb113 for the lieutenant colonels, Yb114 and 115 for the capitaines, Yb116 for the lieutenants. The officiers réformés are recorded in the volumes Yb133 to Yb161. They cover the period from 1715 to 1790. One often finds the place of retirement as well as the date of the officer’s death. Starting from 1763 a record exists for each regiment. These registers were established in 1763, 1775, 1776 and 1788. They cease in 1793. Contained within are the complete careers, first names, and often the place and date of birth. However, the information regarding birth is not always accurate. Records of judgements on officers are maintained here.

• Regiment of Berwick: Yb178 (1763); Yb252 (1775); Yb288 (1776); Yb452 (1788-1793);
• Regiment of Bulkeley: Yb185 (1763);
• Regiment of Clare: Yb189 (1763);
• Regiment of Dillon: Yb194 (1783); Yb257 (1775); Yb305 (1776); Yb450-451 (1788-1793);
• Regiment of Rothe: Yb227 (1763);
• Regiment of Walsh: Yb361 (1776); Yb458 (1788-1793);

Regimental Archives

These archives mostly contain information on the careers of the officers. These files can often complete the information in the Yb files. Most notable are the Reviews from 1705 to 1709 which contain precise information on the nominations for rank, campaigns and wounds of the officers. There is a carton of information for each regiment except for the codes Xb1 to 8 where the files are quite small.

• Xb1: Fitzgerald: Reviews from 1705 to 1709
• Xb2: Galmoy: Review from 1709
• Xb6: Lally (1744-1762)
• Xb8: former Berwick (1735-1775); Former Dillon (1745-1772)
• Xb9: Lee (1704-1720), which became Bulkeley (1733-1775), which became Dillon (1775-1790)
• Yb95: Clare (1690-1706), which became O’Brien (1706-1720), which became Clare again (1720-1775), and Berwick (1775-1790)
• Yb99: Rothe (1718-1766), which became Roscommon (1766-1770) and Walsh (1766-1790)

The archives for the cavalry regiment of Nugent which became Fitzjames are found in the carton Xc25. In 1791, Dillon became the 87th regiment d’infanterie. Its archives for the period 1791-1793 are found in the carton Xb192. In 1791, Berwick became the 88th regiment d’infanterie. Its archives are for the period 1791-1793 are found in the carton Xb192. In 1791, Walsh became the 92nd regiment d’infanterie. Its archives are for the period 1791-1793 are found in the carton Xb194.

Individual files from the Ancien Regime

Information from officers coming from the series Yb can be complemented by the information found in the series 1Ye. However, not all the officers have a file. The worth of these files varies greatly: sometimes a page or two of little interest or sometimes a multitude of documents giving details of the officer’s life, letters of recommendation, information on their ancestry, wives and children. Some files date from the end of Louis XIV’s reign. These individual files, when they exist, can be complemented by the pension files from the series 1Yf for those who were still alive in 1779 or who received pensions between 1779 and 1790. Files for widows and children can also be found. For those officers born in France there is a Baptism certificate. The Généraux have individual files found in the following series:

• 2Yd: Maréchaux (Berwick, O’Brien, Clare, Comte de Thomond)
• 3Yd: Lieutenant généraux
• 4Yd: Maréchaux de camp
• 5Yd: Brigadiers

Details on Irish officers as well as Irish soldiers can be found in the admission files for the Hôtel des Invalides: 2Xy. The details of the careers can be found but not the dates of nominations for ranks. Also available are the wounds, illnesses and date of death. Most of these files have been digitized and can be found online at: www.hoteldesinvalides.org. Specifics can also be found in the Travail du Roi sub-series 1Yd. For the period before 1740 only a carton of archives exist, however there are 456 cartons for the period 1740 to 1792. This is a very rich series and offers much that is not recorded in the preceding series. However, access to this series is difficult. Items are organized chronologically by decision: nominations, graces, etc. One can access it in a precise manner from the dates found in the Yb files. More information on the Irish officers can be found in the Correspondance addressed to the Secretary of State for War (sub-series A1) and more specifically on those Irishmen who held high office

Files post-1789

For the officers who continued to serve after 1789, it suffices to consult their file in the following series. Starting from the Revolution almost all officers had their own file and they are sometimes quite sizable.

• Individual files: 2Ye (1791-1848)
• Pensions: 2Yf (Period 1801-1817)
• Pensions: 3Yf (1818-1856)

Officers could have a file in 2Ye and another in 2Yf and 3Yf. In 2Yf and 3Yf files for the widows and children are also found. Généraux named after 1792 figure in the following files:

• 7Yd for généraux de division and lieutenant généraux
• 8Yd for généraux de brigade and maréchaux de camp
• 6Yd 29 for Clarke, minister of War for Napoleon, named Maréchal in 1816.

Complementary sources

Officers who served after emigrating (from France) have files in the private series Pinasseau 1K45. Officers are organized by unit and also contain files for officers in Dillon, Berwick and Walsh. There also exists an alphabetical list of officers which allows one to locate officers who served in the Armée des Princes in 1792 and in the various emigrated corps including those who went into the British service in 1794.

Major F. V. S. Churchill wrote files on all officers who served in 1789. This work Reimpression de l’Etat militaire de France, 1789 (1940), contains 12 volumes held in the library of the Service Historique de la Defense. The notes are by regiment, thus it is simple to consult the officers from Dillon, Berwick and Walsh. This historian, like Pinasseau, used the British archives concerning the officers who served in England during the Revolution and the Empire.

The commis de la guerre (or assistant to war) wrote in his Chronologie historique militaire, published between 1760 and 1778, notes on all the généraux killed who had served up until 1760. It also contains all the Irish généraux named since 1690. The table established by Lecestre allows one to find the files which are in chronological order by various rank. They are indicated under the reference Pinard. The files note with precision the nomination and campaigns of the généraux.

Important Irish families figure in the work of La Chenaye-Desbois and Badier, Dictionnaire de la noblesse française. Information taken from these works and archives are indicated under the name of the author.

Irish officers in non-Irish regiments

While most of the Irish officers served in the Irish regiments, some can also be found in the French regiments and in the German language ones. There are also some in the corps of the house of the king. Very few Irishmen served in the Artillerie and the Génie (engineering corps). It was possible to locate the officers with files and those who were in activity in 1789, but only a partial number of the others. For those who served in the French regiments it is necessary to search the hundreds of cartons in the series Yb. A portion of the officers can be found in scrutinizing the files of the cavalry and infantry officers from 1715 to 1762 who are found in Yb108 to 132, as well as the directories which produced an annual list of officers in the different corps.

Officers serving in the colonies

A certain number of Irish officers served in the colonies in the Antilles, Guyana, India, Île Bourbon and Île de France. The archival reference for these troops is in series D2c. There may also be files in the series E colonies. Also found in this series are officers from metropolitan France who spent time in the colonies, especially in the American war. These files are found in the French National Archives in Aix-en-Provence (Archives de la France d’Outre-mer). Inventories for these collections do exist.

As for the officers who served in non-Irish regiments, it was not possible to identify all the Irishmen who served in the colonial corps. Due to the cursory nature of the information regarding eighteenth-century officers, it was sometimes difficult to identify officers, especially when they had the same surname. For example, there are 94 men by the name of MacCarthy (or McCarthy) who died in the French service between 1690 and 1774. The list is contained in the carton C7 191 Marine. Generally, in order to research an officer, one must cross-reference the information found in the various collections.

Irish Regiments in the French Service, summary

Regiments from 1691

• Gardes du roi d’Angleterre: Incorporated into Dorrington in 1698
• Dragons à pied de la Reine: Incorporated into Galmoy in 1698
• Régiment de la Reine: had Wauchopp then Luttrell (in 1696) as Colonel. Took the name of Luttrell in 1698.
• La Marine: had Fitz-Gerald as Colonel. Incorporated into Albermale in 1698
• Dublin: Incorporated into Albermale
• Limerick: Had Talbot as Colonel. Incorporated into Albermale.
• Athlone: Had Bourke for colonel in 1695. Incorporated into Berwick in 1690.
• Klincarthy: Incorporated into Luttrel in 1698.
• Charlemont: Incorporated into Galmoy in 1698

These regiments are not found in Yb. Information can be found for some of the officers in the series A1 and 1Ye which also contains files on widows and children.

Regiments from 1698

• Dorrington: Incorporated into Rothe in 1718
• Luttrel: went into the Spanish service in 1715
• Albermale became O’Donnell in 1708 and was incorporated into Clare in 1715.
• Berwick: Incorporated into Clare in 1775.
• Galmoy: let go in 1715.

Regiments from 1698

• Dorrington: Incorporated into Rothe in 1718
• Luttrel: went into the Spanish service in 1715
• Albermale became O’Donnell in 1708 and was incorporated into Clare in 1715.
• Berwick: Incorporated into Clare in 1775.
• Galmoy: let go in 1715.

Regiments after 1715

The regiment of MacCarthy Mountcassel, created in 1690, became Lee in 1694, Bulkeley in 1733, Dillon in 1775, and the 87th régiment d’infanterie in 1791.
Clare, created in 1690, became Tallot in 1694, Clare in 1696, O’Brien in 1706, then Clare again in 1720. It was incorporated into Berwick in 1775 which would then become the 88th régiment d’infanterie in 1791. Rothe, which followed Dorrington in 1698, became Roscommon in 1766, Walsh in 1770 and the 92nd régiment d’infanterie in 1791. Lally, created in 1744 was reformed in 1762. Dillon, created in 1690, received Bulkely in 1775.

The only Irish cavalry regiment, formed in 1691 under the name Roi d’Angleterre, took the name Sheldon in 1698. It received the cavalry regiment of the Reine in 1698, which became Nugent in 1706, and Fitzjames in 1733 and was finally let go in 1762.

Printed sources

Within the sub-series 4M there are several histories of the regiments of Dillon, Berwick and Walsh. Dillon’s history is particularly interesting. There are brief histories of these three corps and the other Irish regiments in volume V of the Histoire de l’infanterie française by General Susane. By the same author, the Histoire de la cavalerie française contains information on Sheldon-Nugent Fitzjames. They contain brief descriptions of the regiment’s campaigns, battles and sieges as well as their locations during Peacetime.

An up to date bibliography of printed sources can be found in Nathalie Genet-Rouffiac’s work Le Grand Exil: Les Jacobites en France, 1688-1715 (Paris, Service Historique de la Défense, 2007) as well as in the work of Patrick Clarke de Dromatin, Les Réfugiés jacobites dans la France du XVIIIe siècle, (Bordeaux, 2006). See also David Murphy, The Irish Brigades 1685-2006 (Dublin, 2007).