From the previous articles in the series, we learned that one of the consequences of the French conquest of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco was the appearance in France of new and unusual military formations. We have already talked about Zouaves, Tyraliers, Spags and Gumiers. Now let's talk about other combat units that have never been in the French army before.
Foreign Legion (Légion étrangère)
The French Foreign Legion was formed at about the same time with the Algerian Spagh units: the decree on its creation was signed by King Louis-Philippe on March 9, 1831.
It is believed that the idea of creating this military unit belongs to the Belgian Baron de Begard, who at that time served in the French army. The officers in the legion were supposed to serve as veterans of Napoleon's army, as privates - residents of other European countries and the French who want to "nullify" their problems with the law. Marshal Soult, Minister of War of France, approved this initiative, saying:
“Do they want to fight? We will give them the opportunity to bleed and knead mountains of sand in North Africa!
And King Louis-Philippe, in this proposal, probably most liked the phrase that the Foreign Legion should obey only one person - himself. 189 years have passed, but this position in the charter of the legion has not changed: it is still subordinate only to the head of state - the President of the French Republic.
Since the first volunteers of the legion, both the French and foreign citizens entering the service, were far from always distinguished by their respectable disposition, a tradition has emerged not to ask the real names of recruits: how they introduced themselves when registering for the service, they will be called.
Even in our time, a recruit of the Legion can, if he wishes, get a new name, but in connection with the spread of terrorism, candidates are now being checked through Interpol.
Realizing what kind of rabble might be in the parts of the Foreign Legion, it was decided to place them outside mainland France, banning their use in the metropolis. The place of his deployment was to be Algeria.
At first, no one even thought that the Foreign Legion could become an elite unit. He was equated with a regiment, received equipment on a leftover basis, and even had an incomplete non-combatant command: three shoemakers and tailors instead of five, four gunsmiths instead of five, and only three doctors (1st grade, 2nd grade, and a junior doctor).
Unlike the Zouaves, Tyraliers, and Spags, the Legionnaires wore the usual military uniform of the line infantry. Their uniforms differed from the uniforms of other French infantrymen only in the color of their collars, epaulettes and buttons.
Precisely because the legion is stationed in desert Algeria, its units march at a speed of only 88 steps per minute (other French units - at a speed of 120 steps per minute), because it is difficult to walk quickly on the sand.
Before the outbreak of World War I, the Foreign Legion mainly consisted of immigrants from Switzerland, Germany, Spain and Belgium. In the future, the list of countries that supplied France with "cannon fodder" expanded significantly: they say that people of 138 nationalities were serving in it.
The first recruits who entered the legion, as a rule, were renegades who broke all ties with home and homeland, and therefore the motto of this military unit became the words: Legio Patria Nostra ("The Legion is our fatherland"), and its colors are red and green,symbolizing respectively blood and France. According to a long tradition, when the units of the legion perform combat missions, its flag is hung with the red side up.
It is believed that since its inception, the Foreign Legion has participated in thirty major wars (not counting minor conflicts), more than 600 thousand people have passed through it, at least 36 thousand of whom died during the hostilities.
Having received a military unit at their disposal, consisting of unreliable Napoleonic officers and suspicious thugs and adventurers of all stripes, the rulers of France did not feel sorry for him, and immediately threw him into battle.
Combat path of the French Foreign Legion
The monarchy in France was replaced by a republic, which was replaced by an empire to fall in 1870, and the legionnaires still fought for the interests of a foreign state for them.
Soldier of the French Foreign Legion in Algeria, 1847 Castellum miniatures figurine
Military campaigns followed one after another. At first, the legion fought with the rebellious "natives" of Algeria, where its soldiers immediately became famous for their cruelty and looting. According to the testimony of contemporaries, in the captured cities and villages, legionnaires often declared rebels and killed civilians, whose appearance allowed them to hope for rich booty. And to carry the head of an Arab on one’s bayonet was considered “the highest chic” among the first legionnaires.
Running a little ahead, let's say that a contemptuous attitude towards the "natives" was characteristic of legionnaires even in the first half of the twentieth century. According to the testimony of the Russian émigré officer Nikolai Matin, who served in the Foreign Legion for 6 years (since December 1920 - in Algeria, Tunisia and Syria), the locals called the bandits the word “legionnaire”. He also assures that shortly before his arrival, when the legion's trumpeter announced the end of the drill (after which the legionnaires could enter the city), the streets and markets were empty, the shops and houses of local residents were closed tightly.
The Arabs, in turn, did not spare the legionnaires. So, in 1836, after an unsuccessful siege of Constantine by the French, the Algerians solemnly threw the captured legionnaires from the city walls onto the iron bars carefully placed below, on which they then died for several hours.
Constantine was nevertheless taken in 1837 by French troops, which included legionnaires and Zouaves. And in 1839, the legionnaires stormed the Jijeli fortress, which had been under the control of Muslims since the time of its conquest by the famous Hayreddin Barbarossa (it was described in the article Islamic pirates of the Mediterranean).
But the legionnaires not only fought: in between times they built a road between the cities of Duero and Bufarik - for a long time it was called the "Highway of the Legion". And the legionnaires of the Second Regiment, commanded by Colonel Carbuchia (a Corsican who began serving in the legion at the age of 19) accidentally discovered the ruins of the city of Lambesis, the capital of the Roman province of Numidia, built by soldiers of the III Legion of Rome under Emperor Hadrian between 123 and 129. n. NS.
In 1835-1838. parts of the legion fought in Spain during the Carlist War, in which the French supported the supporters of the young Infanta Isabella, who opposed her uncle Carlos. It was assumed that the Spaniards would provide all the necessary legionnaires, but they did not fulfill their obligations. The French also left them to their fate. As a result, on December 8, 1838, this detachment was disbanded. Some of the soldiers went to serve as mercenaries for other masters, others returned to France, where they were enlisted in new parts of the legion.
Crimean War
In 1854, during the Crimean War, the combat units of the Foreign Legion first appeared in Europe. The Russian soldiers nicknamed the legionnaires "leather bellies" - for the large ammunition pouches, reinforced in front.
This was the "Foreign Brigade" under the command of General Karbuchi, consisting of the First and Second Regiments of the Legion. The legionnaires suffered the first losses from cholera - even before they arrived in Crimea: one general (Karbuchiya), five officers (including one lieutenant colonel), 175 soldiers and sergeants were killed.
The first clash between the battalion of legionnaires and the Russians took place on September 20, 1854. "African troops" (units of the Legion, Zouaves and Tyrallers) played a huge role in the victory of the Allies at Alma. The losses of legionnaires in that battle amounted to 60 people killed and wounded (including 5 officers). After that, the Foreign Brigade, which was part of the 5th French Division, stood in the depths of the Streletskaya Bay.
On November 5, when the main forces of the opposing sides fought at Inkerman, Russian troops attacked the regiments of legionaries stationed at the Quarantine trenches, but were thrown back in a fierce battle.
On November 14, a terrible hurricane sank many ships of the Anglo-French squadron, literally devastated the Chersonesus plateau and inflicted great damage on the legionnaires' camp. After that, several months of "trench warfare" begin. On the night of January 20, 1855, the legionnaires repulsed a large sortie of the Russians, in the future, smaller actions of this kind are undertaken by both sides - without much success.
Active hostilities resumed at the end of April 1855. On the night of May 1, Russian troops were thrown back from their positions to the Schwarz redoubt - a third of the French losses fell on the legionnaires: of the 18 officers of the First Regiment, 14 were killed, including its commander, Colonel Vienot. The barracks of the First Regiment, stationed in Sidi Bel Abbes, was named in his honor, and after the evacuation from Algeria, the barracks of this regiment in Aubagne.
In June 1854, Pierre Bonaparte, the emperor's nephew, who had previously commanded the Second Regiment of the Legion, became the commander of the Foreign Brigade.
In the storming of the Malakhov Kurgan, the combat units of the legion did not take part - with the exception of 100 volunteers of the First Regiment, who went in the forefront of the attackers.
It was the soldiers of the Foreign Brigade who were the first to enter the Sevastopol abandoned by the Russians - and immediately began to plunder wine warehouses, as well as other "interesting places", reminding everyone of the peculiarities of the contingent of the legion's formations.
As a result, during this campaign, the losses of the legion turned out to be higher than in 23 years in Algeria.
After the end of the Crimean War, all legionnaires who wished to continue their service received French citizenship, as well as the Turkish Medjidie Order.
Returning to Algeria, the legionnaires suppressed the revolt of the Kabyle tribes. After the Battle of Ishereden, a certain Corporal Mori was presented with the Order of the Legion of Honor. He refused from the less significant awards, which were going to be presented to him during the Crimean campaign, so as not to disclose his real name. But he did not refuse to award such a valuable order. It turned out that under the name Mori was hiding a representative of the Italian princely family of Ubaldini. He continued his service in the legion, retiring as a captain.
French Foreign Legion in Italy
Then the legionnaires fought in Italy (Austro-Italian-French war, 1859). During the Battle of Magenta (June 4), they were the first to cross the Ticino River and overturn one of the Austrian columns, but, while pursuing the retreating enemy, "stumbled" on the city of Magenta, which they began to plunder, allowing the Austrians to retreat in an organized manner.
In this battle, Colonel de Chabrière, who commanded the Second Regiment of the Legion since the Crimean War, died, the barracks of this regiment, located in Nimes, now bear his name.
On June 24 of the same year, the Foreign Legion took part in the Battle of Solferino, which ended in the defeat of the Austrians. As a result of that war, France received Nice and Savoy.
War in mexico
From 1863 to 1868 legionnaires fought in Mexico, from which Great Britain, France and Spain tried to knock out debts, and at the same time - to put on the throne of this country the brother of the Austrian emperor - Maximilian.
For "Maximilian of Habsburg, who calls himself the Emperor of Mexico", everything ended very badly: in March 1867, France withdrew its expeditionary force from the country, and already on June 19, 1867, despite the protests of US President Andrew Johnson, Victor Hugo and even Giuseppe Garibaldi, he was shot on the Las Campanas hill.
And the legionnaires in that war "earned" a holiday for themselves, which is still celebrated as the Day of the Foreign Legion.
On April 30, 1863, in the area of Cameron farm, superior Mexican forces surrounded the incomplete Third Company of the First Battalion of the Legion, which was allocated to guard the convoy going to the city of Puebla. In a fierce battle, 3 officers, 62 privates and corporals were killed (and this despite the fact that the total losses of the legion killed in Mexico amounted to 90 people), 12 people were captured, where four of them died. One man escaped captivity - drummer Lai.
The Mexican casualties were 300 killed and 300 wounded. Their commander, Colonel Milan, ordered to bury the killed legionnaires with military honors and to take care of the wounded. But the Mexicans did not pay attention to the wagon train itself, and he calmly reached his destination.
This company was commanded by Captain Jean Danjou, a veteran who continued to serve even after losing his left arm during one of the battles in Algeria.
Danjou's wooden prosthesis, bought three years later in the market from one of the peons, is now kept in the Museum of the Foreign Legion in Aubagne and is considered one of his most valuable relics.
Oddly enough, it was the date of this defeat (and not any victory) that became the main holiday of the legionnaires.
Subordinate to Jean Danjou was Victor Vitalis - a native of one of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire, a veteran of the legion, who began serving in Algeria in 1844, passed the Crimean campaign (he was wounded near Sevastopol). After returning from Mexico (1867), he received French citizenship, continued to serve in the Zouaves, rising to the rank of major. In 1874, he ended up in Turkey, becoming first division commander and then governor of Eastern Rumelia, receiving the title of Vitalis Pasha.
The legion also took part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Then it included Lieutenant Petr Karageorgievich, the future king of Serbia.
The Foreign Legion did not have any special achievements on the battlefield in that war, but its servicemen were "famous" for their participation in suppressing the uprising in Paris (Paris Commune).
After that, the legion was returned to Algeria. At that time, it included 4 battalions, each of which consisted of 4 companies. The total number of its military personnel in 1881 was 2750 people, of which 66 were officers, 147 were non-commissioned officers, 223 were 1st class soldiers. There were also 66 non-combatants.
With the beginning of the Second Algerian campaign (in South Oran - 1882), the number of the legion's military personnel increased to 2846 people (officers - 73).
In 1883, the number of battalions was increased to 6, the total number of soldiers and officers - up to 4042 people.
Since 1883, units of the legion have been fighting in Southeast Asia - the Tonkin Campaign and the Franco-Chinese War.
French Indochina
Back in the 17th century, missionaries from France entered Vietnam. The first was a certain Alexander de Rode. Later, during the peasant unrest, which went down in history, as the Teishon uprising (1777), the French missionary Pinho de Been gave refuge to the last offspring of the Nguyen dynasty - 15-year-old Nguyen Phuc Anu. It was he who later (in 1784), through de Been, turned to France for help, promising in return the cession of territories, the right to monopoly trade and the supply, if necessary, of soldiers and food. The conditions of this "Versailles" treaty were not fulfilled by France due to the revolution that began soon, but the French did not forget about this agreement and later constantly referred to it. And the reason for the invasion of Vietnam was anti-Christian laws, the first of which was the decree of Emperor Minh Mang on the prohibition of the preaching of Christianity (1835).
After the conclusion of peace with China in 1858, Napoleon III ordered the transfer of the liberated troops to Vietnam. They were also joined by units located in the Philippines. The Vietnamese army was quickly defeated, Saigon fell in March 1859, an agreement was signed in 1862, according to which the emperor ceded three provinces to the French, but the fighting continued until 1867, when the Vietnamese had to agree to even more difficult conditions. In the same year, France and Siam divided Cambodia. And, of course, units of the French Foreign Legion took the most active part in all these events. In 1885, 2 companies of legionnaires remained surrounded for almost six months at the Tuan-Quang post - far in the jungle, but, nevertheless, they waited for help and reinforcements.
In addition to the Vietnam War, in 1885 the Legion participated in the invasion of Taiwan (Formosa Campaign).
As a result, Vietnam was divided into the Cochin Khin colony (controlled by the Ministry of Commerce and Colonies) and the Annam and Tonkin Protectorates, relations with them were carried out through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
20 years later, on October 17, 1887, all French possessions in Indochina were united into the so-called Indochina Union, which, in addition to Vietnamese possessions, included part of Laos and Cambodia. In 1904, two regions of Siam were annexed to it.
In one of the following articles, we will continue the story about French Indochina, and the hostilities that the Foreign Legion waged on its territory in 1946-1954.
Foreign Legion in the late 19th - early 20th centuries
From 1892 to 1894 legionnaires also fought in the kingdom of Dahomey (now the territory of Benin and Togo) and in Sudan, in 1895-1901. - in Madagascar (in 1897 the island was declared a French colony).
From 1903 to 1914 the legion was transferred to Morocco, the fighting here was very fierce, as a result of its loss of legionnaires were more than in all the years of its existence.
And then World War I began. The military operations of the Foreign Legion on the fronts of this war will be described in one of the following articles.
Father of the Legion
In the first half of the twentieth century, Paul-Frederic Rollet, a graduate of the Saint-Cyr military school, became a legend of the Foreign Legion, who, at his insistent request, was transferred from the usual 91 line infantry regiment to the First Foreign Regiment. He served in Algeria and Madagascar, and with the outbreak of World War I volunteered for the Western Front. On May 18, 1917, Rollet was appointed commander of the new marching regiment of the Foreign Legion, which, under his leadership, was the first to break through the Hindenburg line in September 1917. All the soldiers of this regiment received red aiguillettes - this is the color of the Cross for military merit. This regiment is currently called the Third Foreign Regiment and is stationed in French Guiana.
After the end of the war, Rollet fought in Morocco at the head of this regiment, and in 1925 he was appointed commander of the most prestigious infantry regiment - the First, in which he began serving in the legion.
On April 1, 1931, he becomes Inspector of the Foreign Legion - now the position is called "Commander of all units of the Foreign Legion."
In this post, Rollet created the foundation for the entire internal organization of the legion, making it a closed structure, similar to the medieval knightly order. These principles of the organization of the Foreign Legion remain unshakable to this day. He also created his own security service, hospitals and sanatoriums for legionnaires, and even the legion's internal magazine, the Kepi Blanc Magazine.
He retired in 1935 after 33 years of service. He had to die in German-occupied Paris (in April 1941), having seen with his own eyes how the seemingly impeccable legion combat vehicle that he actually created could not defend the country.
