In the previous articles of the series, we talked about the divisions of the Zouaves, which were formed in 1830 at the beginning as "native". In 1833 they became mixed, and in 1841 they became purely French. And about the combat units of the Tyrallers, into which the Arabs and Berbers, who had previously served in the battalions of the Zouaves, were transferred. But there were also other "exotic" units in the French army.
Spahi
Almost simultaneously with the infantry units of the Tyrallers (Algerian riflemen), in 1831, cavalry "native" units were formed. Initially (until 1834) these were irregular cavalry units, recruited mainly from the Berbers. Later they became part of the regular French army. They were called spahi (spagi or spahi) - from the Turkish word "sipahi". But if in the Ottoman Empire the Sipahs were the elite formations of heavy cavalry, then in France their "namesakes" became light cavalry units.
In addition to military service, Spagi were often involved in performing gendarme functions.
The spahi corps was initiated by Joseph Vantini, who is sometimes called "General Yusuf".
According to some reports, he was a native of the island of Elba, whose family moved to Tuscany. Here, at the age of 11, he was kidnapped by Tunisian corsairs, but did not disappear unknown, like many brothers in misfortune, but made a good career at the court of a local bey, becoming his favorite and confidant. However, court fate is always and everywhere changeable: having angered the lord, Yusuf fled to France in May 1830, where he entered military service, quickly attracting the attention of his superiors. At the head of the spahi formations recruited on his initiative, he distinguished himself in Algeria during the campaigns of 1832 and 1836, successfully fought against the emir Abd-al Qader, who revolted in Maskar (he was described in the article "The Defeat of the Pirate States of the Maghreb").
Some sources claim that Vantini became a Christian only in 1845, but this contradicts the data on his marriage to a certain Mademoiselle Weyer in 1836: it is unlikely that the French authorities would have allowed a Muslim to marry a Catholic.
By 1838 Vantini had already risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and in 1842 he became a colonel in the French army. And in 1850 he even wrote the book "War in Africa" (La guerre d'Afrique).
Spahi military uniform
Like other "native" units, the spagi were dressed in an oriental manner: a short jacket, wide trousers, a sash, and a white aba (a camel wool cloak with a slit for the arms, also used as a bed). On their heads they wore a sheshia (as they called fez in Tunisia).
It was only in 1915 that spags switched to khaki uniforms.
Breeches
It is with spahi that the history of the appearance of the famous trousers "breeches" is connected.
According to the most common version, Gaston Alexander Auguste de Gallifet came up with such a cut so that the thigh, twisted after the injury, would not be striking (or, as an option, he wanted to hide his very ugly crooked legs from immodest looks).
However, in reality, Gallife was simply looking for an opportunity to replace the tight and tight pants of the cavalrymen (leggings, chikchirs), which looked beautiful, but were very uncomfortable to wear. He found the right option after the Crimean War, when in 1857 he was appointed to command the spahi regiment (he held this position until 1862). Spag trousers were much more comfortable than leggings, but according to the charter, cavalry trousers had to be tucked into boots, but this was already inconvenient to do with trousers.
And then the general made a truly Solomon decision - to make a "synthetic version": cut on top, like a trousers, bottom - like leggings.
The new trousers were tested during the spahi hostilities in Mexico in 1860. But the novelty was introduced to all French cavalry only in 1899, when Gaston de Galliffe became Minister of War. These trousers seemed to everyone so comfortable that already at the beginning of the twentieth century they were introduced as part of the uniform in almost all cavalry formations in the world.
The beginning of the spahi battle path
The principle of recruiting spahi formations was the same as that of the tyrallers: privates and non-commissioned officers were recruited from local Arabs and Berbers, officers and specialists were French. In the novel The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas made Maximilian Morrel, the son of the owner of the ship “Pharaoh,” on which the protagonist of this work served as the captain of the spahi.
Service in these cavalry units was more prestigious than the tyralier battalions, and therefore among the spahi there were many sons of the local nobility, who appeared on their horses. For the same reason (the presence of aristocrats), some of the officer positions of the spahi were occupied by local natives, but they could only rise to the rank of captain.
In 1845, three spahi regiments were already formed in North Africa, stationed in Algeria, in Oran and in Constantine. Each regiment consisted of 4 saber squadrons - 5 officers and 172 lower ranks in each.
In 1854-1856, the spahi squadron ended up in the Crimean War: the spahi even went down in history as the first French cavalry unit to set foot on the Crimean land. But, unlike the Zouaves, Tyraliers and units of the Foreign Legion, the Spagi did not take part in the hostilities here, performing the functions of an honorary escort under Marshal Saint-Arnault, and then under General Canrobert.
And Joseph Vantini at this time tried to create new spahi regiments in the Balkans, but did not succeed. But the spag units were later created in Tunisia and Morocco. And even in Senegal, 2 squadrons of spags were created, the beginning of which was laid by an Algerian platoon sent to this country in 1843: gradually its soldiers were replaced by local recruits, officers from North Africa were also commanders.
Running a little ahead, let's say that in 1928 Senegalese spahi became horse gendarmes.
During the Franco-Prussian War, the Spahis were utterly defeated by Prussian cuirassiers and Bavarian lancers, but their hopeless dashing attack made a great impression on King William I, who, according to eyewitnesses, even shed a tear, saying: "These are the brave men!"
Interestingly, in 1912, several spahi squadrons were created on the model of the Algerian Italians in Libya (where, by the way, in the same year, their own "native" cavalry units - sawari were created). The Libyan spahi did not have any military achievements, and they were disbanded in 1942. And sawari (savari) were disbanded in 1943, after the evacuation of Italian troops from Libya to Tunisia.
In 1908, the destroyer Spahi was launched in France and served in the navy until 1927.
Spahi in World Wars I and II
By the beginning of World War I, there were 4 spahi regiments in the French army, another one was created in August 1914.
During World War I on the Western Front, the role of spahi as light cavalry was small, they were used mainly for patrolling and reconnaissance.
On the Thessaloniki front in 1917, spahi regiments were used for some time as infantry and they operated very successfully in their familiar mountainous terrain. In 1918, the Spahis, together with the horse rangers, took an active part in the hostilities against the 11th German army.
Their actions were of greater importance in Palestine, where they fought against the Ottoman Empire.
On December 31, 1918, after the conclusion of the Comrienne Armistice, one of the Spag units in the Foth castle captured General Mackensen (commander of the German occupation forces in Romania) and his staff officers. Mackensen was held captive until December 1919.
As a result of the war, the First spahi regiment was awarded the military cross (de la croix de guerre), thus becoming the "titled" cavalry regiment of the French army.
By 1921, the number of spahi regiments reached 12: five of them were in Algeria, four in Morocco, the rest in Lebanon and Syria. And, if in Algeria and Tunisia, the spaghs performed gendarme and police functions, then on the territory of Morocco, in Syria and Lebanon they fought in the interwar period.
In the 1930s, the mechanization of the spahi regiments began, which led to an increase in the number of French in these units. This process dragged on and, with the help of the allies, was completed only in 1942. At the same time, there was a tradition to use exotic units of the spahi cavalry units for ceremonial purposes. Their participation in the annual parade in honor of the capture of the Bastille became mandatory.
During World War II, in the 1940 campaign, the First and Third Spahi Brigades fought in the Ardennes and suffered heavy losses. The third brigade was almost completely destroyed, many soldiers of the first brigade were killed, even more were captured. The second spahi brigade was at the Swiss border until June 9, 1940 and laid down its arms after the surrender of France.
After the surrender of France, the Pétain government controlled the three Spahi brigades, the Levantine army and the riflemen from Indochina.
And de Gaulle got the 19th Colonial Corps, three battalions of the French Afrika Korps, two "camps" of Moroccan gumiers (which are discussed later), 3 regiments of Moroccan spahi, 1 Tunisian battalion, 5 Algerian infantry battalions and 2 battalions of the Foreign Legion (about him - in the following articles).
The number of de Gaulle's "native troops" increased rapidly, it is estimated that 36% of the troops in the Free French Forces were members of the Foreign Legion, more than 50% were Tyrallers, Spagami and Gumiers, and only 16% were ethnic French. Therefore, we can safely say that the forced inhabitants of its colonies and the mercenaries of the Foreign Legion introduced France to the number of the victor countries in World War II.
Let's go back to the World War II spags.
Located in Syria, the First Moroccan spahi regiment left Pétain for British-controlled territory. In Egypt, he was additionally mechanized, fought in Libya and Tunisia, participated in the liberation of Paris (in August 1944).
In 1943-1944. three motorized spahi regiments (Third Algerian, Third and Fourth Moroccan) fought in Italy as part of the French Expeditionary Force (commander - General A. Juen). In the 1944-1945 campaign. 8 spahi regiments participated - 6 mechanized and 2 cavalry.
Completion of the spahi story
In January 1952, after the appointment of a new manager of the Tunis colony, Jean de Otklok, 150 members of the New Destour party were arrested (it was headed by Habib Burghima, who in 1957 would become the President of Tunisia and would be removed from this post only on November 7, 1987) … The result of these actions was an armed uprising. It began on January 18, 1952. Parts of the spags, not only Tunisian, but also Algerian, took part in suppressing it. The fighting, in which up to 70 thousand French troops were involved, continued until July 1954, when an agreement was reached on transferring the rights of autonomy to Tunisia.
In addition to Tunisia, after the end of World War II, the spahi managed to fight in Indochina and Algeria.
The wars in Tunisia, and especially in Algeria, suddenly showed that light cavalry can be effective against insurgents. As a result, in Algeria, Oran and Constantine, the cavalry regiments of spags were again created, numbering 700 people - 4 squadrons each. Oddly enough, there was no shortage of candidates for service in these regiments, not only in Algeria, but also in France: many romantic-minded young people, very skeptical about service in other units, were not averse to enrolling in the cavalry regiments. As instructors for the training of recruits, then they called in the retired former military personnel of the Spag corps - both cavalrymen and military veterinarians.
But time cannot be turned back. In 1962, after France recognized the independence of Algeria, all but one spahi regiments were disbanded.
The only remaining regiment, the First Moroccan, until 1984 was in the FRG, at the base in Schleier. It is currently based in Valence, near Lyon. It includes three reconnaissance battalions (12 AMX-10RC armored personnel carriers and VAB armored personnel carriers) and one anti-tank battalion (12 VCAC / HOT Mephisto anti-tank vehicles).
His servicemen each year march in full dress across Paris on Bastille Day.
The first spahi regiment in 1991 was part of the 6th Light Armored Division, which was part of the international forces during the Persian War in Iraq.
