The French Regiments in Ireland Post Ireland

[Arthur]

Any info on the uniform of Famechon's, did Walloon regts. have a specific coat colour?

Bob

No Bob, they didn't. The Etat général des troupes françaises en 1692 has Famechon in red coats lined blue and since the regiment did not lose its foreign status until 1717 it is likely that it retained its distinctive red coat until then. Famechon - then Isenghien - formally became a French regiment that year and took on the name of Mailly, switching to grey coats shortly afterwards. This means the grey coat lined red given by Lienhart & Humbert is anachronistic and postdates the reign of Louis XIV.

Not all Walloon regiments wore coloured uniforms, though : The Solre regiment was in grey coats faced green in the 1690's while brown seems to have been a popular colour in the 1670's and 1680's. And there are some units such as Robecque for which we have no uniform details. So no, no standard coat colour for Walloon regiments.

[Arthur]

Thank you Arthur, are these early etats available online? I think the earliest I have is 1720.

I don't think so. I did a quick search on Gallica and it came up blank, though I didn't try very hard or very long. I suspect the manuscript can only be accessed through the Service Historique de l'Armée de terre in Vincennes. It is one of Chartrand and Hall's main sources for the 1690's and they even provide the manuscript classification number (A1B 1626).

However, I seem to recall reading somewhere that at least some of the manuscript's content was included as an appendix in Belhomme's L'Armée française en 1690. I can't confirm this as I don't have the book, though this is one volume I should definitely be adding to my library - all the more so as it is now readily available as a cheap reprint.

[toggy]

Many thanks Arthur, so the French contingent will have a red- coated unit.

Bob

[Captain of Dragoons]

IIRC Zurlauben's had two battalions, believe the other French battalions deploy to Ireland as single battalions.

Did they raise more battalions as the Grand Alliance War continued?

cheers
Edward