Chasseurs de Fischer

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Chasseurs de Fischer
Dragons-chasseurs de Conflans
Légion de Conflans

Chasseurs de Fischer.png


Officer of the riders of the "Chasseurs de Fischer" (1745)
active 1743 to 1776
Country Blason France modern.svg France
Armed forces Blason France modern.svg french army
Armed forces Cavalry & Infantry
Branch of service Free Corps
Type regiment
Strength 1200
Patron saint St. George

The Chasseurs de Fischer were a mixed military unit of cavalry and infantry in the royal army of the Ancien Régime . They were the origin of the "Régiments français de chasseurs à cheval" ( hunters on horseback ) in the French army.

Lineup and significant changes

  • November 1, 1743: The Chasseurs de Fischer are set up
  • April 27, 1761: renamed Dragons-chasseurs de Conflans
  • March 1, 1763: renamed Légion de Conflans
  • April 25, 1776: Dissolution of the unit - the three hussar squadrons were used to set up the Régiment de Conflans hussards , the infantry companies were distributed among various infantry regiments.

Regimental commanders

Mestre de camp was the rank designation for the regiment owner and / or the actual commander of a cavalry regiment until 1791. Should the Mestre de camp be a person of the high nobility who had no interest in leading the regiment (or was too inexperienced), the command was given to the "Mestre de camp lieutenant" (or "Mestre de camp en second") ) left.

  • Regimental owner
April 27, 1761: Louis-Henri-Gabriel de Conflans d'Armentières
  • Regimental commanders
November 1, 1743: Jean Chrétien Fischer , Mestre de camp lieutenant 1747,
April 27, 1761: Louis-Henri-Gabriel de Conflans d'Armentières

composition

Chasseurs de Fischer
November 1, 1743: Establishment of a Compagnie franche
September 15, 1747: 600 men, 400 of them infantry, 200 cavalry
In peacetime reduced to: 360 men, then 180 men
December 30, 1748: reduced to 105 men
March 25, 1749: reduced to a company with 40 infantrymen and 20 riders

Campaigns

Chasseurs de Fischer (1743–1761)

The unit consisted of infantry and cavalry and was set up in front of Prague by Johann Christian Fischer, a German mercenary in French service, during the War of the Austrian Succession .

At that time it often happened that French horses were captured by Austrian hussars. For this reason, a free corps (also known as partisan corps) was created to bring these horses back.

This volunteer corps of local adventurers was confirmed by a decree of November 1, 1743 as "Compagnie franche des chasseurs". It consisted of 45 hunters on foot and 15 riders. Fischer was promoted to Capitaine and was given command of the troops.

The manpower was originally 600 men, consisting of hussars , infantrymen and hunters (two thirds infantry, one third cavalry). The troops distinguished themselves in 1747 at the siege of Bergen op Zoom , which earned Fischer the rank of Brigadier des armées du Roi .

Hussards de Conflans

In July 1757 the unit fought near Hildesheim and moved to Hanover via Marburg , Ziegenhain , Göttingen and Einbeck . Here there was heavy fighting with Hanoverian hunters. At the end of September she fought near Halberstadt and moved into Nordhausen on October 1st . On December 15th they were in Buchholz and Schwarmstedt .

The corps was able to distinguish itself on June 23, 1758 in the battle of Krefeld . When Marshal Ferdinand von Braunschweig wanted to encircle the French troops, Fischer was able to clarify this and warn his own commander-in-chief, Louis de Bourbon-Condé . After the battle of Bergen , they successfully fought against the advance guard of the Prussian army. They smashed two grenadier battalions and two escadrons Finckenstein dragoons. Three more escadrons of the regiment could be captured. In addition, two standards and a war chest were taken away.

The unit was 1200 men strong at that time, half cavalry and infantry, plus 800 surplus. After several other outstanding achievements, Fischer was promoted to Brigadier des armes du roi in 1759 . In 1761, the Marquis Louis-Henri-Gabriel de Conflans, son of the Lieutenant-général des armées Louis de Conflans d'Armentières, was appointed regiment owner, which he was to remain until the end of the war and as a result of which Fischer lost command. This was followed by participation in the battle of Minden .

Campaign 1760

On May 20, 1760 the unit was at Elberfeld and moved on to Duisburg on June 5. In the Battle of Warburg on July 31, 1760, the corps was almost destroyed. On October 15, 1760, they formed the French vanguard in the battle of Kampen Monastery and suffered heavy losses again. The troops then had to retreat to the winter quarters in Mettmann and the surrounding area.

Dragons-chasseurs de Conflans (1761 to 1763)

After the corps was transferred from Christian Fischer to the Marquis de Conflans as regiment owner (who also took over active command) on February 20, 1761, it was renamed "Dragons-chasseurs de Conflans". It still fought in Germany until the end of the war. In 1762 the Dragoons were able to achieve another success in a battle against parts of the army of the Prussian Crown Prince.

In the battle of Vellinghausen , the regiment of Conflans was able to distinguish itself through bold actions. Then it was ordered to Osnabrück , where it confiscated the flour and oat magazines and 400 horses. They then moved to Coesfeld with 400 food wagons loaded . The hocks of the horses that could not be taken with you were cut.

In 1762 Conflams and his regiment were in action near Recklinghausen , where a large number of prisoners could be made. The same applied to the skirmish near Schmallenberg .

In East Frisia

From September 22nd, 1762, Conflans and his troops were pillaging through East Frisia . Leer was occupied on the same day , Aurich on September 23 and Emden on September 24 . Immediately afterwards, Conflans demanded contributions according to the custom of the war . Leer should deliver 150,000 (silver) thalers, Aurich 200,000 thalers and 30 pairs of boots and 400 pairs of shoes, and Emden 30,000 (gold) ducats within 24 hours. In negotiations, the first Prussian regional president of East Friesland in Aurich, Christoph Friedrich von Derschau , succeeded in reducing the contributions for Aurich by half. In return, the other half should be raised by the Wittmund office .

Conflans then swarmed his troops to collect the money and benefits in kind for the maintenance of his troops. In doing so, however, they encountered bitter resistance from the peasants, who managed to remain successful. Conflans then wanted to retire to Emden. On the way there he took the district president Derschau and the bailiff Diedrich Stürenburg hostage. However, the city walls of Emden were already occupied, so that Conflans had to retreat to Leer again. Here there was a battle at Loga with a number of dead on both sides. Further successes in the resistance of the local population as well as changes in the general war situation forced Conflans to retreat across the Ems on September 30th. Overall, the damage done by the mercenary troops for East Frisia is estimated at 358,557 Reichsthaler. Almost two thirds of this sum, 226,096 Reichsthalers, went to Evenburg and the Leer area.

Légion de Conflans (1763 to 1776)

In 1773 the various mixed light units were divided into seven so-called legions. They each received a mounted company of dragoons , eight companies of fusiliers and a grenadier company. The now “Légion de Conflans” now existed alongside the “Légion Royale”, “Légion de Condé”, “Légion de Lorraine”, “Légion du Hainaut”, “Légion des volontaires de Soubise” and the “Légion des volontaires de Flandre” .

In March 1776 the "Légion de Conflans" was dissolved, the cavalry was used to reorganize the Régiment de Conflans hussards (became the Régiment des Hussards de Saxe in 1789 ), and the infantry was integrated into various infantry regiments - such as the Corsican infantry company under the command of Capitaine Sansonetti and Lieutenant Carbuccia in the Royal Corse Regiment .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Liliane & Fred Funcken Op. cité p. 26.
  2. ↑ "État des troupes 1753"
  3. ↑ LES CHASSEURS A CHEVAL: DEUX SIECLES D'HISTOIRE .
  4. ↑ Liliane & Fred Funcken: L'Uniforme et les Armes des soldats de la guerre en dentelle (XVIII e), Volume 2 p. 26.
  5. ↑ Hannoversche Geschichtsblätter. Volume 7, p. 525 ( Google books ).
  6. ↑ Bernhard Schönneshöfe: history of Bergisch country. P. 348 ( Google books ).
  7. ↑ Capitaine Henri Choppin: Les Hussards: les vieux régiments 1692-1792 , pp. 204–205, Berger-Levrault & Cie, Nancy, 1898 (?)
  8. ^ Tjark Kunstreich , Biographisches Lexikon für Ostfriesland: DERSCHAU, Christoph Friedrich von , viewed on January 25, 2009.
  9. ↑ Législation militaire 1763 .
  10. ↑ Saxe Hussards .
  11. ^ Xavier Poli: Histoire militaire des Corses , Première partie, Tome II p.195 , Librairie D. de Peretti, Ajaccio, 1900.

literature

Web links