Lucerne Regiment Keller

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Colonel Johann Martin Keller, 1703–1766

The Lucerne Regiment Keller was a Swiss regiment consisting of two battalions in the service of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont at the time of the War of the Austrian Succession . It was used together with seven other Swiss regiments in Piedmont and Sardinia .

Army of Sardinia-Piedmont

Ordnance flag of the Keller regiment

At the start of the war, Sardinia-Piedmont had an army of 56 infantry battalions and 32 cavalry squadrons . A third of them were under Swiss command, namely the regiments from Bern, Wallis, Graubünden, Appenzell, Zug, Lucerne, Vaud and Neuchâtel. The friendship treaty and assistance pact that linked the kingdom with the Republic of Lucerne since the 16th and 17th centuries prompted the king to inquire about troops here as well.

Supreme flag of the Keller Regiment

contract

Lucerne closed in 1741/42 under Mayor Ludwig Schumacher with King Charles Emanuel III. signed a ten-year military contract for two battalions of 700 men each. The regiment owner and commander of the 1st battalion was Colonel Hans Martin Keller , Lucerne state clerk and a former officer in French and papal services. As lieutenant colonel and commander of the 2nd battalion, the nephew of the ruling mayor, the minor councilor and previous major of the Lucerne militia, Anton Schumacher , then governor in Entlebuch.

Regimental flag

The regimental flag was flamed blue and white with a continuous white cross and a depiction of St. Mauritius in a vertical golden cartouche in the upper left corner quarter. The flag was outlined with a thin blue stripe. The Obersten flag (it was carried in the 1st Battalion) showed the Savoy coat of arms with a crowned eagle soaring on a blue cloth.

Uniform of a fusilier (left) and officer (right) in the regiment basement

Uniform and armament

The uniform was dark blue with large red cuffs and knee-length trousers of the same color. They were tied under the knee with a light blue ribbon. In addition one wore a long red, white-lined vest and a dark blue, red-lined Justaucorps , a white lace shirt, white stockings and black shoes with silver buckles. The buttons were silver, the buttonholes white. The headgear consisted of a black, silver-rimmed three- cornered hat with a blue fabric cockade . The hair was left unpowdered. A black scarf was worn around the neck. All shoulder straps were made of natural-colored leather. The cartridge pouch was black with a red-rimmed lid. The armament consisted of a rifle and a bayonet. The officers' uniform was made of finer fabric with silver brocade decoration . Around their hips (under the Justaucorps) or over their shoulders they wore a blue and gold bandage with tassels . They were armed with swords and spontaneous weapons or a rifle (grenadier lieutenants). Nothing is known about the uniform of the drummers and whistlers.

Mission history

The Lucerne Regiment spent 1742 in Piedmont in field camps and garrisons . Subsequently, both battalions were moved to the island of Sardinia. In the autumn campaign of 1743, the 1st Battalion on the mainland supported the contingents of the Bern, Wallis, Graubünden and Appenzell regiments in defending the redoubts at Punta di Battagliola at the foot of Monte Pietralunga. During the spring offensive of 1744 it was used to defend the coastal fortifications of Villefranche and Mont Alban near Nice . Colonel Keller and Major Peyer were captured in the courtyard. Lieutenant Colonel Schumacher left Sardinia and explained to the commanding Aide Major Pfyffer von Altishofen that he would command the 1st Battalion. In autumn 1745 he led this on the occasion of the third offensive of the Spanish-French alliance in support of the Bern, Bündner and Valais regiments in the fighting at Montecastello-Bassignana near Alessandria . In the summer of 1747, again under Colonel Keller, it was used in the valleys between Turin and Grenoble , where it supported the Valais, Bern, Zug and Appenzell regiments. The 2nd Battalion always remained in reserve in Sardinia or was deployed in the security service.

Deployment problems

The commanding zeal of the lieutenant colonel was met with resistance in the 1st battalion. Problems also caused the indebtedness of many officers, for whom the regiment had to vouch, and the inadequate qualification of some officers. The greatest difficulty, however, was desertion , since since Villefranche the gaps were filled with deserters apprehended in the country. As a result, the battalion could not be reliably deployed in a critical phase of the war. In the summer of 1745 the Minister of War had the lieutenant colonel called to Turin, where he expressed the king's displeasure. The lieutenant colonel promised to restore order. He asked Colonel Keller to exchange several officers and to hand over his regiment to him. The colonel, however, who was imprisoned in Lucerne at Buonas , his wife's castle, on his word of honor , was not ready to relinquish his regiment. Quarrels ensued, mostly about finances, because running regiments, battalions and companies was above all a business.

Advertising form for the Supreme Company of the Keller Regiment

recruitment

At Villefranche 248 officers and soldiers had been taken prisoner, 61 had died and 172 used the general confusion to desert, so that the battalion at the troop inspection of Asti had only 219 men. Aide-Major Pfyffer von Altishofen succeeded in recruiting 373 men, but only 49 of them came from the canton of Lucerne. The remainder were mostly Germans, Austrians and Dutch who had deserted from other regiments. They were used to save time, money, effort and training. But they seized every opportunity to flee again. Six months later, 258 men were missing again. This means that only 175 of the original 700 men had remained loyal to the 1st Battalion since Villefranche.

Return to Keller

In the spring of 1746, rank against rank Colonel Keller was able to return to Piedmont in an exchange of prisoners. He reorganized his regiment, had the lieutenant colonel present the accounts and sign promissory notes and sent him back to the 2nd battalion in Sardinia. Then Colonel Keller took part in the summer campaign of 1747 with Major Peyer in the courtyard.

The 2nd Battalion and the States in Sardinia

Lieutenant Colonel Anton Schumacher in councilor's regalia

In Sardinia officers and crew were housed with the civilian population. The lieutenant colonel's quarters were the house of a married lady, where the governor of Alghero previously went in and out. This led to the conflict, especially since the lieutenant colonel knew about his illegal activities. Neapolitan and Corsican fishermen were allowed to dive for corals , despite the ban off Sardinia . The proceeds went into the pockets of the city and provincial governors. The fishermen were privileged and could stock up on everything they needed. This was at the expense of the population, who were already suffering from food shortages due to billeting. This led to uprisings in Bosa and Sassari , which, contrary to the treaty, the 2nd Battalion was deployed to suppress. There were also murders by Sardinian gangs of members of the battalion, which the lieutenant colonel had to investigate.

Arrest of the commander

Lieutenant Colonel Schumacher, who lost 30 men from his company in the suppression of the uprisings, intervened and got caught up in the intrigues of the governors of Alghero and Castello Aragonese. They saw him as a danger to themselves and had him arrested in the summer of 1747 for dangerous activities and insubordination and piled up in Alghero and later in Cagliari. Aide-Major Bircher, who commanded the 2nd battalion and was not a friend of the lieutenant colonel, had the news spread throughout the kingdom, in all officers' corps and in Lucerne, and forbade any visits under penalty. Aide-Major Hecht and other officers did not comply and unsuccessfully demanded a Lucerne investigative commission with diplomatic status.

Dissolution of the regiment

After Lucerne's intervention, the viceroy took on the matter. He traveled to Sardinia and converted Schumacher's one and a half year imprisonment into house arrest. During the interrogation, he incriminated the governor of Alghero and other administrative officials and triggered a wave of arrests in large parts of Sardinia. Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion were again involved. Schumacher returned home, where he became governor and commander of the Landjäger and became governor. As such, he received a medal of honor made of local Emmen gold, awarded to members of the council. After the Peace of Aachen , the regiment was dismissed early for financial reasons, the colonel was promoted to brigadier and awarded the Order of St. Mauritius and Lazarus. Despite his long absence of 27 months as a prisoner of war, it was said: Le colonel Keller fit la campagne de 1743 et les cinq suivantes avec beaucoup de distinctions .

Prominent members of the Keller Regiment

List of Swiss regiments in Sardinia-Piedmont (18th century)

  • Valais Regiment de Kalbermatten: de Kalbermatten (1743–1762), formerly de Rietman (1732–1743), in between Sutter, later de Courten, von Streng and Belmont (until 1799).
  • Vaudois and Neuchâtel regiments: Audibert (1739–1762), formerly Demeyrol and Desportes (1703), in between de Budé, later by Sury and Peyer in the court (until 1798), Guibert (1733–1746), later Uttinger (1746–1753) , Fatio and Bachmann.
  • Bern Regiment: de Diesbach (1737–1744), formerly dulcimer (1709) and Roguin (1733–1737, 1744), then Roi (1744–1760), de Tscharner (1760–1786), de Rochemondet, Tschiffeli, Stettler and von Ernst (until 1799).
  • Bündner Regiment: Reydt (1700–1746), in between Donats (1734), then de Salis (1746–1750), von Sprecher and Schwarz, then Grison-Carignan, Niederer, de Sanz and Belfort (until 1800).
  • Lucerne Regiment: Keller (1742–1749), formerly on the Rhyn, later Zimmermann (1793–1798).
  • Appenzell battalion: Meyer (1744–1774), later Schmid (until 1797).
  • Hundred Swiss: Kyd (1740–1773), formerly on the Rhyn, later Schmid, from Yberg, from Sury, de Kalbermatten and Uttinger.
  • Other Swiss regiments that were in Piedmont at the beginning of the 18th century: d'Alt, Lombach, Frid, Schmid, de Reding and du Pasquier (1733–1737).

See also

literature

  • R. Schumacher: Lieutenant Colonel Anton Leonz Schumacher and the Lucerne Regiment Keller in royal Sardinian service 1742–1749 . Lucerne 1995.
  • MF Schafroth: Les troupes Suisses au service du Royaume de Sardaigne . Armi antiche 1968.
  • R. Petimermet: Quelques notes on the uniforms des Suisses au service du Royaume de Sardaigne . Armi antiche 1968.
  • Rahm und Mühlemann: Les drapeaux des régiments Suisses au service du roi de Sardegne . Armi antiche 1971.
  • A. u. B. Bruckner: Swiss flag book . St. Gallen 1942

swell

State and Lucerne family archive:

  • Schumacher-im Moos: PA 669, previously 925/19198 - 931/19364 or PA 41.
  • Schumacher, Anton: Appointment (PA 926/19221), trial (13 / 1475–1476).
  • Keller, Johann Martin: surrender (12 / 1402–1413), debts, advertising, company (13 / 1461–1466).
  • Keller, regiment: Battalion Pfyffer (PA 15/2), deserters (13/1428), advertising (13 / 1479–1481).

Remarks

  1. ↑ Johann Martin Keller from the ennobled Lucerne patrician family (actually Keller von Kellern ) was an uncle of Joseph Rudolf Valentin Meyer and the generals Charles Leodegar and Niklaus Franz von Bachmann . A married niece was the educator of the orphaned Josef Schumacher in Uttenberg
  2. ↑ An unknown flag is kept in the Historisches Museum Luzern, which according to Rahm / Mühlemann and Bruckner can be assigned to the Keller regiment. It is flamed red and gold, with the flames at the bar ends of the continuous white cross being bluish turquoise (originally probably blue or green). The upper left corner quarter shows the representation of St. Martin. The flag is framed with a thin white border. The annuntation, which is painted on the cross, was probably made later. Red and gold are the predominant colors in the coat of arms of both the Keller family and the Schumacher family (here also green and silver), and Martin was one of Colonel Keller's first names.
  3. ↑ At the fortified farm (la cassine) of a certain "Guillaume Thaon", where a plaque commemorates the fierce fighting (Chemin du Fort Thaon).
  4. ↑ For example the church musician Franz Leonti Meyer von Schauensee, who composed incessantly and gave concerts in the Piedmontese salons.
  5. ^ Theresia Schwytzer von Buonas
  6. ↑ Schumacher had to sign that he had no claims against Keller and that he would also be responsible for promissory notes that his secretary Joseph Rudolf Valentin Meyer had made if they came to light.
  7. ↑ Signora Marietta Obino-Tealdi whose husband did all the governor demanded.
  8. ↑ To this end, he met several times with the bandits Marcedu, Fais and Denotte, who were guaranteed safe conduct and for which he had previously obtained the viceroy's approval.
  9. ↑ Messrs. Subira and Caldora
  10. ^ Marchese Carretto di Santa Giulia
  11. ^ Beat Kaspar Uttinger from Zug, Brigadier General
  12. ↑ Colonel Walter am Rhyn (1570–1635), Colonel Joseph am Rhyn (1589–1645)
  13. ↑ Joseph am Rhyn († 1586), Walter am Rhyn (1570–1635), Jost am Rhyn (1592–1671), Ludwig am Rhyn (1593–1665)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. MF Schafroth, R. Schumacher