Swiss troops in Portuguese service

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Coat of arms of King Joseph I from the House of Braganza
Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe

The deployment of the two Swiss troops in Portuguese service in the Seven Years' War from 1762–1763 ended ingloriously. Both commanders ended up before the judge: one for embezzlement , the other for desertion .

Swiss troops in foreign service was the name ofthe paid service of commanded, whole troop bodies abroad,regulatedby the authorities of the Confederation byinternational treaties . These treaties contained a chapter that regulated military affairs: the so-called surrender or private surrender when one of the contracting parties was a private military contractor.

Overview of Swiss troops in Portuguese service

lili rere
Joseph I.
Marquês de Pombal
The House of Braganza
Kings of Portugal and Algarve 1640–1853
Emperor of Brazil 1822–1889
# designation year
Joseph I
King of Portugal and Algarve 1750–1777
1 (1) Thormann battalion 1762-1763
2 (2) Saussure Battalion 1762-1763

The Spanish attempted invasion of Portugal in 1762

Under the House of Braganza , the Kingdom of Portugal came more and more under the influence of Great Britain . In the Seven Years' War 1756–1763, in which it was able to remain neutral for a long time, it came into opposition to the Spanish and French Bourbons .

King Joseph I had other interests than the business of government and left these largely to the Prime Minister Marquês de Pombal .

During the Spanish-French attack on Portugal in 1762, he commissioned Count Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe to lead the Portuguese-British troops. Schaumburg-Lippe managed to avert the Spanish invasion of Portugal with extraordinary strategic skill, despite the numerical inferiority of his armed forces.

There were also two Swiss battalions among his troops, but they were then dismissed under inglorious circumstances.

Name,
duration of use		 (1) Thormann battalion 1762–1763
Year,
contractual partner		 1762, decree of Marquês de Pombal approving the private surrender concluded by Wilhelm von Schaumburg-Lippe with the battalion commanders for two battalions with Swiss mercenaries.
Stock,
formation		 1 battalion of 809 men with 4 companies from Swiss and 4 companies with German and Hungarian mercenaries, the battalion staff each consists of a colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, quartermaster, auditor, grand prevost, adjutant, chaplain, surgeon major and drum major. A lieutenant commander, a lieutenant, a sub-lieutenant, an ensign, four field women, a fourier each, a standard bearer, a secretary, six sergeants, six corporals, four drummers and a piper served as company cadres.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1762, Colonel Gabriel Thormann from Bern.
Origin squad,
troop		 k. A.
Use,
events		 The battalion, together with the other Swiss troops, formed the Reais Suiços regiment (German: Regiment Königliche Schweizer) in the Portuguese-British army of Schaumburg-Lippe in its successful defense against the Spanish invasion of Portugal.

Thormann was sentenced to death on a rope for suppressing and blackmailing officers and soldiers as well as embezzling payments for wages and equipment. After they were returned, he was pardoned and later deserted . Due to this and other lack of discipline by the troops, the battalion was dismissed in 1763 by decree of de Pombal.

Gabriel Thormann died in Bern in 1779 with a damaged reputation.

Name,
duration of use		 (2) Saussure Battalion 1762–1763
Year,
contractual partner		 1762, decree of Marquês de Pombal approving the private surrender concluded by Wilhelm von Schaumburg-Lippe with the battalion commanders for two battalions with Swiss mercenaries.
Stock,
formation		 1 battalion of 809 men with 4 companies from Swiss and 4 companies with German and Hungarian mercenaries, the battalion staff each consists of a colonel, lieutenant colonel, major, quartermaster, auditor, grand prevost, adjutant, chaplain, surgeon major and drum major. A lieutenant commander, a lieutenant, a sub-lieutenant, an ensign, four field women, a fourier each, a standard bearer, a secretary, six sergeants, six corporals, four drummers and a piper served as company cadres.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1762, Colonel Marcus Saussure.
Origin squad,
troop		 k. A.
Use,
events		 The battalion, together with the other Swiss troops, formed the Reais Suiços regiment (German: Regiment Königliche Schweizer) in the Portuguese-British army of Schaumburg-Lippe in its successful defense against the Spanish invasion of Portugal.

Saussure was sentenced to death by hanging by a court martial for desertion . Due to this and other lack of discipline by the troops, the battalion was dismissed in 1763 by decree of de Pombal.

The decree for the dissolution of the two Swiss troops also contained the order to Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe to raise a new regiment Reais Extrangeiros (German: Regiment Königliche Fremds ), consisting of eight companies with 90 men of German mercenaries plus cadre. It was disbanded in 1765 when its commanding officer, Colonel Luiz Henrique Graveson, was sentenced to death on a rope by a court martial but was then fusiled by a peloton in Campo de Ourique in 1766 .

The Seven Years' War ended with the Peace of Paris in 1763 , which consolidated Great Britain's global supremacy.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c José Maria Latino Coelho (see web links): Historia Militar e politica de Portugal desde os fins do XVII seculo até 1814 , Imprensa Nacional, Lisboa 1891, Tomo III, p.65/66
  2. ↑ a b c Swiss Guard (English) Article Wikipedia viewed 23 September 2017.
  3. ↑ a b c d Portuguese edition (with preface) by: Voyage de Monsieur. Cesar de Saussure en Portugal. Lettres de Lisbonne . Publisher Vicomte António de Portugal de Faria Faria, Milan, 1909:

    " Gabriel Thorman foi um dos dois signatarios da convencao, de 12 de Junho de 1762, para o levantamento de dois batalhoes de tropas suiços para o servico de Portugal, aprovado por decreto de 27 do mesmo mes e ano. Por este decreto foi promovido a coronel de um daqueles batalhoes. O decreto de 30 de Setembro de 1762, reproduzido no texto, confirmou-Ihe esta patente por haver satisfeito as condicoes a que se tinha obrigado, organizando um Regimento de Suicos. Em virtude dos crimes que praticou e que vem enumerados no decreto de 22 de Junho, que extinguiu os referidos, foi condenado a morte na forca, em Conselho de Guerra. Livrou-se deste castigo, desertando em data que desconhecemos. Marcus Saussure foi um dos dois signatarios da convencao, de 12 de Junho de 1762, para o levantamento de dois batalhoes de tropas suicas para o servico de portugal, aprovada por decreto de 27 do mesmo mes e ano. Por este decreto foi promovido a coronel de um daqueles batalhoes. Em virtuade dos crimes que praticou e que vem enumerados no decreto de 22 de Junho de 1763, que extinguiu os referidos batalhoes, foi condenado em conselho de Guerra. Parece ter morrido neste ano, em data que desconhecemos . "

  4. ↑ a b c Royal Swiss Infantry (English) Article Kronoskaf viewed on September 25, 2017.
  5. ↑ Hans Braun: Thormann. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  6. ↑ a b Order of battle of the Anglo-Portuguese army in the summer of 1762 (English) Article Kronoskaf viewed on September 25, 2017.
  7. ↑ Stories written by life Entry Gabriel Thormann viewed on September 22, 2017:

    " Gabriel Thormann (1722–1779), lieutenant colonel in Portuguese service, son of Johannes, he deserted with the regimental treasury, came to Bern and died here as a generally despised man ."

  8. ↑ Martine Piguet: Saussure, de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .