Regiment of Hibernia
Encyclopedia
Flight of the Earls
The Flight of the Earls took place on 14 September 1607, when Hugh Ó Neill of Tír Eóghain, Rory Ó Donnell of Tír Chonaill and about ninety followers left Ireland for mainland Europe.-Background to the exile:...
and the penal laws and who became known as the Wild Geese
Flight of the Wild Geese
The Flight of the Wild Geese refers to the departure of an Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on October 3, 1691, following the end of the Williamite War in Ireland...
a name which has become synonymous in modern times for Irish soldiers throughout the world.
Although the Wild Geese are more associated with the French Army and are indeed seen as the precursors of the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
the regiment the Regiment of Hibernia served with the Spanish Army, one of many Irish regiments to do so.
Due to the number of wars Spain was involved in during the early 18th century the country could not provide itself with enough soldiers for its own campaigns. This was also exacerbated by the severe loss of manpower as a result of a plague epidemic. Diplomatic approaches were made to a number of countries with requests for the recruitment of mercenaries to fight for Spain.
Germans, Italians and Walloons were recruited but the Spanish were particularly keen to engage Irishmen because of their reputation as soldiers. The Confederation of Kilkenny established licences for the recruitment of Irishmen to fight with the King of Spain.
One remarkable facet of so many Irishmen fighting for opposing nations in Europe was that they occasionally faced each other as enemies on foreign battlefields.
The Hibernia Regiment found itself in this position at the siege of Badajoz, in 1811, when they faced the Irish Legion
Irish Legion
The Irish Legion was a French battalion established in 1803 for a future invasion of Ireland. It was later expanded to a Regiment and won distinction in the Walcheren Expedition and the Peninsular War...
under the command of the French.
Campaigns and battles
- Battle of Zaragoza (1710)
- Battle of BrihuegaBattle of BrihuegaThe Battle of Brihuega took place on 8 December 1710 in the War of the Spanish Succession, during the allied retreat from Madrid to Barcelona...
- Battle of VillaviciosaBattle of VillaviciosaThe Battle of Villaviciosa took place on December 10, 1710, between the Franco-Spanish army led by Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme and Philip V of Spain and the Habsburg-Allied army commanded by the Austrian Guido Starhemberg during the War of the Spanish Succession, one day after the decisive...
- Siege of BarcelonaSiege of BarcelonaThe Siege of Barcelona was a battle at the end of the War of Spanish Succession , which pitted Archduke Charles of Austria The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at the end of the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), which pitted Archduke Charles of Austria The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at...
(1714) - Siege of GibraltarSiege of GibraltarThe Siege of Gibraltar can refer to several historical events:* Siege of Gibraltar – first siege of Gibraltar, by Juan Alfonso de Guzman el Bueno in the Reconquista...
- CeutaCeutaCeuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
(1720–1721) - BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
(1777) - JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
(1780) - Battle of PensacolaBattle of Pensacola (1781)The Siege of Pensacola was fought in 1781, the culmination of Spain's conquest of the British province West Florida during the American War of Independence.-Background:...
(1781)
Notables
- General Don Alejandro "Bloody" O'ReillyAlejandro O'ReillyAlejandro O'Reilly , was a military reformer and Inspector-General of Infantry for the Spanish Empire in the second half of the 18th century...
- The Marquess of LedeJean François de Bette, Marquis of LedeJean François de Bette, 3rd Marquis of Lede was a Belgian military commander in Spanish service. He was also lord of the Fiefdom of Lede in Flanders.-Biography:...
- Arturo O'Neill