The Armée des émigrés (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Army of the Émigrés'') were

counter-revolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revolut ...

armies raised outside France by and out of

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...

s, with the aim of overthrowing the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, reconquering France and restoring the monarchy. These were aided by royalist armies within France itself, such as the

Chouan Chouan ("the silent one", or "owl") is a French nickname. It was used as a nom de guerre by the Chouan brothers, most notably Jean Cottereau, better known as Jean Chouan, who led a major revolt in Bas-Maine against the French Revolution. Par ...

s, and by allied countries such as

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. They fought, for example, at the sieges of Lyon and

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. They were formed from: *noblemen volunteers, either descendants of the ancient royal family or not, who had fled France *troops raised by these nobles through subsidies from other European monarchies, or through their own means *units of the French army which had also emigrated, such as the Régiment de Saxe Hussards Even Napoleon I said of them "True, they are paid by our enemies, but they were or should have been bound to the cause of their King. France gave death to their action, and tears to their courage. All devotion is heroic". 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul, decreed a general amnesty for all but around a thousand of the ''Émigrés'', with the exception of commanders and those who held ranks in armies hostile to the French Republic.

Main units

Armée de Condé

* Régiment de Mortemart

Armée des Princes

Raised in Germany in 1792, at

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, and commanded by marshals de Broglie and de Castries, under the aegis of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

's brothers, the

comte de Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

and duc d'Artois. 10,000 strong, it returned to France beside the army of Brunswick and was dismissed on 24 November 1792, two months after the French victory at Valmy.

Armée de Bourbon

Other units

Légion des Pyrénées

* Creation: 1794 * Also known as: Légion royale des Pyrénées in May * Founder: Marquis de Saint-Simon * Commander: Marquis de Saint-Simon * Size: 600 infantrymen and a squadron of hussars * Theatre of operations: Pyrénées-Atlantiques * Engagements: Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry (26 April 1794), heavy losses (17 prisoners guillotined); montagnes d’Arquinzun (10 July), heavy losses (30 to 50% of its effective strength); Port-Bidassoa (24 July), heavy losses covering the Spanish retreat (50 captured); Siege of Pamplona (November). * Operated within the Spanish army of Navarre * Sent to the front in 1795, then integrated into the Régiment de Bourbon

Légion de Panetier

* Creation: 1793 * Also known as: Légion de la Reine (''d'Espagne'') in June 1794 * Founder: Comte de Panetier (died January 1794) * Commander: Comte de Panetier, then Général de Santa-Clara * Size: 400; brought up to strength in June 1794 by the companies du Royal-Provence escaping from the

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by Republican forces against Royalist rebels supported by Anglo-S ...

and the companies du Royal Roussillon * Theatre of operations: Pyrénées-Orientales * Engagements: Defence of

Port-Vendres Port-Vendres (; ca, Portvendres) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, southwestern France. A typical Mediterranean fishing port, situated near the Spanish border on the Côte Vermeille in southwestern France, Port-Vendres is re ...

(May 1794), evacuated by sea (to avoid being captured and guillotined); Zamora 5 January 1796 * Operating within the Spanish army * Amalgamated into the Régiment de Bourbon

Légion du Vallespir

* Creation: 1793 * Also known as: Bataillon de la frontière circa May 1793 * Founder: Spanish general Ricardos, Spanish soldiers under Émigré officers * Commander: * Size: * Theatre of operations: Defence of Vallespir, then defending Roussillon * Engagements: * Operating within the Spanish army * Several desertions to the légion de Panetier - Amalgamated into the Régiment de Bourbon

Royal Roussillon

* Creation: January 1794 at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

from émigrés, prisoners and deserters * Also known as: * Founder: Général Ricardos * Commander: * Size: 200 in June of 1794 (of which 129 were massacred by a mob since they were amusing themselves in their barracks on a procession day) * Theatre of operations: * Engagements: None * Subsumed into the Légion de Panetier (becoming the Légion de la Reine at that moment)

Régiment de Bourbon

* Creation: 1796 from the Légion de la Reine (ex-Légion de Panetier), the Bataillon de la frontière, and the Légion royale des Pyrénées * Also known as: Integrated into the Spanish army as number 47, then 37 * Founder: Marquis de Saint-Simon * Commander : Marquis de Saint-Simon * Size: 1600 (1808) * Theatre of operations: garrisoning

Ciudad Rodrigo Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district. The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right ban ...

(1797) then Mallorca * Engagements: Siege of Girona (fell 9 December 1808, 300 captured); Rozas (1808) * Operating within the Spanish army * Still in existence in 1814; formed of foreign soldiers and Gardes Wallonnes, under number 41, then in 1860 became Spain's "53rd infantry regiment", known as ''El Emigrado''.

Notes

External links

Les forces armées de l'émigration française pendant la Révolution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armee des Emigres