The Belgian Legion (french: Légion belge or ''Légion belgique'') was a military unit within the

French Revolutionary army The French Revolutionary Army (french: Armée révolutionnaire française) was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipmen ...

composed of volunteers from the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The pe ...

in modern-day

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. Its volunteers, predominantly Vonckists, were émigrés from the failed

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (french: Révolution brabançonne, nl, Brabantse Omwenteling), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed insurrection that occurred in the Aust ...

(1789–90) and among the 12,000 Belgians who served in the French Revolutionary armies. It was one of a number of separate Belgian "legions", the most important of which were the Belgian Legion, the

Liégeois Legion Liégeois is a French word that may refer to: *of or relating to Liège. *Walloon language *Café liégeois *Philippe Liégeois Philippe Liégeois (born 8 July 1947) is a Belgian comic book artist. He is best known by his pen name Turk. He is t ...

, and the Legion of Belgians and Liégeois. Formed in 1792, the Belgian Legion was initially commanded by Colonel Jacques Leunckens who had previously served during the Brabant Revolution as an aide to General Jean-André van der Mersch. It comprised two

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s. The first was commanded by Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau and served in

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

. The second battalion fought in the Siege of Lille in 1792. The future general,

Louis Lahure Louis Joseph Lahure (29 November 1767 – 24 October 1853) was a general in the service of the First French Republic and First French Empire. Biography Early life Louis Joseph Lahure was born on 29 November 1767 in Mons in the Austria ...

, is believed to have served with the Belgian Legion after being forced into exile in the aftermath of the

References

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See also

References

Further reading