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 equipment ...

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 p ...

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 th ...

. Its volunteers, predominantly

Vonckists The Vonckists ( nl, Vonckisten) were a political faction during the Brabant Revolution led by Jan Frans Vonck, opposed to the more conservative " Statists". History The group emerged from the secret society ''Pro aris et focis'' in the 1780s, and ...

, 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 Austr ...

(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, and the

Legion of Belgians and Liégeois The Legion of Belgians and Liégeois (french: Légion des Belges et Liégeois) was a military unit within the French Revolutionary army composed of volunteers from the Austrian Netherlands and Prince-Bishopric of Liège in modern-day Belgium. Its vo ...

. 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 Jean-André is a French masculine given name. It may refer to: * Jean-André Cuoq (1821–1898), French philologist * Jean-André Deluc (1727–1817), Swiss geologist and meteorologist * Jean-André Mongez (1750–1788), French priest and mineral ...

. 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 Count Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau de Bergendal (7 November 1760 – 29 December 1821) was a general from the Southern Netherlands, in the service of France and the Netherlands. Life At first destined for a career as an architect (for which he showed ...

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, spe ...

. The second battalion fought in the Siege of Lille in 1792. The future general, Louis Lahure, is believed to have served with the Belgian Legion after being forced into exile in the aftermath of the

References

;Footnotes ;Citations *

See also

References

Further reading