Louis de Roll (19 September 1750 – 1813) was a

Swiss mercenary The Swiss mercenaries (german: Reisläufer) were a powerful infantry force constituted by professional soldiers originating from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among ...

active during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Swiss Guards

Louis de Roll was born on 19 September 1750 and was from

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...

in the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy (German language, Modern German: ; historically , after the Swiss Reformation, Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ...

. He was in the service of the King

Louis XVI of France 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 e ...

, as an officer in the

Swiss Guards Swiss Guards (french: Gardes Suisses; german: Schweizergarde; it, Guardie Svizzere'')'' are Swiss soldiers who have served as guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. The earliest Swiss guard unit to be established on a p ...

of his

Maison Militaire du Roi The Maison du Roi (, "King's Household") was the royal household of the King of France. It comprised the military, domestic, and religious entourage of the French royal family during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration. Organisation ...

(Royal Military Household). De Roll held the rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

and was

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

to the future

Charles X of France Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Lou ...

(then the Count of Artois), the younger brother of the king who served as colonel of the Swiss Guards. Following the start of 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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

de Roll left France with Charles to join the

Army of Condé The Army of Condé (french: Armée de Condé) was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had been formed by the Comte d ...

, he thus avoided the massacre of his regiment in the Defence of the Tuileries by Republican forces on 10 August 1792. De Roll fought alongside Charles and the Army of Condé in the campaigns of 1792 and 1793 of the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...

and was promoted to colonel.

British Army

In 1794 de Roll was asked by the British government to form a regiment of Swiss soldiers for service in the British Army. De Roll was appointed colonel of the regiment which he raised in Switzerland on 9 December 1794. The regiment was formed of two battalions each of ten companies (including

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word '' grenade'') was originally a specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited fr ...

and light companies) and had an authorised strength of 1,698 men. De Roll had requested that the British Army release all Swiss prisoners of war to him for incorporation into the regiment but this was not authorised and instead he recruited most of the men by traditional means in Switzerland, Alsace and Germany. The regiment fought with distinction at the Battle of Alexandria on 21 March 1801. It served in the Ionian Islands, Sicily, Corsica, Portugal, Gibraltar and in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Roll, Louis 1750 births 1813 deaths British Army officers British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British Army personnel of the Peninsular War Swiss mercenaries