The 1st Infantry Regiment "Los Patricios" (Regimiento de Infantería 1 "Los Patricios") is the oldest and one of the most prestigious regiments of the Argentine Army. The title is often shortened to the Patricians' Regiment (Regimiento de Patricios). Since the 1990s the regiment has been designated as air assault infantry. It is also the custodian of the Buenos Aires Cabildo, the welcoming party for visiting foreign dignitaries to Argentina and the escort, and honor guard battalion for the City Government of Buenos Aires. Since 22 September 2010, the Regiment's headquarters building has been a National Historical Monument following a declaration by the Argentine government on the occasion of the country's bicentennial year.
The regiment was formed as the Legión Patricia ("Patricians' Legion) from inhabitants of Buenos Aires in 1806 to fight against the British invasions of the Río de la Plata. Among some of its first members, it included a woman, the Alférez (approximately, second lieutenant) Manuela Pedraza, one of the heroes of the Defense of Buenos Aires in 1806. The regiment, therefore, existed prior to Argentine independence. Their first commander was Cornelio Saavedra. The regiment also fought in the May Revolution, the Cisplatine War, the Platine War, the Paraguayan War, the Dirty War, and the Falklands War.
Although the word "Patrician" is usually employed as a synonym for aristocrat, in the naming of the Regiment it meant "the sons of the homeland" (Spanish "Patria" meaning "homeland"). Indeed, the original members of the Regiment were not aristocrats but Criollos, who were much farther down in the social hierarchy of the time.
Prior to the arrival of British troops, Viceroy Santiago de Liniers decided that volunteers are drawn from the population of Buenos Aires muster at the Fort on 15 September 1806. More than 4,000 men appeared, who had to be enrolled in other military units.[1]
It was the largest and most powerful unit recruited for the Defense of Buenos Aires and, like other urban military units formed, was granted the privilege of electing its officers. The first election was held at the Consulate of Buenos Aires on November 8, 1806. Lieutenant Colonel Cornelio Saavedra was elected as head of the Corps or Legion and commander of the 1st Battalion, Esteban Romero was elected commander of the Second Battalion, and José Domingo Urien the Third Battalion commander. Manuel Belgrano was elected Sergeant Major (later replaced by Juan José Viamonte) and among other officers commissioned were Feliciano Chiclana, Vicente López y Planes, and Eustace Perdriel Gregorio Díaz Vélez.
St. Martin of Tours became the patron of the unit and on 9 November the regimental colors were consecrated with full ceremonial at the Cathedral of Buenos Aires along with that of the Arribeños Corps. The unit was then called the Buenos Aires Patrician Volunteer Urban Legion, with the status of a full Tercio or Colonial Regiment of Militia.
The Patricios Legion was made up of three battalions and the regimental HQ, with 23 companies of 50 men each (8 battalions I and III and seven in the II), with a total of 1,356 soldiers.
Regimental Command
The regiment was formed as the Legión Patricia ("Patricians' Legion) from inhabitants of Buenos Aires in 1806 to fight against the British invasions of the Río de la Plata. Among some of its first members, it included a woman, the Alférez (approximately, second lieutenant) Manuela Pedraza, one of the heroes of the Defense of Buenos Aires in 1806. The regiment, therefore, existed prior to Argentine independence. Their first commander was Cornelio Saavedra. The regiment also fought in the May Revolution, the Cisplatine War, the Platine War, the Paraguayan War, the Dirty War, and the Falklands War.
Although the word "Patrician" is usually employed as a synonym for aristocrat, in the naming of the Regiment it meant "the sons of the homeland" (Spanish "Patria" meaning "homeland"). Indeed, the original members of the Regiment were not aristocrats but Criollos, who were much farther down in the social hierarchy of the time.
Prior to the arrival of British troops, Viceroy Santiago de Liniers decided that volunteers are drawn from the population of Buenos Aires muster at the Fort on 15 September 1806. More than 4,000 men appeared, who had to be enrolled in other military units.[1]
It was the largest and most powerful unit recruited for the Defense of Buenos Aires and, like other urban military units formed, was granted the privilege of electing its officers. The first election was held at the Consulate of Buenos Aires on November 8, 1806. Lieutenant Colonel Cornelio Saavedra was elected as head of the Corps or Legion and commander of the 1st Battalion, Esteban Romero was elected commander of the Second Battalion, and José Domingo Urien the Third Battalion commander. Manuel Belgrano was elected Sergeant Major (later replaced by Juan José Viamonte) and among other officers commissioned were Feliciano Chiclana, Vicente López y Planes, and Eustace Perdriel Gregorio Díaz Vélez.
St. Martin of Tours became the patron of the unit and on 9 November the regimental colors were consecrated with full ceremonial at the Cathedral of Buenos Aires along with that of the Arribeños Corps. The unit was then called the Buenos Aires Patrician Volunteer Urban Legion, with the status of a full Tercio or Colonial Regiment of Militia.
The Patricios Legion was made up of three battalions and the regimental HQ, with 23 companies of 50 men each (8 battalions I and III and seven in the II), with a total of 1,356 soldiers.
Regimental Command
Battalion Composition
In all: 69 Officers, 70 Sergeants, 20 Drummers, 179 Corporals, and 1,059 enlisted soldiers, for a total of 1,395 Patrician Legionnaires.
During the second British invasion of the Rio de la Plata Saavedra was deployed to Colonia del Sacramento with a contingent, but after the British captured Montevideo he returned to Buenos Aires in February 1807.
On 7 June 1807, during the battle of San Pedro in the Banda Oriental, the Spanish forces from Buenos Aires led by Francisco Javier Elio, including several companies of the Patricians Legion, were preparing to storm Colonia del Sacramento. The British, under Lt. Col. Denis Pack, attacked and defeated them.
The whole unit had its baptism of fire on 4 July 1807 when the British attacked Buenos Aires. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Patricios Legion were located in the Division of Right (red flag), while the 3rd Battalion was in the Reserve Division (Tricolor). The Legion, together with the other urban military battalions deployed, won that battle.
Shortly after its successful baptism of fire of 1807, Saavedra and the patricians made an important new service to the public.
On January 1, 1809, the Cabildo of Buenos Aires, with support from the Spanish military units, tried to replace the viceroy Liniers with a Government Junta headed by Martin de Álzaga and create the "American Spain", before the occupation of Europe by the advancing Napoleonic armies. This was known as the Mutiny of Álzaga. Cornelio Saavedra, with the legion under his command and the native personnel from the other battalions of militias m
It was the largest and most powerful unit recruited for the Defense of Buenos Aires and, like other urban military units formed, was granted the privilege of electing its officers. The first election was held at the Consulate of Buenos Aires on November 8, 1806. Lieutenant Colonel Cornelio Saavedra was elected as head of the Corps or Legion and commander of the 1st Battalion, Esteban Romero was elected commander of the Second Battalion, and José Domingo Urien the Third Battalion commander. Manuel Belgrano was elected Sergeant Major (later replaced by Juan José Viamonte) and among other officers commissioned were Feliciano Chiclana, Vicente López y Planes, and Eustace Perdriel Gregorio Díaz Vélez.
St. Martin of Tours became the patron of the unit and on 9 November the regimental colors were consecrated with full ceremonial at the Cathedral of Buenos Aires along with that of the Arribeños Corps. The unit was then called the Buenos Aires Patrician Volunteer Urban Legion, with the status of a full Tercio or Colonial Regiment of Militia.
The Patricios Legion was made up of three battalions and the regimental HQ, with 23 companies of 50 men each (8 battalions I and III and seven in the II), with a total of 1,356 soldiers.
Regimental Command
Battalion Composition
In all: 69 Officers, 70 Sergeants, 20 Drummers, 179 Corporals, and 1,059 enlisted soldiers, for a total of 1,395 Patrician Legionnaires.
On December 6, 1811 a mutiny led
On December 6, 1811 a mutiny led by a squad of the Patricians Regiment mutinied against their new commander, for the preservation of the regiment's privileges, now removed by the First Triumvirate. It ended in failure, and the mutinied squad was executed on December 11 the same year, on Bernardino Rivadavia's orders.
The Tambor de Tacuari (Tacuari Drummer) Band of the Regiment of Patricians, established together with the Regiment in 1806, is the military band that serves as the regiment's musical support service, acting as one of Argentina's most celebrated military bands. It's the only band in the nation to have a child musician (in occasions) serving among its ranks as a snare drummer, in memory of the young 12-year-old drummer Pedrito Rios from Concepcion del Uruguay, who died in action at the Battle of Tacuari in 1811[3], in which the band lends its name.[4][5] The band today is led by its Director of Music, Captain Diego Cejas.
Composed by Campos Pinto and Otantino Ambrosi, this is the official regimental march of the Patricios Regiment, played by the Tacuari Drummer Regimental Band.[6]
(Es) El Uno Grande entre los grandes,
Certinela firme siempre alerta,
forjado en el yunque de los Andes
en la horas de la Patria incierta.
Es Patricios en grito de guerra
que en Mayo la Patria escuchó
son la huestes del bravo Saavedra:
Buenos Aires Heroicos los vio. (repeat verse
The modern regiment is organized as the 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment "Patricians", a single battalion infantry regiment as in the other units of the infantry (either line or light infantry) within the whole Army, with five combat companies (which also serve as ceremonial companies), a special forces company, the regimental band, and a services company. Its structure is as follows:[2]
The Tambor de Tacuari (Tacuari Drummer) Band of the Regiment of Patricians, established together with the Regiment in 1806, is the military band that serves as the regiment's musical support service, acting as one of Argentina's most celebrated military bands. It's the only band in the nation to have a child musician (in occasions) serving among its ranks as a snare drummer, in memory of the young 12-year-old drummer Pedrito Rios from Concepcion del Uruguay, who died in action at the Battle of Tacuari in 1811[3], in which the band lends its name.[4][5] The band today is led by its Director of Music, Captain Diego Cejas.
Composed by Campos Pinto and Otantino Ambrosi, this is the official regimental march of the Patricios Regiment, played by the Tacuari Drummer Regimental Band.[6]
(Es) El Uno Grande entre los grandes,
Certinela firme siempre alerta,
forjado en el yunque de los Andes
en la horas de la Patria incierta.
Es Patricios en grito de gue
(Es) El Uno Grande entre los grandes,
Certinela firme siempre alerta,
forjado en el yunque de los Andes
en la horas de la Patria incierta.
Es Patricios en grito de guerra
que en Mayo la Patria escuchó
son la huestes del bravo Saavedra:
Buenos Aires Heroicos los vio. (repeat verse 1, then instrumental trio)
Vibren los sonoros clarines, con bravas notas de guerra
Llegando hasta los confines del monte, el llano y la sierra
Y si un día l
Es Patricios en grito de guerra
que en Mayo la Patria escuchó
son la huestes del bravo Saavedra:
Buenos Aires Heroicos los vio. (repeat verse 1, then instrumental trio)
Vibren los sonoros clarines, con bravas notas de guerra
Llegando hasta los confines del monte, el llano y la sierra
Y si un día la voz de la Patria a la lucha llamara,
Recordemos entonces a aquellos ilustres varones
que en Curupaytí, Salta y Tucumán, abatieron pendones en homérica lid. (optional repeat)
(Here is) The Great One of all the greats
Sentinels on attention, always alert,
Formed from the lowlands of the Andes
In the crucial hours of the Fatherland.
It's Patricians, the war cry
That in May, the Fatherland heard
It's the armies of brave Saavedra,
Buenos Aires heroic saw them.(repeat verse 1, then instrumental trio)
The loud bugles vibrate, with brave war notes
Reaching the confines of the hills, pl
It's Patricians, the war cry
That in May, the Fatherland heard
It's the armies of brave Saavedra,
Buenos Aires heroic saw them.(repeat verse 1, then instrumental trio)
The loud bugles vibrate, with brave war notes
Reaching the confines of the hills, plains and mountains
And if one day the voice of the Fatherland calls us to battle,
Let us remember then those illustrious men
That in Curupaytí, Salta and Tucumán, captured the colours like in Homer's days. (optional repeat)