Lord Grand Prior's Regiment

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox military unit | unit_name = Lord Grand Prior's Regiment | image = | caption = | dates = 1689–1698; 1698–1715 (in [[French Royal Army]]) | country = {{flagicon image|Royal Standard of England (1603–1689).svg}} [[Jacobitism|Jacobites]]; {{flagcountry|Kingdom of France}} | branch = | type = | role = [[Line infantry]] | size = (1690) 13 companies; 802 men | command_structure = | garrison = | equipment =  | current_commander = | ceremonial_chief = | colonel_of_the_regiment = [[Henry FitzJames|Henry Fitzjames]] | notable_commanders = [[Robert Ramsay (Jacobite)|Robert Ramsay]]; [[Mark Talbot]]; [[Daniel O'Donnell (Irish Brigade)|Daniel O'Donnell]] | identification_symbol = | identification_symbol_2 =  | nickname = | patron = | motto = | colors = | march = | mascot = | battles = '''[[Williamite War in Ireland]]''' [[Battle of the Boyne|The Boyne]]; [[Siege of Athlone|Athlone]]; [[Battle of Aughrim|Aughrim]]; '''[[Nine Years' War]]''' '''[[War of the Spanish Succession]]''' [[Battle of Luzzara|Luzzara]]; [[Battle of Malplaquet|Malplaquet]]; [[Battle of Oudenarde|Oudenarde]] | anniversaries = | decorations = | battle_honours = }}

The '''Lord Grand Prior's Regiment''', also known as '''Fitzjames' Regiment''' and as the '''Regiment of the Marine''' (''Régiment de la Marine d'Angleterre''), was an infantry regiment originally raised in [[Ireland]] to fight for the deposed monarch [[James II of England|James II]] during his [[Williamite War in Ireland|war]] against his successor, [[William III of England|William of Orange]]. While technically classed as a regiment of [[marines]] for much of its existence, as James possessed no navy it generally fought as conventional infantry. Its [[Colonel-in-chief|colonel]] was James's illegitimate son [[Henry FitzJames|Henry Fitzjames]], Grand Prior of the [[Knights of Malta]], although in practice field command was delegated to an experienced lieutenant-colonel.

Following [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] defeat in Ireland the regiment was reformed in France, seeing heavy fighting on the Continent as part of the [[Irish Brigade (France)|Irish Brigade]]. In 1703 Nicholas Fitzgerald became colonel, and the regiment was designated the ''Régiment de Fitzgerald''; it finally became the ''Régiment d'Odonnell'' under [[Daniel O'Donnell (Irish Brigade)|Daniel O'Donnell]], before disbandment in 1715.

==History==

===Williamite War in Ireland===

The Grand Prior's Regiment had its origin in the huge expansion of the [[Irish Army (1661–1801)|Irish Army]] authorised by the Lord Deputy, the [[Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell|Earl of Tyrconnell]], in the months following the deposition of James in the [[Glorious Revolution]]. In January 1689 warrants were issued for the recruitment of 40,000 levies, organised along standard regimental lines and almost entirely Catholic.{{sfn|Hayes-McCoy|1942|p=6}} By spring 1689, the army theoretically had around 36,000 men, although experienced officers remained in short supply.{{sfn|Bartlett|Jeffery|1997|pp=189–190}}

The regiment is usually stated to have been raised in Ireland in early 1689,{{sfn|O'Callaghan|1870|p=105}} though one of its officers noted it was "one of the oldest in [Ireland], giving their precedence only to the [[Royal Irish Regiment of Foot Guards|Guards]]", raised in 1662.{{sfn|Stevens|p=164|ps=; This suggests it may originally have been one of the six regiments raised for the Irish Army in the 1670s, possibly Col. Thomas Fairfax's Regiment}} During the Williamite War it was initially commanded by a Scot, Brigadier [[Robert Ramsay (Jacobite)|Robert Ramsay]], and served at [[Siege of Derry|Derry]], where Ramsay was killed in early May leading an attack on Windmill Hill.{{sfn|Hayes-McCoy|1979|p=65}}

While most of the Irish Jacobite regiments were poorly documented, the movements of the Grand Prior's are known in some detail thanks to the diary of [[John Stevens (translator)|John Stevens]], an English Catholic who fled to France after James's deposition. He was later sent to Ireland and in August 1689 was introduced to Fitzjames by Ignatius Usher, a captain in the Grand Prior's, which had returned from Derry and was now under Fitzjames' command.{{sfn|Stevens|p=59}} Fitzjames "immediately gave me the promise of a lieutenancy in his regiment, and a few days after delivered me the commission"; Stevens shortly afterwards joined the regiment at [[Drogheda]].{{sfn|Stevens|p=59}}

At the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in July 1690, Stevens recorded that the appearance of the routed Jacobite cavalry caused the Grand Prior's to "[take] to their heels [...] I wondered what madness possessed our men to run so violently nobody pursuing them".{{sfn|Stevens|p=122}} The regiment gradually reassembled at Limerick; Stevens noted that without having even made contact with the enemy it had been reduced from 800 to 300 men, of whom only half had weapons, and its officers' baggage had been plundered twice by members of their own army.{{sfn|Childs|2007|p=238}} The Jacobites were nevertheless able to stabilise the situation and in September 1690 the regiment was particularly commended for its role in the successful Jacobite [[Siege of Limerick (1690)|defence of Limerick]], quartering in the town during the winter.{{sfn|Stevens|p=191}}

In May 1691, Fitzjames having left for France, the regiment was temporarily placed in the command of Brigadier [[Mark Talbot]], Tyrconnell's illegitimate son.{{sfn|Stevens|p=198}} It was subsequently present at the 2nd [[Siege of Athlone]], and fought in the heavy Jacobite defeat at [[Battle of Aughrim|Aughrim]] on 12 July.{{sfn|Hayes-McCoy|1942|p=16}} Following Aughrim, the remnants of the army retreated to Limerick; under the terms of the subsequent [[Treaty of Limerick]], which gave Jacobite soldiers the choice of disbanding, entering French service, or joining [[William III of England|William]]'s army, 249 men of the regiment chose to leave for France. By 1 November the last Irish troops left Limerick for Cork, where transports would take them to France; it was estimated that 5,650 of the Irish had embarked, a large number having deserted ''en route'' to Cork.{{sfn|Childs|2007|p=392}}

===In France===

The Jacobite army was in an extremely poor state on arrival in France and was completely reorganised on terms largely dictated by the French, despite James's attempts to preserve its autonomy.{{sfn|Rowlands|2001|pp=5-6}} Fitzjames' regiment was, however, reconstituted, although it is unclear how many of its personnel had served with it in Ireland other than some of its officers.{{sfn|MacSwiney|1930|pp=85-86}} Nicholas Fitzgerald, who had served with the regiment since its formation, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel.{{sfn|MacSwiney|1930|pp=85-86}} Following its reorganisation, the regiment saw "a good deal of fighting" on the Continent during the [[Nine Years' War]], notably on campaign in Germany.{{sfn|MacSwiney|1930|pp=87}}

Under the terms of the 1697 [[Peace of Ryswick]] which concluded the war, the Grand Prior's was one of the few regiments to survive the disbandment of most of James's army in exile. Incorporated into the French Army's [[Irish Brigade (France)|Irish Brigade]], it was renamed the Regiment of [[Duke of Albemarle|Albemarle]] after another of Fitzjames' titles, and personnel from the disbanded Regiment of Dublin were incorporated in it.{{sfn|MacSwiney|1930|pp=87}}

[[File:Batalla de Luzzara.jpg|thumb|right|Luzzara, 1702; the regiment, marked "Albemarle", is shown towards the right of the French lines]]

In 1702, during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], the regiment was commended for its role at [[Battle of Luzzara|Luzzara]], where it took extremely heavy casualties including many officers.{{sfn|MacSwiney|1930|pp=88-90}} Fitzjames died in December 1702 and the following year Fitzgerald was commissioned colonel, the regiment becoming the ''Regiment de Fitzgerald'' in line with usual French practice.{{sfn|MacSwiney|1930|p=88}}

Fitzgerald was wounded and taken prisoner at [[Battle of Oudenarde|Oudenarde]] in 1708, dying a few weeks later at [[Ghent]]. He was succeeded as colonel by [[Daniel O'Donnell (Irish Brigade)|Daniel O'Donnell]], who had served with the regiment since 1692.{{sfn|O'Callaghan|1870|p=108}} Under O'Donnell the regiment participated in several of the war's major battles, including [[Battle of Malplaquet|Malplaquet]]. It was eventually disbanded in 1715, with its remaining men being incorporated in the Irish Brigade regiments of Lee and O'Brien.{{sfn|O'Callaghan|1870|p=114}}

==Equipment and colours==

Stevens recorded that while in Ireland the regiment were "clothed in red lined white, all but the drums, who are blue".{{sfn|Stevens|p=256}} He described the colours as bearing "a flaming city, and this motto, ''The fruits of Rebellion''."{{sfn|Stevens|p=256}}

==References== {{reflist|20em}}

==Sources== * {{cite book |last1=Bartlett |first1=Thomas |last2=Jeffery |first2=Keith |title=A Military History of Ireland |publisher=Cambridge UP |year=1997 }} * {{cite book |last=Childs |first=John |title=The Williamite Wars in Ireland |date=2007 |publisher=Bloomsbury}} * {{cite journal |last=Hayes-McCoy |first= G. A. |title=The Battle of Aughrim |journal=Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society |volume=20 |issue=1 |year=1942}} * {{cite book |last=Hayes-McCoy |first= G. A. |title=A History of Irish Flags from Earliest Times |publisher=Academy Press|date=1979}} * {{cite journal |last=MacSwiney |first=Patrick |title=The Casualty List of the Infantry Regiment of Albemarle at the Battle of Luzzara, 15th August, 1702 |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland |volume=20 |issue=1 |date=1930 }} * {{cite book |last=O'Callaghan |first=John |title=History of the Irish Brigades in the service of France |date=1870 |publisher=Cameron & Ferguson}} * {{cite book |last=Rowlands |first=Guy |title=An Army in Exile: Louis XIV and the Irish Forces of James II in France, 1691-1698 |publisher=Royal Stuart Society |date=2001}} * {{cite book |last=Stevens |first=John |title=The journal of John Stevens, containing a brief account of the war in Ireland, 1689–1691 |publisher= University College, Cork |url=https://celt.ucc.ie//published/E680002-001.html}}

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1689]] [[Category:Disbanded marine forces]] [[Category:Irish regiments in European armies]] [[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1715]] [[Category:Infantry regiments of the ancien régime]]