{{Infobox military unit |unit_name= Roll's Regiment |image= De Roll's Regiment on campaign in Egypt.jpg |caption= Illustration of the regiment in Egypt |dates= 1794{{ndash}}1815 |allegiance= Great Britain <br /> United Kingdom |branch= |type=Line infantry |size= One regiment of two battalions |command_structure= |garrison= |ceremonial_chief= |colonel_of_the_regiment=Francis de Rottenburg |nickname= |patron= |motto= |colours=Red coats with royal blue facings (sky blue after 1801) |march= |mascot= |battles= '''French Revolutionary Wars'''<br>'''Napoleonic Wars''' |notable_commanders= }}
'''Roll's Regiment''' (also known as '''de Roll's Regiment''' or '''von Roll's Regiment''') was a line infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1794 for service in the War of the First Coalition, the regiment consisted of Swiss, French and German soldiers.
The regiment's first colonel was Louis de Roll, a former officer of the French Royal Army's Swiss Guards. It served in various garrisons in the Mediterranean and saw action in Tuscany before being reduced to a single battalion. The regiment landed in French-occupied Egypt in 1801 and distinguished itself in action at the Battle of Alexandria. It received drafts of French and Polish prisoners of war to replace its losses and in 1810 participated in the British invasion of the French-controlled Septinsular Republic. The regiment then served in Sicily, guarding Ferdinand IV of Naples.
During the Peninsular War, the regiment participated in the capture of Fort St Felipe (near Tortosa) and the 1813 siege of Tarragona. It was disbanded at Corfu in 1815 following the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
== Formation == Louis de Roll, an ex-officer of Louis XVI's Swiss Guards, and his comrade Ludwig von Flüe raised the regiment of two battalions in Switzerland on 9 December 1794.<ref name="chartrand">{{cite book|last1=Chartrand|first1=René|title=Émigré and Foreign Troops in British Service (1): 1793–1802|date=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781472807199|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ij-VCwAAQBAJ|language=en}}</ref><ref name="bns">{{cite web|last1=Forrer|first1=L.|title=A few notes on Swiss officers and mercenary regiments in the pay of England|url=http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1945_BNJ_25_18.pdf|publisher=British Numismatic Society|accessdate=2 November 2017}}</ref><ref name="Anton Küchler 15">Anton Küchler: ''Louis Bastilien oder Gardehauptmann Ludwig von Flüe – der Verteidiger der Bastille am 14. Juli 1789,'' Separat-Abdruck aus dem «Obwaldner Volksfreund», Druck von Josef Müller, Sarnen, 1886, p. 15</ref> The regiment seems to have formed a part of the British Army but, unlike some other foreign-raised units in British service, it came under the command of British generals, was funded by the British government and appeared on the Army List of 1815.<ref name="bns"/>
The regiment was formed of two battalions each of ten companies (including grenadier and light companies) and had an authorised strength of 1,698 men.<ref name="chartrand"/> De Roll, who served as colonel, 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 most of the men were recruited by traditional means from Switzerland, Alsace and Germany.<ref name="chartrand"/><ref name=ang/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Arielli|first1=N.|last2=Collins|first2=B.|title=Transnational Soldiers: Foreign Military Enlistment in the Modern Era|date=2012|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781137296634|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgya-uPL8fkC|language=en}}</ref> The uniform was the usual British Army red coat with royal blue facings and silver lace, with the facings being changed to sky blue in 1801.<ref name="bns"/><ref name="chartrand"/> The Colonel of the Regiment was Francis de Rottenburg, Baron Rottenburg.<ref name="bns"/>
== French Revolutionary Wars== The regiment was stationed in the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom from April to October 1796, prior to the British withdrawal from the island. It was then moved to Elba from which two companies conducted raids on the Tuscan coast in November 1796. Following the evacuation of that island in April 1797 the regiment was sent to Portugal where, in November 1798, it was reduced in strength to a single battalion. The regiment was at Minorca in September 1799 and Gibraltar in October 1800 before it was sent, under General Ralph Abercromby to fight French forces in Egypt.<ref name="chartrand"/>
De Roll then appointed Jost Dürler who, having previously served as a lieutenant-colonel, commanded the rearguard of the Swiss during the defence of the Tuileries, as colonel.<ref name=ang>{{cite journal|title=Le Régiment de Roll au Service de l'Angleterre|journal=Revue Historique Vaudoise|date=April 1893|issue=4|pages=97–114|url=http://lasabretache.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ROLL-SERVICE-DANGLETERRE.pdf|accessdate=7 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Brülisauer|first1=Josef|title=Dürler, Jost|url=http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/i/I23629.php|website=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz|language=it}}</ref>
The regiment was engaged at the Battle of Alexandria on 21 March 1801 and performed commendably in action.<ref name="chartrand"/> Some of the officers were awarded the Order of the Crescent by Ottoman Sultan Selim III for their distinguished service.<ref name="bns"/> The regiment was accorded the honour of incorporating a sphinx and the ''Egypt'' battle honour onto their regimental colour.<ref name="bns"/> Dürler was killed at Alexandria and was replaced on 25 September 1802 by Alphonse, Baron de Sonneberg.<ref name="bns"/><ref name=ang/>
The unit remained in Egypt until June 1803 when it returned to Gibraltar.<ref name="chartrand"/> Having suffered around 40% casualties in the Egyptian campaign, Roll's Regiment augmented its strength when some French prisoners of war were recruited into its ranks, including at least 45 Poles.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=R.|first1=Klosowicz|title=Polish Soldiers in the British Regiment De Roll|journal=Przegląd Polonijny|date=2006|volume=32|issue=2(121)|url=http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.167805d7-b5d0-371a-8eda-58c6c4a39afa|accessdate=6 December 2017|language=PL|issn=0137-303X}}</ref>
== Napoleonic Wars == Roll's Regiment took part in the British invasion of the French-controlled Septinsular Republic (the Ionian Islands) in 1810 and was then stationed at Sicily guarding Ferdinand IV of Naples until 1812.<ref name="bns"/> De Sonneberg had been succeeded as lieutenant-colonel by Frederick, Baron Eben on 7 March 1811.<ref name="bns"/>
By 2 June 1813, Roll's regiment was fighting in the Peninsular War, forming a joint battalion with Dillon's Regiment (another foreign regiment in British service). It formed part of Colonel William Prevost's brigade alongside the 67th Regiment of Foot, some artillery and engineers.<ref name="p77">{{cite book|last1=Wellington|first1=Arthur Richard Wellesley Duke of|title=Peninsula and South of France, 1813-1814|date=1861|publisher=J. Murray|page=[https://archive.org/details/supplementaryde11wellgoog/page/n89 77]|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementaryde11wellgoog|language=en}}</ref> The regiment captured Fort St Felipe, near Tortosa on 7 June and was present at the unsuccessful Siege of Tarragona (ended 11 June 1813).<ref name="p77"/> In April 1814 part of the regiment, amounting to four companies, were formed into a battalion of detachments with Dillon's regiment and the 67th.{{sfn|Nafziger|Gioannini|2002|p=98}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wellington|first1=Arthur Richard Wellesley Duke of|title=Peninsula and South of France, 1813–1814|date=1861|publisher=J. Murray|page=[https://archive.org/details/supplementaryde11wellgoog/page/n735 719]|url=https://archive.org/details/supplementaryde11wellgoog|language=en}}</ref> The regiment returned to Sicily in 1814, where it was reunited with its detachments, and was disbanded at Corfu in 1815.<ref name="bns"/>
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book|last1=Chartrand|first1=René|title=Émigré and Foreign Troops in British Service (1): 1793–1802|date=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |series=Men-at-Arms 328 |isbn=9781472807199|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ij-VCwAAQBAJ|language=en}} *{{cite book |last1=Nafziger |first1=George F. |author-link=George Nafziger |last2=Gioannini |first2=Marco |title=The defense of the Napoleonic kingdom of Northern Italy, 1813-1814 |publisher=Praeger |location=Westport, Conn. |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-313-07531-5}}
Category:Foreign regiments in British Service Category:Military units and formations established in 1794 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1815 Category:Swiss mercenaries Category:Counter-revolutionary military units and formations of France