Irish Legion. Burgos, France - 1809

Pricing:  $85 USD SRP per set Features: - white metal - hand painted - historically accurate Delivery: In Stock

It is the 17 of January 1809 and the Emperor Napoleon is in Burgos. The honour of guarding him is granted to the men of the Irish Legion. Parading in full dress with their eagle and unique colour they provide a vivid spectacle in their distinctive green light infantry uniforms.

Though the Emperor left no recorded comments concerning the Legion, his good opinion manifested itself by his granting it the privilege of raising two further battalions and retitling it the Regiment Irlandese.

Raised in 1803 the legion was granted the right to carry an eagle in 1804, an event rare, if not unique for a foreign unit.

The Legion, then later the Regiment, led a sometimes militarily frustrating career. It was often deployed as a garrison unit or used for the control of unruly civilian populations and also in the much more vicious anti guerrilla activity in Spain. A battalion was ignominiously lost later in 1809 at Walcheren. The regiment experienced action at the storming Astorga in 1810 and again in Germany in 1813 —14. in 1815 the regiment rallied to Napoleon but was never strong enough to take the field. With Napoleon’s defeat, the end was near and on the 29 of Sep tember 1815 its eagle and colours were destroyed and the regiment disbanded. This marked the end of the tradition of Irish regiments in French service, a relationship that had endured for more than a century.

Each set consists of three crafted and hand painted models. Please use the links on the left of the screen to view each set, with images and artwork of each piece. Coming soon are four more unique soldier sets to add to The Warrior Irish models. Please make sure you check back here often, as new sets will continually be added.

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