Regiment Schomberg

The Regiment Schomberg were a mercenary unit in service to the Duchy of Savoy. Unlike the line regiments, mercenary regiments (often formed around a core of Protestants, many exiled French Huguenots) were named for their Colonel,  in this case Duke Charles Schomberg. Interestingly, Charles was the son of another famous Schomberg, Duke Frederick, who died in service to Stadtholder/King William at the battle of the Boyne just a few years before.

[The information on Charles on wikipedia was very sparse, just two paragraphs. I expanded the article by adding the information I learned from the excellent "Army of the Duke of Savoy 1688-1713 by Gian Carlo Boeri]

Schomberg, had been serving in with the army of Savoy since 1691 as a General officer commanding three regiments (Montbrun, Miremont and Montauban) all of which, like himself, were in English pay.

 

Regiment Schomberg NYW Savoy

Prior to 1692, this Schomberg  regiment was in fact the Regiment de Saint-Julian. However in that year the Sieour de Saint-Julian converted to Catholicism and returned to French service. Schomberg himself was then appointed Colonel of the Regiment.

Schomberg died of wounds following the Battle of Marsaglia in October 1963, at which point the regiment was named for his successor, another French Huguenot in English pay, Henri de Massue, 1st Vsicount -later Earl- of Galway  The regiment being thereafter known as Regiment Galway.

Note: I've chosen to dress the regiment in the grey coats with grey facings used by the militia and in general use by the protestant regiments. August Kuln (now deceased) suggests that Regiment Schomberg actually wore blue coats with red facings, vests, breeches and stockings and a yellow lining of the hat. However, August Kuln did not list any references, so I have gone with the safer, grey option. Mostly because retaining the Grey jackets which were used by all the Savoy line and militia regiments will provide the army with a more coherent appearance on the tabletop.

Regiment Nizza, Nine Years War Savoy

I know. They should be wearing broad-brimmed hats, not tricorns. You may already have seen this post on my Lead Legion Painting Service page, but since this is my 15mm wargaming blog, I really have to cross-post it here.

The Regiment Nizza, recruited from the area around the now-French city of Nizza (Nice), fought in the armies of Viktor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy and Prince of Piedmont (later King of Sicily, although he swapped Sicily for the Kingdom of Sardinia soon after) during the Nine Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession.

Like all of the Duke's line regiments, it was named for the region it was raised and recruited from, rather than named for it's colonel, which was more common at the time. However, in Piedmont-Savoy this practice ceased rather early, with the Duke himself effectively being the Colonel of all his line regiments, foot and horse alike.

Regiment Nizza

In 1689 Regiment Nizza was one of three battalions of foot from Peidmont-Savoy sent north to fight for France in Flanders. In 1690, when the Duke changed sides, the regiments were disbanded by the French and their soldiers forcibly conscripted into French regiments. By 1691 however, sufficient soldiers had escaped French service to re-constitute the regiment, around a solid core of it's original personnel.

The regiment consisted of a single battalion of 16 companies in 1693 (the time period I'm recruiting my army for). One company were Grenadiers.