The Irish Legion

In November, 1803, the First Consul decreed the formation of an Irish Legion, which was to be composed of Irish exiles, or sons of Irishmen born in France. This Legion followed the fortunes of Napoleon in the campaigns in Holland, Portugal, Spain, and Germany, and at the fall of the Empire it was dissolved, and what remained of it was drafted into 3eme Legion Etrangere, and subsequently into Line and Cavalry Regiments.

Ahern, John, Captain, 1803 ; died at Metz, 1806.

Allen, John, Lieut.-Col.; deoorated with the Legion of Honour for distinguished bravery at the Siege of Astorga, April 1810; served with distinction in the campaign of Leipsic, died at Caen in 1855.

Barker, John, Captain; held a Commission in the Regiment of Walsh, when it was dissolved; joined the Irish Legion, 1803; severely wounded at Flushing, 1809; died at Bois le Duc, 1811.

Barry, Colonel; held a Commission in the Irish Brigade; afterwards served on the Staff of General MacDonald Brady; Officer of the Legion of Honour; Colonel, 1813, 5th Regiment d’Artillerie.

Brady, Louis Paul, Officer of the Legion of Honour; Commandant, 1813, of the 5eme Regiment de la ligne.

Branagan, Patrick, Captain; died at Begar Estremadura, 1811, of wounds received in the Peninsular War.

Burgess, John, Sub-Lieutenant.

Burke, Captain.

Burke, Count, Lieut-General; Grand Officer Legion of Honour; Inspector General, 1814; Governor of Givet, 1815.

Clarke, Marshal; Duke of Feltre; Minister of War, 1809.

Clarke, Arthur, Lieutenant of Cavalry, son of the foregoing; Aid-de Camp to the Commander of Expedition to Greece, 1815

Corbett, Thomas, Captain; killed at Lesnevin, 1804, in a duel with Captain Sweeny, a brother officer.

Corbett, William, General, Knight of the Legion of Honour, Knight of St. Louis, Commander of the Greek Order of the Saviour; a fellow student in Trinity College, Dublin, of Robert Emmett, and expelled in 1799 for sympathising with the United Irishmen; joined the Irish Lesion in 1803; Lieut.-Col., 47th Regiment of the Line, 1812; Chief of the Staff of the Duke d’Aumont, 1814; died at St. Denis, 1842.

Corbett, Frederick, Sub-Lieutenant, 147th Regiment of the Line; brother of the foregoing.

Cummins, John, Lieut.

D’Alton, Lieut.-General, Count, Col. of the 59th Regiment of the line, 1808; Inspector-General, 1815; Lieut.-General, 1821; General of Division, 1834.

D’Alton, Shee, Count, Peer of France; nephew of the foregoing.

Derry, Valentine, Capt.

Devereux, John, General; took part with Bagnel Harvey in the battle of New Ross, 1798.

Devereux, Alexander, Sub-Lieut.

Delany, Captain; died at Boulogne sur Mer, 1815

Dillon, Lieut.-Col.; Staff Officer to Duke of Abrantes, 1811; Lieut.-Colonel, Garde du Corps, 1828.

Dowdall, William, Captain; died in 1809 at Ghent of wounds received at Flushing.

Eagar, Lieut.; taken prisoner at Flushing, 1809.

Esmonde, Lawrence, Sub-Lieut.

Fitz-Henry, Jeremiah, Lieut.-Col.; Captain, 1803; Lieut.-Col., 1808; deserted to the British Forces, 1811.

Gallagher, Patrick, Capt.; Lieut., 1803; Capt., 1804.

Glashan, Sub-Lieut.

Gibbons, John, Lieut.

Gibbon, Edward, Sub-Lieut; killed at Flushing, 1809.

Gibbons, Arthur, Lieut.

Hardy, Oliver, General; formerly an Officer in the Regiment of Berwick, Irish Brigade; Brigadier General, 1804; General, 1813.

Harvey, Morris, Col., Staff Commander, 1812; Col. 1814; died at St. Germaine-en-Laye, 1839.

Keating, Thomas, General of Division, 1795.

Kilmain, Charles E. P. Jennings, General of Division, 1793. Lynch, Isidore, General of Division, 1793.

Jackson, Capt.

Lambart, Capt

Lawless, William, General, Knight of the Legion of Honour; Capt, 1808, Lieut.-Col., 1807; Col., 1813. At the passage of the Boher, near Lowenberg, Silesia, he had his leg shot off by a cannon ball, and was promoted on the field to the rank of General of Brigade by Napoleon; died in Paris, 1814.

Lawless, Luke, Capt.; Lieut., 1812; Capt, 1814.

Lewins, Edward John, Knight of the Legion of Honour; Inspector of the University of France. Early in 1797 Lewins was sent to Paris by the Executive Council of the United Irishmen, sitting at Dublin, as their accredited Minister, charged to concert with Directory and its Generals an immediate invasion of Ireland, and the means of carrying this project into execution. He brought with him a letter from Lord Edward Fitzgerald, addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, by which his person was identified and his mission authenticated. He was included in the list of persons banished by Act of Parliament. He died in Paris in 1827.

De Luynes, Laurent, his son; Knight of the Legion of Honour; Private Secretary to the Minister of Public Instruction, 1828; Ex-Chief of Division Ministry of Instruction; assumed, by sign manual of Charles X., the name and arms of de Luynes.

De Luynes, Victor, his son; Professeur aux Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers; Principal Chemist to the Excise; Knight of the Legion of Honour.

Lynch, General, Capt, 1792; General of Division, 1792; Inspector of Troops, 1808.

MacMahon, Maurice Francis, Lieut. General, 1830; died, 1831.

MacMahon, Marie Edmond Patrice, his son; Duke of Magenta; Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour; Knight of St. Lazarus; Orders of the Bath; Medjidie, etc.; Marshal of France.

MacMahon, Patrice, Marquis de Magenta, his son; Lieut. … 4th Regiment of the Line.

MacMahon, Charles Maurice, Marquis, Lieut. … 7th Regiment of Dragoons.

MacKenna, Col., 1868. This officer was so dangerously wounded in the battle of Reichshoffen that he had to resign the command of his Regiment … 2nd Regiment of Cuirassiers. Mahony, J. J., Major.

Markey, Thomas, Col.; Knight of St. Louis, and Knight of Legion of Honour; Capt., 1808; Aid-de-Camp to Marshal Clarke, 1812; Col., 1817.

Masterson, Edward, Capt.; died at Bruges, 1809.

Maguire, Capt.; died in Paris, 1822.

Mallowney, Capt.

Morrison, J., Lieut.; wounded at Marengo; Lieut., 1803; died at Flushing, 1809.

Murphy, Capt., Grand Pilot to the French Fleet.

Murphy, General, Baron; Aide Camp to General des Essar, 1805; Col., 1803.

Murray, Paul, Capt.; Sub-Lieut., 1803; Lieut, 1804; Capt., 1809; died at Dunkirk, 1853.

O’Brien, Lieut-Col.; Lieut., 1815; Capt., 1820; Lieut.-Col. … 11th Regiment of the Line, 1837.

O’Brien, Jean Solomen Edouard, Officer of the Legion of Honour; Lieut.-Col., 1873 … 11th Regt. of Mounted Rifles.

O’Connor, Arthur, General of Division, 1804; died at Bignon, 1852 … Knight of the Legion of Honour

O’Connor, Ferdinand Maria, Sub.-Lieut., 1873 … 9th Regiment of Hussars.

O’Farrall, Jacques, Commander of the Legion of Honour; General of Brigade on half pay.

O’Gorman, Marie Joseph Gaston, Capt., 1873 … 78th Regiment of the Line.

O'Kean, Capt., Knight of the Legion of Honour; Capt. … 65th Regiment of the Line.

O’Keeffe, Patrick, General of Brigade, 1795.

O’Kelly, Con Den Jean, Capt., 1873 … 1st Regiment of the Line.

O’Kelly, Adjutant-Major, 1873 … 3rd Regiment of Cuirassiers.

O’Kelly, M. L. Eugene Adol, Capt., Adjutant Major … 3rd Regiment of the Line.

O’Meara, William, Major General.

O’Meara, Daniel, Colonel

O’Malley, Austen, Capt.

O’Malley, Colonel, Lieut.-Col., 1835; Col. of the 73rd Regiment of the Line, 1854, which he commanded in the Crimea, and at battles of Magenta and Solferino.

O’Mahony, J., Lieut.-General Count.

O’Moran, James, General of Artillery, 1792.

O’Moran, Lieut.

O’Neill, John, General of Brigade, 1793; the last Major of the Regiment of Walsh.

O’Neill, Henri Felix Jean, Sub.-Lieut., 1873 … 7th Regiment of Cuirassiers.

O’Neill de Tyrone, Count Jacques, died 1839.

O’Neill de Tyrone, Count Louis Jacques Tiburn.

O’Neill de Tyrone, Viscount François Henri.

O’Reilly, Lieut.-Col. Terence, Lieut., 1804; Captain, 1809; Lieut-Colonel, 1814.

O’Shea, Richard, General of Brigade, 1796.

O’Shea, Colonel William.

Parrott, Captain Joseph.

Powell, Lieut Patrick.

Read, Lieut Thomas.

Smith, James, Knight of the Legion of Honour; Lieut, 1809; Captain, 1823; Commander, 1830, 11th Legion de Veterans; Governor Ebrun, 1835—of Montanban, 1840; Commandant de Place 1843.

Smith, Edmond Julien, son of the foregoing, joined Sir de Lacy Evans in the Spanish War of 1838; became Lieut.-Colonel; served in the Crimea; decorated with four Orders; French Consul, Barcelona; died at Villers Helon, 1852.

Smith, J. Thomas, brother of the foregoing, Captain Belgian Service; died at Tournay, 1852.

Smith, James, brother of the foregoing, Knight of the Iron Cross and of the Order of Leopold; Captain in the French and Belgian Services; died at Autun, 1874.

Smith, William Henry, brother of the foregoing, Lieut. in the French Service; killed at the battle of Mascara, Algiers, 1837, after capturing an Arab standard.

Swanton, Lieut.-Col., formerly of the Regiment of Berwick.

Sweeny, Capt. John. After killing Capt. Thomas Corbett in a duel, he resigned his Commission and went to reside at Morlaix.

St. Leger, Edmund, Sub-Lieut., 1803; Lieut., 1804; Capt., 1808; Lieut.-Col., 1826; died in Paris, 1831.

St. Leger, Patrick, Surgeon-Major; died at Walcheren, 1809 .

Tandy, James Napper, General of Brigade, 1798; died at Bordeaux, 1803.

Tennant, Major John, Lieut., 1803; Capt., 1808; Major, 1809.

Tyrell, Captain.

Ware, Col. Hugh, Knight of the Legion of Honour; Lieut, 1803; Captain, 1804; Lieut-Colonel, 1814; Colonel, 1815.

Warren, Lieut, Garde du Corps, 1820.

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