Garde Écossaise


The Garde Écossaise was an elite Scottish military unit founded in 1418 by the Valois Charles VII of France, to be personal bodyguards to the French monarchy. They were assimilated into the Maison du Roi and later formed the first company of the Garde du Corps du Roi.
In 1450, King James II sent a company of 24 noble Scots under the command of Patrick de Spens, son of his custodian. This company takes the name of archiers du corps or gardes de la manche. On 31 August 1490, this company, these of Patry Folcart, Thomas Haliday and a part of the company of Robin Petitloch became the first company of archiers de la garde du roi under the command of Guillaume Stuier. At the beginning la compagnie écossaise des gardes du corps du roi included 100 gardes du corps. Each bodyguard had four men-at-arms under his command,, one of them acquired the name of premier homme d'armes du royaume de France. They were finally disbanded in 1830 at the abdication of Charles X.

History

Overview

Scottish warriors were believed to have fought for Charlemagne and later in the Armies of Charles the Simple in 882. It is only after 1295, however, and the agreements that would become known as the Auld Alliance, that there is documentary evidence of French soldiery in Scotland or Scottish soldiery in France. From the outset of the Hundred Years War, there were Scottish companies officially fighting for Philip IV of France. At the Battle of Poitiers, the 1st Earl of Douglas and the future 3rd Earl of Douglas fought for John II, where the future 3rd Earl was captured along with many Scottish knights, notwithstanding the French king himself. In the 1360s there were Scotsmen to be found in the army of Bertrand du Guesclin. In the early 15th century France was split into Armagnac-Burgundian civil strife following the descent into madness of Charles VI. Henry V of England saw his opportunity and allied himself with John the Fearless and invaded. The Dauphin despairingly sought allies, and found them amongst the Scots and the Castilians.

La Grande Armée Écossaise

In 1418 Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany appointed his son, John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan, Chamberlain of Scotland to command the Scottish expeditionary force, the largest army that medieval Scotland had ever sent abroad. 7000-8000 men arrived at La Rochelle in October 1419 and made their way to Tours to greet the Dauphin. The first thing the future Charles VII did was to shower munificence upon the Scottish nobles. Buchan received Châtillon-sur-Indre, the Earl of Wigtoun received Dun-le-Roi, Sir John Stewart of Darnley received Concressault and Aubigny, and Thomas Seton the castle of Langeais. The Scottish leaders were persuaded to return to Scotland to recruit more troops. The Scottish leadership returned in 1420 with another 4000-5000 reinforcements. While their leaders were at home the Dauphin assigned the Scottish contingent throughout his armies and garrisons and picked a number, roughly one hundred of the best warriors, to be his personal body guard. The Scotsmen fought with distinction throughout France with a notable win at the Battle of Baugé in 1421, where the Duke of Clarence was said to have been felled by Buchan's Mace. The Scots faced a calamity at the Battle of Verneuil in 1424, when they lost 6000 men. Although saddened by the loss of so many of his loyal Scotsmen, Charles VII continued to honour the survivors. The Scots had a further setback at the Battle of the Herrings in 1429. The Scottish Army in France fragmented into free companies, and also into Compagnies d'ordonnance within the French Army.

The Royal Bodyguard

The King kept about him his Garde Écossaise. The Scottish Guards had likely protected him during the murder of John the Fearless at the bridge of Montereau, and rescued him from a fire in Gascony in 1442. Scottish Guards fell at the Battle of Montlhéry defending their King, Louis XI of France, in 1465.

Later history

The Garde Écossaise survived until the end of the Bourbon monarchy as the senior or Scottish Company of the Gardes du Corps. There were four companies of Body Guards and a detachment of them accompanied the French King wherever he went, posted guards on his sleeping place and even escorted his food from kitchen to table.
During the reign of Francis I the garde were held up by blizzards near the Simplon Pass after a defeat at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Some of the men reputedly settled there and their descendants became known as the "Lost Clan".
From the 16th century onwards recruitment of the unit was primarily from Frenchmen and the Scottish element gradually died out. The name was retained as were certain words of command which had originated in Scots. In 1632, the Earl of Enzie began to rebuild a Scottish regiment in France. There is sometimes confusion as to which unit actually held the title of Garde Écossaise, with several regiments in service often being conflated, especially those commanded by Sir John Hepburn, James Campbell, 1st Earl of Irvine and Colonel James Douglas. As an example some works recording Scots in action have simply applied the Garde Écossaise name, although referring to the Regiment de Douglas.
By the reign of Louis XV the Scottish Company numbered 21 officers and 330 men in a mounted unit which last saw active service when they escorted Louis at the Battle of Lawfeld on 1 July 1747. On this and other occasions the Scottish Company carried claymores with steel basket guards instead of the swords of the other French heavy cavalry. They were distinguished from the other companies of the Body Guards by wearing white bandoleers garnished with silver lace.
The Scottish Company provided a special detachment of 24 Gardes de la Manche who stood in close attendance to the king during court ceremonies. The name indicated that they stood so close to the monarch as to be brushed by his sleeve. The Gardes de la Manche were distinguished by a heavily embroidered white and gold cassock which they wore over the blue and red and silver uniform of the Body Guard.

Final disbandment

All four companies of the Body Guard were formally disbanded in 1791, although the aristocratic personnel of the regiment had dispersed following the closure of Versailles as a royal palace in October 1789. They were re-established at the time of the First Bourbon Restoration under an ordinance dated 25 May 1814. Until their final dissolution in 1830 the Senior Company retained the title of "les fiers Ecossais".

Notable Guardsmen