Regiment Ultona, Irish Brigade. Spanish Army - 1809
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Regiment Ultona, Irish Brigade. Spanish Army - 1809
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Product Details
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19th of June 1809 and the French General St Cyr chooses the breech in the walls of the castle of Montuich as the point of his grand assault upon the Spanish city of Gerona. Waiting for the French, Italian and Westphalian troops is Sergent -Major Ricardo OMacCarthy and the grenadiers of the Irish Spanish regiment Ultona .These men are about to write the last glorious page in the long history of the Spanish armys Irish Brigade, stopping the French attack dead and frustrating St Cyrs careful plans. Repulsing several major and numerous minor assaults throughout the siege the regiment of Ultona, reinforced by 102 Grenadiers of their sister regiment Hibernia, were an inspiration to the other defenders of Gerona. The city finally fell four months later after Marshal Augereau's siege and punishing bombardment of three months. The survivors of the regiment, 253 out of 800 went into a long captivity. So renowned was the regiments performance that the surviving elements of the regiment in their depot were formed into a new battalion and christened Distinguidos de Ultona. Like the Irish brigade in French service, the Spanish brigade was formed from those Wild Geese who chose foreign service in 1691 rather than serve King William III of England. The relationship endured more than a century until there were no longer sufficient recruits to maintain the brigades Irish identity.
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