{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Batavian Legion (''légion batave'' or ''légion franche étrangère batave'') was a unit of Dutch volunteers under French command, created and dissolved in 1793.

History

The project to regroup the supporters of the Patriot Revolt in exile in France at the end of the 1780s was born in December 1791. The Patriots' initial idea was to form the embryo of a Dutch national army, on the French model, so as to set up and support a Batavian republic and replace the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

's pseudo-monarchy under

stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

William V of Orange-Nassau William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was a prince of Orange and the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in ...

. However, France was not yet at war with the Dutch Republic and the French government rejected the idea of a Batavian legion. A second petition to the Legislative Assembly in May 1792, at the time the

Belgian Legion (1792) The Belgian Legion (french: Légion belge or ''Légion belgique'') was a military unit within the French Revolutionary army composed of volunteers from the Austrian Netherlands in modern-day Belgium. Its volunteers, predominantly Vonckists, were � ...

was forming, did not meet with success. It took until February 1793 and the Dutch Republic's entry into the war against France for the Batavian Legion to get off the ground. The minister for war, Dumouriez, advanced 700,000 livres for its formation and it gathered in the

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Herman Daendels. It then fought in Belgium alongside the French army and the Belgian Legions. It was dissolved after its defeat at

Neerwinden Neerwinden is a village in Belgium in the province of Flemish Brabant, a few miles southeast of Tienen. It is now part of the municipality of Landen. The village gave its name to two great battles. The Battle of Neerwinden (1693), first battle w ...

in October 1793 and its members merged into French units. Although it had been unable to fight in the conquest of the Dutch Republic and the institution of the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

in 1795, a number of its members formed the ranks of that new regime's army.

References

Volunteer units and formations of the French Revolutionary Wars Military history of the Netherlands Military units and formations disestablished in 1793 Military units and formations established in 1793