The Belgian Legion ( or ''Légion belgique'') was a military unit within the

French Revolutionary army The French Revolutionary Army () was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1802. In the beginning, the French armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment and their great nu ...

composed of volunteers from the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

in modern-day

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Its volunteers, predominantly Vonckists, were émigrés from the failed

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (, ), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed revolution, insurrection that occurred in the Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) between O ...

(1789–90) and among the 12,000 Belgians who served in the French Revolutionary armies. It was one of a number of separate Belgian "legions", the most important of which were the Belgian Legion, the

Liégeois Legion Liégeois is a French word that may refer to: *of or relating to Liège. *Walloon language Walloon (; natively ; ) is a Romance language that is spoken in much of Wallonia and, to a very small extent, in Brussels, Belgium; some villages near ...

, and the

Legion of Belgians and Liégeois The Legion of Belgians and Liégeois () was a military unit within the French Revolutionary army composed of volunteers from the Austrian Netherlands and Prince-Bishopric of Liège in modern-day Belgium. Its volunteers were émigrés from the failed ...

. Formed in 1792, the Belgian Legion was initially commanded by Colonel Jacques Leunckens who had previously served during the Brabant Revolution as an aide to General Jean-André van der Mersch. It comprised two

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s. The first was commanded by

Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau Jean-Baptiste, comte Dumonceau, comte de Bergendal (; 7 November 1760 – 29 December 1821) was a general from the Southern Netherlands, in the service of France and the Netherlands. Life At first destined for a career as an architect (for which ...

and served in

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

. The second battalion fought in the Siege of Lille in 1792. The future general, Louis Lahure, is believed to have served with the Belgian Legion after being forced into exile in the aftermath of the

References

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See also

References

Further reading