Flag List Pages

▼

Saturday, 10 July 2021

Flags of French Regiment Royal Cantabres, originally Volontaires Cantabres



Royal Cantabres began life as Volontaires Cantabres. It was first raised December 15th 1745 as a light infantry unit in the Basque region. It was initially a battalion of around 500 but was increased to around 1600 infantrymen and 300 hussars, with 2 cannon, in 1747. It campaigned in Flanders in the WAS and was at  the siege of Brussels and the battle of Rocoux in 1746. The unit was much reduced in numbers in 1748 then disbanded in 1749 leaving a small unit of 4 companies. It took the title of Cantabres-Volontaires in 1749. The four company unit took part in the French attack on Minorca in 1756 then became one regular battalion 8th July 1757 as Royal Cantabres. It was stationed in Auch in 1757 and then joined Soubise's Army of the Lower Rhine in 1761. In 1762 it was part of the French expeditionary force sent to Spain for the intended invasion of Portugal. 112th in the army list SYW. Disbanded 25th November 1762. (There is much more detail in the Kronoskaf page on this unit.)

And this was the uniform in 1757 (from the 1757 MS) although I have missed off some strange addition to the tricorne which is impossible to interpret on the MS drawing:

 

 

Back to Prussian flags next with the flags of IR30!

at

14 comments:

  1. Ray Rousell10 July 2021 at 16:54

    Fab looking flags!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jonathan Freitag10 July 2021 at 16:58

    Oh, beautiful flags and I love the uniform! OK. I really need to turn some attention to painting French so that I can use your wonderful flags.

    ReplyDelete
  3. David Morfitt10 July 2021 at 19:54

    Thanks, Ray! :-) I did send you a message by your blog a few days ago to see if you'd like the 2 sheets of British WSS etc. infantry flags I posted about recently; don't know if you had the message.

    All the best,

    David.

    ReplyDelete
  4. David Morfitt10 July 2021 at 19:56

    Thanks, Jon. :-) Yes, they are rather splendid, aren't they? I look forward to seeing them in action with your troops at some point! The uniform is certainly a rather unusual and striking blue.

    All the best,

    David.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Steve J.11 July 2021 at 09:52

    Now I do love those flags and the paler blue of the uniform is really rather nice. Something to bear in mind for my Imagi-Nations armies:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. David Morfitt11 July 2021 at 14:57

    Thanks, Steve. Yes, the flags and uniform could be straight out of an ImaginNation army! :-)

    All the best,

    David.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Extrabio4711 July 2021 at 16:36

    Wow!! That’s about all I’ve got; just wow!!! Gorgeous flags, an exotic unit, and a unique uniform. What a splendid combination.

    More tremendous work, David. Thank you for your willingness to share your talent and research.

    Bill

    ReplyDelete
  8. Steve-the-Wargamer12 July 2021 at 13:48

    Glorious!

    ReplyDelete
  9. David Morfitt12 July 2021 at 15:24

    Thanks very much, Bill. :-) They do seem to have come out very well! I'm afraid the next flags will seem a bit disappointing by comparison - more Prussians for Leuthen! I do plan to do the rather splendid flags of the Arquebusiers de Grassin soon, as Kronoskaf says they were carried by the Volontaires de Hainaut at the very beginning of the SYW, although Pierre Charrié does not confirm that. But any excuse to have exotic flags is a good excuse, isn't it? ;-)

    All the best,

    David.

    ReplyDelete
  10. David Morfitt12 July 2021 at 15:26

    Thanks very much, Steve The W! :-) I confess I like these very much - and the thought of going back to the Prussian flags is just a little bit disappointing. But not all flags can be quite as impressive, of course... Hey ho.

    All the best,

    David.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Chris Gregg12 July 2021 at 22:36

    David , your work is so wonderful you should please yourself - leave those Prussian fans to sweat and induldge your own passion! Thanks so much for all your efforts. Chris G http://notjustoldschool.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  12. David Morfitt13 July 2021 at 01:09

    Thanks very much for the compliment, Chris. I shall carry on with the Prussians; I quite like them really (although I cannot love them as much as I do the French flags) and would rather like to do all the Prussian SYW infantry flags eventually; it's one of those crazy ambitions! ;-) It's true that it can feel a bit too much like work doing them at times but not all flags can be quite as exotic, exciting and colourful as those of the Royal Cantabres.

    Have just commented on your splendid recent game report on your blog; most impressive!

    All the best,

    David.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Chris Gregg13 July 2021 at 08:34

    Thanks David. Your praise for my blog kindly noted and I've put another plug for yours.
    CG

    ReplyDelete
  14. David Morfitt13 July 2021 at 15:38

    Thanks very much, Chris. :-)

    All the best,

    David.

    ReplyDelete

Saturday 6th June 2020 I've decided to allow comments from Anonymous Users but I'll still be moderating posts, as I'm sure the spam will probably flood in now! We'll see...