Three Speculative Flag Sets For Huguenot Infantry Regiments In British Service - WSS Variants

Now here's the tale (and a tall tale it is too! ;-)). When the three Huguenot infantry regiments were disbanded in 1697-8, their flags, which had miraculously survived intact, were laid up in store. When new Huguenot regiments were raised in 1706 a bureaucrat (name now unknown) remembered those flags and thought it would be very economical to issue them to some of the newly raised regiments. In the event, only three Huguenot regiments were actually sent abroad and Paul de Blosset's Foot was absorbed into the first, Frederick de Sibourg's Foot, in 1708. 

In reality, we do not know what flags were carried by these regiments. I was asked to adapt my speculative 1690s William III Huguenot flags by substituting the cipher of Queen Anne for that of William III so they can be used for the WSS regiments.

So, you have the choice of my three sets of speculative flags to use, for Sibourg's Regiment or Paul de Blosset's Foot or Count Nassau's Foot. Kronoskaf WSS discusses all the regiments here: https://kronoskaf.com/wss/index.php?title=British_Army#Regiments_of_Foot including the three which were never properly raised in 1706.

 

Three Speculative Flag Sets For Huguenot Infantry Regiments In British Service 1689-1698 - Updated!

Five regiments of Huguenots were raised from 1689:

One of cavalry, the Duke of Schomberg's Regiment of Horse of 9 troops raised July 1689 and disbanded 1697-8

One of dragoons, the Marquis de Miremont's Regiment of Dragoons 6 troops raised 1st October 1695 and disbanded 1697-8

Three regiments of infantry:

Colonel de la Melonière's Regiment of French Foot raised 4th April 1689 and disbanded 1697-8
Colonel du Cambon's  Regiment of French Foot raised 4th April 1689 and disbanded 1697-8
The Marquis de Caillemotte's  Regiment of French Foot raised 4th April 1689 and disbanded 1697-8

The infantry probably wore grey coats, according to Sapherson. They carried no pikes and apparently suffered badly at The Boyne as a result.

I've now added a third set of flags as with three actual Huguenot infantry regiments we can't have only two speculative flag sets! The third one has a pattern of five emblems in each quarter as is depicted on the flags from the 1680s of the Queen's Majesty's and Clifton's Regiments of Foot.

 

And now I feel I shall have to produce a dragoon guidon and cavalry standard for the Huguenots too! 

The upper flag in each set is the company colour and the lower flag a Colonel's colour. 

 

As I explained in my previous blog post "in Robert Hall's book on Dutch flags and uniforms 1685-1715 he cites a statement from August Kühn (based on an unknown source) that "Huguenot regiments had black flags with white crosses and the emblems of the country which supported the regiment"" and so these are my ideas based on that somewhat vague description. The elaborate Maltese cross has long been a Huguenot emblem, although it was not, it seems, until the 19th century that it was widely used and accepted by Huguenots. However, even if somewhat anachronistic for the late 17th century, I feel it is too distinctive, attractive and decorative not to be used - so I have!

There is an old article from 1911 printed in the Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of London which can be found on Archive.org here; https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofhug913hugu/page/n9/mode/2up I ploughed through it all and there is not one mention of the detail of uniform or flags. However, it does give some information on the service of the units, and names officers and lists casualties etc.. The article begins at page 476.