Dillon's Regiment

Dillon's Regiment (French: régiment de Dillon) was first raised in Ireland in 1688 by Theobald, 7th Viscount Dillon, for the Jacobite side in the Williamite War. He was then killed at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691.

Dillon's Regiment
The flag of Dillon's Regiment, Irish Brigade of France.
Active	1688–1793
Country	France
Allegiance	Kingdom of France/King James II
Branch	French army
Type	infantry
Size	One regiment of battalion strength (about 685 men)
Motto(s)	In hoc signo vinces (In this sign you will conquer)
Colors	red, black facing
Engagements	Nine Years War War of the Spanish Succession War of Austrian Succession American Revolutionary War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Theobald Dillon, 7th Viscount Dillon Dillon Colonels of the Regiment in France (1) 1690-1728: Arthur Dillon, ’’Comte de Dillon’’ (2) 1728-1741: Charles, 10th Viscount (3) 1741-1743: Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon, (4) 1743-1745: James, killed at the Battle of Fontenoy (5) 1745-1747: Edward, killed at the Battle of Lauffeld hiatus 1747-1767 (6) 1767-1792: Arthur Dillon (1750–1794)

Williamite War

Uniform of the Dillon Regiment in 1786

Dillon's Regiment was first raised as part of the Irish Army in 1688 by Theobald, 7th Viscount Dillon. During the Williamite War the regiment went to France in April 1690 as part of Lord Mountcashel's Irish Brigade, in exchange for some French regiments amounting to 6,000 troops.[1] After the Treaty of Limerick in 1691, the regiment remained in the service of the kings of France under its present name.[2] It was next commanded in France by Theobald's younger son, Colonel Arthur Dillon, until 1733.[3]

Shadow formations

(Henry) Dillon's Regiment: Émigré elements of the French regiment passed into William Pitt's British Catholic Irish Brigade in 1794. These elements comprised the greater part of the officers who had emigrated from France, and new recruits raised on the Dillon lands in Ireland. Henry Dillon, a brother of Arthur Dillon was given command of the regiment. However, on campaign in Jamaica and Haiti, it had such losses, mainly due to the unhealthy climate, that it was disbanded in 1798. The flags and ensigns were returned to Charles, Lord Dillon, head of the Dillon family in Ireland.[4]

(Edward) Dillon's Regiment: (Edward) Dillon's Regiment of Foot was raised in northern Italy in 1795, by Col. Edward Dillon, formerly of the Irish Brigade in France, to fight for the English in the Mediterranean.[5]

See also

• Arthur Dillon (1750-1794)
• Flight of the Wild Geese
• French Revolution Collection on Camille Desmoulins, Lucile Duplessis, and Arthur Dillon at Florida State University Libraries

References

1. McGarry, Stephen. Irish Brigades Abroad p. 8
2. Flag of the régiment de Dillon Regimental flag
3. Burke's Peerage (2003) p.1148, on the Dillon family.
4. La Marquise de La Tour du Pin, Recollections of the Revolution and the Empire. London: Jonathan Cape, (1921) pp.420-422, on the Dillon Regiment.
5. René Chartrand, Patrice Courcelle Émigré & foreign troops in British service (1), 1793-1802 (Men at Arms Series). Osprey Publishing, (1999), pp12-13.

Further reading

• McGarry, Stephen. Irish Brigades Abroad. (2013)