Kelly of the Foreign Legion: Letters of Légionnaire Russell A. KellyKelly, Russell Anthony
History
Kelly of the Foreign Legion: Letters of Légionnaire Russell A. Kelly
Kelly, Russell Anthony
France. Armée. Légion étrangère; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
After the Napoleonic wars the Legion was known as The Royal Foreign
Legion. In 1831 a new law was enacted reorganizing the Legion and
establishing its headquarters in Algeria. In 1835 the Legion was the
subject of one of the most remarkable transactions in history; it was
sold by King Louis Philippe to Queen Maria Christina of Spain for a sum
equal to about one hundred and seventeen thousand dollars, being the
estimated value of its arms, uniforms and equipment.
The Legion proceeded to Spain landing at Tarragona, four thousand
strong; it fought valiantly for four years in the first Carlist war, and
when that war ended in the early part of 1839 only five hundred
Légionnaires survived.
Within a few weeks after the old Legion landed in Spain, a new Legion
was organized by France and sent to Algeria, where it did most effective
work.
In the Crimea war the Legion was part of Canrobert’s division at the
battle of the Alma; and during the siege of Sevastopol it was repeatedly
mentioned in reports for its brave and successful efforts. In this
campaign the Legion lost eighteen hundred officers and men, and as a
reward for their gallantry the Emperor gave the Légionnaires the right
to become French citizens should they desire to.
The Legion was part of Maximilian’s forces in Mexico and on April 30th,
1863, near the village of Camaron, a detachment of three officers and
sixty-five Légionnaires held at bay two thousand Mexican cavalry for ten
hours, when the survivors numbering only twenty were captured. As a
reward the word “Camaron” is inscribed on the colors of the First
Regiment.
Four thousand two hundred and thirty-seven officers and men of the
Legion died in Mexico.
In the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 the Legion performed remarkable
services as a rear guard, to cover the retreat of the French army.
The Legion in time of peace consists of two regiments, the _Premier_ or
First, and _Deuxième_ or Second, they being kept separate and distinct.
The headquarters of the First Regiment is at Sidi-Bel-Abbés which is in
the northwestern part of Algeria, forty-eight miles inland by rail from
Oran, a port on the Mediterranean. The headquarters of the Second
Regiment is at Saida, also in Algeria.
The First Regiment has the great distinction of having had its flag
decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor, only ten regiments of
the three hundred and odd composing all branches of the French army
having this great honor. It is the boast of its soldiers that “the
Legion of Honor dwells with us.”
This regiment’s flag carries the motto
“Honneur et Discipline”;
the flags in the other regiments of the French army hear the motto
“Honneur et Patrie.”
So these wanderers from all countries, after enlistment are without a
country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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