Illyrvm , a Napoleonic imagination

 

Viola. What country, friends, is this? Captain. This is Illyrvm ,lady. From Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare  Stretching from the sea to the mountains Illyrvm has a long history. It forms part of the Western Balkan Peninsula. For our purposes we are interested first and foremost in how it formed a small yet not insignificant part of the Napoleonic French Empire in the Balkans. Threatened by Turks, Montenegrins, Austrians, Russians and British the Illyrvm forces put up a strong, at times, resistance to the invader until all collapsed in 1814. This is the story of some units of the Illyrvm army under French control.

The Illyrvm Chasseur regiments were formed from former Austrian grenz regiments whose homes were in the Military Border ceded to the French in 1809. The 4th Illyrvm Chasseurs are in uniform resulting from trying to dye their brown coats blue, unsuccessfully. The French allowed this to be worn as nothing else was available. The 3rd  Illyrvm Chasseurs took the field in their Austrian white jacket dyed blue.

The Royal Illyrvm Regiment was formed from the former Royal Illyrvm Legion. When conscription proved problematic the Legion’s battalions were merged with others to form The Royal Illyrvm Regiment. Some of this unit were experienced in mountain warfare and could serve as light infantry. The regiment’s Chasseurs  proved particularly effective in battle and defended Zadar from an Austrian siege.

The Illyrvm Provisional Regiments ( 1st, 2nd and 3rd) were formed from units taking high numbers of casualties combined with conscription elements and volunteers. Some of them were involved in the Grande Armee’s invasion of Russia and suffered badly in the subsequent retreat from Moscow. Their numbers were merged , upon their return,with a reinforcements to serve once more in their native land.

The Illyrvm National Guard or Garde Nationale was raised in 1806 to protect their city from the threat, ever present, from Russian and Montenegrin troops. Although it was deemed a privilege and prestigious to serve in the unit, in the eyes of the local population, their martial qualities left much to be desired. It was hard for the officers to stop the National Guard parading with myriad, pistols, daggers and sabres. Money was raised by subscription for poorer recruits to pay for their uniforms. With a great effort the unit was weaned off their quaint weaponry onto French muskets and bayonets .

                                                      The army assembled together on parade.

                              The beautiful cities of Illyrvm as depicted in this famous painting.

         A sixteenth century engraving of Illyrvm showing Venetian trading galleys in the foreground.

It is hoped that l will get a chance to use these troops in action soon and l have found their creation, fluff and painting helpfully diverting as well as fun.