On foreign regiments in the Villenese Army

      Whilst I have covered the main national regiments of the Count's army, I have yet to tell of the extraordinary men of the famed foreign volunteer regiments of Villenois, the Irish and Scottish regiments, also known as the San Patricio and the San Andres Regiments respectively. 

      While the immigrant Irish nobility serve in the Wild Geese cavalry regiment, their supporters and clansmen serve in the San Patricio Regiment. Clad in blue grey uniforms with bright green facings, the Irish are some of the hardest fighters the Count can rely on in battle.  More often than not they are put in hopeless situations by Lumerier because he knows that they will hold their ground or die to the last man rather than retreat. This is especially true when elements of the British army are present in a battle. The hatred the Catholic Irish have for the Protestant English lends a fiery fury to their determination to win a battle. They, along with the Wild Geese, are nominally led by Francisco O'Donnell. Himself a descendant of Red Hugh O'Donnell, Francisco is rightly considered the chief of the Irish in Villenois, as the bulk are from Donegal, Clan O'Donnell territory. The regimental standard is St. Patrick's Cross.

     The San Andres Regiment similarly is another fantical band of tough Scots soldiers. These men likewise are Catholic and have a particular hatred for the English. Jacobites to a man, they see James II as the rightful king over the Protestant Dutch usurper William of Orange and as such took service with the Count in the hopes that one day when the clans of Scotland engage in another uprising that Lumerier will provide support to the Jacobite Cause. Taking their queue from the French Guarde Ecosses, or Scots Guard, the San Andres Scots are considered to be elite shock troops of the Villenese army. The Davault counts also have distant blood ties to Scotland so the Count treats the Scots rather favorably. Clad similarly to the Irish, in blue grey coats with red facings, the Scots are a very professional force who channel a cold anger into their discipline, especially when facing the British in open battle. Though unlike the Irish, the Scots will not readily quit the field if Villenois becomes an unlikely ally to British interests, as relations with Scots regiments in the British army, while far from cordial on most occasions, still evince a professional politeness as more often than not, these regiments are made up of their kinsmen from home. The principal leader of the Scots regiment is Alisdair MacDonald. A distant cousin of the MacDonald of the Isles, Alisdair is a battle hardened supporter of King James and will  not return to Scotland unless he is at the head of a Jacobite army ready to reinstate the rightful king on the British throne. Until that time though he remains at the Villenese court, a most welcome strategist whose calculating and careful deliberation makes him a good counterbalance to the hotheaded O'Donnell. The banner of the regiment is St. Andrew's Cross.

Alisdair MacDonald, captain of the San Andres Regiment.

 

 The French Scots Guard.

 

Banner of the San Andres Regiment, the White Rose, once a symbol of the northern House of York, became a symbol of Stuart supporters after the Battle of the Boyne when James, like Richard before him, lost his throne to a foreign invader.

 

A soldier of the San Andres Regiment.

 

Banner of the San Patricio Regiment

 

A soldier of the San Patricio Regiment.

 

Standard bearer and soldier from the San Andres Regiment. Nearly a fourth of the men serving under MacDonald are from his clan or from clans allied to the Lords of the Isles.